“I can stay up here and wait for you. I’m hungry though so you need to feed me when you’re done.”

He bent down and put his lips right next to my ear. “Oh I’ll feed you when I’m done alright.”

A hot shiver shot through me so I gave him a heavy lidded look. “Goody.” He kissed my cheek and made his way back to the waiting client. I shifted my gaze to Cora and blushed when I noticed she was gaining like a demented Cheshire Cat.

“So it’s like is it?”

I blinked and shifted from foot to foot. She grabbed my hand and pulled me around the counter actually shoving me into another leather chair that was stashed back there.

“Like what?”

She swiveled her chair so we were facing each other and gave me a level look. “It’s like all hot and bothered but sweet and fuzzy too. I didn’t know the asshat had any of that in him. You make him human.”

“That was the second time she had mentioned something like that but I had to wait until she fielded a couple phone calls to question her about it. “What do you mean about that exactly?”

“I’ve worked with Rule for the last five years. I was here when he and Nash started their internship right outta high school. Phil and I go way back so I’ve known the boys for a while. I adore Rule. I think it’s genetically impossible not to be kind of in love with him when you come equipped with a vagina. It’s just something about all that angsty, moody swagger he has that makes you want to cuddle him up and make him feel better.”

I knew exactly what she was talking about so I just nodded in agreement. “But he’s also arrogant and explosive, he treats women like crap because too many of them let him get away with it and for a long time after his brother died I watched him just go through the motions of living his life the way it was before. He came to work, he hung out with is boys, he gave me shit on a daily basis and he screwed his way through the entire Front Range but he was doing it all locked inside this bubble that none of us who loved him could get through. He was cold and unreachable but then all of a sudden there were cracks and some of the old Rule was showing through. The robot version of himself he had been operating from for so long started to fade and the good ole human Rule was back and I think it has to do with you.”

“That’s a really nice thing to say.”

“It’s not nice if it’s the truth. So tell me how a vanilla girl like you all virgin skin and no piercings gets into a guy like Rule. From first appearances I would never peg him as your type; you look more Brooks Brothers than Dickies if you know what I mean.”

I twirled a piece of hair around my finger and watched as she typed a bunch of stuff in the computer. She was freakishly efficient and fast and I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk about how sexy I found Rule with someone that already had intimate knowledge of my boyfriend’s junk.

“When he was sixteen he came home one day with an awful tattoo of a horseshoe and a shamrock on his forearm. Phil had given Nash a tattoo machine and some ink for his sixteenth birthday and instead of trying to learn on pigs or melons they decided that they would try to learn on each other. Both of them were always really gifted artistically. Nash was more into street art and graffiti type stuff where Rule just fiddled around with it and happened to learn he had some real talent. Anyway I was over at his house and I don’t know if you ever got a chance to meet Remy but identical doesn’t even come close to how those two looked. The same eyes, the same dark hair, the same innate sense that they were out of this world good looking but Rule came home with that terrible tattoo and suddenly he was a new guy. He claimed his skin as his own, made the mark to define who he was and how he was different from Remy and it was just beautiful how much he loved what changing his outer appearance did for his inner sense of self. He’s always been a babe but when he started to customize the hotness it just made it better and better. Without all the tattoos and piercings he just wouldn’t be Rule.”

“And what about you? You’re not into any of it?”

“I don’t really know. I had really particular parents growing up and if I had come home with a tattoo or any kind of extreme piercing they would have grounded me until graduation so I never even thought about it.”

“How old are you now?”

“I just turned twenty.”

“You still live at home?”

“Nope.”

“Then shouldn’t you be allowed to do whatever you want with your body without fear of their reaction?”

I sighed and swiveled my chair back and forth. “Yeah. I’ve actually been thinking about getting a little something done.”

“A tattoo? You know Rule would give you something beautiful especially since he’s the one that would have to look at it all the time.”

We shared a laugh that had the guys in the shop looking at us curiously.

“No I was thinking about getting my nipples pierced.” I wasn’t normally so open but I figured since she did it for a living it was kind of like talking to a doctor about a health problem. Her unusual colored eyed widened and she gave me a huge grin.

“That’s super-hot.”

I shrugged and continued to twirl my hair. “I like the way it looks and like you said I’m familiar with your work so I know it can be awesome I just don’t know that I’m ready for something so extreme.”

“They take a bit to heal but when they do it’s amazing. If you decide to go through with it let me know and I’ll do it for you for free, I’ll just charge you for the jewelry.”

“Well Rule’s birthday is next month so if I do it it’ll be before then.”

She clapped her hands together and giggled like a little girl. She was kind of crazy but I think I liked her. I had always had such a hard time making friends and just being at ease around new people it was a testament to all the positive ways Rule was influencing me that I could talk with this wacky girl with no reservations or inhibitions.

“Oh a sexy surprise I just love that idea. Like I said just let me know and we can work something out, I like seeing my boys happy and doing right by a good girl.”

“Thanks, I think.”

We chatted easily for another hour because whatever Rule was working on was taking him longer than he thought. I watched her process out the clients that were finished getting their designs done and watched her help a few people come in that had questions and were interested in setting up consultations. She chased off another girl that came in looking for Rowdy this time and by the time Rule walked up to the counter with his freshly bandaged canvas I felt like I had made a new friend. She was sarcastic and witty as hell but her insights into the way my guy’s head worked was clear and coming from a different perspective than I had ever heard before.

Rule’s client looked like he was barely old enough to drive but he was sporting some major artwork and had his entire upper arm wrapped up and shiny with ink and salve. I didn’t miss the appreciative look he gave me as he was walking out and apparently neither did Rule. He flicked the kid in the back of the head and told him that if he wanted his sleeve finished he better keep his eyes to himself. He told me to give him just ten more minutes so he could clean up his station and then we could go. I watched him walk away and noticed that the female client Nash was working on and the young girl that the artist they called Mase was working on both did the same thing. Cora was right, it was just some kind of magnetic pull he had over the opposite sex and as long as I was with him I was just going to have to learn to deal with it.

He moved quick and came back to collect me in no time at all. He handed Cora a bank bag and hollered out goodbye to no one in particular and pulled me out with him into the now frigid evening air. I shivered involuntarily and huddled into his side while he adjusted the hood of his sweatshirt over his still mostly naked head and shoved his arms through the sleeves of a black mechanic style work coat that had the tattoo shop’s logo and name embroidered in a bright design on the back.

“Do you want to order something for delivery or go somewhere?” He rubbed his hands together roughly and then pushed them under the fall of my hair to clasp the back of my neck. They felt like blocks of ice so I shivered even harder until he pulled me to his chest and tucked my head under his chin.

“Delivery so I don’t have to move my car.”

“Cool what are you in the mood for I’ll call on the way home?”

“Anything really I’m just hungry.”

“Pizza?”

“Sure but no green peppers or mushrooms on my half.”

I hooked an arm through his and gingerly tried to keep up with his long strides as we made our way to the Victorian. My phone vibrated in my pocket and I frowned as I saw it was once again my father. I was sure whatever story my mother had spun about my last visit had him all riled up but I just didn’t have the patience to get a lecture from a guy who’s new wife was only a few years older than me on morality and suitable romantic partners. I sent the call to voicemail and let go of Rule to sidestep a particularly dangerous and icy patch on the side walk.

He scowled at me and snatched my hand back up. He tugged me around so that I was pressed up against his front while he walked forward and guided me backwards. “I wouldn’t let you fall.”

I reached up to put my hands on his shoulders and gazed up into eyes that were just as frosty as the snow coating the ground all around us. “No?”

“No. You don’t trust me?”

“Most of the time I do.”

“Why not all the time?” We stopped at the front of the Victorian and I moved my hands from his shoulders to the back of his neck which made his hood fall off.

“Because I’ve never trusted anyone all the time. It’s the people I care about the most that always seem to do the most damage.”

“I’m not going to be one of those people Shaw.” If only he knew how bad it had hurt my heart each time I had to see him with one of his conquests he wouldn’t be saying that. I forced a small smile and brushed my fingers over the soft black hair starting to grow on his head.

“I hope not.”

He just shook his head and hauled me inside because it was way too cold to keep messing around outside. He shrugged out of his coat and hoodie while motioning for me to hand my stuff over. “Nash has a date tonight so he won’t be home until later if at all.” He disappeared down the hall to drop his armful in his room and came back on the phone with the pizza place. I took down a couple plates and handed him a beer while looking in a futile attempt to see if the boys had anything in the fridge to make a salad with. I needed to get some normal food in this place if I was going to keep spending time here or I was going to end up the size of a baby hippo.

“I think he’s probably done with having me around in the man-zone. I know Ayden mentioned that she almost got an eyeful while you were over this morning. They’re undoubtedly sick of us.”

He laughed and took a chug out of the beer bottle. “I didn’t mean to surprise Ayden this morning but I thought she was gone. I didn’t know she just went running.”