“Don’t touch other women,” she growled.
Glancing back at them, I saw Cooper get his horny expression. I was apparently in the middle of a game they played. Gross.
“Do you know how much it would cost to get it fixed?” I asked as Cooper ran his finger over Farah’s pouting lips.
Without looking away for his wife’s face, Cooper shook his head. “I’ll pay. Just tell Aaron I said what I said. He’ll be cool.” As if a light bulb went off over his head, Cooper glanced at me. “You should go soon. Very soon. Can’t leave it undone for much longer or it’ll get weird. Yeah, go this week.”
Frowning, I noticed Bailey eyeing her brother. Her blue eyes got wide and she nodded.
“Yes, soon. So soon. Well, maybe not too soon. I don’t want to be alone.” When Tawny appeared next to her, Bailey decided to be nice and said grudgingly. “Soon, I guess.”
“What are we talking about?” Tawny asked as Judd rolled a ball, knocked over a few pins, then frowned like he might knock the others over with his angry glare.
“Aaron’s going to fix her tat,” Bailey explained while Cooper and Farah wandered off.
“He’s an artist,” Tawny cooed. “He made this angel on Judd.”
After Tawny showed me Judd’s arm, she put her hand back to where she had a gorgeous tattoo of a fallen angel.
“He’s very talented,” she added.
“I’m excited to get my butterfly finished.”
“He’ll do a great job,” Bailey reassured, taking a ball from Vaughn and rolling it into the wrong alley. “Oops.”
“Idiot.”
“Be nice or I won’t be nice,” Bailey warned, glaring up at him.
“I love feisty women,” he said, smirking down at her.
“Not interested. Blond men are usually stupid. Just look at my brothers. Anyway, I don’t want a dumbass loser. I want a smartass winner.”
“You deserve nothing less,” I said and Bailey smiled at me like I was amazing.
I did feel amazing. Not only would my tattoo get fixed, but I also had an excuse to talk to Aaron. I didn’t know if Aaron would enjoy the conversation as much as I did, but fate was no longer standing in my way.
Chapter Two - Aaron
Her name was Lark and she was my muse. From the day I met her at the wedding rehearsal, I couldn’t stop thinking of her beautiful face. I was forever drawing her, sketching her, and even tattooing her. How many people in Ellsberg were walking around with tattoos of Lark’s face? Whenever a client didn’t bring a specific image in and a woman’s face was involved, I used Lark’s. Hell, I hadn’t even noticed this fact until two happy clients showed off their tattoos and I realized the pinup girl and fairy princess had the same face.
Every night, I sketched or painted her. As the weeks passed after Cooper’s wedding, I accumulated a collection of Lark artwork. I just couldn’t stop thinking of that face.
Waiting to play golf with Mom and Dad at the country club, I sketched Lark’s sweet smile into a napkin. Around me, the members at the club talked business and retirement funds and other crap. Dad was bullshitting with his friends about a bass he caught. My mother was watching me though.
“Do you have a new girlfriend?” Mom asked, taking the napkin. “She looks familiar.”
“She was a bridesmaid at Cooper’s wedding.”
“The little one with the wispy hair.”
“Yeah. Her name is Lark.”
An elegant woman in her seventies, Maryann Barnes loved her life and this happiness showed in all of her easy smiles. However, at that moment, my mom grinned in the way moms grinned when feeling nosy.
“Tell me about her. How long have you two been seeing each other?”
Studying the napkin, I admitted what a man wouldn’t admit to anyone besides his mom.
“We’re not dating. We’ve barely spoken.”
“Why? Does she have a boyfriend?”
“I don’t think so. I’ve tried to find a way to talk to her since, but fate keeps fucking it up. Like every time she’ll be hanging with Coop and Farah, I can’t get out of a job. I went to her work twice to talk to her, but each time she was on break and I ended up with another waitress. It’s like fate is keeping us apart. I know that sounds stupid.”
“Which part? Where you’re afraid to just go up to Lark and ask her out? Or how you think fate is out to get you?”
Sharing my mother’s grin, I shrugged. “Both. I don’t want to force things because if she’s not interested then it’ll be awkward when I see her at Coop’s.”
“If this girl is special, you can’t let a little thing like fate stand in the way.”
“Fate, huh?” Dad said, appearing next to the table to sip his orange juice. “Fate only controls the weak, son. You know how I became successful?”
“You were willing to lie, cheat, and steal.”