Page 332 of A Matter of Time

“Icy goodness?” I teased her.

She smiled wide. “It’s my only bling.”

“Yeah, it’s enough.”

She made a low noise of appreciation. “Yes, it is.”

“So-owww,” I groaned, having shifted so that my shoulder hit the back of the couch. I was being so careful to keep the pressure off it.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing. It’s a surprise for Sam. I figured he’d need the pick-me-up after this.”

“What is it?”

“I put his name on the back of my right shoulder.”

“You got a tattoo?”

“Yeah.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, today at lunch. He had to go to work for a little while, so…I went and did it.”

“How very Hollywood of you,” she teased me. “May I see?”

“Wait, I wanna know how your dad is.”

“Oh, thank you for asking, honey, but he’s good. Doctor said he’ll be just fine.”

“I’m glad.”

“Me too. He didn’t even have to spend any time in the hospital.”

“Good.”

“So, again, may I see the tattoo?”

“You wanna go to the bathroom with me?”

She waggled her eyebrows at me, and we got up.

“Do me a favor,” Dane barked at me. “Order us all something to eat and have it delivered.”

I looked at him, and his eyes were cold and dark. Sam appeared much the same, his brows furrowed as he stared at me.

“Sure.”

“C’mon, Jory,” Aja said gently, walking over to Dane to take his hand for a second, her eyes suddenly on Sam. “We have to go to the bathroom. You two play nice while we’re gone.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said quickly, his voice low and husky. His eyes softened when he looked at me, and I got just a slight curl at the corner of his mouth.

Aja patted Dane’s ass, then grabbed my hand and tugged me after her.

Once we were in the bathroom, she looked at the tattoo under the clear bandage and said how simple and tasteful it was.

“I was picturing something much more scary,” she confessed.