“No.” I can tell he wants to say more. “You were with a girl named Nicole. You both came in to get a tattoo. It was a graduation present to yourselves. It was only your friend that ended up getting one. Or I assume so. I woke from my dream too soon to know for sure. It had to have been before you met Theo because you didn’t recognize me, and we looked more alike back then than we do now. But it couldn’t have been too soon before because I only lost six weeks.”
At his mention of Nicole, an image of a short blonde girl from school comes to mind. We had hung out a few times, but not often. She had more of a wild streak, and I was shy. I briefly remember us talking about tattoos once. When I mentioned to her that I had always wanted to get one, she was surprised, saying I must have an inner wild child inside me wanting to break free.
The tattoo on my side prickles. I purse my lips, a possibility coming to mind. Luca’s eyes never leave mine as I turn to the side and lift my shirt to just below my breasts. Heat creeps up my cheeks, but I determinedly don’t let it stop me.
“Does this look familiar?”
I feel a tingle of awareness as his eyes drift down me, as if in a soft caress. When his gaze lands on my tattoo, they narrow. I’m surprised when he drops to his knees at my side, then suck in a sharp breath when the tips of his fingers graze the skin. His eyes briefly flicker to mine before moving back to the tattoo.
“It’s beautiful work,” he comments. Goose bumps appear when he doesn’t move his fingers away and instead continues to examine the heart. He’s so close that I feel the heat from his breath. “I don’t know if it’s mine or not, but I’ve seen it before.” When he lifts his gaze back to me, there’s a crease in his brow “I’ve had visions of it. The full image didn’t come to me until a couple nights ago.”
“I don’t understand. What could all this mean? Theo said I got it to signify our love.”
His jaw tics at that revelation. I don’t know if he realizes what he’s doing, but his thumb is rubbing back and forth right above the tattoo. Shivers race up my spine when he looks back at it and his eyes darken. Feelings I’ve never felt before assail me, and I don’t know what to do with them. Years ago, before my coma, I had been only mildly curious about sex, focusing more on school than looking for any type of sexual relationship. I had kissed guys before and one even made it to second base, but I had never been tempted to go all the way.
Now though, with Luca kneeling beside me, just his hands on my sides, I’m feeling more than I ever had before. I want his hands on me. I want his hands to wander and explore more of me.
All too soon, he takes the shirt from my hand and pulls it back down. I immediately miss his warmth. The disappointment fades when he stands close. Now it’s his scent that surrounds me. His stunning blue eyes stare down at me, and I know I could get lost in them so easily.
“I don’t know what it means,” he says softly. “But something tells me there’s more going on than what we both think.”
It takes me a moment to fully understand what he’s saying. All I can think about is the unexpected way he makes me feel. I blink several times and push the foggy haze of being so close to him away.
I open my mouth to ask what he means, but a noise from the back interrupts me. Luca turns and we both look toward the hallway to see Ella coming toward us, her head bent as she looks at her phone.
Without looking up, she says, “Luca, Mom wants you to—” She comes to a halt when she sees Luca and me standing in the middle of the waiting area. “Oh, hi, Jules.”
My stomach is still fluttering crazily, but I manage a smile. “Hey.”
There’s questions in her eyes when she directs them to Luca.
“What are you doing here so early? You weren’t supposed to be here until two,” Luca asks, stepping away from me.
She looks at me then back to Luca before replying. “Sam called and asked if I could fit him in today. I told him I’d come in a couple hours early.”
“Bet Vicki didn’t like that much,” he remarks, a smirk tilting his lips up.
She rolls her eyes. “You’d bet right. She hates giving up any of our weekend hours.”
It turns quiet, and I shift uncomfortably on my feet. Ella’s eyes keep returning to me, and each time they do, I want to fidget. I know she must be wondering why I’m here. I don’t know if Luca called her yesterday when he called his parents, and if he did, what he told her.
“Jules is going to hang out today,” Luca says, breaking the awkward silence.
“Okay.” A twinkle enters her eyes. “You can watch Luca and me kick ass on the needle.”
I laugh, glad the uncomfortable moment is over. I’m looking forward to seeing the ins and outs of tattooing. I’m especially anxious to see Luca while he works.
She looks at Luca. “Mom wants you to call her. Said she needed to talk to you about Thanksgiving.”
“I’ll go do that now.”
As he walks away, leaving Ella and me alone, she comes closer, concern lighting her eyes.
“Is everything okay? Are you okay?”
I don’t know if I’m ready to tell her what Theo did. The thought of her not believing me or casting blame my way makes me leery on being completely truthful. I wouldn’t blame her. She doesn’t know me that well. Why would she believe me over her brother? It still surprises me that Luca believed me. However, I can’t outright lie. Whether or not Ella looks at me as a friend, I think of her as such, and I really don’t want to lie to her.
“I’m fine.” I look down and force my fingers to stop twisting together. Lifting my head, I give her what I can at the moment. “Theo and I had an argument, and I needed to get away.”
Her eyes narrow, and I have no doubt she knows there’s more to the story. Luckily, she doesn’t press me, just offers instead, “If you need to talk, I hope you know you can call me.”
I smile, grateful for her offer. My memories of before my coma consisted of a family I could count on when I needed them. They may not have been the perfect family, but they were mine. I woke up from my coma with no one except a strange man who calls himself my husband and has tried to force himself on me twice. I’ve felt both scared and lost the last several weeks. My only saving grace has been Aria, and Ella the couple times she’s stopped by or taken me to my doctor’s appointment. And now Luca.
With that thought in mind and Ella’s reassuring words, I wonder… maybe I’m not as alone as I thought.
THE BUZZING OF THE tattoo machine is quieter and more soothing than I thought it would be. But it’s the complete and utter concentration on Luca’s face as he tattoos the guy named Garrett in front of him that captivates me. I never knew watching someone work could be so mesmerizing. This is Luca in his element. I don’t have to know him that well to sense this. He loves what he does. You can see it in the attention he gives the design he’s working on.
There’s low music playing in the background, and I wonder if that helps his concentration. He and the guy have spoken periodically, but even so, you can tell his focus is meticulously on his work.
The shop’s been open several hours, but this is the first time I’ve been able to watch Luca work. I sat with Ella with her first client. Her skills are almost as good as Luca’s, but she’s more vocal while tattooing, opting to joke and laugh with her client or sing to the music she had going in the background.
While Ella finished up her client, Luca ordered pizza for lunch. All three of us sat on the couches in the waiting room to eat, Ella saying they were more comfortable than the chairs in the break room. Several people came in to inquire about tattoos and they took turns answering questions or setting up appointments. I noticed the phone rang quite a bit, so after lunch, I offered to play secretary for a while. When one of Luca’s regulars came in, he asked if I wanted to come to the back to watch. I jumped at the opportunity, anxious to see him work.
The buzzing stops, and after wiping the design with a napkin that’s already half saturated with ink, he sits up from his hunched over position. Both of his hands are midair as he looks over the art he created.
Sitting up straighter on the stool I’m on, I try to take a better look. Luca’s eyes lift to mine.