"No, mate, she isn't," Gabe growled, forcing me back and slightly behind him.
"Seriously! This has got to. . . . Look, let me go right now, or I'll scream. Now." My hand was relinquished and the grin just got broader.
He dropped his mouth down to my ear and said, “You’ll be screaming tonight if I have anything to say about it.” I jerked away from him, beating a hasty retreat to behind the counter, dragging Tess with me. Holy grandmother, Batman, Gabe was the one affected by the curse! I did not have the time or the money to deal with a curse-addled tenant who could be our sole source of income. What was he going to be thinking tomorrow when he walked in here? And he has a girlfriend, a very sweet, jewellery-loving girlfriend, I reminded myself as my eyes dropped to his butt, showcased in a pair of tight faded jeans. Damnit! Eyes up, Ash!
“You’re dead,” I hissed at Tess after the boys disappeared into their side of the shop and snapped. “What did you read last night?”
“A biker romance.”
“What the hell is that?”
“Sons of Anarchy porn. You’ve never read any?”
“That’s a thing now? Of course, because Charlie Hunnam. Tess, the man has a girlfriend.”
“It will only last a day and your morals are too high to poach any woman’s man.”
“So, you’re just going to punish me, with that?” I jerked my thumb to the door. “What can you tell me about the plot? I need to know what I’m in for.”
“Nothing whatsoever,” Tess said with a smirk and unlocked the till.
11
“Which biker book did you read last night?” I shouted as I followed my sister into the storeroom. Jez jumped, but Tess just grinned. "Seriously, Tess."
"There's this whole genre of romance novels about 'alpha male' romantic leads. They're completely over the top as characters, but because they're 'hawt' the girls always fall for them. I figured billionaire wasn't going to cut it and pirate would be too hard to explain, so biker it is, seeing as we have a tattoo shop going up next door. . . ."
"SoA porn? Damn girl, now you're talking," Jez said, bumping knuckles with Tess. "I was wondering when you were gonna get sick of all this G-rated crap. You want bad boys books? Girl, I can hook you up."
“I think you’ve altered the poor man’s body! He looks taller, what do you reckon, Tess? Was he always that muscly? He’s probably down to 2% body fat, if that. Why are you laughing?”
“Probably has a twelve-inch dick, too,” my sister giggled. “They pack major salamis in these books.”
“And can breathe out his ears. Mm, maybe I need to go and have a look at this new mural,” Jez said with a purr.
"Jez . . ."
"C'mon, just a little sneaky peek. I’m not going to do anything."
"Ah jeez, fine, we have to at least pretend to be running the shop, so we can't all be in here. Is Merlin coming in for another lesson?"
Tess nodded, "He has our address now, so he'll come in via the portal," she said.
"Alright, so who's going to wait for him to knock? Tess? No surprises there."
"Have your look and then start going over the inventory. Amber is our sole client and apparently, she always wants more amber. Also, I want to start cross-referencing the most common purchases Nan was making with gold with what we have in stock. We also have to haul these books in."
"Oh, my God!" Jez didn't even try to hide it. She stuck her head around the door frame at the end of our counter that led into the tattoo shop and then flung her body back, fanning herself.
"What?" I snapped irritably. All she would do was point at the door and gulp air dramatically. "Stop being a dick, Jez." She persisted, making inarticulate grunting noises that were really getting on my nerves, so I put down the tray of jewellery I was looking at and marched over to the doorway. I made a pretence of opening and looking through a glass case right next to it, the buzzing sound of the tattoo gun ringing in my ears. I plucked out a green amber ring we'd missed. Not sure if that still fit Amber's bill, but I'd find out. There was also a pendant with amber, amethyst and tourmaline on it and a bracelet with small amber accents. I collected them then locked up the cabinet. I intended to have a quick glance as I went back to the counter, enough to agree that he was indeed hot, so we could get some work done, when I stopped in the doorway.
Flea sat with his back to me thankfully, hands covered in black latex gloves, tattoo gun in hand. Jez, with many of her own tatts, was not dumbstruck at that. No, it was Gabe lying shirtless and outstretched on the vinyl couch, arms crossed under his head, the muscles there popping out in stark relief. The many tattoos did nothing to mask the clear-cut shapes of his well-developed physique. Neither did the fact the fly of his jeans was partially undone, revealing the taut v of his hips on which Flea tattooed an image of a skull with a snake running through its eye socket.
Flea might not have been able to see me, but
Gabe sure could. I had thought his eyes were closed, but I saw the glimmer there all too late, as well as the slow grin. He twitched slightly under the needle, as if in pain. It wasn't pain. My eyes were drawn to the tattoo site, then lower where something . . . shifted just under his fly. I jerked myself away from the door, panting. It was then that I realised he had gone to work commando. “So, these might fit the bill,” Jez said with a knowing smile, passing me a handful of jewellery and wands. I nodded, grabbed a box and put each piece in carefully, one by one.
We worked through the inventory check and brought the books into the storeroom in almost complete silence. Jez, I think, remembered finally that I was her boss, and I could, indeed, sack her. After what felt like hours, Gabe came out of the tattoo parlour. His eyes remained on me as he reached down and redid his jeans’ button. I jerked my eyes down to the jewellery, gathering up the amber stash for his inspection. I did need to make more money; I didn’t need to poach someone else’s man. “So, we don’t have many more books to bring in,” he said, leaning over the counter, forcing me to meet his gaze.