Permanent (Indelibly Marked) (Volume 1) (13 page)

She didn’t respond.

“Or is it for work?” He dug his heel into the soft grass to see better.

“These are your current books for the month.” She held up the spreadsheet. “This is for the audit.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a notebook.

“May I see?”

Lindsay handed him the binder and he leafed through the tabs with both confusion and wonderment. A ton of work went into it. Since the day of the kiss at the theatre, he knew he wanted her. She incited something in him, but witnessing the time and effort she put into his cause, he knew he cared for her. What did that mean? He’d never experienced such a feeling before. While unexpected, it was definitely not unwanted.

“This is incredible.”

“Thankfully they’re only going back a year.”

“Is this going to be bad?” The mere thought of the audit made his blood chill, but on the bright side she was talking to him.

“An audit is not necessarily a bad thing. All it’s asking is that you prove what you submitted to the IRS.”

“Really? Every audit I’ve ever heard of ended in financial ruin.”

A tiny smile graced her face. “That’s probably because every audit you’ve ever heard of has been on television or in the movies.”

“That’s true.” He laughed and it was a small release. “No one ever explained it like that.”

“No one likes talking about it.” She held up the other report. “I’m setting everything up so you will never have to worry about your records again if you keep with the system, and I have a budget for you. All you have to do is follow it and keep records. Everything will be fine.”

He tore his eyes away from Lindsay and looked up, expecting to see an anvil falling on his head, though her comment struck him just as hard. She was getting everything set up? Keeping with the system? Everything will be fine? “Lindsay?”

“Here’s your report for this month.” Her hand trembled as she held out the spreadsheet. “I think I have done everything I can.”

He grabbed the papers out of her hand, crumpled them up and threw them aside. “I don’t give a crap about this.” He shut the notebook and tossed it as well. Were the affairs of one lowly tattoo parlor not up to her standards? He did nothing to warrant her walking away.

 “I think you should. These are your finances.” With no reaction to his outburst, she put her book aside and knelt to retrieve her work.

Before she scrambled away, he caught her arm. “Listen to me, I don’t care about it!”

“How can you say that?”

“If you don’t do it, I don’t want it done.” In need of a true answer, he reached up, moving her sunglasses down her nose. Her red-rimmed eyes told a different story than her words and actions.

“What?” She tried to pull back and reach for her precious documents.

“Only you.” He kicked it further away and stared into those baby blues. “No set up to transfer to me or some hack. It’s you, or don’t waste your time. It has to be you, don’t you get it?”

She tried to break eye contact but he wouldn’t allow it.

“Tell me what I did to piss you off like this?” He pulled her closer. Maybe it was everything he didn’t do, like kiss her.

Her lower lip quivered and her eyes glazed over.

“What is it, Lindsay?”

She pulled her sunglasses down. “You know, I have a lot of work to do. You don’t know the mess this all is.”

“But you’re going to do it?” He kept hold of her.

She nodded.

“I don’t want another accountant.” That point needed to be made perfectly clear. “I only want you.”

She swallowed, her muscles relaxed. “Maybe you could find some inspiration in the setting for your drawing.”

Something told him not to push her, but he watched her demeanor change right in front of his eyes as she put her back up against the tree and opened her book. Before she began reading, she even gave him a weak but genuine smile.

He gathered up the notebook and put it by her side and then crawled over and rescued the paper he balled up and tried to straighten it out. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s all right. I have it on the computer.” She put the papers in her book. “There’s just something about hard copies.”

He moved closer, taking the time to watch her again. Something made her insecure or uncomfortable and he needed to know what. With a sigh he settled down, flipped the pad open, found the black pencil and studied her profile.

Her looks were almost old world classic, except for her stick straight hair and precision cut bangs he could have dressed her in a period costume and she would have fit right in with her gracefully sloping petite nose and lips that were plumped and red without a touch of lipstick. In fact her profile was perfect enough to make a gorgeous tattoo, and he started to draw.

“Shane?”

“Hold on.” He glanced up to see the red glow radiating from her cheeks and wanted to make sure he got the color just right. When he added his touch he reached forward and removed her sunglasses again. “Do you mind?”

“What are you doing?” She leaned over to get a peek.

“What you told me to.” He tilted the pad out of her line of sight and took in the color of her eyes. No pencil matched that incredible color. In an attempt to return things between them to normal, he purposely let his eyes travel up and down her form. “Getting inspiration.” When the red on her cheeks deepened, he grabbed his pencil again making sure he recorded the shade. It was priceless.

*~*~*

Still dressed in her entire riding ensemble, Lindsay entered one of Ivan’s favorite Mexican restaurants with Shane and everyone else.

“Now isn’t this perfect after a day out on horses?” Ivan led them through the booths and tables.

Decorated like a true fiesta, the restaurant was large, colorful and accented with blaring mariachi music. Lindsay stopped feeling self-conscious about her attire once she saw the eclectic mix of patrons in the restaurant. It may have been more diverse mix than even the Urgent Care waiting room.

All thoughts of her outfit vanished when Shane took hold of her hand. This was not one of his run of the mill hand holds. Normally, he would grip her arm, or put his hand on her back, or steer her by her shoulder. Even though she wasn’t versed, it seemed like a one hundred percent hand hold, complete with the tangling of their fingers. Her heart soared and she swore she saw it leap and fly around the room, but the sensation became quickly dulled. She needed to apologize. He didn’t know why she’d treated him horribly.

Without letting go, he managed to get the two of them seated at one end of the table. The guys started talking and Lindsay was thankful she didn’t have to speak for the moment.

She didn’t have enough columns in her ledger to sort out her thoughts. The mixed messages were endless, nothing was black and white. This wasn’t an area she knew anything about. She just wished to go back to Shane’s books. After the scene by the tree, she’d tried to calm down, not read more into his words than what was truly spoken. But when he wrapped his arms around her waist for the entire ride back, her whole body lit on fire. Something had definitely changed between them.

Two waitresses placed baskets of chips and stone bowls of guacamole on the table. They also put a bucket full of bottles of beer and soda in the center.

Her mouth watered at the sight of the ice cold beer with that sparkling drop of moisture running down the bottle. When she was young, her father let her take sips of his beer when her mother wasn’t looking.

But she couldn’t have one memory without the other, and a flash of her twenty-first birthday pushed into her mind. She could still feel the excitement when she and a friend from college went to a bar after being invited by a gorgeous guy. He was one of the more alternative people at school, and always wanting to be part of that group, she eagerly went. She hoped her birthday would give her some luck with her love life. It wasn’t until the next day when the beer goggles were removed that she realized the guy only wanted help studying for a test. And that was one of her best relationships. She reached for a soda.

“Please, allow me.” Shane took the bottle and frowned as he opened it. He poured some in a glass and pushed it toward her and then took a sip from it. Then he opened his beer, took a second glass and poured some and then moved that next to hers. “Why don’t we share?” He lifted the beer bottle, tilting it toward her.

“Okay.” She tapped her glass against his and they drank. As the golden liquid rolled over her tongue, she shut her eyes letting it cool the heat that seemed to be generating from everywhere within.

“Remind me to stock both our fridges with imported beer.” He took another long gulp.

She held her breath when he leaned in to her ear but they were interrupted by Ivan.

“Hey.” He hit Shane’s arm.

Shane growled and turned. “What?”

A man talking to her and holding her hand shouldn’t turn her into a pile of mush, but she felt as if she had no bones in her body. Then she studied Shane’s arm. The image of the painter’s palate and brushes were facing her and she took her free hand and ran her finger across the tattoo. She knew why he had that one. Shane was truly an artist, and she wondered if all of his tattoos told a story.

She felt him shudder at her touch and raised her eyes, gasping when he stared at her, his gaze intense and hungry.

“I want to dance.” He tightened his grip around her hand and stood, taking her with him.

Never having danced with a man before, she froze, trying to implant her feet to the floor. Once Shane tried to do any dance move she would fall, or worse. She just knew it.

“We were talking.” Ivan waved his hand.

“We’re done.” Shane called back.

She almost stumbled, and feared it was a bad omen.

“Come on.” He smiled. “We’re dancing.”

“To mariachi music?”

“They’re playing our song.” His eyes shined as he led her to the center of the dance floor and took hold of her. Any impression she had about mariachi music flew out of her mind.

Almost in slow motion, Shane put his arms around her waist, pulled her closer and swayed them back and forth.

She held her breath. Yes, he’d held her before, many times. She even threw herself into his arms, but the dance seemed different. But maybe she read too much into his actions. Closer than normal, the length of their bodies touched, and his muscles pressed against her. She gathered her courage and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I only know how to slow dance,” he confessed.

“This isn’t a slow song.” She barely heard the music.

Shane moved his head back and gazed into her face. “I think it just depends on who you’re with.”

She was sure he could feel her heart pounding against his chest. “I’m sorry about this afternoon.”

“I accept and I raise you an apology.”

“For what?”

He shrugged and winked. “Can’t have you being mad at me.”

“Yeah, you definitely don’t want your business manager angry, think of the damage I could do.”

“I’m not worried about business.” His focus traveled over her face.

She could see his eyes stopping on certain parts, as if he were trying to take her all in and she tried to remember to breathe.

“Do me a favor.” His eyes returned to hers. “If you feel the need to try to pawn me off again, please tell me what I did before you walk away.”

Thankfully, he wasn’t going to force an explanation for her awful behavior. She nodded. “I promise.”

“Maybe the dealings of one small Hollywood tattoo shop seems sort of ghetto to you.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I never thought that.”

“It’s got to be a step down for a big corporate accountant.”

She’d wanted him and everyone else to see her as an up and coming executive, but not like that. She shook her head.

“Are you sure?”

“I don’t waste my time doing ghetto things.” She smiled.

“Good.” Shane nodded and they danced. Rather than looking at her, he held her tight against him with his hand on the back of her head. “You know today would have been better if it was just the two of us.”

“What?” Maybe she didn’t hear him correctly.

“You’re coming to the shop after work tomorrow, right?” He lowered his face into the crook of her neck.

“I… I…” She closed her eyes as he moved her hair back, his lips grazing her ear. “Yes.”

“Perfect.” The vibrations of his lips on her skin sent shivers everywhere.

Her hand found its way to a bit of hair hanging around his collar and she smiled. That little lock apparently escaped his gel fortification and was soft and supple. Without thinking she twirled the piece around her finger. Shane leaned into her, made a noise and rubbed her back.

She melted into him. “I am really sorry about today.”

“We’re making up.” He gave her a light kiss on the juncture between her neck and shoulder.

“Oh.” Tingles of electricity shot through her and she gripped him for support. She shouldn’t enjoy it so much, not with Shane, but it could only be with Shane.

“Linds.” His lips trailed up to her jaw.

She twisted his shirt in her hands, matching the twirl in her stomach. Everything disappeared around them. They weren’t in a huge Mexican restaurant slow dancing to mariachi party music, they were alone in the darkness and she turned her face to him.

“Dude.” Ivan hit Shane in the shoulder.

Shane tripped, nearly knocking them both over.

She braced to hit the ground, but he caught her.

“What the hell?” He righted them both.

Ivan yanked his arm. “You have to come over here.”

“I’m in the middle of something.” Shane took her hand.

“Oh my.” She stared down at the concrete floor not sure if relief or horror overtook her.

“Yeah, well this is better.” Ivan pointed behind him. “Hugh and Stubbs are here and they brought Angie. They want to talk to you.”

Lindsay blinked, waking from a dream. Two tattooed men and a voluptuous young woman waved from a table.

“Damn it.” Shane leaned over to her. “I apprenticed under Hugh, and Ivan worked with Stubbs.”

His teacher. She knew the importance of the man. Every day she watched Shane and Carson. An apprenticeship was a unique relationship. “I want them to meet you.”