Pulling out of our embrace, I ask her, “So where do you want me?”
“Well, go on back to the break room. I brought freshly baked cinnamon rolls. Make sure you save some for Harry or he’ll never let you live it down,” she tells me.
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” I say, already headed toward the break room. The smell of freshly baked rolls greets me halfway down the hall, and I pick up the pace. Nothing beats Momma’s homemade cinnamon rolls.
Mom joins me a few minutes later and I’ve already had two rolls. She just smiles at me and shakes her head. “Good thing I made a double batch,” she chuckles.
Yep. Best mom ever!
I finish off my bottle of water and toss it in the trash as I walk to the sink to wash the cinnamon goo from my hands. “I’m all yours. Where are these boxes?” I ask her.
“Well, all right then.” She leads me to a file room where an entire wall is lined with boxes. These need to be carried downstairs to storage.
“Any particular place I should put them?”
She nods her head. “Yes. I’ll follow you down and show you.”
I lean down and pick up two boxes and turn to face her. “Blaise, you’re gonna throw your back out,” she scolds me.
I playfully roll my eyes at her. “Mom, I’m a firefighter. The gear I wear weighs more than this.” I then wink at her for good measure.
Mom stomps her feet all the way down to the basement. All the while, mumbling about stubborn cocky men. My grin widens. I love getting her worked up.
Mom shows me were to place the boxes, and then goes back to her desk. It only takes me about twenty minutes to carry everything downstairs and organize it the way she wants it. The time actually flies by. My mind is occupied with the dark haired beauty upstairs. When I’m finished, I head back to the break room and wash my hands. The basement is dusty. I grab another bottle of water from the fridge and head back to the reception area.
What I find when I get there stops me in my tracks. Mom and the dark haired beauty, Tatum, are in what appears to be a deep conversation. Mom has her hand on top of Tatum’s and her eyes are glossy with tears. Tatum looks up and catches my stare. Her eyes, green, peridot green, the same color as the birthstone charm Momma has for Asher and me. Mesmerizing eyes filled with sadness. I can tell I’m making her uncomfortable as she tries to continue her conversation. With one last glance, trying to commit her gem colored eyes and sweet scent to memory, I turn and head back to the break room to allow them some privacy. Besides, Mom would be harping on me for not being a “gentleman” if I didn’t.
I’m not sure how much time passes before Mom appears at the door of the break room. I busied myself with my phone, updating the shop’s facebook and twitter status, checking e-mails, and going over my schedule for the next week.
“Thanks for your help,” she says as she leans against the door jam.
I stand up and stretch. “No problem. Is that all you needed help with? I didn’t want to leave in case there was anything else you needed done.”
She shakes her head no. “I’m good. Thank you for helping; you’re a life saver.”
I tower over her at my six foot three height. Leaning down, I kiss her cheek. “Anything for your cinnamon rolls,” I say, barely able to hold in my laughter as she pokes me in the side.
“Shush, you. Get out of here and enjoy the rest of your day,” she laughs. “I have work to do. Harry hired that girl and I have to set up all of her pre-employment testing as well as the rest of my work and what will soon be hers. Finally, there is light at the end of the tunnel.”
“So, she’s the new PR rep?” I ask. Trying to be casual. If Mom suspects I’m the least bit interested, she will start her matchmaking.
She nods her head yes. “And, she has a double major in marketing. We get two for the price of one. She just moved here from Ohio.”
I want to ask her more. I want to know everything she knows about the dark haired beauty named Tatum with the captivating green eyes. Instead of asking and letting my attraction to her over take my common sense, I say goodbye to my mother and head to the shop.
Every damn time I walk through the door of Self Expressions, our tattoo shop, I can’t help but smile. Asher and I always dreamed of this, and here we are living the dream. Life doesn’t get much better than this.
Ember is at the counter, eyes glued to her laptop, no doubt shopping online for her new apartment. I hear the hum of a tattoo gun so I can only assume Asher is hard at work. I don’t have a client until three, but this place is home to me. Ember looks up from her laptop. “How was mom?” she questions.
“Good. I carried all the boxes down to the basement for her. Harry hired a new PR rep while I was there, so hopefully her work load will decrease,” I tell her.
“That’s awesome. She has been carrying the load for so long, she won’t know what to do with herself,” she replies excitedly.
Asher appears with his client and hands Ember his cash out slip. “What’s awesome?”
“Harry finally hired a PR rep, so now maybe Mom can cut back and relax a little.”
“About damn time,” he says, turning to his client. “Let me know when you want to get started on that other piece,” he tells him. They fist bump and the guy in on his way.
“Another satisfied customer.” Asher grins.
Before I have a chance to reply, my cell rings. I pull it out of my pocket and see Heather’s name flash across the screen. I turn my phone so my siblings can see who it is. I’m already walking down the hall and out the back door before answering.
“Hey, stranger,” I say into the phone. I lean my back against the building with one foot propped up against the wall.
“Hey, yourself. How have you been?” she asks.
Heather and I dated after Beth and I broke up. It was a short-lived courtship. We have nothing in common well, except the sex. We dated for about three months and mutually decided it wasn’t working out and parted as friends. Heather is a model and flies all over the world. About six months later she called and said she was in Nashville for a video shoot and would love to get together. I didn’t have anything else going on, so I drove to Nashville to have dinner with her. One thing led to another and we ended up back at her hotel room. We spent the night together. The next morning, we went to breakfast, and then she went her way and I went mine. Neither of us has been in a serious relationship since. So, when she’s in town, she calls and we hook up. Heather is a beautiful girl. She and I both just want to be able to relieve some tension without a bunch of random hook-ups. It works for us. Hell, we have given each other dating advice. We talk about everything. She’s one of my closest friends, with benefits. We both have vowed when that special someone comes along, we will remain close friends and no hard feelings. It works for us.
“I’m good. Shop is busy as ever,” I reply. “How about you?”
“Doing well. I’m in Nashville shooting another music video. You busy tonight?”
“Yeah, I have a full schedule here at the shop. How long are you in town for?” I ask her.
“I fly back to London tomorrow afternoon. This is just a short trip to do a few stills for the video.”
“I wish I would have known you were coming to town. I could have made arrangements in my schedule,” I tell her. I miss my friend.