Hot Ink Read online

  He had a great mouth, she thought again.

  Too bad that mouth would never be on her.

  His loss.

  She turned on the water, hoping it would at least get to medium hot today. The old water heater for the building was on its way out so she never knew what she’d get. Since it was the afternoon and not early morning with people getting ready for their day, she had a better chance of taking a shower that wouldn’t make her nipples more erect than they already were.

  She stripped then got in the shower, smiling as the heated water touched her skin. Lucky break. She wouldn’t freeze to death before she headed into work. She lathered up, washing her hair quickly and rising off before scrubbing away the scent of her dream. It wasn’t unusual for her to take afternoon naps since she was of the mindset that if she was tired and had time, sleeping was always an option, but today had been more about exhaustion than anything else.

  Instead of sleeping the night before, she’d been up working on Morgan’s sketch. Not only was this going to be a big job—the biggest she’d ever been part of—but it was her first large job on her own. The small tattoos she’d done at the shop in her new station totally counted when it came to her being an artist in her own right, but they had been easy. Morgan was different.

  And that was the problem in more ways than one.

  Not only did she want to make sure she got it right for herself, but she had the pressure of Austin and Morgan as well. For that matter, the rest of the shop would be looking in on her during the whole process. She didn’t fault them for that since the support usually calmed her, but right then, it was a little nerve-wracking. She wanted it to be perfect. Sure, Morgan had been an asshole to her even though her body and dreams didn’t seem to care, but that didn’t make it any less true. The need to prove herself to him and everyone else—including herself—drove her.

  She wanted him to be proud of the work she’d done and know that she cared about it and she’d put her heart into it. It was a pipe dream. That didn’t make it any less true in her mind. She wouldn’t be able to stop herself from wanting to please him. There was just something about the way he made her feel, even when he pissed her off.

  She didn’t even know him and yet something inside her had clicked when she saw him. It wasn’t like love at first sight or anything. God, no. It might have been lust at first sight, but it was more of a need at first sight.

  A need to please and to serve, and the need to find herself within that desire.

  In truth, it confused her, so she tried to push that all away and concentrate on his sketches. Since she’d only traced his body she’d done preliminaries that would need to be changed once she felt the dips and curves of his muscles.

  In a professional manner, of course.

  It wasn’t like she was going to feel him up just to get her rocks off.

  She snorted. She had her dreams for that apparently.

  Since she’d been up the entire night before working on four different sketches, she was a wreck that morning. Luckily she’d only been at the shop to do admin work rather than tattooing. Montgomery Ink didn’t have a receptionist right now; they went through them rather quickly, so it fell to all of them to handle the admin work occasionally. Everyone hated it, but if it helped her family, then she was glad to help.

  She’d been exhausted, and thankfully, Austin had let her go home for a four-hour nap. Well, maybe let wasn’t exactly right. More like he put her in his truck, drove her home, set her on her doorstep, and told her to get some sleep. His friend, Decker, had followed them in her car so she’d be able to get back to the shop that evening to meet with Morgan. She smiled at the thought of big, bad Austin worrying about her like he was one of her sisters. Since he was the eldest of eight children—three of them girls—he had a lot of practice telling people what to do. While his brothers and sisters might get annoyed, she kind of liked it. She never had a big brother watching out for her, and now she had Austin, Sloane, and the rest of them.

  Not too shabby.

  Taking another look at the clock she sighed. She still had time before Morgan would be off work and headed to the shop, so she could either hang out at home and try not to think about him or go to work and do the same. While she might be safer at home with her thoughts so others wouldn’t pick up on them, she figured going in and getting coffee while seeing what her family was up to would be a better use of her time.

  She grabbed her sketchbooks and her purse, then made her way to her car. She lived close to downtown Denver where the shop was located. Some days she took the bus, but since she was working late, Austin didn’t want her on the bus at night. It wasn’t that it was an issue of her safety per se; it was more about being careful.

  After she arrived at the shop and parked in the back lot, she stopped by Taboo instead of heading right into work. She could not only use the caffeine since four hours wasn’t the greatest amount of sleep, but she wanted to see Hailey. She hadn’t told her friend about her fascination with Morgan, and she wasn’t sure she was going to. It wouldn’t do for Austin to find out she had a crush on a man she was inking—a man who looked down on her. Damn, why did she find Morgan worthy of her dreams and orgasms? Just because he was sexy as hell and made her want to kneel for him didn’t mean he was good for her. Probably just the opposite.

  “Callie, darling, you look like you need coffee.”

  Callie rolled her eyes at Hailey’s words then plunked down next to Miranda, Austin’s youngest sister, at the breakfast bar. “Coffee sounds wonderful but if I look like I need it, maybe I should have spent a little more time with my concealer.”

  Miranda took Callie’s chin in hand and studied her face before letting her go. “You look beautiful as always. Your eyes look tired, but only because we know you, not because you have dark circles or anything. I wish I could do fun things with my hair like you, but I don’t think that would pass at the job.”

  Considering Miranda was an elementary school teacher, she was right about that. Miranda even needed to make sure each tattoo her brother or sister inked on her skin was in the safest place possible to avoid offending the parents or the school board.

  Callie took a few of Miranda’s soft brown strands in her fingers. “Maybe you can do purple tips or highlights in the summer or something.”

  Miranda snorted. “Uh no. Not unless I left town to do it. They’d know.” The younger woman lowered her head, but kept her eyes on Callie making her look devious. “They always know.”

  “You’re so cute,” Hailey teased as she set coffee and a pastry in front of Callie. “Eat this and then I’ll get you real food. The sugar will help for a bit.”

  Callie nodded then took a bit of the fluffy pastry. “Yum.”

  “Yum is right. She’s amazing.” Miranda took a bite of her own pastry. “Oh, and stop calling me cute. I’m only two years younger than you both. It’s not like you’re Austin or the rest of the other Montgomery’s ages.”

  Callie rolled her eyes and took a sip of her latte. Hailey was a goddess. “Two years is two years and I’ll take anything I can get.”

  “At this point, unless one of my brothers marries someone younger than me, I think I’m screwed in the age department,” Miranda said with a fake sigh.

  “You like being the baby, so shut up,” Callie said without heat.

  “Maybe when I was younger, but now? Now it’s kind of hard to…well. Never mind.” Miranda blushed and Callie raised a brow at Hailey.

  “Look at that blush,” Hailey said with a smile. “Tell us his name.”

  Miranda’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “Nope. Not going to spill—no matter what baked goods you ply me with.” She sat up straighter, then grinned. “How about you tell me about your love lives instead. I can live vicariously though the both of you.”

  Hailey froze for a moment, the put on a bright smile. “You know I don’t kiss and tell.”

  If there had been any kissing in Hailey’s life recently, Callie would ea
t her shoe; from the look on Miranda’s face, she didn’t believe it either.

  “Fine. Keep your secrets.” Miranda turned to Callie. “What about you? Anything we need to know?”

  Callie could feel her cheeks warm and she lowered her gaze. She’d come in here to talk to Hailey about Morgan, even if it was just in passing, but now that she had the opportunity, she wasn’t sure if she could. She didn’t have anything to say anyway. He was just a client. A client who didn’t even like her.

  There was nothing between her and Morgan.

  So why couldn’t she stop blushing?

  Why couldn’t she stop dreaming about him while touching herself so she could feel how wet he got her?

  “Callie, honey, there’s no one in the cafe to hear you,” Hailey whispered. “The customers that are eating are way back in the corner and not listening to us since they’re involved in their own conversations. You can talk to me and Miranda, you know. It’s okay. We’re not going to judge.”

  Miranda leaned closer. “It’s not Austin is it?” she said softly and Callie sputtered.

  “He’s engaged, Miranda.”

  Austin’s sister nodded. “I know; that’s why I was making sure.”

  “No, it’s not Austin. It’s not a Montgomery—as much as it would be cool to be part of your family for real.”

  Miranda let out a breath and leaned back. “I have other brothers who are single. Plus Maya is single too—if you felt that way.”

  Callie snorted. “Uh, no, but thanks for auctioning off your family.”

  “Is it Sloane?” Miranda asked.

  Hailey dropped a coffee cup, the shattered remains in pieces around her feet. She blinked up at them, her face pale. “Slippery hands,” she mumbled, wiping her completely dry hands on her apron.

  Callie stood up to help, but Hailey waved her off. “I’ve got it, the broom is right here.” Miranda met Callie’s gaze and Callie shook her head. This wasn’t the time or place, and frankly, it wasn’t Callie’s business.

  “It’s not Sloane,” Callie whispered and Hailey’s shoulders relaxed. The woman might not say a thing about her attraction to her friend, but her body language said it all.

  “So, who is it then?” Miranda asked, her voice bright. They were all trying to blow past Hailey’s reaction and hopefully do a better job of it than they were doing now.

  “He’s a client,” Callie answered then told them about meeting Morgan and what she was doing for him. She left out the rest of the details since her friends didn’t need to know those anyway.

  “He sounds like a jerk,” Miranda said, stirring her drink absently. “A yummy jerk, but a jerk.”

  “Maybe he had a reason to act that way.” Hailey held up her hand. “I’m not condoning his words, nor am I saying dismissing you as nothing more than a pretty girl was right, but maybe there was something else going on.”

  Callie gave her a wry smile. “It doesn’t matter. That something made him push me away and dismiss me. Fine. Whatever. I just need to get over this attraction so I can actually work.”

  Miranda nodded. “Maybe you should ask him out.”

  Callie choked on the sip she’d taken. Hailey handed her a napkin, helping her clean up. “Uh, honey, he doesn’t want me. I don’t need to be dating clients.”

  The younger woman rolled her eyes. “Oh shut up. You don’t know what he wants if he was acting so weird. You can date a client as long as it doesn’t screw up your work. I know you won’t let that happen. I’m not saying screw him right on the bench, but if you get the attraction out of the way, get the awkwardness of you not knowing what to do out of the way, you can move on. If you feel like there’s an opening when you’re with him, ask him out. If you don’t feel that way, if you don’t get that spark, then move on.” She met Callie’s gaze. “Don’t let fear rule you. Don’t let the fact you don’t know how he feels push you away. Take a chance if you want to. Don’t let him get away if you feel something.” She let out a breath. “Believe me, watching on the sidelines sucks and I don’t want you to be that person.”

  “I don’t either,” Hailey murmured.

  Callie sighed. She knew Hailey’s issues and had a feeling about Miranda’s but wouldn’t voice it. It seemed all three of them were on the sidelines, not actively working toward what they wanted. The problem was, Callie wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted in the first place.

  She shook her head and stood up, leaving money for Hailey on the counter. The other woman always tried to force her not to pay, but Callie would have none of that. Friends paid so bills got paid.

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do other than give him a kickass tattoo. Whatever happens, I’ll deal. I’m sure it’s all in my mind anyway.”

  “Just be yourself and see what happens,” Miranda said with a smile.

  Callie smiled back, feeling like she could actually make it through a session without freaking. Her friends might have made her think a bit harder about what she was going to do, but she at least had more directions to go rather than into the dark hole of doubt.

  She said her goodbyes and walked through the side entrance into Montgomery Ink. Maya was working on someone’s sleeve while her friend, Jake, watched. He must have been there to pick her up since he didn’t normally watch her work unless they had plans for the evening.

  Austin had headed out to be with Sierra and his son, Leif. He’d mentioned his plans to her when he dropped her off at her house. The fact that Austin was a daddy never failed to make her smile. The gruff man had been alone for far too long and now he had a family. Good for him.

  She headed to the office to set her stuff down and found Sloane there, painstakingly working on a sketch.

  “Hi, Sloane,” She didn’t want to interrupt, but she didn’t want to startle him, either.

  “Hey, Callie. You working on that big project for Morgan tonight?”

  She nodded, but he couldn’t see her since his attention was on his work. “Yep. He should be in soon so I’m going to work on my sketches for him for a few minutes.” She bit her lip. “Can I see what you’re working on?” Sloane was usually pretty cool with her looking at what he was drawing at all stages of production, but this one seemed a bit different.

  It was the hawk for the military vet and she knew he had to be feeling this one a bit more. She didn’t know much about his past other than he’d been in the military as well.

  He met her gaze, the shadows making her want to hug him.

  “Yeah, take a look. I’m almost done.”

  She nodded and took a look, sucking in a breath. It was beautiful. The hawk spread its wings looking as if it was actually reaching high up into the sky. Each feather looked like it could come off the page if she touched them. Its eye stared at her, and she knew that anywhere she moved, it would look as if it were looking just at her.

  “It’s beautiful.”

  She didn’t notice she was crying until she tasted salt on her tongue. Undone, she went to her toes and kissed Sloane on the cheek. “You’ve done a wonderful job. He’ll be proud to wear it on his skin.”

  Sloane stood and took a step back, his jaw clenched.

  “You’re a good man, Sloane.”

  He stared at her a moment, then shook his head, and left the room with his sketch in hand.

  She cursed. She couldn’t heal all of the wounds, but she usually did a better job than picking at them. With a sigh, she quickly dried her face, then picked up her sketchpad and made her way to her station. Sloane was at his own station, but didn’t look up. She’d have apologized, but there was nothing to apologize for—not that he would want to hear anyway.

  She sat at her station, her attention on the four sketches she’d made for Morgan. He’d been detailed in what he’d wanted, but there was still so much room for interpretation. The idea that it would be one continuous piece over his arms and back going down toward his hips made it hard to ensure he got exactly what he wanted.

  She felt him before she heard him. />
  Her body clenched, her cheeks going warm as he stepped into her station. He didn’t make a sound, didn’t say a word, but she knew he was there, his gaze on her.

  She took a deep breath and turned to him. “Mr. McAllister.” She couldn’t quite call him Morgan to his face, not when she’d said his name when she’d come on her fingers.

  “You can call me Morgan, Callie,” he said, his voice a soft growl. “After all, you’re about to have your hands on me.”

  Was he teasing? Flirting with her? Damn it she just didn’t know.

  “True…Morgan.” She stood up, surprised to find her legs were steady. “Why don’t you take off your shirt?”

  He raised a brow but she didn’t falter. Instead she raised a brow of her own.

  “I need to see your back to make sure what I have will work.” She already knew it would, she’d sketched and traced him fully, but she needed to double check.

  “Can I see what you have first?”

  “After I see your back.”

  He didn’t move, didn’t blink. He didn’t seem like a man who heard no too often. Too bad. But he must have found something he liked, because he slowly undid his tie, then unbuttoned his shirt.

  She would not drool.

  He didn’t have an ounce of fat on him. Austin had said Morgan was forty years old, but he didn’t look it. Nor did he have the body of a twenty-year-old man. Callie didn’t want that anyway. His body had aged beautifully and was clearly well cared for. He had some hair on his chest, but not much. The hair on his belly trailed down to beneath his dress pants and Callie did her best not to swallow her tongue.

  She persevered.

  Barely.

  “Please turn around so I can see the sketches against your back.” He did so without comment and she sucked in a breath.

  Perfect.

  Not even a scar, although scars could be sexy as hell too. Every single sketch of hers would work. She’d traced his body with her pencil and her hands, memorized every inch of him even though she hadn’t meant to. His arms would have to be shaved so she could tattoo him, but other than that, he was perfect.