Page 24 of Hidden Ink

Chapter Six

There was something wrong with Sloane, but Hailey couldn’t figure it out. She ran her hands over her pants, keeping her eyes on him as he stared at his sketchbooks. He might have said all the right things, done the right ones, too, but there was something off with his eyes—as if he truly didn’t believe what he was saying.

Or maybe she was just thinking too hard. She did that all the time.

But there was a tension in his shoulders that hadn’t been there before.

There was a gruffness to his voice that scared her.

Not in a way that meant pain, but in a way that meant…brokenness. She’d never heard it before, not even in the days when he’d lock himself in the Montgomery Ink office and focus on his sketches rather than the world. He’d do that for hours at a time when he didn’t have clients, then come over to Taboo with a need for coffee and food. She’d take care of him and make sure he had enough in him to make it home, but even then, the darkness in his eyes hadn’t been like it was now.

She didn’t understand it.

It couldn’t have been something she did, because, damn it, she hadn’t done anything. And she wasn’t the type of person to immediately blame herself for every little thing. But he was scaring her enough that she began to wonder if maybe she had done something.

And that worried her.

“There a reason you’re standing next to me hovering like you want something?” Sloane asked, though there was a smile in his voice. Perhaps not as bright as it had been only days before, but it was something. He set down his pencil and turned to her. He held open his arms, and she slid into them, wrapping her own around his neck.

“I didn’t know what to do with my hands,” she answered. Her gaze met his and she did her best to try and figure out what was wrong, but that wouldn’t happen until she asked him.

And knowing Sloane, he wouldn’t tell her.

Sloane’s mouth quirked into a grin and he lowered his hands to cup her ass. “I know what I can do with my hands, Hails. Why don’t you explore with your own and figure out what you need to do with them.”

She rolled her eyes but kissed him anyway, a soft kiss that turned into something much hotter, much deeper. Sloane’s hand molded her butt, bringing her even closer as they kissed. When she broke away, she had to catch her breath. Then she wiped the lipstick off his lips.

“Sorry about that,” she said when she showed him her thumb.

He shrugged and kissed her thumb anyway. “I think it makes my lips pop, don’t you?”

She threw back her head and laughed, aware his hands were still on her ass. “It accentuates your skin tone for sure. But really, sorry it’s all over your lips. I didn’t wear the stain today since I like to try different things, but I guess I’m not used to having to worry about rubbing it off on another person’s body.”

He licked his lips, his eyes on her own. “Oh, really…what part of my body are you thinking of putting your lips on?”

She lowered her head so she could run her teeth along his earlobe. When he shuddered against her, she bit down slightly. “Where do you want my lips?”

His grip on her tightened, and she let out a happy sigh. “Anywhere you want them, Hails. Anywhere you want them.” He squeezed her again but didn’t move her closer. “Before we get naked and show each other exactly where we want to put our lips, though, I want to work on your ink. I have a few ideas sketched, but I can’t do much more without your input and without tracing your outline.”

She gulped but nodded. Her body cooled somewhat—not that it ever completely cooled in Sloane’s presence. They were in his home office because he’d wanted to do the outlining in private. Eventually, when he did the actual ink, he’d close off part of the shop so it would just be the two of them and no one would see if she didn’t want them to. While that was standard practice for intimate tattoos, she still loved the fact that he took care of her.

She also hadn’t been to Sloane’s that often, so it was nice to see where he lived, be among his things. It wasn’t a large place, and frankly a little stark, but it smelled of him. And except for the construction work in the bathroom where it looked like he was redoing tiles, everything seemed to be in order.

And if she thought about tiling a bathroom, she wouldn’t have to think about the fact that they were about to outline her chest so she could get the tattoo she’d wanted for years.

Sloane moved his hands to cup her face. “Hails.”

She blinked at him.

“We don’t have to do this now. We don’t have to do this ever. The ink you get is for you. Yeah, I might see it when your shirt is off, but anything we do from here on out is for you.”

The way he said that made her pause. Might? Did that mean he might not see her once it was done?

She forced those thoughts from her head and focused on him. “I want to. It’s just a lot. You know?”

He brushed her cheek with his thumb. “I know. And we don’t have to do anything today. We can just make out.”

She winked, some of the tension going out of her shoulders. “Can we make out after?”