Saving Rose Red - Maggie Dallen

Chapter One

The Brooklyn angel was back. Cole Michaels recognized her the moment she entered his tattoo shop. With her pink hair, she didn’t exactly blend in, but he could have picked her out of a lineup no matter what color her hair was. Last time he’d seen her she’d been bartending at the dive bar around the corner and she’d been a blonde with blue streaks in her hair. That had been months ago and he’d started to think the neighborhood angel had moved away.

But here she was, perusing the tattoo sketches hanging on the wall of the dingy shop as if she’d never left. As if she belonged there. A camera dangled from her neck and bangle bracelets clinked as she moved, announcing her presence. Her gaze was focused on the artwork so he was free to gawk to his heart’s content, something he wouldn’t normally do.

He’d done his best to ignore her back when he saw her roaming their Brooklyn neighborhood on a daily basis. But ignoring her was close to impossible. It wasn’t just her hair color that set her apart—it was that smile. That gorgeous, easygoing, impossibly friendly smile. The one she gave everyone, as far as he could tell. From the dive bar’s cranky old barfly to the thugs with barely concealed guns who hung out in the parking lot across from his shop.

But he had no business looking at the angel, let alone talking to her. He couldn’t afford to form relationships. Being undercover was hard enough without having to lie to sweet girls like her. Or worse, getting her involved with the lowlifes he was forced to consort with. It was better for everyone if he kept his distance.

But that didn’t stop him from looking. After so many months, he soaked in the sight of her like a dying man gasping for his last breath. It might have been ridiculous for a grown man to have a crush from afar, but he’d come to think of her as the one ray of sunshine in his otherwise dark life. When he’d stopped seeing her around, he’d told himself he should be glad she’d gotten out of this neighborhood. Maybe she’d gotten a better job, or met a nice guy. He told himself he was happy she’d left, but seeing her here, now…he was glad to see her. For the first time in a long time he was able to breathe.

His boss, Stuart, the owner of the tattoo parlor, came out from the back and joined him behind the counter. Stu spotted her a second later. “Andie! Good to see you, girl.”

She turned in their direction and the full force of her smile was aimed in their direction. Cole froze. He stopped breathing. Heck, if his nervous system wasn’t on automatic, his heart probably would have stopped beating.

“Stu,” she said, her voice soft and unbelievably sweet. “So good to see you.”

The burly biker who terrified most grown men gave her a goofy grin. “Glad you’re back in the hood.”

Her gaze flickered from Stu to him and to his amazement her smile never faltered, despite the fact that he was wearing a scowl that tended to intimidate the most hardened criminals. It was official—either this girl was the nicest person on the planet or she was an idiot who didn’t know enough to be scared of him.

“I’ve seen you around,” she said to him, coming closer with her hand extended. “But I don’t think we’ve ever been properly introduced.”

“This is Dagger,” Stu said.

“Dagger,” she repeated, her eyes crinkling up at the edges as if the nickname delighted her. She somehow made Dagger sound like Fluffy or Toto. “I’m Andie.”

I know. He managed a “hi” that came out gruffer than usual, making his already low voice sound like he was doing his best villain impersonation. He stared at her proffered hand for a moment before taking it in his and dropping it just as quickly. But not quickly enough. Great, now he’d have a memory of how that slim, warm hand had felt in his burned into his brain. His infatuation was bad enough without knowing exactly how soft her skin was.

“I love this new art,” she said, turning her back on him for a moment and giving him a chance to regain his bearings. She was looking at the newest work, the sketches he’d done. Way back in his teens he’d gotten into tattoo art and had apprenticed with some guys in his old neighborhood. It had