Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 61746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Like he could hear us, the man looked up at us, his eyes centering in on me. The side of his mouth curled up slightly as his eyes swept over me, making my face warm up in surprise. Was he checking me out?
“Ladies, welcome to Swan and Rose! Do you have an appointment or are you just walking in?” a handsome man with dark features greeted us with a playful half-smile on his face, making my eyes dart over to him and away from the other man. He wasn’t dressed up as much as the other artist, but in just jeans and a white t-shirt with a black jacket over it, he still looked good.
“Hi! Yes, we have an appointment. It’s under Aisling. This is my friend, Madison, that I mentioned was coming with me,” Aisling told him as she twisted a lock of her long, blonde hair around her forefinger with a dopey look on her face.
I was mentally twirling a lock of my hair as I smiled at the man.
“Nice to meet you two. I’m Taj. I understand you two have some ideas you want to discuss today. Then, we can move onto the fun part,” he said with an eager look on his face.
“The needle part?” I asked with a wary look on my face.
Taj chuckled and touched my arm briefly in a comforting manner, making goosebumps flare up along the back of my arm as my heart skipped.
“I promise it’s not as scary as it seems. We’ll walk you through everything, and you’ll have a great piece of art on your body at the end of it all,” he replied.
Warmth immediately bloomed through my body just at his touch. Just like that, he made me feel a decent bit better. So far, I really liked this place, and it wasn’t just because of the cool décor and warm atmosphere.
“Aisling, I’m going to have you talk to Ti over there. He’s going to sketch up your idea. Madison, you’ll be with me,” Taj said.
Gladly.
Aisling gave my arm a squeeze as she secretly shot me a wink.
“Have fun,” she told me before heading off to the hot spider man.
“Follow me,” Taj said, leading me over to his area where there were worn notebooks with scribbles on the cover, a small ceramic lotus, and a few packs of both sketching pencils and colored pencils. He hopped up on the black, portable table made of PVC vinyl and patted the spot next to him. “Let’s talk about this tattoo idea of yours.”
A wave of nervousness washed over me as I sat down next to him, accidentally hopping up too close to where our shoulders and thighs touched.
“Oh, sorry,” I apologized, feeling my face burn.
Taj smiled and shook his head.
“It’s totally fine. I need you to get a good look at the sketch anyway,” he replied before shrugging off his jacket and reaching over to grab a sketchbook and a pencil.
My eyes immediately zeroed in on the beautiful peacock tattoo on his arm.
“Wow, that’s really cool,” I told him, refraining from reaching out and touching it. The muscle of his bicep made it even harder to resist, and I couldn’t remember a time when I felt so drawn to someone. Dying to touch them. Wanting to get closer.
Taj looked down at his tattoo.
“Thank you. It means a lot to me,” he said, his vague words leaving me feeling even more curious.
“What do peacocks represent? Boldness? Creativity?” I asked him.
Taj let out a small chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes shifting to his tattoo.
“You’re actually pretty close,” he replied before looking back up at me. When he saw the curiosity written all over my face, he smirked a little, realizing just how much I wanted to know. “It symbolizes my Indian heritage and my love for art.”
My eyebrows popped up in interest.
“That’s amazing,” I said as a smile crossed my face, our eyes locking. He had the most beautiful brown eyes that caught the vintage-styled lights up above just right.
“So, what are you wanting, Madison?” he asked as the tip of his pencil hovered above the blank page of his sketchbook.
It was hard for me to put my thoughts into words. I hadn’t ever been good at art, which was why I desperately needed a professional like Taj to help me out.
“I have a daughter. Her name is Chloe, and she’s my world. I want something done for her,” I told him.
A warm look crossed Taj’s face.
“That’s sweet. Tell me more about her. Tell me how you feel about her,” he said.
Where did I even begin?
“She’s the smartest, sweetest kid ever born,” I replied with a laugh that he shared. “She loves trying new things. Like baking, gardening, and painting. Being her mom has been the best thing ever. Without her… I don’t know what I’d do. It’s like she keeps me rooted to the earth and doesn’t let me float away into nothing,” I told him, surprising myself with how much I revealed. That was a bit deeper than I expected to get.