The Devil's Tattoo (16 page)

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

ZOE

"Who knew Canberra was this boring?" Dee complained as
we dumped our bags into our hotel room.

"It's our nations capital," I said. "It's full of
government types and disgruntled locals."

"Ugh, politics."

"My thoughts exactly."

"What are we going to do today? No show, no interviews."

"
There's
some nice museums?" I
offered.

A devilish grin crept onto his face. "Pool party!"

"It's not spring break, Dee."

"Don't be such a downer,
Zo
Zo
. It's hot out and there's an outside pool."

"I'm not into swimming that much."

"You don't have to swim," he tried to convince me.
"You can check out all the hot guys without their shirts on."

"I don't like your tone, Dee," I smirked at him.
"Anyway, I don't have any bathers."

"So?"

"So, I'm not swimming in my underwear."

"I don't think anyone will complain." That earned him a
sharp slap on the arm. "
Ow
! Seriously, go
shopping with Simone.
We'll
be by the pool."

When I called Simone, she was all for it. It wasn't long before I
found myself in the car, on the way to the closest shopping
centre
.
Maybe a lazy day by the pool was just what we needed.
Especially
after last nights episode at the pub in the middle of nowhere.
If anyone
had gotten wind of what went down between
me and Will,
nobody had uttered a word. In fact, on the bus this morning, everything seemed
normal.

The lunch time rush was bearing down on the shopping
centre
when we got there and we had to circle a few times
to find a park.

"I want this to be quick and painless," I said, much to
Simone's amusement.

"Not much of a shopper?"

"Nope.
In and out.
That's how I like
it. Snatch and grab."

Just inside the entrance was a large Target, so I dragged Simone
inside and went straight for the bathers. I rifled through the rack and pulled
out a black bikini. It wasn't that revealing, boy shorts and a
halter top
. My
colour
. My size.
Thirty-five bucks.

"I'm done," I declared.

"Bloody hell, Zoe!" Simone cried. "We've been here
ten seconds."

"Ten seconds too long," I laughed.

"Give me a minute," she huffed and began looking through
the leftovers.

"Okay."

She held up a bright blue floral one piece and I shook my head.
She held up a black and white polka dot number and I nodded. "I think this
is it," she said and as an after thought came out with, "What
happened with you last night?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, knowing exactly what she
was on about.

"You and Will. I saw you arguing."

"Nothing."

"Didn't look like nothing."

I shrugged. "His intensity level is unnerving. Especially after
he's had a few drinks."

"What's going on? I mean, is he into you?"

I shrugged. Yeah, he was.

"Do you want to be out of the friend zone?"

"I don't know," I said truthfully. "I don't know if
I'm ready."

"It's been two years, right?"

"Right," I said slowly, looking up at her from the rack
of bathers.

"Well," she began uncertainly, "aren't you
horny
?"
The last word came out a whisper and despite my own embarrassment, I laughed,
slapping a hand over my mouth.

"
Yeah
."

"That's good, right?"

"No, I don't think it's good."

"Why not?" I gave her a look and her eyes widened.
"
Oohhhhh
."

Sometimes Simone was so innocent it made me laugh.

"Let's get outta here," I said. "Maybe we all need
some pool therapy."

"I was thinking the same thing."

By the time we got back to the hotel and changed, everyone was at
the pool. And when I say everyone, I mean
everyone
. Dean had been back
for a few days now and he was there with Pete, Louie and Sticks. Frank, Chris
and Dee were fooling around in the pool. Even Bob our bus driver was kicked
back in a banana lounge. I had to do a double take when I saw Will perched on
the edge of the pool, watching the three idiots try to drown each other.

Right now, I was thankful that I had my
sunnies
on. The fronts were mirrored and that meant no one could see where I was
looking, which was right at a half-naked Will. Now, I could see the tattoo on
his chest was of an anatomical heart. But, I wasn't looking at that.

"Zoe?" Simone elbowed me. "You're drooling."

"Shit. Did anyone notice?"

"No. You're safe."

I breathed a sigh of relief and she led me outside. I wrapped an
arm across my bare stomach, suddenly nervous. I knew I'd feel too exposed,
so on the way out of the shops I'd picked up a pair of short women's
boardies
to put over the bottoms. The moment we walked
outside, Dee let out a loud wolf-whistle and everyone looked up to see us
approach.

I felt Will's eyes on me instantly and when I dared to glance his
way, his gaze was full of heat. He sucked his bottom lip into his mouth and
before he
realised
I was staring back, I turned away.

I sat on a free banana lounge next to Simone and she leant over
and whispered into my ear, "No one saw you drool, but everyone's seeing
Will
slobber."

"Simone," I groaned. "Not now."

She smirked at me and
laid
back,
positioning herself for maximum sunbathing. Looking over the top of my
sunnies
, I caught Chris' eye. He'd been doing some drooling
of his own. I gave him a pointed look and he blushed.

"Nice threads, Hot Legs," Dee said dripping water all
over the place. He grabbed a towel and sat next to me. "I heard something
went down with you last night."

"What are you on about?" I wondered who had talked, but
if Simone had noticed, then Dee definitely would have.

"What's his face is more worked up than usual. And
phwor
, did you see his face when you walked
out?"

My head sunk to my knees and I groaned.

"Hey," he said loudly. "
Wanna
give me a haircut?"

"What? No. I don't have any scissors." Until three years
ago, I'd been employed as a hairdresser. For some reason that was now lost on
me, I wanted to cut hair for a living.
As a career.
I
now saw that I was ill suited for it. The reason being, that you have to like
people and after the break up, people and I didn't get along. I'd cut ties with
almost every aspect of that old life. I'd thrown away my scissors and equipment
and every other reminder of that time that now seemed fake and empty.

"When you threw them out, I bin scabbed '
em
when you weren't looking," Dee shrugged.

"You're so annoying." I wondered what his game was. He
had to have one, because this was coming out of nowhere. Besides, he didn't
need a haircut.

"I thought they might come in handy one day."

"Yeah, when you want a free haircut."

"Yeah," he said like I was stupid, which only made me
more annoyed and he knew it.

"I don't want to go back to that shitty job."

"I wasn't thinking about that," he laughed. "I
don't trust anyone outside of you and that bloke at the barber shop."

"That
bloke
has been cutting you hair for three years
and you still don't know his name?"

"Nope."

"You two fight like an old married couple," Louie said,
and I
realised
that everyone had fallen silent and
were listening to us. I felt my face redden.

"You're cute when you blush,
Zo
,"
Frank declared loudly and I almost got up to drown him in the pool, but Dee
made a bold statement on my behalf.

"Who needs a haircut? She's an artist, our Zoe. Slices and
dices like Rembrandt."

"
Dee
," I hissed.

"What? Some of us might want to take advantage of your
skills."

So, that’s how I found myself in the bathroom of my hotel room,
Will sitting on a chair in front of me, a fluffy white towel around his
shoulders, hair dripping wet. Dee's game was revealed and right now I wanted to
give him a black eye.

Brandishing my scissors, I said, “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

It’s do or die, so I chose to do.

I tried not to be awkward about it, but I found myself thinking
almost instantaneously about how I was touching Will's hair. Hell, I’d been a
hairdresser for five years straight out of school for some unknown reason, and
I’d touched plenty of hot guy’s heads. I’d shampooed and conditioned a ton of
them. Scalp massages and all. And in all that time, I’d never felt so
uncomfortably turned on as I did right now.

I pushed his head forward so I could cut in at the nape of his
neck and was able to study one of his tattoos without him noticing. It was a
small hourglass with grey wings. I had something similar and felt myself blush
was suddenly grateful that he couldn’t see me in the mirror. I was red as a
beetroot.

“Thanks,” he said as I began to cut. "It was
gettin
' a bit outta control."

“No problem,” I said as evenly as I could. “What’s the use of
having a qualified hairdresser around if you can’t take advantage, right?”

“Right.”

I focused on what I was doing. I couldn't give him a shit haircut.
After Dee talked me up like I was some kind of
DaVinci
with scissors, it had to be perfect. But, I couldn't quite get past the fact
that I was touching him. It took all my strength not to straddle him then and
there.

When it was time to do the top, I came around and stood in front
of him, pulling the comb through his wet curls and for the first time I could
see his eyes clearly. I did my best to look away, but he was staring up at me
like he'd never seen a girl cut his hair before. I'm frozen to the spot, my
heart thumping a million miles an hour.

He reached up and took the comb and scissors from my hands and set
them on the counter. When he stood, the towel dropped and he grasped both sides
of my face, pushing me back against the mirror, and kissed me. It took me by
surprise, so when I hit the glass, I opened my mouth with a gasp and he plunged
his tongue right in and I can’t stop myself. I kissed him back, my hands raking
up his back as I pulled him harder into me. He claimed me with a hunger that I
didn't know he possessed and I wanted him just as much. Suddenly, I was alive.

His knee pushed in between my legs and I opened them enough so his
thigh rubbed against my clit. Rolling my hips forward, I let out a deep moan
into his mouth. He kissed me deeper in response, his tongue clashing with mine.
God, it felt so good.

I tore my lips away and let out a whimper as he kissed a trail
down into the crook of my neck and his hands fell from my face, brushing across
my breasts and came to rest on my hips.

“I’m not finished,” I said breathlessly as his lips grazed the
skin underneath my ear.

“Don’t care,” he mumbled into my hair as his thumb passed over my
tight nipples.

Holy shit.

I'm wearing a bikini top and
boardies
over the bottoms, but I might as well be in my bra and knickers. There is only
a thin piece of material between my skin and his hands. Suddenly, it seemed
like too much distance. Will's hand trailed up my back and he pulled the clasp
undone and tugged at the string that secured the halter at the nape of my neck
and it was gone. Cool air hit my skin and my nipples tingled.