I do. And thank you, by the way, for finishing the book. It’s fantastic.”
“You think so?”
“Of course. And I think people are gonna love it. It’s a little shorter than I’d hoped it would be, but maybe I can get you to write an epilogue.”
I sighed. “Seriously?”
“Well, that or we’ll make it into a serial and you can do two more books.”
“Nope, an epilogue works,” I said quickly. “People don’t like cliffhangers.”
“That’s what I thought.” She paused for a moment. “What’s that noise?”
“Tattoo gun,” I explained. “The woman I plan to make my wife one day is tattooing me. Hot, right?”
Liz laughed at the same time Presley pulled the needle back from my skin, her head lifting and her eyes meeting mine. I smiled. Couldn’t help it.
“So when do you think you can get me that epilogue? I need to get this over to the copyeditor.”
“I’ll have it to you by Monday,” I assured her.
“Perfect. All right, I’ve got a million things to do. I’ll talk to you Monday.”
I hit the button to end the call and set the phone on my leg, watching as Presley resumed working on me. The bell on the front door dinged, but I didn’t dare move, so I kept watching her.
“Hey, bitch! You sleepin’ over there or what?”
I didn’t have to turn around to know that was Blaze. She and I hadn’t met until yesterday after Presley and I had gone back to her place once we left the coffee shop, but it was safe to say, that was a woman most people would never forget.
“Hey,” Presley greeted, pausing momentarily to look up. Her smile widened, and I glanced in the mirror to see that Gavin was standing next to Blaze.
“Oh, hey,” Gavin said, his gaze sliding to me as he pulled something from his pocket. “That thing you mentioned was delivered.”
“Yeah?”
Gavin was looking down at his phone when Presley looked up at him.
“I put it up like you asked,” he said, “and took a picture.”
Gavin held out his phone, and I noticed Presley’s eyes go wide when she saw it.
“Is that…?” Her mouth fell open.
“It is.” I’d bought her drawing from the art gallery and had asked Gavin to put it above the mantel if I wasn’t home when it arrived.
Presley’s eyes met mine, a sheen of moisture covering them. A smile formed on her mouth. “I hope you know I’m also putting the one of you up, too.”
“Just not above my bed,” I told her. “It’ll be creepy to look at myself when I’m—”
Blaze cleared her throat, interrupting me and making me laugh. “Y’all almost done here, or what? We’ve got some celebrating to do.”
“A few more minutes,” Presley said, then turned her attention back to my hand. She wiped more ointment on my skin, then went back to work.
“Where’re we going?” I asked.
“Wherever they have booze,” Gavin answered.
“You seen Blue?” Blaze questioned.
“He ran out to get food,” Presley mumbled, not looking up.
The bell above the door clanged, and once again, I didn’t budge.
“Just the guy I was looking for,” Blaze said cheerfully. “You going out with us tonight? Remember that girl I was telling you about? She’ll be there.”
I couldn’t see Blue, but I could hear the excitement in his voice when he agreed that he would be there.
“That explains why he was following her around like a puppy. She was gonna set him up,” Presley mumbled to herself.
I wondered if she always did that when she tattooed someone, but I didn’t ask, not wanting to interrupt.
Blaze and Gavin moved closer to check out the ink as Presley was finishing up. I held up my other hand so they could see the first one she’d done.
I looked up at them as they read the two words in decorative scroll on the outside of my left hand.
“I assume there’s a story there,” Blaze said, nodding at my hand.
Presley lifted her head and my eyes met hers. We both laughed.
There was definitely a story there.
A good one, too, if Liz could be trusted.
“All set,” Presley stated.
I glanced down at my right hand and smiled. The tattoos had been her idea, but I liked them. Now, every time I went to write, I would see them and think of her because right there on my left hand were the words:
And on my right:
Epilogue
Jake
Six months later…
I sat at the table, scribbling my name in a book, when the next person in line arrived. For the first time ever, being at a book signing didn’t make