Just like that he’s gone and embarrassment courses through my body as I watch him walk toward the back. He stops at the station off to the left and takes a seat on his stool in front of the tattoo chair. He starts digging through his drawer and pauses to look up. “Bring that binder over here so I can see what you picked.” He seems so sure I would pick something from there instead of off one of the walls. Surprisingly, he’s right.

Running my hand over my cheek to be sure there isn’t any spaghetti left, I bend over and reach for the binder and the rest of the crap needed to get started. I turn and head over to the station he’s at and take a seat in the black leather chair.

He reaches out his hand. “Let me see your I.D.”

I place it in his hand and lean back into the chair, opening the binder again to take a second look. My nerves are really starting to kick in now. “I haven’t really decided for sure which tattoo I want.”

I flip the page and my eyes set on a peacock with blue, green and purple feathers. The peacock has its neck curved, with its tail fanned out behind its body, proudly showing off the beautiful feathers. “Wow! That’s really beautiful.”

He leans over my shoulder to look. “Where do you want it? Your shoulder? Your leg? Your side? Do you have a certain spot?” His eyes meet mine and I nod causing him to scowl before looking back down at the tattoo. “I can tell you now it’s going to hurt like a bitch no matter where you put it. That’s not a very small tattoo. It’s pretty big for a virgin. Are you sure that you can handle it?”

“How do you know I’m a virgin?” I shut the binder and set it down on the table as he arches an eyebrow. “Never mind, forget I asked. I’m sure I can handle it.” I snatch my I.D back and shove it in my purse. Aggravated, I point to my left ribcage, right below my breast. “Just do it here, please.”

“Okay, as long as you keep in mind I’ve already warned you of the pain I’m about to cause.”

He turns around and pulls the kit and ink out of the drawer, along with a pair of black latex gloves that he pulls onto his hands. It takes him a few minutes to set up all the inks, open the needle and load the gun with the first ink.

In the meantime, I can’t help but to keep checking the time wondering when the hell Kade is going to show up. Maybe I do need him after all. I mean this guy is hot, sexy, gorgeous and every other word you can find to describe something so damn beautiful, but he’s not a very pleasant person to converse with and he has my nerves running wild like a loose electrical wire.

“Take your shirt off,” he demands.

My body clenches, catching me off guard. “Excuse me?” I look up at him as he is getting some paper towels in his hands. “Usually when a man wants me to take my shirt off, he asks a little nicer.”

“That’s because he wants it off for a different reason than I do.” He plays with the tattoo gun a bit, tightening a few things before messing with the pedal by his foot. “Can we just get this done please?” He looks defeated and lifeless refusing to look up at me.

I can’t help it, but I’m starting to get a little angry now. I don’t really understand why he is so angry with the world. Some people would’ve killed to be doing what he’s doing now. Adric only dreamt of being in this guy’s position. “Can you stop being so rude please?” I plaster on a fake smile just to piss him off.

He squeezes his eyes shut and takes a deep breath as if just now realizing what he’s doing. “Listen, I’m sorry. I have a lot on my mind. Will you please take your shirt off?”

I take a deep breath, sit up and pull my shirt over my head, while thinking to myself how lucky I am that I wore my new lacy bra instead of that old comfortable one that looks hideous on me. “That’s better. All you had to do was ask nicely.”

My eyes land on his and this time he doesn’t pull them away. He rolls closer so we’re face to face. Then his hand reaches out, his fingertips brushing mine as he grabs my shirt out of my hand and tosses it behind him on the glass display, his eyes never leaving mine. “That works for me. Usually I don’t have to ask.” He pulls some kind of lever on the chair so it’s lying flat like a bed now. “Lie down and roll over on your side.”

He’s getting awfully demanding now, almost making me feel as if he really thinks that he’s about to pop my cherry. Who is this guy? “You’re pretty demanding for not even knowing me,” I grumble.

He looks down at me as if he knows something I don’t. That look like he can see through my soul. It makes my heartbeat quicken and I can’t seem to stop my eyes from searching his whole body, trying to figure him out. From the way his chest is moving against his tight shirt, his heart has to be beating just as fast as mine.

The more that I study him, the more he feels so familiar. Those beautiful eyes, gorgeous full lips, perfectly arched eyebrows and deep set dimples. I know them all, each one. I used to study them by day and dream about them by night. I can’t be wrong.

I scoot forward on the edge of the chair so our faces are almost touching. I can feel his heavy breathing on my face as he looks me dead in the eye. That’s when I notice the scar on his face. It wasn’t there before, but still somehow, I know that my body can’t be lying to me. “Wait a minute, I know you.” I reach up and run my finger over the scar through his eyebrow, unable to fight the need to touch him, to see if maybe my mind is just deceiving me. “No. It can’t be,” I whisper mostly to myself while studying him. “Is it really you?”

His nose flares and he stands up and takes a step back, but doesn’t say a word to confirm my suspicion.

I stand up as well and we both must be in a daze, because we both stand there, not moving until I hear Kade’s voice from behind me causing me to turn.

“Hey, looks like I made it in . . . “

His words trail off as his eyes land on me and then the man that seems to be taking my breath away at the moment. He walks forward, his jaw clenching and before I can see it coming, he swings out and punches the guy in the jaw, his fist connecting hard.

“What the f**k, Kade!” I scream in utter shock.

The guy just stands there, his eyes darken, never leaving Kade’s. He clenches his jaw and tightens his fist by his side. His voice comes out tight. “It’s nice to see you too little brother.”