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“Just tell me if you want me to stop, and I will.”

I nodded.

He paused for a few seconds longer, and I could feel his eyes on me.

It was obvious that he thought I was going to back out, or perhaps come to my senses and at least try to sneak a glance at the design he had chosen. But then, the buzz of his machine began again before he touched the tip of it to my skin.

The dragging sensation started. It was like a burning scratch into my flesh as Ashe started to trace the outline of whatever image he was trying to create.

He stopped a few seconds later.

“All good?” he asked softly.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I shrugged, turning my attention back to the TV.

I was actually surprised by how fine I was.

Tattoos had always been something I was curious about, but I was such an indecisive person that I could never make up my mind about what I wanted. Both of my brothers were covered in tattoos, and I knew just how much time they spent planning out the artwork that they put on their skin.

I’d never quite liked anything enough to feel like I needed it on my skin. So, I figured, this was a good compromise. I didn’t have to think about it. Plus, if it was ugly, it was in an easily hidden place.

“So, do you do shit like this often?” Ashe asked after a little while.

I turned my head to look at him. “Like what?”

“Like letting a stranger pick your tattoo?”

“You’re hardly a stranger.”

He chuckled once at that. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“I know enough. I’ve been inside your house.”

“So?”

“So, you can tell a lot about someone by their home, the way they dress, the way they talk. People are pretty simple creatures if you just pay attention.”

“Mmm,” he made a noise that told me he didn’t quite believe me. “So what have you learned about me from the approximate few hours that we’ve known each other?”

“We’ve gotta factor in all the time you’ve spent stalking me, too.”

“That hardly counts. You don’t even know I’m there most of the time.”

I barked a laugh. “Most of the time, I don’t let youknowthat I know you’re there.”

He rolled his eyes.

I turned my attention back to the ceiling, thinking back to all the things I’d noticed about Ashe so far.

“You live alone, but I was pretty quickly able to notice that a woman must have lived with you at one point. Maybe not too recently, maybe a few years ago. You had white linen sheets and a duvet instead of a comforter. They seemed really worn in too, which is why they were so soft. Plus, you said that Jess was the reason the studio was decorated so nicely. So, I can only assume that the decor at your home wasn’t picked by you.”

I looked down at him again to see if I was on the right path, and by the small smile that he was trying to conceal, I had a feeling that I was right.

“I know that you’re tidy, but you also like efficiency.”

“Oh?” he chuckled, pausing to dab at my skin with a cool, wet towel.

“Well, your clothes were all thrown in the drawers, instead of folded. So you care enough to put them away, but not enough to waste your time folding them.”