Leave a Trail (Signal Bend #7)(88)
She knew what they were talking about—Lilli had Isaac’s ink, Tasha had Len’s, Cory had Havoc’s.
Shannon didn’t have any ink; Adrienne didn’t know why she wasn’t wearing Show’s. She knew what it meant, but she and Badger had never talked about it. They hadn’t really talked about the future, though she felt sure that they were both thinking long term. The word ‘forever’ had been murmured or whispered more than a few times. She looked at Badger, who was eating a sandwich and drinking a Coke, sitting on the table he’d been lying on while Tony worked. He was bare-chested, his new, half-finished ink dark and shiny. He looked back at her, swallowing a bite and bringing his soda can to his mouth. They didn’t speak.
When Badger didn’t respond to him, Red shifted uncomfortably and then addressed Adrienne again.
“Well, if you get ink, don’t get flash. Flowers, animals, whatever—all that’s fine, but put some thought into it. Ask your artist to draw it for you. You’ll get better work, something unique.”
She nodded, but she hadn’t really heard his advice. She was too preoccupied with the question of her and Badger. It felt important that they were living a life that they had not defined yet in any way.
oOo
When she woke the next morning, she was not alone in bed. Badger had gotten quiet again after they’d left the tattoo shop, and he’d dropped her at home and gone to the clubhouse alone. She was asleep, Hector curled on her pillow, before he got home. But he was with her now, awake, trailing his fingers through her hair, over her shoulder, down the new skin on her right arm. It made her feel a little self-conscious when he touched her scars, even lovingly like this, but she was getting used to it. He touched them a lot.
He noticed that she’d woken. “Morning, beautiful.”
“Morning.” She rolled to her back, and he shifted a little to make way for her without moving out of contact with her. “How’re you feeling?”
“Okay. I’m sorry about yesterday.”
“Don’t be. I understand. I’m glad you’re better. How’s your chest?”
“Fine. Don’t really feel it.” He brushed his hand over his t-shirt—it was a gesture he made often, a swipe from his shoulder to the bottom of ribs and back. He’d worn a t-shirt to bed, and the white cotton had taken on a faint Rorschach impression of his new tattoo.
She caught his hand and brought it to her lips. “Are you spending the day at the B&B today, or do you have club stuff?” Even though the B&B was only in the planning stages of the rebuild, the barn had not been burned, and Badger was still taking care of the horses and goats.
“I want to run over for a couple of hours, deal with some paperwork, work with Spirit a little, and check in on Weasel.”
“I wish you’d let him stay with us at night.”
“He’s a working dog, babe. Not a pet. He lives there, where his work is. Anyway, he’d go crazy in a house.”
She was still sad to think of him sleeping alone in the barn every night. “Well, Hector is a pet.”
The pup was still on the bed with them. Badger ruffled his ears. “Yeah, that’s clear. You know, he’s gonna get too big to sleep with us.”
Adrienne shrugged, unwilling to contemplate her sweet little pup becoming a giant dog, and Badger laughed.
“Okay. Anyway, Kenny’s on all day today, and there’s not much to do with the B&B closed, so I can be free before lunch, if nothing comes up with the club. You have plans?”
“Just the usual—hanging out with Shannon and the twins, under Double A’s watchful eye.”
“It’s supposed to be nice today. How about I pick you up and we go for a ride? Maybe go car shopping?”
Still mourning the loss of her little Beetle, Adrienne had not yet wanted to replace her. She hadn’t felt a pressing need for a new car. She wasn’t working yet, and she had a bodyguard. It wasn’t like Badger was going to let her wander off for a joy ride on her own.
“A ride would be nice. But I don’t want to look at cars yet.”
His brow wrinkled, but he didn’t reply, except to lean down and kiss her—a claiming kiss, loving but not gentle, his lips firm on hers, his tongue filling her mouth. She was breathless by the time he pulled back.
He brushed his thumb over her wet mouth. “Okay, then. Just a ride.”
oOo
When he came to Show and Shannon’s to pick her up, just before noon, he had a smallish box, wrapped in solid blue paper.
“What’s that?”
“For you.” His grin wide and proud, he handed her the box. She opened it, sliding her finger under the tape.
A new Nikon digital SLR camera. A step up from the one she’d lost in the fire. Adrienne stared at the box in her hands.
“That okay? I got the receipt and everything if you don’t like it. There’s a camera shop in Springfield.
They have lenses and filters and all that, but I didn’t understand most of what the guy was trying to sell me, so we can go back, and you can get a camera you like better, or different lenses, or whatever. I just…you always have a camera with you. As long as I’ve known you.”
She stared at the box, entirely overwhelmed, so much that she couldn’t even lift her head.