“Of course I do, babe. And it is absolutely fucking fair.” Standing up, he throws down some cash to pay the bill and walks over to my side of the table, helping me to my feet. “It’s not that bad. I’m almost done. I promise.”

Yeah . . . that’s what I’m afraid of.

SEEING TRIPP IN MY CHAIR, waiting for me to mark her, gives me a serious fucking hard-on. She’s been waiting there patiently for the last fifteen minutes, while I’ve been getting everything prepared and trying to get my dick in check. She seriously has no idea what those little dresses do to me.

“Ready, babe?” I look down at her and lift a brow. “Need any help getting that dress off? I can find many different ways to strip that thing off.”

Sitting up with a smile, she lifts her dress up and yanks it off over her head. “I’m sure you could. What can’t you do?”

I tap my finger against my cheek, thinking. “Nothing.” I tease. “I’m talented as fuck.” I point to the bra that she shouldn’t be wearing. “Now remove that sexy as hell bra, babe. You can use your dress to cover up.” I bite my bottom lip, teasing her. “Or not.”

“Alex,” she screeches. “You seriously have big fucking balls. Is there anything that you won’t say?”

I swallow hard and clear my throat, before turning away and grabbing my gun. Fuck yes there is. Something that I want to say but can’t, for one . . . a few things actually.

“Get comfortable,” is the only thing I say. I tilt my head as she lies back, holding her dress over her tits with one arm. “You good?”

She sucks in a deep breath and puts on her brave face; the one I’ve seen her use numerous times in the past when she was terrified. “I’m ready. . . . Wait.” She sucks in another breath and smiles. “Okay . . . now.”

“Are you sure? ‘Cause once I start, I’m not stopping. It’s not very big. Well it is . . .”

Her face turns red and I catch her eyes veering down to my dick, lingering once there. The look on her face says that she’s taking her time to remember it inch by inch.

I lift my brows at her and she quickly pries her eyes away from my best feature and laughs. “Just get it over with. We’ll be here all day if your mouth has anything to do with it.”

“Fucking right . . .” I say unashamed. “You’re lucky you have to work soon.” I run my hand up her side, causing her to close her eyes and moan. “Relax. I’ll make it quick.”

Fighting to get her nerves under control, she nods her head and grips the seat. The way her chest is rising and falling reminds me of how she looks in the bedroom, and I almost lose it right here, wanting to jump between those beautiful legs of hers. I can’t do that. Fuck. We both agreed to one last time. It’s going to kill me. I just know it.

Trying to keep her relaxed, I rub my thumb over her skin with my free hand, while working on the last three stars and then the moon. It may not be something great and creative, but it’s special to me. I placed the stars and moon in the exact position that my mom did with every letter that she wrote me while growing up. It all has to be perfect, especially on Tripp. I want this tattoo to matter.

When I’m done, I place the tattoo gun down and stare at the artwork placed on her body by me. I suddenly get jealous at the thought of anyone else ever marking her. “I want to be the only one to tattoo you. Got it, Tripp? I’ll always drop everything if I need to. You know that.”

“Yes,” she says with a hint of a smile. “Of course I know that, and you’re the only one I trust to poke me with a damn tattoo gun.”

Tripp doesn’t open her eyes until I’m done cleaning her off and covering the tattoo with a thin layer of ointment. “All done?” She peeks one eye up at me. I nod and she finally opens the second eye. “That wasn’t too bad. I was expecting it to hurt more.”

Smiling, she stands up. “Can I look now?”

Peeling off my gloves, I toss them into the trash and nod at her, watching to see her reaction.

Turning around to face the mirror, Tripp leans her head to the side to get a good look. She stares at the stars and moon for a few minutes with a look of awe on her face. She almost looks as if she’s going to burst into tears. “Alex . . . is this?”

Walking over to me, her eyes meet mine as she lifts my shirt over my head and throws it behind me. Pulling her eyes away, she lifts my arm up and looks down at the same exact tattoo that is on my right ribcage. She lightly runs her fingers across it. “Your mom’s drawing?”

“Of course it is.” Looking her in the eyes, I wrap both of my hands into the back of her hair and tug. “This is me showing you just how much you truly mean to me, Tripp. You’ve been there through everything and I love you for that. . . . My mom loved you.”

“Damn you,” she says while wiping the tears from her face. “You just had to make me cry before work, didn’t you?”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “You like it?”

She smiles. “Don’t be. This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. I loved your mom too, very much, and I don’t like the tattoo, I love it. A lot.”

Placing my forehead to hers, I’m just about to lean in and kiss her when my door flies open and Ace appears with a huge ass grin. “Your client is here early, but damn . . . they can wait. Maybe I should wait in here.”

Placing my arms around Tripp protectively, I turn her around and cover her body with mine. The thought of him seeing her almost naked infuriates me. If his dick gets hard, I’m going to rip it the fuck off. “Get the fuck out, Ace.” I run my thumb over Tripp’s face to wipe her tears as she leans her head into my chest to hide her face. “Give me five fucking minutes, and knock next time.”

“Not a problem, man. . . . Take your time.”

He’s lucky he leaves when he does, because this is a special fucking moment for me. Being close to Tripp while remembering my mother squeezes my heart. I know she misses her almost as much as I do and that only makes me love her more. I swear Ace has the worst damn timing.

“Thank you, Alex.” She throws her arms around my neck and pulls me to her as tightly as she can. She acts like her being half naked right now and Ace walking in has no effect on her at all. She’s completely lost in this moment with me: my sweet caring angel. “I know how much this drawing means to you and it means a lot to me that you would share that with me.”

“Yeah, sure.” I nod my head, trying to keep my emotions under control. I’m not afraid to cry, but I can’t let myself get so worked up that I won’t be able to focus on the appointments I have for the day. “You’re the only one I’d ever want to share it with, Tripp.”

Trying to change the mood, I kiss the top of her head, slap her perfect ass, and pull away from her. “I need to get this shit cleaned up.” I dig in the pocket of my favorite jeans . . . damn the memories . . . and pull out the keys to my truck. “Take my truck to work.”

Tripp takes the keys and tilts her head as she watches me clean up. “How will you get home if I take your truck? I can just ask Harley for a ride. No biggie.”

I toss my keys back at her when she tries giving them back. “Dax’s is less than ten minutes from here. I’ll walk or run. . . . Take it.”

She smiles down at the keys before slipping her dress back over her head and reaching for her bra. “I promise to keep this thing off now. I know what you were about to say it.”

“Good. Then you know me well.” I smile and look her up and down, my eyes landing back on those perfect tits in that tight little dress. It’s going to be hard to keep my hands off her this week.

I know that Lucas is gone for the week, but Tripp doesn’t know that I know yet. I figure she’ll tell me later after she gets off work. I’m in no rush to hear what I already know.