The Harder He Falls: 2 (So Inked) (25 page)

“What if we did the logo in color?”

Kellie glanced at Autumn and Sammi bent over a sketch pad at the receptionist desk.

“Um, color looks nice, but I’d really prefer it to be in black.”

“Even the letters?” Autumn tapped the paper with the pencil.

“Yeah.”

She tilted her head to the side and added The Smile. The one that had men turning to puddles of testosterone hell-bent on giving her whatever she wanted. “You sure you don’t want to add even a little color?”

“No, I really want it in just plain black and gray.”

“All right.” Autumn sighed dramatically. “It’ll look good, even if it is just in black and gray. Why don’t you have a seat and I’ll get this drawn up really quick.” She grabbed Mary by the arm and dragged her off to the office.

The alarm on Jerry’s phone went off, signaling the end of the session. Kellie finished the scale she was doing and sat back.

“When do you think you’ll be back?” She set the machine down and started cleaning up his leg.

“Probably two weeks. I’ll let you know.”

“Cool.” She slathered the freshly inked skin in ointment and applied a bandage. She was a little anxious to see what Autumn was putting together for Sammi’s tribute tattoo. “Call me and we can pencil you in. You know me. I’m always here.”

“Thanks again.” Jerry got off the table, gave her a nod and ambled out of the shop. He’d paid the full grand for the tattoo ahead of time, so she worked him in whenever he wanted for however long he could sit. With his schedule it was usually in half-hour increments, so she worked with what she could get.

Kellie hurriedly cleaned up her station and headed to the office.

“I can’t do this,” Autumn whined, sitting at Mary’s desk. She cradled her face in her hands.

“What are you whining about?” Kellie leaned against the doorjamb and ignored the area where a door was supposed to be. She’d taken it down yesterday, not wanting to stare at it any longer.

“I cannot do these swirly letters.”

“You could do the same thing in blue or green.” Kellie rolled her eyes. “Stop being a pussy and do the damn tattoo. Sammi is our landlord, and he’s done a lot for us. Suck it up and do it.”

“Do you want me to draw the letters for you?” Mary plucked a pencil from the desk and twirled it.

“Yes. Please.” She pushed the paper over. The logo was already sketched perfectly with a light gradient. Above and below were wear marks where she had drawn and erased the text.

Mary considered the paper, eying the lined pad with the name and date jotted down. She chewed her lip for a moment before bending over the paper and making smooth lines and frilly curls. Autumn seemed to hold her breath while Mary finished the script and pushed it back across to her.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” Mary turned to Kellie. “Shin called, again.”

Kellie groaned. “Guess ignoring his calls isn’t going to work.”

“No idea what to tell you. I have to go get set up. Good luck, Autumn.”

The bells heralded yet more customers, most likely their next clients. Kellie left Autumn to make the stencil and turned on her heel to return to the shop front. Sam had taken up his spot at the desk and was bent over a pad of paper. Drawing ran in their family blood, it would seem.

“There you are.”

She jerked her gaze to her station, where Quin was sitting in her chair. He pushed to his feet and came toward her. Had she ever seen him wear jeans? He looked good in them. With a plain t-shirt and the full sleeve of ink, he was a clean-cut bad boy who knew how to kick and take a little ass.

Either her skin was too tight or her body was swelling. A swirl of emotion took her by surprise so when Quin met her halfway, wrapped his arms around her and swooped down for a kiss, she didn’t even think about evading him. The moment his lips touched hers, she felt as if she were parched and he was her water. His fingers dug into her sides and she pushed her hand into his hair.

Someone let out a wolf whistle, and Quin chuckled against her lips. He broke the kiss but held her close.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, feigning annoyance to hide how happy she was to see him.

“I needed to take some measurements of the door so I can, you know, fix it.”

She punched him in the ribs, just hard enough to make him grunt and release her. “About time.”

“Hey, Quin,” Pandora called, still half bent over the chest piece she was working on.

“Yeah?” He turned and ambled toward her.

“Is the invitation to come tonight still open? I told Carly about it and she was interested in going.”

“I don’t see why not. Is she up to going?”

Pandora’s machine stilled and she leveled a glare at him. “Whatever you do, do not ask her that.”

He held his hands up. “Sorry, foot in mouth.”

She wiped the tattoo and kept going. “We’ll take a separate car so if we need to leave early we can. Do me a favor and write the details down before you leave?”

“Sure thing.”

He put his hand against the small of Kellie’s back and steered her toward the office. Autumn stopped in the doorway and glanced from her, to him and back again.

“Autumn, this is Quin. Quin, Autumn.”

“The infamous Quin. Nice to meet you finally.” Autumn gave him her sparkling smile that was known to send men into fits of lust when combined with a little cleavage. Today it had a side of cleavage.

“Nice to meet you too.” He shook her hand and, to his credit, never once looked her wares over.

“Don’t you have a tattoo to do?” Kellie thumbed back out to the shop area.

Autumn rolled her eyes and huffed. “Yes. Let me pass so I can get this over with.”

Kellie stepped into the office. No sooner had she turned to Quin than he had his arms around her waist and lifted her. Their lips joined in a frenzied mating of thrusting tongues and playful nips as she wound her legs and arms around him. Her ass hit the desk and she squeezed him closer. The kiss lasted only seconds, but it sent her reeling.

“Now that’s a hello,” she purred, running her hands over his chest.

“I was going more with an I-want-to-be-in-your-pants-now, but we can start with hello.” The skin around his eyes crinkled as he smiled and planted a quick kiss on her mouth. Damn but he’d age well, and with those blue eyes he’d make a hot silver fox someday.

She rolled her eyes and smiled because he made her feel nice, and being with him was unexpectedly easy. “I’ll let you get away with saying that only because you didn’t stare at Autumn’s boobs.”

“Sorry, I’m not a fan of fake boobs.” He boldly cupped her breasts in each hand. “I like the real thing.”

She gaped at him. “How could you tell they were fake?” Her nipples tightened into peaks as he swiped his thumbs back and forth.

“Her tits are pointing in two different directions. It’s kind of hard to miss. Are you coming tonight? Say yes.” Glitter on his shoulder caught her eye. Suspicions simmered in her mind, and without meaning to, she dusted it off. Quin glanced down and a smile spread across his lips. “I took your advice. I hung out with Josie this morning. I might lose my man-card, but we played Barbies, and I got to be Holiday Special Barbie. I was told she’s special, and no one gets to play with her but she’d make an exception for me.”

Her heart melted even more. She couldn’t keep him long-term, but neither did she want to give him up. At least for now she could have him.

He tapped her chin with his knuckle. “What are you thinking? I can never tell, and it drives me crazy.”

Kellie smoothed her hands down his chest and smiled. “I was thinking it’s a shame someone broke my door. This is a time when a door would be awfully handy.”

“I’m going to fix the damn door, just tell me you’re coming tonight.” He slid his hands around to her back and tugged her closer.

“There is a possibility. I’m waiting on Natalie to call me back and tell me she can watch Grandma.” All her warm, fuzzy feelings evaporated. “I’m scared to leave her alone with the neighbors now.”

Quin hugged her close and offered the only comfort he could. There was no easy answer, and she appreciated his solidarity more than pitiful words given in lip service.

* * * * *

Quin kept his arms folded across his chest and stared at the empty ring. It was that or punch Greg Redding in the face. The bastard hadn’t done anything yet, but T-man was tricked out in his colors and sitting next to the man. While the reasonable part of him understood the choice to switch gyms was a business decision, that didn’t matter so much in the moment. Still, he had ten hotheads flanking him and a confrontation wouldn’t help.

After spending the morning with Josie and dropping by So Inked, he’d gone to the gym to meet with some possible vendors, only to find that someone had poisoned the decorative Koi fish pond. Every single one floated belly-up. The police had tried to argue that maybe it was the heat, but his in-ground climate control system kept the water temperature carefully in check. The water needed to be tested, but the police hadn’t seen it as worth their time even after the other vandalism instances. He didn’t even know if the poison had seeped into the soil, or what would have to be done to clean it up. And he didn’t have the kind of money to sink into cleaning up the habitat right now for more fish.

Greg had known about it. He’d asked even. Could Greg be responsible for the vandalism? He wanted to believe it, but it was too convenient.

To distract himself, he pulled his phone out to see if Kellie had sent him a message. He hadn’t heard from her since before weigh-in and her answer had still been noncommittal. Again, he understood her reasoning, he just didn’t like it.

He’d made the comparison between her grandmother and his daughter when he first understood the complexities of their situation, but the more he thought about it the more he realized he had the easier deal. While Josie would learn rules through repetition and eventually begin to do menial tasks for herself, Kellie’s grandmother never would. The burden would just continue to grow.

In his mind, a young woman shouldn’t be spending her life as a caregiver, finding little to no enjoyment for herself. But he couldn’t think of a solution for her problems or his.

The screen of his phone mocked him. No messages, and the converted warehouse was beginning to fill up with patrons for the fights.

There were five gyms represented, including his, and a handful of fighters without coaches or outright support from a training team. While Quin had made it a point to go to every single match since moving to Texas, it was new this time. Mouse would be in the ring.

The facilities lacked locker rooms, so the fighters on deck got front row seats. Mouse sat at the far end of the metal bleachers, chatting with Oscar and some of the other guys. The only woman in their midst was Jacob’s girlfriend, and she sat completely stiff, hands in her lap and staring straight ahead. Her expression he could understand easily. She did not want to be here. He pitied Jacob. This was the life he was settling for?

“Why the long face?”

His head snapped around and he couldn’t help breaking out in a goofy smile. “Hey, you came.”

Kellie smirked and stepped closer to hug him. She’d worn the blue, women’s-style tank top he’d splurged on adding to his order, and seeing her in it made every dime worth it.

“I would have called, but I figured why not surprise you?”

He held her close, savoring the contradiction of soft curves and lean muscle. “I am surprised.”

She twisted in his hold and he relented, slinging an arm around her waist in a proprietary hold. She was his, and everyone would know it.

“You’ve met Pandora, Mary, Sam and Autumn.”

He nodded at them and focused instead on those he did not know.

“This is Brian, Pandora’s boyfriend.”

“Hey, man.” The former bassist of Sucker Punch Sunday shook his hand, looking nothing like the last pictures he’d seen of the guy on the news. Instead of the gaunt, bruised and out-of-it picture, Brian appeared healthy and happy.

“And this is Carly, and that’s Sammi.”

He shook the other man’s hand, unsure of who he was or how he fit in the shop dynamic.

“Hi, Carly.” He smiled and held his hand out to her.

Dark circles outlined her eyes, despite a light covering of makeup that had been applied to her face. Her arms had track marks from God only knew how many injections. She wore loose sweatpants and a t-shirt of some unknown band.

“Hi,” she said in a voice that was almost swallowed by the rising noise in the warehouse.

“Have a seat. Make some room, guys.” He took Kellie’s elbow and guided her to sit with him on the second row, leaving the first for Carly’s wheelchair, Brian and Pandora, who hovered like parents with their firstborn.

The guys squeezed and rearranged themselves until they fit. He put his hand over Kellie’s where she gripped the edge of the bench.

“Natalie able to be there?”

She shook her head. “No, one of the other nurses was. Natalie’s having some really bad morning sickness. She’s just got a few days left anyway.”