“Rise and shine, princess.”
I hear her voice, and at
first, I think it’s a dream. But the kink I feel in my neck tells me I passed out on the couch in the drawing room. Again. Without locking up, apparently. I lift my head off the arm of the couch and rub the back of my neck before peeling my eyes open. I squint up at Logan, who is standing in front of me, amused expression plastered to her pretty face.
“What time is it?” I ask, stretching my neck from side to side. Tattooing people today is going to fucking suck after sleeping in that position all night. I’ve been known to crash here occasionally, especially since Adrian seems to have taken up permanent residence in my house, but I usually have enough sense to fall asleep in a slightly more comfortable position.
“I don’t know. I think I left my phone here last night, but I’m guessing it’s right after ten.”
I stand, moving past her to my desk, grabbing her phone. “You did.”
She looks nervous, worrying that plump bottom lip between her teeth. She snatches the phone out of my hand and stuffs it into her back pocket.
“What?” she asks defensively when she realizes I’m staring.
“You got a call.”
Blush crawls up her neck, and her nostrils flare. “You answered my phone?” Her voice is incredulous.
“Calm down, Sally. I didn’t know whose phone it was, and it wouldn’t shut up. Thought maybe someone was looking for it.”
She rolls her eyes at me. “Stop calling me that. Who called?” she asks, scrolling through her phone.
“He didn’t say, but he wasn’t happy that I answered.”
“Goddammit.”
“Who was it?” Her reaction tells me I’m right to be wary of this guy. Not that it’s my business, but somehow, it feels like it is.
“No one.”
“So, you always have random guys calling you, threatening you, at all hours of the night?
“Drop it,” she says, her voice firm. “You’re opening soon. Show me what to do.”
Her attempt at diverting the conversation is pitiful, but I let it go. For now. We set the shop up together, and I’m impressed when Logan takes it upon herself to look at the schedule, taking note of who has clients first, and sets up our stations accordingly. With two people opening, it goes by a lot quicker, so I find myself with a few minutes to spare.
I’m hunched over the front desk, making a quick revision to a sketch for a client that’s set to arrive in an hour or so. My neck is killing me still and I stretch it side to side, rolling my shoulders. I lean back over my sketch, and then I feel two soft hands on my shoulders. I freeze, not expecting the touch. I’ve never been a particularly affectionate person. I chalk it up to being starved of it growing up. Hugging, touching, hand-holding, snuggling…it’s all foreign to me, and I go out of my way to avoid unnecessary physical contact.
Logan either doesn’t notice my discomfort or doesn’t care, because she keeps kneading, and eventually, I relax into her touch. She presses her thumbs together, sliding upward toward the base of my skull. I groan at the feeling, my dick pressing against the fabric of my jeans. I drop my head down, letting Logan continue her magic on me. She moves back down to my shoulders, and I feel the tension slowly seeping out of me at her touch.
“Feel better?” she asks. She shifts closer, and I feel her tits on my back as her hair falls forward, brushing the side of my face. She smells like cherry Chapstick and vanilla.
“So fucking good,” I mumble. Before I can think better of it, my hand reaches behind me, gripping the back of her thigh. She goes still, her hands pausing on my shoulders, and I let my hand fall. It wasn’t even a conscious decision to touch her, but now I’ve made it weird.
The door chimes, and we both snap into motion, putting some distance between us. Adrian walks in, looking between us with raised brows, but says nothing about our not-so-subtle behavior.
“New employee?” he asks.
“What, stalking me at home wasn’t enough, you had to do it here, too?”
“I got bored. You didn’t come home last night.”
“Maybe I didn’t come home because I needed some fucking space.”
Logan laughs, bringing both of our attention to her.
“What’s so funny?”