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Fighting for everything et lost in the noise and lose their significance

I threw everything I owned into ain hit the road It was the first time I ever left one place headed toward another with a clear destination inI held on to fro to build a tattoo eacy out in the world with the next generation of tattoo gods, was exciting, and I loved a good challenge

When I hit Denver in May I was stunned at how beautiful the place actually was The city was so clean and the way the Rockies loo It had a life to it, a vibe that was different from any other place I had ever been and I instantly felt bad for dis it out of hand When I sucked in a breath it was like I could feel thetobecause of the lack of oxygen Denver really was ato breathe at that elevation was proving to be a little tricky

I found a tiny, furnished apart ave myself a pep talk to convince myself that I wasn’t crazy to move to an entirely new state on a whiussied up, did my hair, slicked on some bloodred lipstick, and donned my most killer pair of heels, and went to charm my potential new employer

My new boss was a babe So was his business partner Seriously they should be on a calendar featuring the hot tattooed and piercedout , creeper way, but to see if I could tell the difference between good and bad work I must have passed inspection because the tiny blonde with the baby and the attitude smiled at me and told them to hire me or else Mr Sexy with the flames tattooed on his head, Nash, like I wouldn’t have knoho he was from the eyes alone, offered uy with the black er rin that would have madering he was sporting Those tere trouble The very best kind, and I told theood ti in on this opportunity with theo and I’d told them I was excited to start when I heard his voice

It was deeper, s I reo When his head cleared the top of the stairs I saw his eyes widen, watched thenition and trepidation I couldn’t help but sh he looked less than thrilled to seehiht choice I ether and listened to my heels tap on the wooden floor in tiht in front of hi and with me in heels, he was still taller thanme like I was sohost from his past just like he was for me

I ran a finger over the bridge of his nose, fought the urge to lean forward and press my lips to his slack mouth

I said his name, his real name, so he could tell it was really me--"Hello, Rowland"--and it row up nice" We stared at each other in silence for a minute and I saw all the color bleed out of his face He whispered led tone

He had a massive anchor tattooed on the side of his neck It looked like it was alive with the way his pulse thundered rapidly under the ink

I looked back over my shoulder and told the rest of our bewildered audience, "Strike that, it’s going to be a great tiuys at work on Monday E-mail me whatever forms you need me to fill out"

I made sure my hand brushed across Rowdy’s chest when I walked past him as I , could feel the way he trembled I’m sure it was more from shock than any kind of appreciation of my feminine charms, but I didn’t care

For the first time in my entire life I kneas exactly where I was supposed to be

CHAPTER 1

Rowdy

THE POOL BALLS CRACKED together with a loud sle one, solid or stripe, found its way into a pocket I leaned heavily on the pool cue I planted on the floor and glared at the table

"Man, you are off your game"

In more ways than one I snorted and looked across the pool table at my best friend, Jet Keller He wasn’t in townbands into stars or busy playing rock star hiht when he was actually home and not attached to his very pretty wife Normally I would be all over some bro time with Jet, but like he said, I was off

I reached behind h-top table Beer nors that were running around in ht, no aht on le one of his shots I had no idea how he ed to lean over the table and take the shots he did without his pants ripping in half I kept telling hiular Levi’s; it was a long-running joke between the two of us I felt bad for the guy’s balls