New Tattoo

Wayne sat up, immediately regretting such a move. His head throbbed and he cursed the sunlight streaming through the window.

He swung his legs off the bed and hung his head between his knees.

What happened? he thought fuzzily. He could remember the bar… and a girl, but the rest was gone.

He tried to stand, oblivious to his nakedness, to make his way to the bathroom, but something still had his arm. He frowned in his daze and tugged.

He wrung a sleepy protest from a distinctly feminine voice.

He tugged again. He hated when women got possessive with his body, especially when he had to pee, damn it.

She just curled tighter into herself, taking his unwilling hand with her. His hand brushed against a soft nude breast.

As much as the female anatomy fascinated him, he had to take a piss.

He turned back toward the bed and nearly died right on the spot.

He covered his mouth with his available hand. “Oh, shit.”

How had his kid sister’s best friend ended up in his bed naked?

And why was he handcuffed to her?

He pulled on the handcuffs, dislodging his hand from hers where she’d clutched it to herself.

The first thing he discovered was the fact that the handcuffs were sturdy, not those little things you buy in an adult toy store. These were the real thing, possibly police issue, which only made him more nervous.

He’d been to jail before, and that wasn’t what bothered him.

The second thing he discovered was the fact that he was now going to have to explain to Sheriff Loren how he’d gotten his daughter’s face tattooed on his upper arm, along with the nickname that Wayne had given her written in bold script below it.

He hung his head. He was a dead man.

He heard her shift beside him. “Wayne?”

He wasn’t ready to face the mess yet, so he ignored her.

She nudged him. “Wayne! What’s going on?”

He lifted his aching head. “You tell me, Chevelle.”

She looked at him for a minute. “I can’t remember what happened.” She pulled the sheet tight around herself and retreated as far as her handcuffed arm would allow. “Did we…”

Wayne dragged a hand through his hair, wishing he had a band to hold the long strands out of his face. “I think so.”

She clamped her hand over her mouth, her eyes filling with tears.

Wayne sighed, covering himself with the blanket and pulling her to him as the tears fell.

He let her cry, trying to soothe her. “Shh, sweetheart, it’s okay. No one has to know, if you don’t want,” he said quietly. It hurt his pride a little. No woman had ever complained before, much less cried. “We can keep it just between us, so don’t cry.” He leaned away a little, wiping the tears from under her eyes with his thumbs. He smiled at her. “Better?”

She sniffled. “It’s not that. I’ve never- I was a…” She sighed and looked away.

His eyes sought hers. “You were a what?”

Her moist eyes lifted to his. She gave him a long look.

He gulped as comprehension dawned. “Oh, shit. You were a…”

She nodded, burying her face in his shoulder again.

He just sat there, thunderstruck, for a moment before his senses returned. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

He wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for, but he knew her first time should’ve been something beautiful, not something that had just happened in a drunken daze. He’d make it up to her, if that was possible.

He stroked her arm, trying to calm her.

He didn’t know how to handle distraught females. There was nearly eleven years between him and Gina, his sister. They hadn’t spent much time together until recently.

The two of them had been like their own little family, and he’d come to think of Chevelle like a sister. They’d been running smooth, and then he’d gone and screwed it up by sleeping with her.

Chicks were funny about that kind of thing. Gina would never forgive him.

Guilt hit him like a hammer to the gut.

How was he ever going to fix this?

He pushed her away from him a little. “Chevelle, can you remember anything from last night?”

Her tear stained face was turned up to him as she thought. “Very little. I remember Gina and me going to the bar to meet her boyfriend, Todd. I wasn’t going to drink, but she ordered daiquiris and- and I didn’t want to be rude so…” She trailed off.

The thought of Gina, under age, at a bar, with a strange man didn’t even bother him, as he wracked his own brain for memories of the night before.

He glanced over at the clock. His mother was already up, probably downstairs cooking breakfast by now. He needed to get Chevelle out of the house or think up a credible excuse for having her here so early.

He took her hand, giving her a winning smile. “I’m going to fix this. Okay?”

She nodded, making an attempt at smiling.

He could tell she was upset. He’d fix that when they had more time. He swore to himself he would. “Dry your eyes, sweetheart.” He laid out the plan, praying it would ease the knot of guilt in the pit of his stomach.

An hour later, after taking a bobby pin and a finish nail to the lock of the cuffs, they were downstairs.

His mother was at her spot, as expected, in front of stove, pulling out a pan of pastries from the oven.

It was pathetic to be twenty-eight years old and still miss your mother’s cooking, but he couldn’t help it. Even when he’d moved out west, she’d FedEx’d him his favorite dishes.

She kissed him on the cheek. “Mornin’.”

“Good morning,” he replied with more optimism than he felt.

He had Chevelle’s hand in his.

“Hello, Chevelle. What are you doin’ here so early?”

Wayne smiled down at her, then looked at his mom. “Chevy agreed to come with me to check on a couple of apartments,” he lied. He hated lying to his mother, but he had to pick the lesser of two evils. “I told her get me up at dawn.”

He let loose the breath he was holding when his mother just commended him for his efforts to find a place of residence besides hers and sent them on their way with a blueberry pastry each.

He nibbled the sticky sweet as they went to his car and was licking his fingers when she slid into the passenger seat.

He looked over. She was studying her hands, folded primly in her lap.

He took her hand. “Everything will be okay.” He hoped. “You want me to take you home?”

She shook her head. “Nah, I-”

“You’re dad?”

She sighed. “You forgot.”

He looked at her, his brows raised. “Forgot what?”

“You owe me and Gina lunch.”

He banged his hand against the steering wheel. “Damn.” He wasn’t sure if he was ready to face her so soon after the fact.

He picked his baby sister up at her boyfriend’s house, instantly deciding he didn’t like the punk when he kissed her right there in front of the car.

He glared at him as he backed out of the drive.

It hit him, that somebody, somewhere would say the same about him, where Chevelle was concerned.

His free hand strayed to his arm where the picture of her face was permanently emblazoned beneath his sleeve.

He would have a constant reminder long after she’d moved on to someone who was right for her. And he definitely didn’t fall into that category.

-

Chevelle sat across from Wayne in the booth at the diner.

Gina was reading him a magazine article about some new concept car, but he appeared to be deep in thought.

How had they come to this?

Wayne had been like the big brother she didn’t have until last night. And her traitorous body remembered more than she’d mentioned.

She didn’t want him to feel obligated and he would. Wayne was just that kind of man. He took care of the ones he loved.

She knew he’d marry her in a heartbeat, if he thought he’d compromised her honor. But she didn’t want that. It would take away his life, and she couldn’t handle the thought of him resenting her for any reason.

She looked up to find him watching her and she gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

He smiled back, albeit a little strained.

He was a good-looking guy and she figured she should probably consider herself lucky to have tasted his charms, even if she couldn’t remember doing it.

Their food came and they dug in.

“What happened to you last night, Chevy?” Gina asked, taking bite of her salad.

Chevelle spared a glance at Wayne, who looked up at her. “I, uh, I didn’t want to go home tipsy and deal with my dad, so, uh, Wayne let me stay at your house.”

Gina went back to eating, appearing placated. “I was relieved when Wayne offered to drive you home last night. Todd wanted me to spend the night with him and I didn’t want you to feel like the odd man out.”

Chevelle murmured something in reply, not remembering what it was with her relief.

Gina looked at Wayne. “So what did you guys do all night?”