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He shifted his body a bit on the table. “I’m good.”
Gun in hand, she rolled her chair up to the edge of the table. “I’ll just make a small test line, so you get a feel for the pressure and then we’ll go.”
“Sound good.”
Kicking on her gun, she drew a small line at the edge of the tattoo.
He flashed her a thumbs up. “We’re good.”
“Awesome.” She began outlining the tattoo, listening to Jeff and his friends laughing and talking in the background. Now and then, she’d add something to the conversation, but she just relaxed into the work.
“So Kia,” Gonzo said.
“Yes?”
“How’d you get into tattooing? Smitty said you were in art school when he met you.”
It probably made sense that he’d talked to his friends about her, but hearing it was still a little weird. “Yeah, I was. We had an artist come into class one day and give a lecture. Then, when I got pregnant with Max, taking a job at a shop was a good fit. The rest as they say…”
Jeff’s pec muscle flinched slightly. She glanced up and found Jeff staring back at her. “You good?” she asked.
“Yep.”
“Okay.” She continued lining.
“And you were in Tucson then?” Gonzo continued.
“Mm hmm.”
“That’s wild you both ended up here.”
“Yep, small world.”
“You dating anyone?” Gonzo asked. Jeff’s chest twitched. She glanced up at his face again. He didn’t appear to be in any discomfort physically, but his jaw clenched slightly.
“Nope,” she responded.
“What?” Jeff’s body jerked.
“Hold still,” she growled. Eyeing the outline, she breathed a sigh of relief that his reaction hadn’t screwed up the line.
“What do you mean you’re not dating anyone? What about Austin?”
Afraid of what she’d see in his eyes if she looked up, she kept her head down and focused on the work. “We broke up.”
“When?”
“I don’t know, a couple of weeks ago.”
“A couple weeks and you didn’t think to tell me?” Jeff’s entire body tensed.
Unable to continue tattooing, she flipped off the machine. “No, I didn’t think to tell you because who I date isn’t really your business.”
One part of her had been afraid to tell him because of what would happen without that barrier between them. The other part was afraid that needing it had all been in her mind. She wasn’t sure which was worse.
His jaw clenched. “I absolutely think it’s my business if you’re dating someone or not.”
And from his angry reaction, she still didn’t know what way he was leaning. He was being a jerk. She set the tattoo gun on the tray, so she wasn’t tempted to stab him with it. “Oh, and why is that?”
