Ink Reunited (2 page)

Ever.

The shop’s phone rang and
Sassy moved to answer it. “You’ve reached Sassy at Midnight Ink. You desire it,
we ink it.”

The caller snorted and Sassy
smiled. “Desire? Dear lord, Sass, you are milking it.” 

“Odalia!” Sassy squealed at
her friend and Midnight Ink’s client. “I’m so glad you called. Are you coming
in for another session with that sexy, bad boy of yours?” Odalia and Jacques
had been one of the couples she’d helped pair up recently and she couldn’t be
more happy for the cop and the bounty hunter.

“Since I’m planning on having
Rosie finish up a couple pieces and I’ll have to get partially naked to do it,
yeah, Jacques will be there.” Sassy could practically see the grin on the other
woman’s face through the phone. “You know how he likes to get me down to my
skin.”

“I’m sure you like to do the
same, sugar. Now let me look through my appointment book to see when Rosie is
available. You have any specific time you’re thinking?”

They set up the time and Sassy
penciled it in for Rosie who would make the final call. “Are you coming to the
party we’re holding in a couple weeks?” Sassy asked, speaking of Midnight Ink’s
Valentine’s Day party.

The shop liked to hold parties
of their own on certain holidays. Since the whole crew seemed to be in love,
this party was only appropriate. It wouldn’t actually
be
on Valentine’s
Day as most of the crew would want to be with their significant others, but it
was near enough to it they could eat and drink, and for those who were sober,
get inked.

“We’ll be there. You know we
love the shop and you, honey.”

Sassy opened her mouth to
speak but suddenly came up short.

“Sassy.” She heard the deep, achingly
familiar voice coming from in front of her.

She blinked in complete disbelief at what she saw.

 “Rafe.”

“Nothing for me then?”  Another
voice, just as familiar, came from just beside Rafe, and Sassy swallowed hard.

“Ian.” She shook her head.
“What…what are you two doing here?”

She could have sworn everyone
in the shop had stopped moving, stopped breathing. It was if they knew something
was terribly wrong, and yet had no idea what to do about it.

She
didn’t know what to
do about it.

“We’re here for a tattoo,”
Rafe answered.

“And you,” Ian put in.

With that, the phone dropped
out her hand and her mind went completely blank.

Her past was back and standing
right in front of her in all their sexy glory and determined faces. No matter
what she did, she had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to wish Ian and Rafe away.

It hadn’t worked before.

It wouldn’t work this time
either.

Oh shit.

“Nothing to say, Sass?” Rafe
Chavez asked, his words sounding much calmer than he felt right then.

He still couldn’t believe he
was there standing next to the man who had left him and in front of the woman
who had done the same. A decade had come and gone, but right then, in that shop,
it felt like mere moments since he’d lain eyes on them.

They’d been different people
back then, he was sure, but damn it, he was here now and ready to face whatever
the hell he had to in order to make his plan work.

She blinked up at him with
those big brown eyes he once lost himself with no hope of escape. His fingers
ached to caress the chestnut tresses draped over her shoulders and curled under
her breasts. It was so Sassy that she had a couple blue streaks within the mass
of waves that seemed to shout she was special.

“You can’t be here,” she
breathed and Rafe held back a curse.

She’d been smiling and
laughing on the phone, but now looked pale and shaky. He and Ian had done that,
yet Rafe knew he’d do it again if it meant moving forward with what the three
of them needed. Even if two of the three of them didn’t realize they actually
needed to do the same.

He didn’t break eye contact
with Sassy even though he wanted to risk a glance at Ian. If he was doing what
Rafe thought, then Ian was also staring at Sassy, at a loss for what to do.
Rafe could just picture the man, only an inch or so taller than he, giving
Sassy that unwavering look with his piercing blue eyes, chiseled features, and
onyx black hair that he’d tied back with a leather strap.

Rafe would have liked to think
more about the man by his side but knew this wasn’t the time or place. Now, it
was all about Sassy. If they could get her to talk with them, maybe they had a
chance for what Rafe wanted.

Since Sassy looked like she
was about to bolt, he wasn’t putting much faith in round one of their plan.

Crap.

“Sassy?” Ian said, his voice a
low rumble filled with the elegant edge that Rafe had always secretly loved.

She shook her head once more
then rolled her shoulders back. Well, hell, as much as he liked it when she got
all sexy and angry at the same time, he’d much rather have had her not yell…and
that was what she was about to do.

“What the
hell
are you
two doing here?” she yelled.

Yep. Got it in one.

Rafe tore his eyes from her
face and risked a glance at the people coming up behind Sassy. Most of the
dudes were bigger than even he and Ian, and that was saying something. Plus,
their looks of impending death and doom didn’t bode well.

“Cariña
, can we talk
privately?” Rafe asked.

She narrowed her eyes at his
name for her and curled her lip. “Don’t call me that. You have no right to call
me that.”

While he understood her anger,
which he knew he deserved, it took everything in his power not to remind her
that
she
left
him
. That would be a discussion for a later time.

“I’m sorry.” He wasn’t. “We’re
just here to talk and get ink. We weren’t lying about that.”

She snorted. “Of all the shops,
in all of New Orleans, you had to walk into mine?”

He grinned at the reference to
their favorite movie then held back a frown at her reaction. The way she’d
paled a bit after she’d said it, he knew she’d done it by accident. He’d take
it however since that meant somewhere inside her she was still thinking of him,
of them.

“Is there something wrong,
Sass?” one of the dudes from the back said as he walked up behind Sassy. He put
his hand on her shoulder and Rafe had to keep from yelling at the guy to keep
his hands off his woman. He thought of Ian.
Their
woman.

Another man, this one even
bigger than the first came up on her other side. He crossed his beefy arms over
his barrel of a chest and glared.

Well shit, he didn’t want to
get in a fucking fight right there in the shop. He’d had enough of fighting as
a teen and didn’t want to do it again. Plus he didn’t think Sassy would
appreciate it.

“Need us to take care of these
two for you?” the bigger man asked, his voice full of dangerous promises.

Sassy turned on her heel and
put her fists on her waist. “Excuse me? Since when do I need the two of you to
fight my battles? I’m not some damsel in distress who needs her white knight to
slay the dragon. I’ll slay my own fucking dragons.” She glared over her
shoulder at Rafe and Ian. “Or whatever the hell these two are.”

The first man who’d spoken
smiled warmly at her. “Sass, hon, we’re just looking out for you. We all know
you can take care of yourself. That doesn’t mean you should.”

Sassy let out a breath and
Rafe sucked in one of his own, afraid of what she’d say. He knew the woman
never liked to be perceived as vulnerable. He and Ian coming in like this and
surprising her had been a bold move, and in retrospect, a not-so-smart one.

He just hadn’t known what else
to do.

“I’m fine, Shep.” She patted
his cheek then moved to the bigger man. “Thank you for defending my honor,
Caliph. Now since I’ve made a scene where usually I only like to make my own on
my own terms, I’m going to talk to these two…gentleman… away from here.”

Rafe held back a triumphant
fist pump but met Ian’s gaze. The other man gave a small twitch of his lips,
but otherwise didn’t react to Sassy’s words.

Well, it was better than
nothing.

“If you’re sure, Sass,” Shep
grumbled.

“I’m sure. They’re not going
to hurt me.”

Rafe heard the odd note in her
tone and knew what she was thinking. They’d hurt each other all those years ago
but right then it was about overcoming all of that. It
had
to be.

“We really did come here for
ink,” Rafe put in, trying to ease some of the tension.

Sassy turned toward them and
raised a brow. “Oh, I have no doubt that was one of your intentions. Now we get
to see what your other ones are.”

With that she moved around the
desk, picked up her bag, and brushed passed them. That sexy wiggle in her step
causing her hips to sway back and forth.

Damn, he’d missed watching her
walk.

Ignoring the glares from Shep,
Caliph, and the others in the shop, he turned to follow Sassy out the door. He
heard Ian mutter something under his breath, then do the same.

“I don’t know who you two are,
but if you hurt Sassy, we’ll hurt you,” Shep said from behind them and Rafe
stopped.

He looked over his shoulder
and gave a slight nod. “We don’t want to hurt her.”

“Then don’t be fucking
idiots,” Caliph put in.

Rafe gave one last look at the
men who protected Sassy, then followed the woman in question out of the door
and onto the street. Midnight Ink was located right on Canal Street and since
it was just getting dark outside, the early dinner and cocktail hour crowd
filled the streets. Since it was February, it was a bit chilly outside but
nothing like what it would be back in New York where he’d lived for the past
decade.

Sassy stopped in front of them
and turned, her face expressionless. “I don’t know why you’re here and don’t
tell me it’s for a tattoo. All three of us know that even though you might have
wanted one, it was just a ruse to get me to talk to you. Well, now you’ve got
me.” She cursed. “For
this
talk only. I don’t run away from my problems.
Not anymore. So the three of us are going to go to my place and hash this out
so I can go about my business. I don’t like airing out my dirty laundry at work
or in a public place. And that’s what the two of y’all are. Dirty laundry.”

While most men would have
taken a hit at her words, Rafe knew he and Ian wouldn’t. Sassy lashed out like
a frightened kitten when she was cornered. Oh, he wouldn’t back down. This kitten
had claws, but damn, he missed the way she yelled and ranted.

Yes, he was a lunatic, but
he’d long since gotten over that fact.

Going to her home would be a
sweet torture for him since all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her
and never let her go. He wasn’t an animal—barely—so he’d hold off  doing
something stupid like lie prostrate at her feet and beg for forgiveness.

However, that was the backup
plan.

“That sounds like a reasonable
plan,” Ian put in, his voice smooth as silk. The man was like frost—ice, cold,
and uniquely alluring—to others, but Rafe knew the man would thaw to reveal the
fiery passion he and Sassy had fallen in love with that smoldered beneath the
ice.

Rafe not only had to mend the
frayed fabric of what he and Sassy had, but piece together the connection he’d
shared with Ian.

He’d lost so much ten years
ago and he’d be damned if he’d walk away now.

“Of course it’s reasonable,”
Sassy spat. “It’s
my
plan.” She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.
Rafe held himself back from offering to help with that. “I need to stop
snapping. We’re adults and I’m sounding like a freaking teenager who lost her
Edward doll.” She rolled her shoulders. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Did you drive here?” Rafe
asked. Though Ian and he had enough money to have hired private investigators
and could call up data on Sassy at the snap of their fingers, they hadn’t done
so. They wanted to learn more about the woman in front of them on their own and
be on equal footing.

Though where Sassy was
concerned, she always had the upper hand; however, that was another matter.

She shook her head in response
to Ian’s question. “I walked. I live close, and if it’s too late by the time I
leave, one of the guys from the shop walks me home.”

Rafe ground his teeth. As much
as he liked the fact Sassy wasn’t walking alone late at night, he didn’t like
hearing about other men. She might not have been his for ten years, but that
didn’t mean he appreciated hearing about any other men in Sassy’s life.

Damn it. He needed to stop
acting like a Neanderthal.

Since they’d driven together
in Ian’s car, Rafe let him decide what they were going to do.

“We’ll leave our car in the
parking lot here, if that’s safe,” Ian said.

Sassy shrugged. “If you parked
it behind Midnight in the gated area, you’ll be fine. I have keys and can get
you back to your car if they close up by the time y’all leave.” She narrowed her
eyes. “Though I don’t think we’ll be that long. Come on then. I’m right up this
way.”

They walked the two blocks to
her place in silence. The tension rose with each step but Rafe didn’t mind.
Once they got over the first part, he’d be able to breathe again.

God, he’d missed them so much.

Not that he’d let anyone other
than the two people near him know that. After all he was Rafe Chavez, badass
mechanic and shop owner. He’d once been Rafe Chavez, badass high school
dropout, but times had changed and so had he. Instead of boosting cars like he
had in his youth, he repaired them and rebuilt classic ones on request. He was
damn good at his job and everyone knew it. He now owned three shops, two in New
York, and one right down here in New Orleans where he’d grown up.

He’d made something of
himself.

In doing so, he’d lost what
mattered.

Now he had a chance to rectify
that. After all, he’d made himself who he was so he would take the chance and
make his own future as well.

They finally made their way up
to Sassy’s loft apartment. Considering where she’d grown up, this place was
small in comparison, but it definitely suited the woman in front of him.

From what he could see from
the entryway, there was a living area, a large kitchen and two bedrooms.  Every
single counter and shelf had something on it. Colors burst from fabric, rugs,
and little glass bottles. It would have been overwhelming if the owner had been
anyone other than Sassy. Plants littered the area and were alive and
flourishing, many with colored blooms. Knickknacks covered the spaces in
between and yet what Rafe noticed the most was the lack of personal photos.

Not a single one of her
friends from the present or the past.

That was telling…and something
to think about later.

She set her bag down and sank
onto her couch. “My feet are sore, my muscles ache from hot yoga this morning,
and I have growly man friends at the shop I’ll have to deal with later, so
let’s get this over with.”

Rafe held back a grin at the
word “friends”. Well, that was one point for him and Ian. Plus he had to block
the image of Sassy doing hot yoga. Talking over serious things while he had a
hard-on probably wasn’t the best idea.

“You look good, Sass,” Rafe
said as he slid his hands into his jeans pockets. Ian might have worn his suit
and tie, looking like the billionaire he was, but Rafe liked the feel of
well-worn denim. Plus, it was what Sassy had always seen him in, so he wasn’t
going to buck tradition and memories.

She smiled softly, even with
the pain in her eyes. “You both look good, too.” Her hands came up to her face
and she sighed into them. “Jesus, what are you doing here? What are
we
doing here?”

He gave a nod to Ian, who
unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat down on the couch next to her. He was ice
and harnessed power where Rafe was fire and intense passion. Sassy was a blend
of both with the manic energy necessary to handle the two of them.

That’s what he loved about the
three of them and what he prayed they would be again.

Rafe sat on the coffee table
in front of her. They were essentially boxing her in on two sides, yet leaving
her an escape with the third.

“We’ve missed you, Sass. No,
don’t yell. Please. Not yet. I’m speaking for Ian right now because I know he’s
felt at least that, but baby,
cariña
, you have to know this. We’ve
missed you these past ten years. Not a day has gone by that I haven’t thought
about you and Ian.” He smiled at the man who’d haunted his dreams right along
with the woman in front of him. “We left things off all those years ago in such
a shit way that I never thought we’d have a chance to fix it, but Sassy, we
can.”