Rule (28 page)

“Can I help you with something?” 
She wasn’t exactly friendly, more like matter of fact so I started a little
bit.

“I’m just waiting for someone.”

“Well you can have a seat over
there if you’re waiting for a client.”

I tucked my hair behind my ears and
cocked my head to the side and regarded her carefully.  “I’m actually waiting
for Rule.”

Now that she was looking at me I
could see she had really unusual colored eyes, one was dark brown and the other
was a swirl of green and blue.  She gave a really heavy sigh and narrowed her
eyes at me.  “Like I told the other tattoo tramp, Rule is busy.  If you want to
see him you have to have an appointment just like every other client.”

I snickered against my will. 
“Tattoo Tramp?  Is that what you call them?”

She seemed surprised by my
question.  “Yeah.  You have no idea how many poor girls are walking around this
town with stupid lower back tattoos just because they wanted to pull their
pants down for one of the guys.”

“Oh I would totally believe it.”

She leaned her elbows on the
counter and sized me up and down.  “What did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t but then again you didn’t
ask.  I’m Shaw, I’m not a tramp of any persuasion and I don’t have any tattoos
so neither of those things applies to me.”

As soon as I said my name her jaw
dropped open and she shoved off the big leather chair she was sitting on.  Her wicked
colored eyes went wide and she smacked her hands down hard on the marble
surface separating us.

“Holy shit
you’re
Shaw? 
You’re freaking real?   Unbelievable!  Guys Rule’s girl is here and she’s like
an actual girl with an actual brain.  Un-freaking-believable.  The terrible trio
have been talking about you for weeks and I just didn’t believe it but here you
really are.”

Like something out of a movie all
eyes in the shop suddenly swiveled up to where I was standing.  I had spent
plenty of time with Nash and Rowdy over the last few week so they both just
offered up brief “heys” and went back to what they were working on.  Rule’s
look turned my insides out and he gave me a wink before saying something to the
kid he was working on and sitting back to wipe the excess ink off.  The other
three artists stared at me openly which would have made me super uncomfortable
but the blond had sprinted around the counter and was now standing right in
front of me.  She was almost the same height as me but weighed a good thirty
pounds less, somehow though her wild hair made her look taller and it was hard
to believe that loud voice came out of such a tiny package.  She was like a
punk rock pixie.

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve
waited for one of those guys to land a serious girlfriend?  Forever!  Sending
away the ink bunnies has never been as satisfying as it is now and I never ever
would have pegged Rule as the one to go down first.”  She waved a hand over her
shoulder at the opposite side of the shop where the three artists I didn’t know
were working and pointed to each one.  “Bixie, she’s married to a firefighter
so she’s never caused to much fuss with weirdo client stalkers, Mase has an on
and off girlfriend so he can behave but when they’re off he can give Rule a run
for his money in the man-whore department, Jasper, well we call him Jaz keeps
his liaisons all quiet and secret because he’s got ties with the Kings of
Sorrow the local biker club and apparently that’s supposed to be hush-hush so
the bunnies don’t hover around for him too much, but the terrible trio, man oh
man I show those bitches outta here all day every day and even with Rule being
hooked up with you it still seems like that’s my full time job.”

She talked so loud and so fast I
had a hard time tracking everything she was telling me, plus Rule had snapped
off his gloves and was prowling towards me in the way that made my legs go all
gooey.  He moved with a limber ease that was just sexy and confident, also his
hair was starting to grow back in and I liked the near black fuzz covering his
scalp.

“Are you telling my girl stories
Cora?  I told you Shaw’s been around for a long time you aren’t going to be
able to scare her.”  He came around the corner and before I could get myself
all worried about whether it was appropriate to touch him at work he had me all
wound up with his hands in my hair and his mouth slanted across mine.  He
tasted like coffee and peppermint; he also didn’t seem to mind that all eyes
remained on us while he thoroughly devoured me, like we hadn’t seen each other
in weeks rather than just this morning.  He gave his tongue one last flick,
clicking his tongue ring against the back of my teeth.  When he pulled away I’m
sure my eyes were glassy and I was breathing hard.  I cleared my throat and put
a shaky hand on his chest until I regained my composure.  “I’ve got like a half
an hour left are you cool to hangout that long?  You can come chill in the back
and do your school shit or whatever.”  I nodded and took a step back from him. 
He was potent and went to my head fast.

“No stay up here and hangout with
me.  I’m dying to know all about this mystical creature that got you to act
human for once.”

He shot an annoyed glance over his
shoulder at the pixie.  “Shaw this is Cora Lewis.  She’s the shop manager and
our resident body modification expert.”

She wiggled her eyebrows up and
down and gave me a leer.  She twirled a finger in Rule’s direction.  “Since
you’re with this guy I’m sure you’re familiar with my work.”

I choked back a laugh and put a
hand to my mouth as a hot flush worked up Rule’s neck.  “Seriously Cora?”

She shrugged a tiny shoulder. 
“What?  It’s true isn’t it?”

His arctic eyes landed back on me
and the chagrin in them made me laugh out loud.  “She’s from Brooklyn.  None of
us know where Uncle Phil found her and they refuse to tell us but she keeps the
shop running like a well-oiled machine.  Most of us wouldn’t know if we were
coming or going without her.”

“I can stay up here and wait for
you.  I’m hungry though so you need to feed me when you’re done.”

He bent down and put his lips right
next to my ear.  “Oh I’ll feed you when I’m done alright.”

A hot shiver shot through me so I
gave him a heavy lidded look.  “Goody.”  He kissed my cheek and made his way
back to the waiting client.  I shifted my gaze to Cora and blushed when I
noticed she was gaining like a demented Cheshire Cat.

“So it’s like is it?”

I blinked and shifted from foot to
foot.  She grabbed my hand and pulled me around the counter actually shoving me
into another leather chair that was stashed back there.

“Like what?”

She swiveled her chair so we were
facing each other and gave me a level look.  “It’s like all hot and bothered
but sweet and fuzzy too.  I didn’t know the asshat had any of that in him.  You
make him human.”

“That was the second time she had
mentioned something like that but I had to wait until she fielded a couple
phone calls to question her about it.  “What do you mean about that exactly?”

“I’ve worked with Rule for the last
five years.  I was here when he and Nash started their internship right outta high
school.  Phil and I go way back so I’ve known the boys for a while.  I adore
Rule.  I think it’s genetically impossible not to be kind of in love with him
when you come equipped with a vagina.  It’s just something about all that
angsty, moody swagger he has that makes you want to cuddle him up and make him
feel better.”

I knew exactly what she was talking
about so I just nodded in agreement.  “But he’s also arrogant and explosive, he
treats women like crap because too many of them let him get away with it and
for a long time after his brother died I watched him just go through the
motions of living his life the way it was before.  He came to work, he hung out
with is boys, he gave me shit on a daily basis and he screwed his way through
the entire Front Range but he was doing it all locked inside this bubble that
none of us who loved him could get through.  He was cold and unreachable but
then all of a sudden there were cracks and some of the old Rule was showing
through.  The robot version of himself he had been operating from for so long
started to fade and the good ole human Rule was back and I think it has to do
with you.”

“That’s a really nice thing to
say.”

“It’s not nice if it’s the truth. 
So tell me how a vanilla girl like you all virgin skin and no piercings gets
into a guy like Rule.  From first appearances I would never peg him as your
type; you look more Brooks Brothers than Dickies if you know what I mean.”

I twirled a piece of hair around my
finger and watched as she typed a bunch of stuff in the computer.  She was
freakishly efficient and fast and I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk about how sexy
I found Rule with someone that already had intimate knowledge of my boyfriend’s
junk. 

“When he was sixteen he came home
one day with an awful tattoo of a horseshoe and a shamrock on his forearm. 
Phil had given Nash a tattoo machine and some ink for his sixteenth birthday
and instead of trying to learn on pigs or melons they decided that they would
try to learn on each other.  Both of them were always really gifted
artistically.  Nash was more into street art and graffiti type stuff where Rule
just fiddled around with it and happened to learn he had some real talent.  Anyway
I was over at his house and I don’t know if you ever got a chance to meet Remy
but identical doesn’t even come close to how those two looked.  The same eyes,
the same dark hair, the same innate sense that they were out of this world good
looking but Rule came home with that terrible tattoo and suddenly he was a new
guy.  He claimed his skin as his own, made the mark to define who he was and
how he was different from Remy and it was just beautiful how much he loved what
changing his outer appearance did for his inner sense of self.  He’s always
been a babe but when he started to customize the hotness it just made it better
and better.  Without all the tattoos and piercings he just wouldn’t be Rule.”

“And what about you?  You’re not
into any of it?”

“I don’t really know.  I had really
particular parents growing up and if I had come home with a tattoo or any kind
of extreme piercing they would have grounded me until graduation so I never
even thought about it.”

“How old are you now?”

“I just turned twenty.”

“You still live at home?”

“Nope.”

“Then shouldn’t you be allowed to
do whatever you want with your body without fear of their reaction?”

I sighed and swiveled my chair back
and forth.  “Yeah.  I’ve actually been thinking about getting a little something
done.”

“A tattoo?  You know Rule would
give you something beautiful especially since he’s the one that would have to
look at it all the time.”

We shared a laugh that had the guys
in the shop looking at us curiously.

“No I was thinking about getting my
nipples pierced.”  I wasn’t normally so open but I figured since she did it for
a living it was kind of like talking to a doctor about a health problem.  Her
unusual colored eyed widened and she gave me a huge grin.

“That’s super-hot.”

I shrugged and continued to twirl
my hair.  “I like the way it looks and like you said I’m familiar with your
work so I know it can be awesome I just don’t know that I’m ready for something
so extreme.”

“They take a bit to heal but when
they do it’s amazing.  If you decide to go through with it let me know and I’ll
do it for you for free, I’ll just charge you for the jewelry.”

“Well Rule’s birthday is next month
so if I do it it’ll be before then.”

She clapped her hands together and
giggled like a little girl.  She was kind of crazy but I think I liked her.  I
had always had such a hard time making friends and just being at ease around
new people it was a testament to all the positive ways Rule was influencing me
that I could talk with this wacky girl with no reservations or inhibitions.

“Oh a sexy surprise I just love
that idea.  Like I said just let me know and we can work something out, I like
seeing my boys happy and doing right by a good girl.”

“Thanks, I think.”

We chatted easily for another hour
because whatever Rule was working on was taking him longer than he thought.  I
watched her process out the clients that were finished getting their designs
done and watched her help a few people come in that had questions and were
interested in setting up consultations.  She chased off another girl that came
in looking for Rowdy this time and by the time Rule walked up to the counter
with his freshly bandaged canvas I felt like I had made a new friend.  She was
sarcastic and witty as hell but her insights into the way my guy’s head worked
was clear and coming from a different perspective than I had ever heard before.

Rule’s client looked like he was
barely old enough to drive but he was sporting some major artwork and had his
entire upper arm wrapped up and shiny with ink and salve.  I didn’t miss the
appreciative look he gave me as he was walking out and apparently neither did
Rule.  He flicked the kid in the back of the head and told him that if he
wanted his sleeve finished he better keep his eyes to himself.  He told me to
give him just ten more minutes so he could clean up his station and then we
could go.  I watched him walk away and noticed that the female client Nash was
working on and the young girl that the artist they called Mase was working on
both did the same thing.  Cora was right, it was just some kind of magnetic
pull he had over the opposite sex and as long as I was with him I was just
going to have to learn to deal with it.

He moved quick and came back to
collect me in no time at all.  He handed Cora a bank bag and hollered out
goodbye to no one in particular and pulled me out with him into the now frigid
evening air.  I shivered involuntarily and huddled into his side while he
adjusted the hood of his sweatshirt over his still mostly naked head and shoved
his arms through the sleeves of a black mechanic style work coat that had the
tattoo shop’s logo and name embroidered in a bright design on the back.