Skin Deep

By J.M. Stone

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Copyright ©2013 by J.M. Stone

Cover Design by J.M. Stone

Cover Image CopyRight ©Jeff
Thrower/Shutterstock.com

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Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This book is licensed for your personal
enjoyment. Ebook copies may not be resold or given away to other
people. If you would like to share with a friend, please buy an
extra copy, and thank you for respecting the author’s work.

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All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or
any information storage and retrieval system without the prior
written consent from the publisher, except in the instance of
quotes for reviews. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded,
or distributed via the internet without the publisher’s permission
and is a violation of the International copyright law, which
subjects the violator to severe fines and imprisonment.

This is a work of fiction. The names,
characters, incidents, and places are products of the author’s
imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to
persons, living or dead, or actual events are entirely
coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or
named features are assumed to be the property of their respective
owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied
endorsement if any of these terms are used.

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Table of Contents:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Author’s Note

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Dedication

To all the dreamers who ever wanted to
accomplish something, and had the courage to do it. And to Jenn, my
number one cheerleader (and ESIL).

Chapter One

“Oh my good…glory be to…Lord love a…sweet
baby Jesus…” I breathed.

Allie quirked a brow at me and nudged me with
her elbow. “Wanna close your mouth, sweetie? And how many old
adages can you cram into one sentence, anyway?” she snorted.

Allie is my best friend, and has been since
grade school, but she could be my worst enemy, too. Especially at
times like this. She’s an olive skinned beauty, topping out at five
foot two, with short, thick black hair, currently highlighted with
purple and cut in a pixie-ish way. She has shockingly bright blue
eyes that dance with mischief, and she is feisty as hell. To top
off all that cuteness? She’s built like a brick shithouse, which
for one, isn’t fair, and two, who came up with that saying,
anyway?

I shook myself out of my stupor as Allie
laughed quietly at my side. What? I mean, come on, when faced with
a stack of deliciousness like the one standing not fifteen feet
from me, wouldn’t you be a little…I don’t know, drooly?

Allie grabbed my arm and started dragging me
further into the shop towards the counter. I started dragging my
feet and fighting her, just then remembering why I wasn’t happy
with her in the first place.

“Allie, I told you, I am
not
getting a
tattoo! I promised you that I would come watch while you got your
tongue, or toe, or whatever weird part of your body you decided on,
pierced, but that’s it!” I tried to remove my arm from her grasp,
which tightened as she dug her fingertips into me, but ended up
just looking like a petulant child throwing a temper tantrum.

I drew up short when I realized that we had
an audience. That stack of deliciousness I mentioned? Yeah. Staring
at us. Smirking. Oh. My. God. I stopped struggling with Allie and
she let go of my arm. I smoothed down my shirt, which had started
riding up during my struggles, and cleared my throat. Allie rolled
her eyes and continued walking to the counter, leaving me
behind.

“ My friend here, er, well, there…,” Allie
looked over her shoulder at me and jerked her head in my direction,
“she wants to get a tattoo.” That stack of deliciousness glanced my
way and gave me a small wink. (Whoa!) “But, she’s kind of
scared.”

I bristled a bit at that. What? Scared? Me?
Pshaw…ok, yeah. I was. What of it? I mean, who really wants to
spend, like,
hours
with someone digging sharp pointy things
that buzz rather loudly into their skin?

“Aw, sugar, don’t be scared,” the stack of
deliciousness said. “Why don’t you come on up here with me and pick
something out? I’ll do you myself, and I promise, I’ll be
gentle.”

Whoa. Talk about a double entendre…

Stack of deliciousness had a voice that was
smooth as silk and rich as sin. And Lord, those eyes of his!
Intense smoky, blue-grey eyes stared at me from under a shock of
unruly black hair that swept down over his right eye. He was
wearing a black, long sleeved t-shirt with the sleeves pushed up to
his elbows. I could see black swirls of ink on both of his arms,
but couldn’t make out any specific designs without moving closer.
He had a silver ring piercing his left lower lip, which made me
unconsciously trace the tip of my tongue over my own lip. Which
made him quirk his eyebrow at me. Ooh.

I noticed Allie looking pointedly in my
direction before swinging her attention back to Stack. “So, yeah,
Emma’s going to come up here and pick something out, but until she
actually moves her ass, I’d like to see about getting my tongue
pierced. Do you do those, too?

Stack glanced at Allie. “Yeah, we do that.
Brandon is free right now, too, so I’ll get you set up with him and
then see what we can do about green eyes over there.” He sent a
look in my direction that dared me to come closer. Then he looked
back at Allie and handed her some paperwork to fill out. “Just
answer those questions honestly, please, and then sign and date at
the bottom.” Looking back to me, he asked, “So, sugar, you just
gonna stand there all day?”

I took a deep breath and decided that I
couldn’t back down from the challenge in his eyes. I mentally
coached myself that I wasn’t scared, that I could do this. (I was
so lying to myself) I held my head high and started to make my way
through the lobby/waiting area towards the counter. Which was a
Bad. Idea. Apparently, I shouldn’t have held my head so high, and
instead should have watched where I was going. Maybe then I would
have noticed the small, low table sitting beside a comfy looking
black, leather couch. But I didn’t, so in the next instant, my shin
caught the edge of the table, which unbalanced me, and I face
planted into the floor. Ouch.

Okay, so anyone who knows me knows that I am
not graceful at all. That’s why they call me Grace. Well, not
really…just when I fall. Which is, ironically, a lot, seeing as how
I can barely stand steady on my own two feet, let alone walk
straight! And that’s why I’m now laying face first in silent
mortification in the middle of a tattoo parlor floor, listening to
Allie shrieking my name, and what sounded like a herd of elephants
running towards me.

Strong hands grabbed me and started to turn
me over and help me sit up. Allie, standing behind Stack (ohmigod!
he’s touching me!) gasps and covers her mouth with her hand in
shock.

“Emma, you’re bleeding,” she whispers.

I put my hand up to my face and gingerly
started to poke around, trying to determine the origin of said
blood. Stack grabbed my hand, pulling it quickly from my face. I
looked up (and I mean UP! He‘s gotta be at least six foot three!)
at him in confusion.

“Sugar, you busted your lip when you fell.
C’mon, lets go back here and get you cleaned up.” Stack led me past
the counter to the back area and into a spacious room that
surprisingly reminded me of a cross between a dentist’s office and
a hospital. The walls were a deep burgundy with black and white
accents, and one whole wall was taken up by photos of what I
assumed to be tattoos that he had done.

As Stack moved about the room gathering
things to doctor me with, Allie sat beside me on the dentist’s
chair (what else would it be called?) and tried not to laugh. I
shot her a glare, daring her to giggle, just once.

At that moment, both Allie and I gaped at the
doorway where another stack of deliciousness now stood. He looked
like Stack, was built like Stack, with the same color hair and
those intense smoky, blue-grey eyes, but while Stack’s hair was
longish, this new Stack’s hair was closely cropped to his head, and
he had a scruffy kind of five o’clock shadow going on.

“Luke, there’s a client sheet up front on the
counter for an Allison McCormick to get a tongue piercing done. But
no Allison. Where’d she go?”

Stack (Luke apparently?) grinned at New Stack
and waved his hand at Allie. “That’s Allison, Brandon, and this,”
looking over to me, “is Emma. Right?” I nodded. “Emma decided she
was falling for me and busted her lip.” He smiled slyly and winked
at me.

Brandon looked over grinning and, noticing
the blood on my lip said, “ Ouch! Damn, that sucks.” He then
glanced over to Allie and asked her if she was ready. Allie nodded
and started to get up off the chair.

As she leaned past me, I whispered, “Close
your mouth and wipe your chin. Geez, McCormick.” She shot me a
dirty look and walked out with Brandon.

It was then that it hit me. I was alone. With
Stack. Er, Luke. I looked up as he moved close to me and lightly
grasped my chin in his hand. God, his touch was electric…He put a
cool moist cloth against my lip and dabbed at the blood still
slowly welling from the shallow gash. I winced at the sting and
sighed.

“Um, thanks for helping me, and sorry…for
that..this…” I waved my hand vaguely as I raised my eyes to his and
watched as he slowly smiled.

“No problem. It doesn’t look too bad, just
split it a little bit. I’m Luke, by the way,” he said.

“I’m Emma,” I replied.

“Well, Emma, you ready to get inked?” Luke
asked, then winked.

I blushed and nodded my head slightly. He
helped me up off the chair and we walked out to the counter again
so I could look through the books. I had had an idea of what I
might want, in the event that I was not able to talk Allie out of
her “let’s tattoo Emma” idea, so I didn’t think I would even need
to look at them.

“I want just a few small stars,” I pointed
behind my ear on my left side, “here. Nothing big, nothing fancy.
But before I do this, I need to know how bad its going to hurt.” I
was serious. I’ve never had a tattoo before and I am not fond of
needles or pain in any shape or form. Except maybe a little pain in
the bed…never mind. I digress.

Luke smiled and nodded. “We really don’t need
to even look in the books then. Here, give me a sec and I’ll draw
something up real quick.” He reached behind him to grab a pad of
drawing paper.

As Luke started sketching out an idea for my
tattoo, I heard Allie squeal somewhere in the back and then
footsteps running towards me. I turned around in time to see her
bounce to a stop in front of me, grinning from ear to ear. “Well?”
I asked her, waiting for her to show me whatever body modification
she’d decided on.

She gingerly opened her mouth up and stuck
her tongue out. Sure enough, there was a gleaming silver stud stuck
in her tongue. She slowly pulled her tongue back in her mouth and
smiled at me.

“Did it hurt?” I asked her, nonchalantly,
figuring that if that hurt really bad, then a tattoo is going to be
worse, and it might be time for me to run screaming out the
door.

“Ehhh, it stung a little, but wasn’t too bad!
So did you pick a tattoo yet? Cause we aren’t leaving here without
you getting one.” Allie gave me that look, the stubborn one that I
knew meant that she was going to get her way come hell or high
water.

“Yeah, yeah, Luke is drawing something up for
me now,” I sighed

Allie squealed again. “Yay! Cant wait to see
it!” Then in a low tone she asked, “Wasn’t Brandon yummy? I wanted
to have something other than his fingers in my mouth, if ya know
what I mean…” She waggled her eyebrows like crazy.

“My, God, Allie! You slut!” I gasped. I
quickly turned around to make sure that Luke didn’t hear her, or my
outburst. Seeing the smirk on his face as he studiously sketched on
the pad made me sink onto a stool by the counter and put my head in
my hands.

Brandon came around the corner and smiled at
Allie before asking me about my lip. I told him that it was fine,
though it sounded a little muffled from the way I was hiding my
face.