“She knows us already,” Noah says.
“Just us left then. I’m Kole, and this is Kase.”
“I can introduce myself,” Kase says, rolling his eyes. “He always does that. Thinks just because he was born a minute early that I’m incapable of speaking.”
“On a daily basis, I regret becoming friends with so many fucking multiple births.” I down a long pull of my beer and place it onto the table with a little too much force.
“Do you have brothers or sisters, Kyla?” Niall asks.
“Nah,” she shrugs. “Just me, but my friend Dawn is like my sister. We’ve known each other since kindergarten.”
“Is that Dawn with YOLO?” Niall asks.
“That’s the one.”
“So, who’s going to pop your tattoo cherry?” Kole asks.
“No one,” Kyla blurts. “Since I had a ruptured appendix as a teen, needles have become a whole lot more terrifying. There’s no way I’ll let anyone come near me with one unless it’s life-or-death.”
“Is it even a thing to have a tattoo-free person working in a tattoo parlor?” Dex asks. When he speaks, I catch a glint of the piercing in his tongue and wonder what Kyla thinks of us all with so many body modifications between us.
“Well, I guess I don’t have to take the job if you have a problem with it,” Kyla says.
“No problem,” I say. “But if you do want a tattoo one day, I claim that first one.”
“Why do you get to claim it?” Noah grumbles.
“Because I’m the boss.”
“And do I get a say in the matter?” Kyla asks.
The stern look in my icy blue eyes should tell her absolutely not. When I say something, I mean it. No ifs. No buts.
Kyla only stays with us for one drink and then makes an excuse to leave. When she’s gone, the team all give me the seal of approval. Their opinion is important to me, but I wouldn’t have changed my mind about Kyla even if they didn’t like her. We need the help too much. When she gets home, she forwards her résumé immediately, and within five minutes, I send her the contract. I imagine her reading through the great salary and awesome benefits and smiling that pretty smile.
I hope she’s as happy about joining our team as I am to welcome her.
Now all she has to do is quit her other job.
Fingers crossed that all goes off without a hitch.
4
KYLA
“What did she say?” Dawn whispers as I prepare her coffee. In the corner of the shop, my boss is currently grim-faced, her eyes glued to her computer.
“She looked so shocked. It’s like she assumed I really like working here. Or should I say, working for her.”
“I wish I could have been here.” Dawn reaches out for the cardboard cup of her favorite Americano. “I’d have paid good money to see her expression.”
“Well, it’s done now. All I’ve got to do is get through the next few days.”
“Just think about what it’s going to be like being surrounded by all that sexy inked eye candy every day.” The salacious wink Dawn gives me makes me snort with laughter.
“Yeah, I have a bone to pick with you. How come you failed to mention how gorgeous they all are?”
“Would you have gone for the interview if I shared that, or would you have been completely intimidated?”
“Intimidated,” I muse. “Anyway, I didn’t tell you who came in today?”
“Who?”
“Luna Evans.”
Dawn’s black-lined eyes widen. “The popstar? The one who’s fucking seven sexy bodyguards?”
“Yep. She’s in this group called The Reverse Harem Ladies Club.”
“They have a club? Who’s in the club? I want to be in the club!”
We both chuckle but this time, when my boss looks at me like she wants to melt my insides out of my eyeballs, I don’t care one bit.
“There are five women. Natalie has three husbands, Connie has four. Melanie isn’t married, but she’s in a relationship with five cowboys, and Sandy is with six men. Luna’s harem is the biggest.”
“Go Luna!”
“They were joking that I should try for a harem of eight. Me!”
Dawn rests her hand on my arm, the way she always does when I’m putting myself down. “Why the hell not you? Those guys would be lucky to have someone as awesome as you.”
“I couldn’t handle one of them, let alone eight.” It’s true. I wouldn’t have a clue how to go on a date with a man that good-looking. My two past boyfriends were nice guys but definitely not highly ranked on the sexy chart. I could think clearly when we were together, and I could also see when things weren’t working out without being blinded by their looks.
Gorgeous men have a terrible effect on me. They shrivel my brain cells until I’m a blubbering, swooning mess of a person. They also shrivel my confidence, which is saying something because it’s already microscopically small.
I wave my free hand to show Dawn that I’m not bothered either way. “Anyway, Luna wants a tattoo. She’s going to wait until after she has the baby, but she wants to go to Ink Factor to speak to them and plan everything out.”