Page 1 of Spade
Spade
Spade walked into Ink’s tattoo shop and looked around. His place was great, and Spade was looking forward to getting his tattoo sleeve finished. Ink seemed like a pretty good guy, and he knew that he did great work just from seeing his club brother’s new tats.
“Can I help you?” a sexy woman asked as she walked out of the backroom. She looked familiar, but he just couldn’t place her.
“Do we know each other?” Spade asked, ignoring her question.
“Um, I’m not sure,” she said, “you do look familiar. Are you friends with Ink?” she asked.
“Yeah, we go to the same club,” Spade said. Suddenly everything seemed to click, and he pointed at her, making her smile.
“I take it you figured it out,” she teased.
“You come into the Road Reapers once in a while, don’t you?” he asked.
“I have been there a few times. I used to go in there all the time before I had to spend a few months in California,” sheadmitted. He shivered at the thought of his time spent in that state. He really never felt as though he fit in while he lived there.
“I take it that you’re not a fan of California,” she said.
“Not really,” he said. “I lived there for a few years back about fifteen years ago. My parents got divorced when I was sixteen, and I moved out there with my dad. When I realized that I just couldn’t take any more of it out there, I decided to move back here and live with my mom. I guess I liked it here since I’m still sticking around.” When he stopped talking, she kind of stared at him and he tried to figure out why. Maybe he was talking too much, or oversharing, but for some reason, he found her easy to talk to. Hell, he didn’t even know her name yet, but here he was telling the poor woman his sad life story.
“Um, sorry, I’ve been told that I talk too much,” he said.
“No, it’s no problem,” she said. “I was just wondering why you are here?”
“Oh yeah,” he said, “you did ask that when I walked in here, didn’t you?” She nodded her head and pasted on her best smile, but he wasn’t sure if it was genuine or not.
“I’m here for a tat from Ink. My name is Spade.” He was hoping that introducing himself might lead to her sharing her name, but when she turned around and walked to the back room again, he was sure that he had blown any chance that he might have with the woman.
“Hey, man,” Ink said. He crossed the room and shook Spade’s hand, pulling him in for one of those awkward side hugs. “I’m sorry, I was feeding Bethany in my office. Charlie needed to run a few errands, and I told her that I’d take the baby for the afternoon.”
“Oh, if you need to reschedule, I’d understand,” Spade said.
“That’s not necessary,” Ink assured. “Cynthia said that she could keep an eye on Bethany for me while I finish up your tattoo. Plus, the baby will probably sleep the entire time you’rehere. She’s a good napper, just like her mom.” Spade noted that her name was Cynthia, and he had to admit that he didn’t peg her as a Cynthia. She had tats up and down her arms, and he was sure that she even had some under her clothes, not that it helped with his unruly dick to think about Cynthia naked.
“So, does she work for you?” Spade asked.
“Don’t say that too loudly,” Ink insisted, “Cynthia will kill you. It’s more like she works with me, not for me.”
“So, she’s an artist too?” Spade asked.
“Yep,” Ink said. “Why?”
“No reason, I was just wondering if maybe she could do my next tattoo,” Spade said.
Ink chuckled, “Oh, if I had a dollar for every time one of the guys from the Road Reapers came in and asked for Cynthia, I’d be a very rich man.”
“I hear that you already are a rich man, so how about if we skip the dollar and you properly introduce me to your pretty new artist?” Spade asked.
“I thought that I heard you two talking when you came in,” Ink said.
“Yeah, but I fucked it all up,” Spade insisted, “I had diarrhea of the mouth, and I can’t even remember what I rambled on about. I do that sometimes when I’m nervous—you know, ramble.”
Ink smiled and slapped Spade on the shoulder. “I hadn’t noticed man,” he said with a laugh.
“Don’t be an ass, Ink,” he insisted. “Just introduce me to the pretty girl and then, I’ll let you do my tat.”
“How gracious of you,” Ink drawled. “Hey, Cynthia, can you come out here for a second?” She came out from the back of the shop, holding Ink’s baby, and damn if Spade didn’t feel tongue-tied again.
