BEAUTIFUL BROKEN MESS (Broken, Series #2)(71)

The receptionist is a tiny little thing with bright purple hair and metal or plastic jewelry in every conceivable place a person could get pierced above the neck. While initially shocked at her appearance, the closer I get to the counter, the more I’m blown away by how beautiful she is. The customers and the guys working here must love having her to greet everyone. Her smile lights up as I put my hands on the counter.

“Do you have an appointment?” she asks, while rifling through the pages of a black notebook.

“No, sorry...I didn’t even think about that...” I trail off. It took enough courage to walk in the door by myself. I almost asked Jace to come with me today, seeing as he now has a ton of tattoos covering his arms, shoulders, and ribs. He probably would have been able to show me the best place to go. I only chose this place because it’s right next to where I work and it looked kind of fun from the outside. God, Lane would kill me if he heard me right now, choosing a tattoo shop because it looked fun from the outside.

“No worries, you might have to wait a bit though. Since it’s Sunday, most of them are about to get off, but I think...” she says, scanning the shop, “Jared should be done soon and he can help you out.” As she pencils something in the notebook, she adds, “I’m Jinx, by the way.”

When she lifts her head to look at me, she laughs at my open-mouthed expression. “Even your name is badass,” I say, because it’s the first thing that pops out of my mouth.

“Thanks,” she chuckles. “It’s just a nickname though.”

“I’m Audrey. I always liked my name, but now I’m finding it majorly lacking compared to yours.”

“No way. Audrey, like Audrey Hepburn, the classic beauty!” She slips on some big, dark sunglasses and places a pen in her mouth as if it were a cigarette holder from the sixties. I giggle as she acts out the characteristic Hepburn pose. “See? Classic.”

“Okay, you made me feel better,” I say with a smile.

“I’ve got you checked in. Just sign these waivers and then you can wait on the couches for Jared.”

“I got her,” a deep voice says from close by. Jinx and I both turn to gaze at the person who’s quickly approaching the counter. The man that advances is tall and has messy, jet-black hair. His black polo shirt barely contains his large muscled chest and arms. Poor shirt. The first thing I notice besides his easy, handsome smile and eyes that promise trouble is the stranger’s tanned, un-tattooed expanse of skin.

“Max, you’re about to get off. Jared can get her,” Jinx states.

“Yeah, I can get her!” I hear a shout from across the shop and I’m assuming that’s Jared. He pops his head up over his stall and winks at me.

“It’s cool, I got her,” Max repeats. “Besides, I’ll bet you a hundred bucks, Jinxy, that she’s got virgin skin. You know how I love poppin’ cherries.”

My mouth drops open at his blatant flirtation. “But...do you even have tattoos? How can I expect you to work on me when it looks like you don’t even have any yourself?” I’m not sure why I can’t keep my thoughts inside my head, where they should clearly stay.

Jinx begins to giggle and Max stares at me in fascination. Without missing a beat, he raises his black polo up by the hem and lifts it over his washboard abs and chiseled chest. Beautiful designs swirl and twist over and around his skin. Half a pair of stunning angel wings fill up the entire right side of his upper body, shoulder to waist. The wings are so finely detailed I want to touch them, just to see if they’re real. Over his heart, the words ‘Even Angels Fall’ are scripted into his skin.