“All right, this way,” Jace said, placing a hand on the small of my back and leaning in to speak directly in my ear. At his touch, my body jolted upright and shivers extended, fragmenting out from the place his fingers rested. “I have a table reserved for us.”

  I let him guide me to the left of the entrance, and up a steep set of stairs, that led to an upper banquet room. The room was vacant but looked like it was normally used for overflow or large parties. On the opposite wall, there was a set of double doors that were propped open to a balcony. Jace flashed me a smile. “Best seat in the house,” he said, leading me through the room and out to the balcony.

  It was a beautiful space and had a killer view of the pavilion down below that was teeming with people. A table for two had been set out with a few mason jars with white candles inside, giving off a soft glow. Jace pulled out a chair and ushered me into it before taking his seat on the opposite side.

  “Hey J!” A rough looking man appeared and clapped Jace on the back with a firm hand.

  Jace jumped up and the two men bear hugged for a moment, both all smiles. “Damon, this is Kat.” Jace gestured to me and I stood, extending a hand, but Damon wrapped me in a tight, bone crushing embrace, just as he had Jace. I laughed when he released me, “Nice to meet you.”

  “Damon owns this place,” Jace explained.

  “Oh, wow! It’s really…cool.” I fumbled over the word cool, looking at the man decked in riding gear, cool seemed a little out of place, but it was the best I had.

  Jace smiled at me and then looked back over at Damon. “Thanks for hooking this up, man.”

  “Of course! Hey, I’ll send the Mrs. up to get you some drinks, enjoy the show.”

  We both thanked him as he departed, and after a few minutes, as promised, his wife—an edgy looking chick with purple streaks in her hair, and possibly more ink than Jace—came up, just as nice and welcoming as her husband had been. She also embraced Jace as though he was a long time friend, and my mind filled with more and more questions by the minute.

  When we were alone with two beers, and a basket of fries to split, Jace explained, “Damon and I were in the Navy together a couple of years ago…anyway, when he got out, he opened this place.”

  I nodded and sipped at my beer. “That’s cool. I heard you were in the military.”

  Jace gave a small smile and nodded. “Yep, still am. Reserves. But when I was active…that was a totally different chapter in my life.” He let out a long sigh and I took it to mean he didn’t want to talk about his military career.

  We both looked at each other and then out over the side of the balcony down to the ground below. The music had been knocked down a few decibels as the first band of the night took the stage. It appeared the crowd that had been at the bar when we’d arrived had now migrated outside, and were all eagerly awaiting the show to begin, drinks in hand. I wasn’t much for huge crowds, so I was glad to be tucked away in the upper room, away from the chaos. I glanced over at Jace, and got the feeling he might feel the same way. “This is a great spot,” I said. “Thanks for thinking of it.”

  He met my eyes and smiled. “I’m glad you like it. So, tell me about you,” he paused, taking a deep gulp from his own glass. “How long have you been at the diner?”

  An all too familiar rush of anxiety gripped my heart. I didn’t want to talk about me, at least, not anything that could easily be tied to the horde of memories from the past…which, was essentially everything. I shrugged, took another sip, and answered as off-handedly as possible, “A little over a year now. I’m going to school at night as well, for interior design.”

  “Nice. I should have you come over to the shop and take a look, make sure it’s camera-worthy,” Jace said with a laugh. I crinkled my brows and he continued, “In a few days, the production crew for my show will be in town for six weeks, filming for the second season.”

  “Oh, wow.” If people were in an uproar about Jace now, it was bound to get a lot worse when a camera crew took over the small town. “I didn’t realize…I thought…” I let my thoughts trail off, incomplete. If I said anything else, it would reveal just how much gossip I’d soaked up.

  Jace just laughed and drained his glass of beer. “I know, it’s messed up. I don’t know why anyone thinks I’m interesting enough to watch on TV, but for whatever reason, they do. I don’t particularly like it, but hey, it pays the bills.”

  “Tattooing in general? Or just the show?”

  “The show. I love being a tattoo artist, that’s core. It’s who I am.”

  I nodded, absorbing his statement. Military, tattoo artist, badass. All the pieces were coming together, but I had no idea how they all fit into the puzzle that made up the man sitting across from me. “That’s cool,” I replied. “Finding your passion like that and being able to chase it. What is it about tattooing that excites you?”

  He stared over the railing, watching as the band set up and our conversation paused completely as the band introduced themselves and began to play. The music was loud, but not as loud as it had been when we’d first arrived. After a few minutes, Jace answered my question, “I think it’s something of a metamorphosis. People get ink for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes it’s just because their buddy got one, or they lost a bet, something stupid. But most of the time, that’s not it, there’s a deep rooted reason behind a tattoo, it’s something that a person wants on their body, likely forever, to express something. I’m flattered they like my designs,”

  I nodded, even though I really had no idea. I’d never gotten a tattoo and I had no immediate plans to get one.

  “I don’t know, maybe I’m too sentimental, but to me, it’s an honor to make people’s visions come true and help them express it with art. Like…for instance, back when I first started getting recognition, this older lady came to me. Now, when I first saw her—I thought she’d walked into my shop to ask for directions or something, she was totally out of place, but instead, she sits down and asks if I will draw something for her. I’m like ‘sure.’

  As she starts describing what she wants, her whole story comes out, and she wants this specific type of rose on her shoulder, and as we’re going along, she tells me it was her mother’s favorite rose. Like her mom grew them and sold them all her life, as it turns out, the mother had passed away, and this lady—my client—wanted that specific rose on her shoulder because she knew her mom was her angel, watching over her shoulder.”

  As Jace spoke, I wiped at the corner of my eye, blotting away tears before they could form. “That’s really beautiful.”

  “It was, so, I don’t know, for every crazy, off the wall thing, there are more of those moments, where it’s someone asking me to help them express something deeper.”

  The music was loud, but had faded from my mind as Jace told his story, and as the whoops and hollers from the people below, got louder, we both blinked and looked down. “Hey,” Jace said, looking back over at me. “Let’s dance.”

  He held out his hand to me, and I slipped mine into his, letting his touch light me up as he led me around the table.

  Chapter Eight — Jace

  The touch of Kat’s skin on mine set me on fire. It had been risky, asking her to dance certainly blurred the line between dinner and date, and when she’d answered by putting her hand in mine, it crossed the line completely.

  I led her away from our table, and made our own dance floor on the opposite end of the balcony. It was small, and the table took up most of it, but there was just enough room to allow us to break loose. The band reached the chorus, and the cheers of the people down below mixed with the music—charged the air with even more energy. Kat stilled for a moment, staring at me, her shy facade back in place. I knew she knew how to dance, I could tell just by looking at her. When I’d first met her, I wasn’t sure what to think. She certainly had the appearance of a tame, house cat, quietly considering everyone around her but keeping her distance—but over the past week, I’d been figuring her out little by little, and when she’d listed off her favorite bands, I knew I’d hit the jackpot. Somewhere, deep down inside her, there was a wild cat waiting to be let loose.

  Which is exactly the reason I’d brought her to Damon and Gigi’s bar.

  “Come on, show me your moves,” I teased, smiling at her and reluctantly letting her hand loose.

  A slow smile spread over her beautiful face. “You first, wild man!”

  “Aha, you’re worried you won’t be able to keep up with me, huh?” I threw back.

  She laughed and gave me a playful shove. She turned away, staring at the band and the people down below, and just when I thought she was going to chicken out on me, she started shaking her hips in time with the music. My eyes were glued to her ass, mesmerized by her every move, as she let herself get lost in the music. She swiveled her hips, and ran her hands up her sides, grazing the sides of her breasts, before running her fingers up her neck and into her wavy locks, flinging them back as she spun around to face me. “I think the question should be…whether or not you can keep up with me!”

  I grinned, silently accepting her challenge, and grabbed her by the hips, pulling her close to me. She gasped, but somewhere in the middle, it dissolved into a nervous giggle as I ground my hips with hers, the beat of the music pulsing our bodies together. God, she’s heaven. I nearly groaned out loud when she looked up into my eyes and licked her lips. It was a quick flick of her tongue, not meant to seduce me, but it didn’t matter. My body responded and I pressed her in closer, not caring if she felt how much I wanted her.

  If Kat noticed, she didn’t back away. We danced together, each grooving on our own, inches apart, with our eyes locked. The band kicked it up and Kat raised her hands above her head, feeling the heightened beat. I reached for her, running my hands down her sides, before gripping onto her hips and pulling her back against me. The music swelled to a crescendo, ready to crash, and Kat ground against me, her hips pressed against me, and the look in her eyes told me she knew exactly what she was doing. The song stopped and we both backed away, turning to look over the balcony, and let out loud cheers with the rest of the crowd below.

  Kat left my side long enough to retrieve her partial glass of beer. She polished it off with a hungry gulp. “Let me go get some fresh ones,” I said, taking the glass from her. “Are you hungry? I invited you out to dinner and all you’ve had is fries,” I commented, staring at the half eaten basket of fries, kicking myself for not asking her sooner.

  She shook her head. “I’m good. Another beer and I’ll be just fine.”

  “You got it!” I smiled and went back downstairs to the bar and got her a new beer, and a pitcher of water. In recent years, I’d learned my limits, and rarely had more than a single drink. I was having a good time and didn’t need ghosts from the past to come and wreck it all. I loaded everything on a tray and took it back upstairs. I stopped in the doorway of the balcony, taking in Kat’s figure as she leaned forward, her elbows propped on the railing.

  It was dark outside, but the stage was lit with huge flood lights that cast a glow over the crowd down below. The next song had started, it was a slower tempo than the ones before it and I took advantage, setting down the tray, and went to Kat. She didn’t say a word as I gathered her into my arms and began a new dance, swaying her slowly with the rhythm of the music. As we danced, she got close enough that there was barely an inch between her forehead and my lips as she rested her head on my shoulder. I wanted her, I had since the day we’d first met, but I hadn’t quite figured her out yet—which meant I had no way of knowing where she’d draw the line. I could wait for a kiss…hell, that was easy—I’d been waiting most of my adult life.

  When the song closed out, the band rambled out their thanks into the mic, getting a loud cheer from the crowd. I held onto Kat’s arms, as she took half a step away from me. We remained frozen for a minute, suspended in time. Her large, green eyes shone in the soft lights as they searched out mine. “Penny for your thoughts,” I said softly.

  Her eyes dropped to the floor for a moment before bouncing back to mine. “I was actually thinking about how different you are.”

  I cocked a brow at her, not sure how to take her words.

  “No, no, not in a bad way,” she said, stifling a giggle. “Different in a good way. I hate to say it, but I kinda gave in to the gossip about you and had some preconceived notions I guess, like that you were this big party animal, or something. But, you’re not like that.”

  I cut a glance over at the doorway. “Not anymore at least, but that’s a story for another time. Tonight is just about having fun. Are you having fun?” I asked, meeting her eyes again, ignoring the question shadowing them, no doubt prompted by my semi-cryptic response.

  “Yeah! This is awesome. You were right about the band,” Kat said, smiling so hard it erased the worry from between her brows.

  “Then, that’s all that matters.”

  There was a slight break as one band exited and another one set up, and Kat went to the table and took her beer. We talked a little more, munching on the cold fries, the conversation light and easy, until the new band started and Kat surprised me by jumping up and grabbing my hand to continue dancing, kicking the night back on.

  I had no idea how much time had passed, but by the time we called it a night, saying goodbye to Damon and Gigi on the way out, my bike was nearly the only one left in the lot. I reached back and grabbed Kat around the waist, letting my fingers smooth over the sliver of skin between the hem of her sweater and the waist of her low rise jeans. She shivered at my touch and my mind and heart shifted into a whole new gear. I stopped by the bike, picked up her helmet, and turned to her, giving her my best smile. “What say we go back to my place? I need a professional opinion about this couch I bought, and I figure, you being a designer…” I let my question trail off, letting her fill in the blanks however she wanted.

  “A couch consultation?” She said, her skepticism bleeding through, even though she was still smiling at me.

  “All right, ya caught me. I might have a question about a couple potted plants, too.”

  She laughed and rolled her eyes. I smiled and added, “Listen, Kat, in all seriousness, I’ve had a lot of fun tonight and I don’t want it to end just yet.”

  She chewed at her bottom lip, as though carefully weighing a big decision, before brightening and saying, “Okay, but only to answer your burning design questions.”

  I flashed a devil-may-care smile her way and handed her the spare helmet.

  Chapter Nine — Kat

  The ride back into town was a completely different experience than the ride to the bar. Despite our teasing back and forth before we got back on the bike, I knew we were going back to Jace’s for more than just a conversation about the pros and cons of different layout patterns for his shop.

  As we rode, I let my mind run wild with impending possibilities—there was nothing to rein in my thoughts as we sped through the dark. And if I thought I’d been aware of every inch of Jace on the first ride…well…it was nothing compared to the heightened sensation on the way back. The close dancing had sent us plunging over the edge of an innocent dinner between two—maybe someday—friends. Flashes of heat burned through me as I replayed every moment, every touch of his hands, and the way our bodies moved together. By the time I saw the milepost for our small town, I’d had over an hour to think, anticipate…and fantasize, all the while, with my arms wrapped around his tight waist, my fingers pressing into the soft leather of his jacket, knowing that as good as the jacket looked on him, it would certainly look even better on his bedroom floor.

  God…I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d been with a man. It had been so long. During the divorce and custody battle, my body had shut down that side of me. I figured it was some type of protective instinct, knowing I didn’t have the time, energy, or mindset. And most of my friends encouraged me to throw myself into the arms of some random bar guy for a night of sinful pleasure. They’d said it would help me relax. Who knows? Maybe they’d been right, but at the time, I’d been such a mess I wasn’t sure what guy in his right mind would even want me—even if it was only for a night. With my fragile state of mind, it wouldn’t have been too farfetched to imagine myself trying to flirt and ending up sobbing into my martini glass—because I missed my baby and was scared to death that Mitch’s lawyers would find a way to steal him away from me for good.

  But now…I considered Jace’s broad shoulders as we rounded the corner that would lead us to his shop…everything was different. I had a custody agreement, and although Mitch’s threats still got to me, I assured myself it was all scare tactics to keep me under his thumb, and maybe Hilda was right. Maybe it was time to move on with my own life. Jax was happy and thriving, and if I was careful and didn’t rush into anything, I could find a way to balance the two sides of myself, couldn’t I? A single mom could still be single and a mother. Couldn’t she?

  Jace parked the bike and all my questions were silenced as he cut the engine, the street so quiet you could hear the leaves blowing across the road with the gentle night breeze. Jace hopped off, his motion fluid and cat like, and then I climbed off, not nearly as gracefully. I took off the helmet and set it on the seat next to where he’d set his. We stared at each other, our faces masked with shadows from the street light halfway down the block. “You ready for your tour?” Jace asked, walking me to the door, his key set jangling as he unlocked three different locks.

  “Is this a tattoo shop, or Fort Knox?” I teased, leaning against the wall as he worked the last lock free.

 

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