Series: Little Cakes Series by Pepper North
Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 46837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Milo would go see Riley as soon as he made one stop. He couldn’t wait to see what Tatiana had for him. She’d been recommended by so many that he’d been a bit disappointed when Tatiana said she wanted another artist to design what he envisioned. Today he’d get to approve the design. If it wasn’t perfect, he’d pay for the design consultation and try another tattoo parlor.
“Milo! I’ve been waiting for you,” Tatiana called when he walked in.
Patting her current client on the shoulder, she told the young woman, “I’ll be right back. I bet you could use a break anyway.”
“Definitely. Take your time.”
Tatiana opened a cabinet and pulled out a rolled tube of paper. “I have to admit, I’ve been on eggshells, waiting for you to see this.”
“Is that good?” Milo asked, not sure how to interpret her words.
“If you don’t get that tattoo, I’m stealing it,” Tatiana’s heavily tattooed co-owner called.
“Ignore Maniac. You’ve got first dibs,” she laughed as she unrolled the design sheets on a large worktable.
Milo helped tether two corners on his side. He stared at the end result and didn’t know what to say. My God. Everything about this design reminded him of his Little girl. How was that possible? Was he so enamored with her that even this tattoo brought her to mind?
No… It wasn’t just that. The woman in the tattoo actually looked like Riley. It could have been her. It…was her.
Milo shook the odd thought from his head and blinked several times.
“What do you think?”
“You can copy that exactly onto my chest?” he asked, stunned.
“I’ll transfer it directly onto your skin. I’m not as good as Xerox but you’ll never be able to tell the difference,” she promised him.
Out of the corner of his eye, Milo saw the large man leave his station and head out the front door. Expecting the tattoo artist was taking a smoke break, Milo dismissed him from his mind as he stared at the exquisite tattoo.
“Can I meet the artist? I’d like to thank them. This is even more beautiful than I imagined,” Milo asked, trying to think clearly. Every time he glanced at the woman with the black hair, he thought she looked even more like Riley.
“Let’s hold it up to your skin. Can you take your polo shirt off?” Tatiana asked, lifting the design.
Milo reached over his head to grab a fistful of the cotton material and pull it off. Tossing it to a chair, he asked, “Can we go to the mirror?”
“Definitely.” Tatiana walked him over so he could see his reflection and positioned the tattoo the way she’d recommend.
“When can you start?”
“I have an opening on Sunday afternoon. Are you available at two? It will take several hours to sketch out the outlines before I start to color it in. We’ll have to see how long you’re able to sit in the chair.”
“I’m off all day. I’ll be here.” Milo traced his fingers along the lines of his Little girl against his shoulder. He couldn’t help but ask about her. “The face looks just like Riley Bradford. Do you happen to know her? She works at Little Cakes.”
“We know Riley.” Tatiana smiled. “I’ve inked some of her tattoos.”
“And the artist? Can I meet him?”
“You can meet her,” Tatiana said, nodding toward the window.
Milo looked over his shoulder as Riley entered the store in her Little Cakes T-shirt.
He gasped as he spun around, glancing back and forth between the tattoo design he was still holding against his chest and the woman he loved. Yeah, I love her.
What is she doing here? He realized she must have seen his ambulance out front. “Hi, Riley.” He glanced back at Tatiana. “We’ve already met,” Milo commented as he waved his Little girl forward.
As she got closer, he noticed she was biting her lip like she was concerned. “Is everything okay, panda mine?”
“Do you like it?” she whispered.
“The tattoo? It is unbelievably perfect. I’m trying to sweet talk Tatiana into telling me who the artist is. They must know you. The face in the tower looks just like you,” Milo said, gesturing to the image.
“It looks great on your skin,” Riley commented, smoothing it against his chest as if checking to see how well it was tailored to his dimensions.
She’s not surprised at all to see what I requested. Everything finally clicked into place. “Why do I think you’ve seen this before?” he said softly.
“Um…”
“Tell me the truth, Riley.”
“Um…” she repeated, fidgeting. “Tatiana asked me to design it for you.”
“You drew this? Riley, this is spectacular. It’s exactly what I envisioned. This had to take hours to create.” Milo stared at her in shock.
She gave him a tentative smile. “Do you really like it?”
He blinked at her, still in shock as all the mysterious pieces from the past week fell into place. “This is why I couldn’t come to your apartment until you hid everything. Have you made more tattoos than mine?” he guessed.