Inked in the Steel City Series (2 page)

Karen shrugged. “OK, he’s got the hots for you and is probably thinking about how to get into your pants right now. That grown-up enough for you?”

Mina snorted, pretending indifference as Karen’s proclamation sparked a flood of very grown-up, very vivid thoughts. “Come on. I’m going to be late.” She quickened her pace as they rounded the corner and a parking garage came into view. “Jess will be waiting for me.”

****

“Mina, I finally found it!” Jess seized her backpack from where it hung on the back of her wheelchair and began to rummage through it enthusiastically as Mina closed the apartment door.

“Found what?”

“The perfect dress,” Jess said, thumbing breathlessly through a dog-eared catalogue.

“Let’s see.” Mina leaned over Jess’s shoulder as she opened the magazine to a specific page and pointed to a teenaged model wearing a purple gown. “It’s beautiful.”

“I know,” Jess said, clutching the catalogue to her chest. “Mina, do you think we could… I mean, I don’t know how much it costs, but do you think we could check?” She gazed up at Mina hopefully, her dark eyes shining. Eye color was where the two girls’ similarities ended. Jess’s hair was honey-blond like their mother’s. She and Mina had been born ten years apart to different fathers – Mina’s Korean-American and Jess’s Caucasian. Most people didn’t even realize they were sisters at first, though Mina felt closer to Jess than any other person on the planet. Although Jess was confined to a wheelchair, she was as vivacious as they came. In comparison, Mina was more reserved, but the ten year age difference and the fact that Mina was completely responsible for her younger sister easily explained that dissimilarity.  

“Is there a website where we can do a price check?”

Jess nodded, pointing to a URL printed at the bottom of the page.

Within minutes, Mina had pulled up the dress in an online store, using the computer that sat in one corner of their living room, which was just large enough for Jess to navigate in her chair. Her stomach dropped as she eyed the price. It cost almost as much as a month’s rent.

Jess sat unusually still and quiet in her chair, her eyes darting between the screen and Mina’s face as she awaited the verdict.

Mina suppressed a sigh. Jess had been chattering about the homecoming dance ever since school had started in August, anxiously anticipating the event, which was now only weeks away. She already had a date. Mina was the head of the household, but she was still only twenty-four and she vividly remembered being fourteen and in high school. She knew exactly what it was like to pour over the teen dress catalogues with a group of girlfriends, oohing and ahhing over all the pretty gowns. She also knew what it was like to watch her friends choose their gowns one by one and to be left out. Her mother hadn’t been able to afford a dress for her, and hadn’t wasted any tears over the fact. Mina hadn’t been able to turn to her dad and beg like several of her friends had, thanks to the fact that her father had disappeared when she’d been a toddler. She’d never gone to any of her own high school dances. “What size do you wear again?”

If Jess wasn’t going to let the fact that she couldn’t walk stop her from attending the dance, Mina sure as hell wasn’t going to let lack of money ruin it for her.

Jess’s eyes widened. “You mean I can get it?” The magazine crackled as she gripped it tightly, wringing the pages in her excitement.

“Sure do.”

Jess threw her arms around Mina’s waist. “You’re the best!”

Mina tried to smile and wince at the same time and ended up grimacing. “Thanks, but you’re hurting me.”

“Oh, sorry!” Jess exclaimed, quickly unhanding her. “I forgot about your new tattoo.”

“That’s all right. Are you sure this is the dress you want?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’re going to have it.”

****

Eric carefully removed the last of the excess ink from her skin, wiping away a stream of it before setting the towel aside. “OK. We’re finally done.”

Mina sat up slowly, clutching the cover she held over her chest and eyeing her reflection in the large mirror that took up all of one of the booth’s walls. Eric looked too, and she was careful not to meet his eyes in the mirror. His gaze was arresting, and she knew that she wouldn’t be able to look away if she made eye contact. She’d come to the shop several days a week for a week and a half and had spent hours lying on her side in the reclining chair as Eric filled out the ornate design that stretched from just below her shoulder to her hip.

“What do you think? Are you happy with it?”

She couldn’t deny the pull of his gaze any longer. Lifting her head, she looked at his reflection in the mirror. “It’s perfect.”

He smiled. “Great. I think it turned out beautifully too. Is your friend still planning on taking those photos?”

Mina nodded.  “You’d need a small army to stop her.” Once Karen decided that she wanted to photograph something, denying her was like stopping a freight train.

He laughed and began to clean the tattoo, preparing a bandage. “I can’t wait to see them.”

Mina’s stomach fluttered nervously as he finished applying the bandage and left the booth, granting her privacy to drop the cover she clutched over her chest and pull on her top. She went braless – the fresh tattoo scrolling across her ribs left her no choice – and quickly pulled on her jacket, zipping it to the neck. Her heart sunk a little as she stepped out of the booth, closing the half-door behind herself. She’d grown used to stopping by the shop most afternoons. In fact, knowing that she’d see Eric had been what had pulled her through her work days, allowing her to remain positive despite the fact that she had to work in close proximity to her new bitch of a coworker.

“Thanks again,” he said, extending a hand. He’d removed his gloves and his skin was warm and slightly rough against Mina’s as she took it. “I’m glad you came to me for this tattoo.”

She found herself nodding as she shook his hand, locked in eye contact. She was close enough to see that his eyes weren’t just one shade of blue, but a dozen different hues, ranging from pale grey to a deep azure, the different colors arranged in striations that blended together at a distance. She found herself wanting to lean closer, to look until she could see the reflection of her own eyes in his irises and their lips brushed. She didn’t, of course, but her heart picked up speed at just the thought. “See ya.” It was a lame thing to say, but what else was there? The tattoo was done and she wouldn’t be spending her afternoons with him anymore.

He dropped her hand and she turned, picking up her purse from where it rested on the half wall that sectioned off the booth.

“Hey.”

She turned as she slung her bag over her shoulder, her breath catching a little as she met his eyes again. “Yeah?”

“I have about an hour before my next appointment. Want to get a cup of coffee?”

For the first time that day, she felt a little lightheaded, as if she’d sat up too quickly after the tattoo session. “I don’t have much time.” She bit the inside of her lip, shooting a glance at the clock on the wall. Jess’s art club meeting would end in forty-five minutes and her high school was a twenty minute drive from the tattoo studio.

“There’s a place right across the street,” Eric offered, his blue eyes clear and inviting. His biceps strained his sleeves as he shifted his stance and Mina found herself wondering what might be inked across them – she was sure there was
something
. There had to be. Whoever heard of a tattoo artist with no tattoos? If his looked half as perfect as the rest of him, they had to be amazing.

“OK.” She smiled tentatively and her nerves buzzed as he took a step forward, coming within a hairsbreadth of invading her personal space.

“Let me grab my jacket.” He took a few long strides forward and plucked a simple black jacket from a hook in the lobby, then slipped into it, placing yet another layer of concealing clothing over his tempting biceps and whatever designs might be inked across them.

They passed a couple people languishing on a comfortable couch, perhaps waiting for appointments, and Eric held the door open for Mina. She flashed him a small smile as she stepped out into the chilly fall air. A gust of wind tossed her loose hair around her neck like a scarf, and her nipples pricked instantly against her shirt. Fortunately, her jacket was thick enough to hide them from Eric. Though he’d spent hours with his hands on her body, this was different. The gloves were gone and he was looking at her – just her – as they started down the sidewalk, walking side by side. She wasn’t his client anymore. She was…well, maybe not his date, exactly. But something like that.

The soles of her boots scuffed against the sidewalk, conspiring with the breeze and scattering leaves to form an awkward symphony. She should say something. But what?

“So, are you from around here?” Eric turned his startlingly blue gaze upon her and her stomach flip-flopped.

“Not originally,” she said, burying her hands in her pockets as much as for something to do as to warm them. “My family moved around a lot when I was a kid.” By family she meant herself, Jess, their mother and whatever boyfriend-of-the-month had been living with them at the time, but there was no need to bring that up. She and Eric were having a quick cup of coffee, not pouring out their life stories over a bottle of expensive wine. Or whatever people drank when they bared their souls to someone else. Presumably, it was alcoholic.

“Oh yeah?”

She nodded. “Originally, I’m from Chicago, though I haven’t lived there since I was about three.” That was when her father had left and her mother had begun the patternless string of relocations that would characterize Mina’s entire childhood. No matter where they’d gone, Mina’s mother had never found happiness, and Mina had lived in the shadow of her discontent, an afterthought in her mother’s constant search for something different. Ironically, she’d made the same poor decisions time after time, perhaps thinking that living in a different city meant she’d finally get different results. “What about you?”

He shrugged. “Been living here my whole life.”

“It’s not so bad here.” Pittsburg wasn’t too big or too small. It was just right, as far as she was concerned.

He nodded. “Not bad at all.”

The rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafted toward Mina on a sudden breeze, mouthwatering. Eric held the café door open for her, and the bite of the wind was replaced by perfectly warmed air and a dozen tempting scents. Her nervousness ebbed as her stomach rumbled lowly. She’d had a snack in the car on her way to the tattoo studio, but that seemed ages ago. The air was laced with the seductive scent of vanilla, and when her turn came to order, she chose a vanilla latte – a perennial favorite that seemed especially appealing on such a cool day.

“How about something to eat?” Eric asked.

Mina eyed the case of baked goods wistfully before shaking her head. “I really don’t have time.” Besides that, she didn’t have the cash to spare. Not if she was going to be able to afford Jess’s homecoming dress. Even the latte was a splurge, but she hadn’t been able to say no to Eric. The coffee would just have to hold her over until after she picked Jess up from school and made it home, where she’d cook dinner.

Her gaze wondered rebelliously toward the display again, and when she finally looked back to the register she saw that Eric had pulled several bills from his wallet.