Vegas, Baby - Volume 2

“Um. Well,” I stammered, my cheeks heating even more as I thought about the ink on my shoulder and what it meant. I highly doubted that my big sister would appreciate the fact that in less than twenty-four hours Maddox had literally marked me as his, popped my cherry, and moved me in with him. Aurora tended to be a worrier, and her favorite people to fuss over were her siblings. I figured that I should probably wait to show her the tattoo until after she’d met Maddox and given him her stamp of approval. But she was right about not being able to keep anything from her for long, so I didn’t hesitate to tell her about Maddox. “It’s just that I’m smiling because I met a guy and he’s amazing.”

Aurora’s eyes widened in surprise. “You met someone? When?”

“Yesterday,” I admitted, my grin growing wider.

“Yesterday?” she echoed, her brow furrowing. “When did you even have the chance to meet a guy? I thought you were busy hanging out with Belle all day.”

“Yeah, that’s how I met Maddox. He does all of Griffith’s tattoos and was supposed to do Belle’s,” I explained.

Her jaw dropped. “The guy who put that goofy grin on your face is a tattoo artist?”

“Uh huh,” I answered dreamily, thinking about how I wanted to trace my tongue over all of the ink covering Maddox’s muscular body.

“I don’t get it. What could you and a guy like that possibly have in common?” Aurora’s incredulous tone pulled me out of my fantasy as she waved her hand at the wedding cake I’d made. “You’re butterflies and rainbows, looking out at the world with rose-colored glasses. You see the good in everyone around you and create sugar-filled masterpieces to commemorate one of the happiest days in a couple’s life. It’s hard to believe that a guy who does tattoos for a living would appreciate that in a woman.”

My spine straightened in anger. “You don’t know anything about him, Aurora. Maddox might use ink instead of sugar, but he creates art, too. It’s just that it’s on people’s bodies, and I know for a fact that there are people with tattoos he’s done that mean a heck of a lot more to them than the cakes I bake do to our customers. Like Griffith”—I used him as my example instead of myself because I definitely wasn’t going to bring up my tattoo in the middle of an argument—“and the heart tattoo Maddox did for him with Belle’s name. You even said how beautiful it was when you saw it. Heck, I think you might’ve even cried a little.”

“Fine, maybe I’m being a bit overly judgmental,” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her foot on the floor. “But can you blame me? At least when Belle fell for her rock star, I had the chance to threaten him with bodily harm before things went too far between them. Judging by the dreamy look in your eyes and blush on your cheeks, I’m guessing that ship has already sailed with you.”

“Um. Yeah, you could say that,” I admitted softly.

“Then I’d better meet him soon.” Aurora wagged her finger at me until I nodded in agreement, and then she threw her arms around me for a big hug. “And don’t think for a minute that just because I didn’t get the chance to warn him that I won’t still castrate him with a spoon if he hurts you.”

Thinking about the muscles on my big guy, I knew that wouldn’t stop her if she thought I needed defending. Patting her on the back, I agreed, “I know you will.”

It wasn’t until I got in my car to head to my new home that the seeds of doubt sparked by my sister’s concern started to pop into my brain. I might’ve convinced her to keep an open mind about my relationship with Maddox, but our discussion left a niggling doubt in the back of my mind about how compatible we’d really be together.

Being in charge of the bakery meant lots of early mornings for me, but tattoo parlors were more of a late-night business. Balancing our schedules was definitely going to take some work. The chapel was doing well, but we weren’t as wildly successful as Ink Addiction was. A-list celebrities didn’t come to us to get married like they went to Maddox for ink. At least not yet.

Our lives were quite different, and I wasn’t sure how we’d be able to meet in the middle. The only thing I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt was that I wanted to figure it out. All I could do was hope that Maddox did too, even if my talk with Aurora made me wonder a little about what he saw in me.