Tempting (Inked Hearts 1)

"Hate to say it but you better get dressed." He presses his palm to my lower back. "Getting Ethan with a few butterflies."

"In your dreams."

"You want it right here." He drags his fingertips over the swell of my breast.

I shake my head.

He drags his fingertips up my inner thigh. "If you lived here you'd be home now."

"Ew." I stick out my tongue. "Tacky."

He smiles. "Guitarists do it with their hands?"

Again, I shake my head. Admitting this makes me feel even more naked, but I'm running out of time for shyness.

I'm getting this tattoo in a few hours.

I lock eyes with Ethan. "An ash tree with the dates… an in memoriam for Asher. Is it stupid?"

He presses his forehead to mine. "No, Vi, it's perfect."

Chapter Thirty-One

Violet

My heart thuds against my chest as I pull the tattoo parlor's door open. The shop's bell sounds with a gentle ring. It's much too gentle for the location. Needles jamming into skin deserves a louder, angrier bell. It deserves cymbals clanging. It deserves noise.

I squeeze my cell phone between my palms. I can do this. I can absolutely do this. Brendon, the guy who owns the shop, has a great reputation and he comes highly recommended by Joel. As little as I wish to think about Joel's body—he feels like a brother or at least a cousin—I have to admit he has nice ink.

He knows his shit.

And Brendon seems to know his shit too, at least if our email chain is any indication. He squeezed me in last minute and he busted his ass doing this mock up.

He steps out of the back room with a nod. At least he looks like the photo on the shop's website. He's tall and broad enough that his presence is imposing. The short dark hair, dark eyes, and eyebrow piercings don't hurt. Nor does the fact that every inch of him—save above the neck and past the wrists—is covered in ink.

Ethan is one step behind me. He runs his calloused fingertips over the skin on the inside of my wrist. His touch calms me. Not enough to get my heartbeat back to double digits. Not enough to make breathing easy.

But enough to keep me from throwing up.

There's a tattoo artist working on a gruff-looking biker dude's calf. The artist seems to be an expert. He's got the gloves and the technique and the laser focus.

God, that needle is huge.

And it's jamming into the large man's muscular calf again and again and again. The man grimaces with unspeakable agony.

"Violet, right?" Brendon steps up to the front desk. He extends his hand. "I'm Brendon. It's nice to meet you."

Somehow, I peel my eyes away from the horror of the needle attacking the large man's skin enough to give Brendon a proper hello. "Yeah, thanks for squeezing me in."

Despite his imposing presence, he has a friendly smile. "Anytime. Wouldn't have heard the end of it from Joel if I hadn't."

"That's Joel," I say.

Brendon looks to Ethan. "You're Joel's friend, right?"

Ethan nods. "Ethan."

Brendon's eyes light up with recognition. "The guitarist, right?"