If Only Read Online Free Page A

through both my nipples.”
    She smirks, humored. “Cuz
he’s obviously attracted to you, he thinks you’re cute. And you were right, he
is hooot !” she finishes in operatic song, rubbing her hands together
with delight.
    I giggle at her. Right on
the verge of my reply, he enters the room. He smiles at me and walks over to a
cabinet on the wall behind me. I twist my upper body around and watch him pull
out some white latex gloves. Oh, shit. For some reason, it only just hits me.
    He is going to see me
topless.
    Abruptly, I turn to the front
and stare at Su, wide-eyed. Nick is the only man who has ever seen my tits.
Ryan felt them, but he never saw them, so that doesn’t count. And he was my
boyfriend at the time. Maybe the nerves of getting the piercings done stopped
the recognition of this factor when I first learned this guy was doing
them, but right now, with it so close to happening, that realization has my gut
twisting.
    I point to my breasts and
mouth the words I just thought to Su. She winks at me and sort of grins to ease
me, but it’s impossible for me to smile back. I need to distract myself. “I
don’t know your name. You told me your brother’s, but not yours,” I say,
looking, but not looking at the display of photos along the white wall in front
of me. I can’t recall what I was told when I booked, my brain won’t work right.
The silence in here feels thick, and that’s not helping matters.
    “My name is Joe,” he says,
as he sits down on a chair to the right of me.
    Joe. Now I remember. I
always wondered what his name was after our almost collision .
Joe. I like it.
    He wheels himself closer,
stopping in front of me. The height of the table puts me above him, so I have
to lower my gaze if I want to make eye contact with him. That’s the last thing
I want to do. This really wouldn’t be so bad if he wasn’t hot. Why couldn’t I
get the older guy who booked me in? Or Adam? He’s
cute, too, but I could deal with him.
    “Okay. So you want a tattoo
as well,” he states, sitting upright with his lightly-fisted hands resting on
his thighs, the gloves clutched within his right hand. I wish I could be as
relaxed as he is.
    I nod, looking level with
his perfectly sculpted cheekbones. “Yeah.”
    “Do you have in mind what
you want, or would you like to see some designs?” I don’t know how, but he’s
able to stare me straight in the eyes. Su was right about him being nervous
before, but he’s definitely, absolutely not now. Maybe he was a little
embarrassed about the almost collision thing.
    With effort, I return his
gaze as best as I can. Oh, God . My heart starts to gallop, threatening
to burst out of my chest.
    Those rich coffee beans have
been imprinted on my memory since I first saw them. Sitting this near to
reality is almost debilitating. There’s a deep tenderness in his stare that
warms me, but the intensity of his focus pushes it up to a searing heat. It’s
overwhelming, it makes me want to look away, but … I can’t. The brown is so
rich with no intrusion of other tones and that only enhances the impact.
    I thought my memory of his
face was an exaggeration, the exceptional features and planes combining
masculinity and beauty, but it’s true and very real. The tone of his skin is
closer to olive than fair and appears incredibly smooth. I have an urge to
slowly run the tips of my fingers along the lines and contours of his features,
medium-thick eyebrows; narrow nose; high, defined cheekbones; softly-chiseled
jaw, and then make a sculpture of his head, made to the exact likeness, but I
wouldn’t go there, even with my skill, which, bias or not, I credit to be at a
high standard. Thinking of this man as hotis easy to conclude, but it’s
understated. 
    Joe is a powerful
combination of man, beauty and sex.
    “I love your tattoos,” I
say, the words flying out before I can stop them. It’s not the answer to his
question, whatever that was, but his navy sleeveless T-shirt