Stealing Harper (Taking Chances #1.5)(34)

Uh, no. That was the deal. “I’m not going to lie to you and say it won’t hurt, but it’s different for everyone. Some people hate outlines, some hate shading. Some people don’t feel a thing, and some hate the entire process. I told you, you’ll love what it is. But it’s a surprise; I can’t tell you.”

She bit her lip and looked around for a few seconds before looking back at me. “I’m trusting you with this, Chase.”

I put a hand around the back of her neck and pulled her close to me. “I know, Harper, thank you.” I kissed her forehead and forced myself back to lean up against my counter so I wouldn’t press my lips to hers. “Where do you want it?”

“Um . . . you said it was big, right?” I just nodded. “Can I know how big? Because the location depends on the size.”

“Turn around.”

“What? Why?”

I laughed when her eyes went wide again and put my hands on her hips to turn her body away from me. “Because I already have the outline ready to go, I’m about to grab it to get the farthest points, and I don’t want you to see it.” I grabbed tracing paper and laid it on top of the outline, marked the points, and turned her back toward me. “This big.”

“Okay, I want it here.” She grabbed the paper from me and held it up on herself. “I want it to start on the far left side of my stomach and wrap around my left hip.”

That’s almost exactly where I had pictured it on her, too. I had to take a deep breath when I realized I was about to freely touch her, and reached for her shirt to roll it up so it would be out of the way. “Lie down on your side.” Once she was on the table, I tugged the left side of her sweatpants down slightly as well, and my heart started hammering about the same time she sucked in a quick, audible breath. “I’ll keep everything covered, I promise. I just need this side farther down.” My voice came out deep and husky, and I tried to shake it off; I’d done tattoos in more intimate places than this on women, and it’d never affected me like this.

“Chase?”

“Hmm?”

“You said it’s going to take hours?”

“Yeah, probably three. As you can see, it’s big, and the shading is really detailed. That part will take the longest. This is where you need to trust me. I’m about to put the outline on, so please don’t look.” She squeezed her eyes shut and made the cutest scrunched-up face I’d ever seen. “If you ever need me to stop, just tell me, okay?”

“ ’Kay. I’m ready, let’s do this.”

Once the outline was on and how I wanted it, I set up the machine and inks and put on my gloves. I turned to look at my princess, and I couldn’t help but just stare at her for a few moments. God, she was perfect. I heard someone clear his throat and looked up to see Brian nodding and giving me a thumbs-up. I shook my head and flipped him off before rolling my chair over to her and squeezing her hand. “You picked the perfect spot; this is gonna look awesome.”

“It better.”

I smiled and started on the outline. Her body relaxed soon after I started, but when I looked over almost halfway through the outline, her hands were still clenched into fists. She was doing amazing so far, wasn’t flinching or making any pained noises. But inking the girl that meant the world to me with this tattoo had to be a better moment for me than kissing her, and I wanted her to enjoy it, too. “You okay?”

“Yep, just pay attention to what you’re doing.”

I laughed. Did she really think I’d mess this up on her? I finished the outline, fixed the machine to start the shading, and went back to giving my princess her lilies. I tried to ignore the way my heart was pounding and jeans felt like they were tightening as I continued to work on her, but the way her body felt, all I could think about was ripping off my gloves and exploring every inch of her without them. It definitely didn’t help when I looked up to see her biting her lip and her chest rising and falling in a calculated pattern. She started moving her body slightly, like she was uncomfortable, and hell if I didn’t start thinking of every way I could make her comfortable.

“Princess, you gotta stop moving.” For the love of God, please stop moving, or I’m taking you right here in the middle of a tattoo parlor.

She froze and whispered an apology, and I tried to think of surfing to clear my mind and get back into my zone. Halfway through the shading, I kept hearing something that wasn’t the music playing in the shop, wasn’t the gun, and wasn’t my phone. I looked up and tried to figure out the noise but couldn’t hear it anymore. When I bent back over Harper I could hear it again and stopped the gun before I leaned closer to her and smiled to myself.

“Are you humming?” Good God she was cute.

Her eyes shot open, and she froze. “Maybe.”

I barked out a laugh and took off my gloves as I went back to my counter and looked for my phone. I grabbed it, my headphones, and walked back over to her as I pulled up iTunes and handed it to her. “You’re doing great; I’ll be done soon.” Without thinking about it, I kissed her neck softly, but thank God she only started blushing as she put the headphones on.

An hour later, I was done, and I had to admit, it looked perfect. Even better than how I’d imagined it on her. I loved watching her as she looked at my sketches, and though I was nervous as shit, I couldn’t wait to see her reaction to this one. I put the gun up and took off my gloves, and when I turned around, her eyes were still closed, and she was once again moving to whatever song she was listening to. Deciding to push my luck further, I leaned my body over hers and kissed her lips quickly.