Free Then Kiss Me by Jade C. Jamison Page A

said, “Exactly who are they ?”
    Jim was too sly for me.  “Oh, no.   You’re not getting off the hook that easy.  What were you staring at?”
    Oh, my God .  I realized, at Jim’s angle, the fucking pervert probably thought I’d been staring at Scott’s junk!  Holy shit.   It didn’t matter that my eyes had been looking nowhere near that area, Jim was going to make a big deal out of it anyway.   I managed to keep the cool exterior—how, I don’t know.  But now I knew I was fighting for my life.  Fine …call his bluff…the fucker .  I was going to try to play it to my advantage then.  “If you really must know, I was looking at the edge of Scott’s sleeve.  He has a tattoo peeking out there, and I wondered what it was.”
    Shit.  I could feel the blush crawling from the center of my chest up my neck , and my cheeks were about to start burning.  It wasn’t hot enough in the kitchen to play that off as heat related yet.  But the look on Scott’s face stopped my blush dead in its tracks.  He wasn’t offended or freaked out at all.  And I could tell from the look on Jim’s face too that I’d thwarted whatever plan he’d had.  I couldn’t read his emotion, though, and now that I’d captured Scott’s interest, I really didn’t care.
    Scott set down the tongs, the tips on the grill its elf, and pulled the sleeve on his left arm up to his shoulder, inviting me closer.  So I did…I took two steps over and, if the kitchen hadn’t been so warm already, I suspect I would’ve been able to feel his body heat.  I certainly felt some sort of vibration.  There was something there between us.  I just didn’t know when one of us would act on it.  We were both hesitant.  I know why I was.  After failing at love in such an epic way, I was afraid to try again.  I didn’t want to lose once more .  And David had said something about Scott the night we’d been drinking.  He ’d said Scott had been used by women in the past, if I could properly recall our drunken conversation.   So we were both hesitant.  I guessed Scott’s hesitation was a good sign.  It meant he didn’t just want to love me and leave me either.
    But now I had a chance to salivate over his body art without stealing a peek , so I was going to enjoy it.  At first, I couldn’t tell what I was looking at.  He had some kind of tribal tattoo, all lines and swirls, bold, thick, and dark.  But then I saw…what was that?  I was going to use my question as an excuse to touch him.
    I ran my finger up the length of a tattoo mixed in with others, just above the tribal one that had been peeking out of his sleeve.  “What’s that?”  It looked like the bottom of a letter X .  Was it maybe like the tattoo on Sully Erna’s back?  There were lots of pictures of the Godsmack vocalist’s back, whereupon he’d had his penchant for pornography inked .  It was a guy thing, and I’d respect it, but I was curious as hell.
    My eyes met his as I asked the question and yeah .  My touch had had the effect I’d intended.  He liked it.  I could tell from how dark his eyes turned.  But he still had the playful look on his face.  He pulled the sleeve back even farther, toward his neck, to reveal a set of drumsticks.   But somehow they were sexy.  I liked his tattoo artist.  Maybe I’d get to see more of this person’s work in the tattoo art show at the Art Center in the fall.  In the meantime, though, I had a flesh canvas I was able to appreciate.
    I removed my finger which had been searing his skin for far too long.  And I realized Scott had hardly said a word, but the slight smile on his face was unmistakable.  My voice was low when I said, “That’s really fuckin ’ cool.”
    “Yeah, it is , huh? ”   Was he talking about the tattoo or the feeling between us?
    I could barely breathe.
    Jim was probably pissed that I’d not only ruined his game but had taken all the attention away from him.  He said, “All