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If I still lived here, I’d have a lot of things that I missed.
Talon didn’t appear to have any intention of moving. Now probably wouldn’t be a good time to bring up the tattoo again. I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “I should go now, Talon,” I said. “It’s Saturday, and I have tons of errands to run.”
He grunted.
I put my clothes on, gave Roger another quick pet, and—
Crap. I had no way to get home.
I sat down on the bed again and nudged Talon. “Talon, can you drive me home?”
He didn’t move his arms. “Just take the Mustang. The keys are in the little ceramic pot in the kitchen where they always are. I don’t mind you using it, and I know Marj doesn’t.”
“Really, I don’t want to impose.”
Eyes still covered. “Look, I wish you were still staying here, okay? I asked you to come back. At least take the car. You need transportation.”
I swallowed. He was right. I did need transportation. I was spending way too much on cab fare, although George was probably deliriously happy.
“All right. Thank you. That’s very generous.”
He grunted again.
I went to the kitchen, grabbed the keys, and left.
Before heading back to my apartment, I decided to stop at Toby’s. Maybe I could find a different image, one that wouldn’t upset Talon so much. Haley was at the front desk.
“Haley,” I said, “I’m really sorry I had to dart out of here the other night.”
She looked at me oddly, biting her lip, playing with the dangling hoop. “Let me go get Toby.”
“What for?”
She didn’t answer, just walked to the back and returned with a young blond guy.
“This is Toby. Toby, Jade, the woman who was in the other night wanting the phoenix tattoo.”
“Hi, Toby,” I said. “I wanted to look through the books and see if I could find a different image for my tat. I had some…issues with the first one.”
Toby shook his head. “I’m sure Haley explained things to you.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Haley didn’t say anything to me. What do you mean?”
Toby cleared his throat, his features uneasy. “I’m sorry, Ms. Roberts. We can’t.”
“Can’t what? What do you mean?”
“What I mean is…we can’t help you with a tattoo here.”
Chapter Nineteen
Talon
Roger curled up next to me, his warm little body a comforting presence. I missed Jade. Why hadn’t I asked her to stay? I wanted her here all the time, with me. I wanted to take care of her.
But who was I to take care of anyone when I couldn’t take care of myself?
She’d be after me with more questions—about the tattoo, about the news article that wasn’t released anywhere but here, about why I had wanted to…
