“We can start this today, then.”

“Yeah,” he said cautiously. “Is that a problem?”

She chuckled, crossing her arms. “I guess I figured it would take a while to get it drawn up, and then we would start. Or that you guys would be busy and I could set up an appointment. Some time to mentally prepare, you know, before I get the actual needle in my back. I’m a little nervous.”

“Nothing to be nervous about. We’ll go in your own time—and we don’t have to start today, if you don’t want.”

“Now that I really think about it, if I have time to back out…I just might. So maybe we should start.”

He laughed. “That happens. Let me work something up. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Her smile dazzled him. “Okay. Thank you.”

As he headed down the hallway toward the room they used to draw their designs, that smile was imprinted on the front of his brain. Damn. Ian was no stranger to beautiful women, but it had been an exceptionally long time since he’d been so affected by physical appearance alone. He tried to chalk it up to feeling bad for her, but in the few minutes they’d spoken, she didn’t seem to be someone who would either court or tolerate pity.

Brian noticed Ian pass by his office door and called to him. Ian stopped and stuck his head in. Candace, Brian’s fiancée, sat at his desk, and he stood behind her to see whatever she was showing him on the computer. “Thanks, man,” he said to Ian. “Sorry to put that off on you.”

“You are so mean.” Candace turned and smacked Brian on the side of his leg. “Not that you won’t do a great job, Ian, but I can’t believe he wasn’t nicer to Gabby.”

“It’s no problem, really,” Ian assured them.

“She’s a handful,” Brian said.

“She’s really nice,” Candace said at the same time.

“Nice to you,” Brian told her, “but you didn’t have to grow up with her.”

“Ha. Don’t forget, she had to grow up with you. If she’s ever mean to you, I figure you deserve it. No telling how you tortured her.”

Brian scoffed, stroking a hand down his dark goatee. “I was an angel.”

“Whatever. I’m going to go say hi to her.”

“Don’t hang out with her too much. She’ll taint you.”

Ian took the opportunity to slip away and get to work—they could keep up the playful banter for a very long time. In a way, he’d been relieved to leave Kara and Marco’s parlor in Dallas, because the two of them were flirting with each other all the time, and it was rather nausea-inducing—but damn if it hadn’t been a case of jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. Brian and Candace could give those two a run for their money. At least they usually kept it out of view of the others.

When he took his seat to get started, Gabriella’s design came pouring out of him and onto the page. He thought about her past heartbreak—her smile had been bright, dazzling, but her pain still lurked behind it. He thought about his own, of a different sort but no less a part of who he was. The phoenix came to life in the passionate, flowing lines she’d asked for, the tail and feathers flamelike. In the colors she’d chosen, the effect would be breathtaking on her.

It took him only five or so minutes to do a rough sketch. It was enough for her to get an idea of how it would look, so, satisfied, he headed back up front to find Gabriella and Candace in deep conversation. Candace saw him first and took Gabby’s arm excitedly. “Oh, here he is. Let’s see!”

He offered the page to Gabby, and both girls pored over it, Candace exclaiming appreciatively. Gabriella, whose skin it would be on permanently, eyed it for a long time. He watched as her gaze took in every line. “Beautiful,” she finally said, the huskiness of her voice like a physical caress. “You could’ve looked into my mind.”

“Of course, the finished product will be ten times better. Are there any changes at all you’d like to see?”

“I really can’t think of a single thing. Honestly, Ian, it’s perfect. Oh my God.”

“Once I draw it on, I’ll let you look in the mirror to make sure it’s the way you wanted.”

“Okay.” She gave a little laugh. “Now I can’t wait to get started.”

Candace ushered her toward the back with a sweep of her arm. “Right back there. I doubt you want to be up front for it.”

“Oh, good call. Thanks.” Her green eyes sought out Ian’s, and she gave him a giddy smile, lightly bouncing on her toes. “I’m ready when you are.”

Chapter Three

Something about the way Gabriella’s eyes followed him stirred longings best not dwelled upon. Boss’s sister, dude, boss’s sister, he kept telling himself, but it seemed the more he hammered the thought into his mind, the more his body rebelled.

She listened raptly to his sanitation-procedures spiel. Then he stepped out to let her get ready and positioned on the table before going back in with his markers.

Ian had hoped having those astute eyes off him would squelch the unwanted thoughts creeping into his head. No such luck. Because having her eyes off him meant the unmarred expanse of her back was completely bared to him, waiting for his art. He swallowed against the dryness of his throat at the sight of her stretched out on the table, her dark swath of silky hair pulled over to one side.

And she’d missed a lone tendril. “You missed some hair. I’m going to move it for you,” he said.

“Oops. Okay.” Gently, he brushed the wayward strands over to the side with the rest, and she gave a little shiver and laughed. “Sorry.”

That faintest contact with her skin almost caused him to groan—and he was about to have to sit here for an hour or two touching her. Jesus, how would he survive?

He had to suffer through more of her shivers and laughs as he drew on her with markers. Her skin was so soft and sensitive. He hoped the sting of the needle wouldn’t be too much for her, but he didn’t think it would be. She was tough.

He snapped on his black gloves and made sure she saw him open the needle package in front of her. With a deep breath to steel herself, she put her head back down and said, “Let’s do this.”

Fortunately, the answer of how he would survive came easily enough. He often zoned out when he was working. Life constricted to the end of his needle, and he liked it that way. Once they got through a few minor adjustments in his drawing and she accepted the first pass like a champ, Gabriella lay quiet, her breathing slow and easy. Since he followed his client’s cues, he didn’t disturb her except to ask occasionally how she was doing. As expected, she was fine.

Still, it was her first tattoo, and after some time had passed, curiosity got the better of him. Besides that, he was beginning to need a distraction again from the delight of her skin.

“Is it everything you thought it’d be?” he asked, wiping away excess ink.

She chuckled. “How do you mean?”

“The total experience. Is the pain about what you expected?”

“Pretty much.”

“You’re handling it well.”

She didn’t reply. Which might mean she wanted him to shut the f**k up. So he did, at least for a little while. But damn, she had him interested. He tried to recount in his head all the things he’d heard Brian say about her in the past few months.