Page 3

I didn’t have girlfriends, and I couldn’t remember a time when I skipped around all carefree and happy. Even before all my trauma.

And they all looked at Rain with a healthy dose of fear mixed with far too much desire. I fantasized about thumbing out each and every one of their eyeballs on the daily.

Rain always watched me like he knew exactly what I was thinking. That didn’t stop me from thinking about it though. Sometimes I even blew him a kiss just to fuck with him. It never worked. The man was unshakable. It was kind of obnoxious.

Today we were listening to some good ole rock ‘n’ roll as Rain tattooed a bubbly blond while her equally bubbly friend held on tightly to her hand for moral support or whatever the fuck it was. These ones had forgone the butterflies for matching inspirational quotes or some shit that had me rolling my eyes and promptly ignoring every bullshit thing that came out of their mouths.

I had my ass firmly parked in my comfy office chair behind the front desk where I ruled. I didn’t even like for anyone else to sit on my chair because the sucker wasmine.As for that matter, so was the stupid desk, but I knew I couldn’t tell people not to touch that without sounding like a complete psychopath control freak. It was curved and positioned just so that my pretty face was the first thing you got a load of when you entered the shop.

What a freaking delight for anyone who walked through the door. Rain should be paying me extra for that shit. Then again, I did live in his cabin rent free, so I didn’t think I was really in a position to be making demands of the man.

And it wasn’t exactly like the pay here was shit, because it wasn’t.

The bell over the door jingled, signaling the arrival of someone, and I looked up, aiming a big smile at the newcomer. The smile froze on my face. I’d seen this guy before at Ariel’s wedding, but I hadn’t been introduced to him.

I thought his name was Finn, but I could be wrong.

His pale blond hair was slightly shaggy, and it hung in his eyes. He definitely needed a haircut. His eyes were big and the brightest blue. They were also scarily vacant.

Huh.

This witch was clearly rolling with some damage under his black hoodie, tight black jeans, and combat boots.

Was everyone around here fucked up, or was my mind playing tricks on me?

Maybe it was all my own fucked up damage reacting to that vacant look in his eyes, because it was kind of doing a number on me, and I liked it.

I cleared my throat and told myself not to be a creepy pervert and scare him away. His eyes momentarily dropped to my mouth, and I was pretty sure whatever smile I managed to slap on my face had failed spectacularly.

Shit.

“Do you have an appointment?” I asked in a voice full of forced cheer. Why was I being so weird with this guy?

His head cocked to the side slightly as he studied me. “No, but I’m here to see Rain. He’ll make time for me.”

So confident. I didn’t want to have to tell him no.

I swung my arm out in Rain’s direction like a pretty lady in a dress working a game show. “As you can see, he’s slightly busy at the moment with some bubble brains, but he shouldn’t be that much longer. If you’ll take a seat, he’ll be with you when he’s done.”

There.

I could be normal.

Totally.

He didn’t hesitate to sit down on the leather couch. He slumped back and relaxed.

He wasn’t normal. When normal people came in here for the first time, they looked around the room and eyed everything. From the expensive-looking—because they were old and actually were really expensive—rugs to the framed photos and paintings on the walls, they took it all in with wide eyes because it had a vibe that screamedwitchcraftand not tattoo shop. Rain had decorated, and he’d done so with a heavy hand with some personal pieces from his family homes and things Quinton had very generously donated from his storage units.

It was quite a sight to see, and Finn didn’t look at any of it.

He didn’t once take his eyes off me.

And it started to get hot in here under his scrutiny. I wanted to fan myself, but I didn’t want him to know I was feeling it, and that’d be a dead giveaway.

“What’s a bubble brains?” he questioned me in a low, soft voice that came across as very intimate, but that was probably just my imagination.

Oh dear. Had I really called them that out loud? I was really off my game today.