“You can lie back,” she says.
He does with a smirk. “Hell, if I knew you were doing the piercing, I would have picked another piece of my anatomy.”
Emily doesn’t acknowledge his joke, but the thought of her having to put her hand on his dick has me seeing red. “Knock that shit off, Rick,” I say with much more force than needed.
His eyebrows lift, but he doesn’t say anything.
Emily’s gaze jumps to mine, and I don’t even try to tamp down the way I feel. I won’t stand by and let someone talk to her like that.
I stand over Emily’s back and watch as she cleans both of Rick’s nipples. I have to squeeze my eyes shut because I hate the image of her touching another man, even though it’s for work. I’ve done all kinds of piercings on women—nipples, clits, hoods, bellies—but I’m always able to do it in a professional manner, so I know this is not a big deal. But it’s still not easy to watch.
Emily is very strategic and goes step by step in the procedure. When she lifts her gloved hand, she’s shaking. Rick doesn’t notice because his eyes are closed, but I do. I put a firm hand on her back to calm her. She lifts her green eyes to me, and I nod at her encouragingly.
She smiles at me, and I hold in the groan. With a steady hand, she pierces both nipples. As she goes over the aftercare instructions, I start cleaning up. I give a head nod to Rick as he walks out the door, and Emily follows behind him. I finish cleaning up and grab my keys off the hook. I walk out front just as Rick is walking out the door. “I’m heading out,” I say to Emily without looking at her.
She wants to say something. I can feel it, but I don’t stick around to see what it is. I keep walking, go past my truck, and walk on down the street toward the Whiskey Whistler.
I barely get seated at the bar and Janie Bradshaw stops in front of me. “Did Carter send you here to check on me?”
At first I’m a little shocked to see her here. She’s the daughter of Pastor Blake, and I’m pretty sure she’s not supposed to be hanging out at the bar. But she’s not asking me about her dad; no, she’s asking me about a rancher that I know is going to be pissed she’s here. “No, I didn’t know you were here.” I point at the bar top. “So Carter knows you’re here?”
She shrugs. “If he doesn’t yet, I’m sure he will soon enough.”
I let out a whistle. “Well, I’m not going to tell him, but you know when he finds out, it’s going to be ugly, right?” I tell her, shaking my head. I can already imagine the way Carter’s going to tear this bar apart when he finds out. Poor Malcolm, what was he thinking letting in Janie Bradshaw?
She sits down beside me as the bartender stops in front of us. “Beer?”
I nod. “Whatever you got on draft is fine.”
He looks at Janie, but she shakes her head, turning down a drink.
Janie sighs. “Carter is not my boss. I’m a grown woman, and I can do whatever I want.”
She’s hurt, that much is obvious. The whole damn town knows how Carter feels about Janie. It seems like everyone does but her. I lift my mug at her. “Well, good luck with that.” And then I mutter under my breath, “You’re going to need it.”
She tells my bye and goes down the bar seeing someone she knows, and I lift my mug to my lips. I chug a big drink and then set the mug down heavily on the bar. Fuck, I needed that.
A woman that I’ve seen before comes up and sits next to me. I can’t place her, but when she turns in her seat, eyeing me, I know what she wants. “I’m not interested,” I tell her before she even says a word.
Ignoring my lack of interest, her hand reaches out for me and lands on my thigh. I don’t touch her, but I do turn and look at her, scowling. She sees the look on my face and pulls her hand back. I say it again, enunciating each word. “I’m. Not. Interested.”
She gets up, calls me an asshole, and then walks away.
Yeah, it’s been awhile, and I’ve been known to pass time by taking a woman home with me, but I haven’t even looked at another woman since I saw Emily. I don’t want any woman’s hands on me... except hers.
I drain the glass in my hands and order another one. “Keep them coming,” I tell the bartender.
I can feel Malcolm staring at me, and I can’t say I blame him. I’ve started a few brawls in here but nothing too bad, and I always pay my tab, including anything that may get broken. I lift my mug and give him my best smile.