Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92841 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92841 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
As he continues to speak to her, my thoughts go back to the day Brandon proposed. We were in Forbidden Ink, having lunch. I laughed at something he’d said, and when he pulled his phone out of his pocket, the ring fell out. He had been carrying it around with him for weeks, waiting for the right time to propose. I told him I didn’t need a perfect moment, and he got down on his knee and proposed. It was fitting since we had met and fallen in love in Forbidden Ink.
“Kins,” someone says softly, shaking me from my thoughts.
When I glance over at my dad, I realize my vision is blurry because I’ve started to cry.
“I … I need …” I murmur, quickly standing.
“Go,” he says with a sad smile gracing his lips. “It’s okay. Go.”
Without drawing attention to myself, I head out the side fence and don’t stop until I’m safely on the sidewalk and away from everyone else.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, but I need a minute to myself, so I ignore it and walk down the sidewalk toward the development’s main gate. Since it’s a small town and I don’t drive, I’m used to walking everywhere. Within minutes, I find myself sitting at Brookside Park. It’s the town’s main park, where most of the sports are played. There’s a huge kids’ play area, a trail for jogging, and even a dog park.
I sit on the bench and focus on the kids playing, trying to tamp down my emotions. Only the sight of a little girl squealing in delight has me spiraling further as I imagine being here with Brandon and our daughter.
I stand abruptly, ready to flee, when I run straight into a hard chest. When I step back, my apology on the tip of my tongue, I’m met with familiar bright brown eyes.
“Kinsley?” Shane says, gently holding on to my biceps to help steady me.
“Hey,” I choke out. “Sorry, I was …”
“You’re the tattoo artist from Exposed Ink, right?” a girl says, cutting me off.
I glance at her and recognize her as the friend of the girl I turned away. With her red hair and green eyes, she doesn’t have the same features as Shane, but the second the corner of her lips curves into a smile, I know she has to be Shane’s daughter.
“Yeah,” I breathe out. “Taylor, right?”
“Yeah.” She nods. “I was just talking about you with my dad.”
My eyes land on him at the exact moment his tongue glides across the seam of his lips to wet them, and my thoughts go back to my fantasy in my room.
The second my neck begins to heat, I dart my eyes back to Taylor, praying my entire face didn’t just turn red.
“My friend Casey and I are going to be coming in to get our noses pierced,” she tells me.
“Oh, wow,” I say, “Better than the unicorn tattoo.”
Taylor snorts out a laugh. “And it’s not permanent.” She shrugs. “Unlike the tattoo my dad got.”
“True,” I agree. “But at least his is meaningful.”
“Oh, you’ve seen it?” she asks, raising a brow. “Wait, do you two know each other?”
“I treated her for a food allergy,” Shane says.
“And while you were doing that, you guys discussed my dad’s tattoo?” Taylor quirks a brow, way too observant.
“Actually, I did the tattoo for him,” I tell her.
Her eyes go wide, and then after several seconds, she bursts out laughing. “Oh my God. Now, it all makes sense!”
“What?” her dad asks, confusion laced in his tone.
“I couldn’t figure out what made you get a tattoo after all these years of you saying you didn’t want to mark your body permanently. But now, it all makes perfect sense.”
“Taylor,” Shane warns, but it only makes her grin wider.
“What?” I ask, clearly out of the loop. “What makes perfect sense?”
“It’s like a scene from one of my romance books,” she explains. “Guy saves girl, falls for her, and then gets a tattoo from her as an excuse to see her again.”
It takes me a second to wrap my head around what she just said, but once I do, I can’t help but laugh because she isn’t wrong.
“I’m right, aren’t I?” she says, her gaze flicking between her dad and me. “I should’ve put two and two together when he said the woman doing his tattoo said it needed to be meaningful. You’re his tattoo artist.” She glances at her dad. “You totally got a tattoo to impress her.”
She smacks his arm playfully, and I snort out another laugh.
“Kinsley and I are just friends,” he says with an eye roll.
“Oh no.” Taylor’s features turn serious. “Did she turn you down?”
She turns her attention on me. “Did you turn my dad down? He’s a good guy. Doesn’t sleep around or cheat. He’s an amazing dad. He works hard. I mean, he’s not a billionaire, but he owns his own home and can provide for his family, and since my mom is too busy traveling all over the world, he pretty much has zero other woman dram—”