Temporary (Indelibly Marked #2) Read Online Free Page A

through the pages he spied the issue but
remained quiet, wondering if she would catch it. Either way he had what he
needed on Mr. Pretty Boy.
    “Is this all their paperwork?” Emily turned over one of the
sheets.
    Ivan covered his mouth to hide a smile. She might not know
it, but the woman could run a tattoo shop with the best of them.
    “I’m getting them ready.” Billy held his hand out. “I just
need to get them done.”
    “We don’t make stencils until the customer has signed off on
the art and filled out the consent document.” She kept hold of the pages.
“Also, we don’t want any mistakes, so even if you have two customers coming in
together we keep everything separate.”
    If he and Emily were back to normal, he would have corralled
her into the storage room and taken the opportunity to cop a few feels. “Also
no rushing no matter what the case.”
    “I told you I don’t do flash and walk-ins.” Billy squared
his shoulders.
    “And I told you that as long as I’m in charge, you do,” Ivan
shot back.
    “Before I go back to the accounting office, let me help
you.” Emily motioned for Billy to follow her.
    “Emily.” Ivan shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
How could he explain that he needed her there, and not locked away in the
office?
    She stopped and turned back. “I’ll be in the next office
over.”
    “I’ll be here,” he said, wondering if it was better to just
let things be the way they were.
    Emily took Billy to the front as the bell on the front door
chimed and Ivan’s customer entered.
    The second he lifted his hand to wave, the lights and
electricity went out.
    “We blew a fuse, maybe that’s why the autoclave was
unplugged,” Tamsin called out. “You need to fix that.”
    He put his hands on top of his head making sure his brain
remained in his skull. “The shop is supposed to run itself!”
    “Who the hell told you that?” Tamsin laughed.
    “I did.” He watched Emily leave and went to go fix the damn
fuse.
     
    ~~*~~
     
    Ivan parked his SUV in the lot and rested his head on the
steering wheel. The mystery of why Shane never took up motorcycles was solved.
With the errands, the schlepping, the back and forth with every bag and box, a
bike was completely impractical.
    The last three days hadn’t fared much better than the first
day. Every second served him up a generous portion of crap, followed by a side
of horrors, along with a nice dollop of bull. No wonder Shane ditched the shop
without Lindsay by his side. The job was completely impossible without a chick.
Out of the corner of his eye he noted that Emily had already arrived.
    He pushed back, staring at the sun still high in the sky.
His hours had doubled. He downed his coffee and forced himself out of the safe
cocoon of his vehicle. Part of him wanted to dash down the street, far away
from the shop. Nothing was the same without Shane, Lindsay, and Carson. Emily
simply kept checking in with him, but he was a lone island in a sea of crap.
    Rather than run, he slumped his way to the back door and
entered, spying the grim reaper herself. “Good morning, Tamsin. What wonderful
news do you have for me today?”
    “I got nothing for you.” She leaned over her customer and
continued her work.
    “Okay.” He inched inside the shop, glancing over at the only
other artist there at such an ungodly hour, Billy. With his back to him, the
man was also inking someone.
    Only the faint thump of rock music and the buzz of tattoo
machines met his ears and he tiptoed over to Tamsin to peek at her work.
    She wiped away the excess ink and waited.
    He leaned down, assessing an intricate tribal design down a
woman’s spine. The lines were perfectly smooth, the fill-in, even. “That’s
going to turn out nice.”
    At his words he swore she blushed, but since he was quite
sure she didn’t do girly things he backed away. Thus far, the day didn’t suck
ass.
    Curiosity alone led him to Billy’s station. They all took
turns