Page 108 of Tease
“Now can you guess what your surprise is, Cap Guy?”
“Oh, I have an idea, Dimples. But I’m gonna let it play out.” Jared gets out of the passenger side door and jogs around to open my door. He holds out his hand, pulling me up and against his chest. “Have I told you how beautiful you are today?”
“I don’t think so.” I look up into the sky; the sun is shining, and there are a few clouds. It’s a beautiful day.
Jared leans in, kissing my cheek and then my ear. “What about, how much I love you?”
“I mean, I could hear it again.” I tease him before kissing his lips. “Let’s get tattoos, baby!” I rush past him and open the door for us.
Randy is standing behind the counter, smiling once he spots us. “Why, hello there. When I saw your name down for an appointment, I made sure to be here.”
“Hi, Randy! Long time no see!” I give him a shy smile and look around, taking in the surroundings of the tattoo parlor. It looks exactly the same. Except when my eyes glance around the room, they land on a photo next to the cash register. The framehas a gold plaque on it, with the words, “In Loving Memory.” It’s a photo of Beth with a radiant smile—a headshot of her. I don’t know who took it, but she’s beautiful. Happiness is shining off of her in the photo.
Randy catches me staring and walks up beside me. “She could make anyone smile when she laid one on ‘em like that.”
“Yeah, she really could.” I walk over to the frame, kiss two fingers, and touch them to her picture. “I miss her every day. She’s the reason I’m here today.” I pull my hair to my left shoulder, showing off the sunflower tattoo.
“Oh yes, I remember that. She was so excited for you two to get matching tattoos.” He snaps his fingers. “It was for your birthday, right?”
“Yep. It was for my twenty-first.”
“What are you needing done today?”
I walk over to Jared and pull him back toward Randy, holding out his right wrist that’s bare of any tattoos. “I want my kissed lips tattooed right here. And his lips,” I hold out my left wrist, “right here.”
“That’s awesome. We can definitely get that knocked out today. I can do you, and my guy, Jordan, can do your friend.”
Jared takes this moment to introduce himself. “I’m Jared, her boyfriend—soon to be fiancé.” He holds out his hand for Randy to shake.
Randy grips it, giving him a firm handshake. “Lucky man. Nice to meet you.”
Jared looks from Randy to me. “I really am.”
“Alright, Kailey, did you bring a bold lipstick you’d like to put on before kissing the white sheet? Then we can do a digital conversion to your wrist and tattoo it that way.”
I grab the lipstick I picked specifically for this out of my purse. “Yes, I did.”
“Okay, perfect. How will you want Jared’s done?”
Jared’s eyebrows raise. “Are you needing me to put lipstick on for you?” He starts to reach for the lipstick I’m holding.
“I was thinking, black lipstick.” I pull out the other lipstick I brought and hand it to Jared.
“Whatever you want, babe, as long as I can remove it as soon as I’m done kissing pieces of paper.”
“Deal.”
Jordan, the other tattoo artist, walks up. “We tattoo artists actually call these kinds of tats ‘kiss prints.’” He hands each of us a piece of plain white paper. “Kiss it in different spots three times, then choose which version you want.”
Jared and I walk out of the tattoo parlor, hand in hand. His right hand holding my left hand, our tattoos kissing each other.
“Did you like your surprise?” I ask him, hopeful that I kicked ass in the girlfriend department.
“I loved it—a little shocked you remembered me saying I wanted it done...” He holds my wrist up. “And I’m happy my lips have now marked you.”
“Always and forever, Cap Guy.” He smashes his lips against mine.
CHAPTER 74
