AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her red lips twisted toward the sky, and she bounced slightly, causing her tits to jiggle. Not that he was looking. “I didn’t know if you’d like the sailor concept.”
“It’s perfect. Honestly. It represents a little of me and a little of you. The perfect tattoo to celebrate you joining my team. I’m done for the day, so if you’re up for it, we can get started.”
“I’d love to.”
“Can we just make one little adjustment?” he asked.
“Of course.” She hunched over the paper and tapped it. “What do you want?”
“Can we give her a tattoo on her shoulder like here?” He pointed to the top part of the pinup’s arm.
“Something like this.” Harley turned the sketch and began working. She moved with such skilled precision it was a treat to observe.
The door opened, a reminder he’d forgotten to lock up. Garrett swung his attention to greet the person, but before he could manage a word, the woman, no older than twenty-five, stormed to the counter with a cup in her hand.
Harley looked up, and the woman threw whatever was in the cup at Harley. “Slut!” she screamed and ran out the door.
Harley stood, mouth agape, hands held out in front of her, water dripping down her cheeks and smearing her perfectly made-up face. The ink on her sketch bled, and she sucked in a gasp.
“What the fuck?” Garrett exclaimed before hopping over the counter and running out onto the boardwalk. “Hey!” he yelled after the woman, but it was no use. She was hightailing it out of there and was a mere blip in his view.
Garrett clutched the door and swung it open. “You okay?”
Harley stood exactly how he had left her. The poor thing was in shock. He snatched a few tissues and walked over, taking her face in his hands and blotting away the trickling water. He brushed her wet hair off her face, and when she blinked at him, fear and pain in her eyes, he swore he would never let anything like this happen to her again.
But in order to do that, he needed to know what the hell was going on. She was hiding something, and it was time she fessed up. He tilted her chin until he could see those pretty dark irises. “Care to tell me what the hell that was about?”
Chapter 3
They found her. She knew it was only a matter of time, but as the days turned into weeks, a sliver of hope had blossomed in her chest. That hope now wilted and crumbled into dust. She glanced at Garrett. Concern swirled in his blue eyes.
She didn’t want to admit to her stupidity when he viewed her in such high esteem. What would he think when he knew the truth?
She inhaled, her chest rising and falling as she gathered her nerve to speak. “That’s my life,” she started. “Or at least what my life had become in Vegas. It’s why I jumped on your job offer. I needed to hide out for a while.”
When they met at the convention, she assumed he knew. Everyone knew. But this gorgeous man didn’t have social media and couldn’t care less about gossip. When he offered her a job, she should have told him. Instead, she kept her dirty little secret to herself. It had been a relief and made her believe she could start fresh. She naively thought they’d never find her.
She should have known better.
His eyebrows pinched together above the straight bridge of his nose. “Hide out from what, exactly?”
Her exhale grated in the shop's quiet.
“Are you in trouble?” The gentleness in his tone nearly undid her. Not many people were kind to her anymore.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. I guess.”
“For fuck’s sakes, Harley, just tell me.”
She closed her eyes at the onslaught of regret, anger, and humiliation pressed at the back of her eyes. She wouldn’t cry. She’d already shed enough tears. It wasn’t even sadness anymore. No, sadness had fled a long damn time ago. Every time she thought about what had happened, all she felt was rage. It filled her, spreading through her veins like liquid fire.
Her lips parted as she drew on what little mental strength she had left.
There was no way out of this, so she headed to the tattoo chair. She felt safe there, comforted by the things that brought her joy. She placed her hands beside her on the red leather. Garrett followed without a word, sitting on a rolling chair and moving closer to her until their knees practically touched.
The nerves she had earlier slipped away, and fear strangled the words she needed to say.
She swallowed, but instead of clearing her throat, it tightened, making it impossible to speak. Shame consumed her, and her head dropped until she stared at the thickness of her thighs. She inhaled a jagged breath.
