Like clockwork, he was back again Monday morning. He shut down the rumbling engine and leaned his motorcycle over on its stand. The miles of tattoos started to show as he unzipped his leather jacket.
I watched Tattoo Guy pull off his helmet and stretch his shoulders. It was the move he made every time he parked his bike here, and I still hadn’t tired of watching it.
“Your Romeo is here again,” Annie snickered next to me.
I turned away from the window and gave her my best side-eye. “Shut up.”
Sure, I’d checked him out—literally and figuratively—every time he’d come into Mama’s Minimart lately, but it wasn’t like he was my guy or anything. Since he paid with cash, I didn’t even know Tattoo Guy’s name and hadn’t been brave enough to say anything much while ringing up his purchases. Maybe tomorrow would be the day to ask his name, or why he liked jerky so much, or what the eagle tattoo meant, or…
The door chime sounded, bringing me back to the moment. I looked over in time to catch Tattoo Guy as he pushed open the glass door. He glanced up at the convex security mirror in the corner that let us keep an eye on the far aisles. He did this every time he came in, before looking toward the register, toward me. A cautious man.
That gave me a full two seconds to take him in unobserved.
The leather jacket was over his shoulder this afternoon, giving me a good view of the rippling muscles beneath his T-shirt. The man was built, and with his strong jawline, piercing pale blue eyes, and sandy blond hair, he deserved to be on the cover of one of the books I had in my backpack.
His gaze locked with mine for barely a second.
I averted my eyes. Had that been a smile forming on his lips? When I dared to look back, he was wandering the wall of refrigerated drinks along the far side.
Annie elbowed me. “Ask him this time.”
She’d been after me to ask Tattoo Guy for a ride on his bike. What she really meant was that I should start with the motorcycle and graduate to riding him. The thought was tempting. He looked rugged, powerful, dangerous—everything Willy hadn’t been. But then again, taking risks like that wasn’t my style.
Still, I’d watched Tattoo Guy since the first time he came in.
Annie was a good-enough friend to encourage me to take a run at him instead of going after him herself. And then there was her sometimes-boyfriend, Jordie, to be considered.
I grabbed a rag and started wiping off the glass counter in front of me. “Today’s not the right day.”
She leaned close. “If you don’t, I might have to.”
“What would Jordie say about that?” This was an “on” week with him, as far as I could tell.
She huffed. “You’re right. Today is a shitty day, so sunny and all. You should wait for a thunderstorm or maybe snow. Or maybe for Hell to freeze over.”
I pushed her away. “Go make yourself useful.”
Annie ambled down to the candy aisle.
A minute later, Tattoo Guy approached with his usual bag of beef jerky.
“Will that be all?” I asked in my cheeriest voice, hoping for more than his usual nod. The man wasn’t a talker.
He held up a finger. “Shhh…”
“What?”
He scowled and put a finger to his lips. Closing his eyes briefly, he sucked in a breath. He leaned over the counter, crooking his finger for me to move closer.
I did.
“The guy in back, in the brown shirt,” he whispered. “He’s hiding two beers behind his back. They think you won’t notice.”
I cocked my head, not sure I’d heard him right. He hadn’t been anywhere near the corner where the two construction guys stood.
“Trust me,” he whispered before standing straight again.
I brushed off the comment as weird, and asked again, “Will that be all?”
The two construction workers moved past the hot dogs and toward my register.
Tattoo Guy slid the beef jerky my way. “Hold this for me. I forgot something,” he said as he backed away.
The two guys came forward, and the one in the brown shirt put the beer bottle he held on the counter.
“Anything else?” I asked.
“Naw, not today,” Brown Shirt replied with a smirk on his face.
The shorter one looked away. His eyes traveled to Annie in the corner, who leaned over, straightening the candy display.
I took the beer and scanned it. “Are you sure there isn’t anything else?”