Skin Deep (3 page)

I shrugged and watched as my sister opened
the door to come out and join us. Her hair looked like she’d stuck
a finger in a light socket somewhere, and it wasn’t pretty.

Noah continued, watching his wife with an
unreadable expression. “I stopped at the Snack ‘N Shack to get some
munchies because I got called in to cover for one of the guys who’s
wife went into labor. We were doing a stake out for this case we’ve
been working on, but since your sister decided to stow away like
Little Orphan Annie in my car, I had to hang back and let someone
else take point. So, I decided to teach your sister a lesson.”

My eyes widened at this, and I glanced at my
sister who was watching her husband with that look. You know, the
one that says, “you say another word and not only will I never put
out for you again, but I will bury you in the back yard.”

Noah said, “I drove around until I got to
Rider Park and parked in the back. Then I sat there to see how long
it would be before Jenna realized that I knew she was there. I
noticed the bag of chips being drug slowly into the backseat by a
black glove covered hand,” Noah drawled. “I didn’t say anything,
and it took all I had not to laugh at the crunching sounds
emanating from under my rain coat.” He looked over to where Jenna
was still standing and his eyes started to sparkle. “I even let her
get away with stealing my slushie while I was pretending to get
something out of the trunk.”

“What? I was hungry and thirsty you bought
all the good junk food that we never get to have in the house.
Someone
has to be the responsible parent and make the kids
eat healthy,” Jenna hollered indignantly.

I rolled my eyes at this and asked her, “So
did you notice what your kids were eating this morning while you
were passed out like a coed after a frat party on the table?”

She glared at me and Noah before plopping
down in Noah’s lap and stealing his coffee.

Noah grinned and patted her thigh fondly. “I
was content to let her stay cramped up back there for as long as
possible, but apparently she got bored. I couldn’t take it anymore
when I started hearing pig snorts and birds and busted out
laughing.”

He started chuckling even harder when Jenna
shrugged her shoulders and said, “Angry Birds. Love that game.”

I started laughing and couldn’t stop because
of the mental images I had popping around in my head.

“So I reached back and jerked the raincoat
off of her. She just sat up and glared at me like I was
interrupting her. Then I got in the backseat and pulled her up with
me and we talked. And then we…” Noah waggled his eyebrows and
grinned lasciviously at Jenna. “So next time she calls you for a
harebrained idea like last night? You can still come running,” he
said, laughing.

Jenna blushed and ducked her head against his
shoulder. I groaned. Time for me to go!

Chapter 3

The rest of my weekend passed without
incident (which was a relief, for once) and Monday came way too
early. Guess I should really learn to put down my book and actually
go to sleep, right?

I walked into the office where I worked, my
heels click clacking against the tile. I love that sound. Weird,
right? But it makes me feel professional and sexy. I had worn my
favorite sweater dress today, a soft smoky gray color that has a
fitted top and sharp pleats that flow from just under my boobs to
just above my knees. I paired it with black leggings and my high
heeled black boots with the cute little double silver buckles on
each side. I had swept my hair up in a messy topknot at the back of
my head, and had put on a minimal amount of makeup. Usually, I only
outline my eyes in kohl, because that makes them really stand out
more than they already do from their unusual color. Already I could
tell it was going to be a busy day because the phones were ringing
off the hook.

I’m a legal secretary for an attorney in the
town where I live. I live in Phillus. Its not a big town, kind of
small, really, in the southern part of Ohio. At least once a year
some genius gets the bright idea to spray paint the town sign over
the “i” with an “a”, and until the township catches it, we live in
“Phallus”, Ohio. Doesn’t that make you wanna visit?

I snatch the phone up as I plop down at my
desk. “Good morning, Floyd Grim’s office, may I help you?” I said
breathlessly into the phone.

A creaky, scratchy voice yells in my ear,
“Emma? Is that you?”

I sigh. “Yes, Mrs. Allen. It’s me, Emma.”

“Dear, I cant find Fluffers. I think that rat
bastard Doc next door took him again,” she rasped.

“Mrs. Allen, we don’t handle those kinds of
cases. I told you that last week. And remember? Doc is the town
vet, he probably picked him up again to give him his shots,” I told
her in a gentle voice.

Mrs. Allen calls at least once a week, and
the conversations usually have something to do with her forty-five
pound cat, Fluffers. A couple of years ago, she got ambitious and
brought him into the office because “he” wanted to sue Doc for
neutering him without his “mommy’s” permission. I think the cat
weighed almost as much as Mrs. Allen, and he was a nasty gray
furball that I think was white at one time. Don’t get me wrong, I
think Mrs. Allen takes care of him as much as she can for someone
who was born in 1824 (I’m kidding…it was more like 1482) but Doc
actually sneaks and helps her out.

Mrs. Allen wasn’t done yet. “Well, can I sue
him for that? Fluffers doesn’t like needles.”

I rolled my eyes and leaned back in my chair.
My other lines started to ring and I almost wept in relief.

“Mrs. Allen, you cant sue him for that, its
helping Fluffers. My other lines are ringing, so I have to go,
okay? I’ll talk to you next week,” I told her.

“Okay, Emma. I’m sure that rat bastard will
have done something more to poor Fluffers by then. Thanks, dear.”
With that, Mrs. Allen hung the phone up in my ear.

I hit the button for the next line and gave
my greeting. Silence. Oh, well, guess they will call back. Reaching
to hit the next line key, I smiled as my boss walked in the door.
He’s a nice guy, been practicing law for all my life and even more
of his. He’s absent minded about a lot of things, but when it comes
to his cases, he’s sharp as a tack. And he pays pretty good,
so…

Grabbing a file off the counter that I threw
up there for him, Floyd waved and ambled back out the door as I
answered the phone again.

“Good morning, Floyd Grim’s office, may I
help you?” I said into the phone.

“Ewwa!” someone yelled into my ear. Huh?

“Ewwa, ith Awwie.”

“Allie?” I asked.

“Yeth. Awwie. I goth a pwobwem,” Allie whined
into the phone.

Okay. “Allie, what’s going on? And why are
you talking like that?” I asked.

“I nee’ yew to mee’ me on yew wunth bweak ath
my houth. Pweath,” Allie begged.

This should be interesting. After promising I
would be at her house at noon, I hung up the phone with Allie and
got to work. The morning flew by in between phone calls and
clients, and in no time I had to meet Allie. I grabbed my keys and
locked up the office for lunch, heading out to my car.

I pulled up at Allie’s house in my cute,
little yellow VW Bug and she came running down her front steps
holding a paper towel up to her face. Now I was worried.

She got in the car and told me, “Thathoo
thop, pweath. I wipp’th my thung.”

I stared at her in shock until she grunted
and smacked at my thigh to get me going. Putting the car in drive,
I headed downtown to the tattoo shop. (I’m assuming that I heard
her correctly. Its kind of hard to understand someone when they’re
holding their tongue with a paper towel.)

After about ten minutes, we pulled up at Skin
Deep, the tattoo shop that I didn’t think I would be frequenting
again any time soon after Friday night. Especially for the fact
that I embarrassed myself beyond belief in there.

Allie and I got out of the car and walked
into the shop. I didn’t see anyone at the counter right away, but
after a minute, Brandon came around the corner looking even better
than before (Either that or my eyes were so starved for eye candy
they enhanced his deliciousness).

His face broke into a grin as he shouted,
“Hey! It’s Crash and Allison! What’s up, ladies?”

I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help but return
his grin as I pointed at Allie and said, “Well, Allie has done
something to “wip” her “thung”, which I am assuming translates to
mean she ripped her tongue. How? Not sure. But I am dying to find
out!” I turned to grin at Allie, who looked so pathetic that I
busted out laughing.

Allie shot me a dirty look and then turned to
Brandon with the most pathetic face (even more pathetic than she
looked ten seconds ago, which I didn’t think was possible) I’ve
ever seen on a person. Brandon came around the counter and gently
pulled Allie’s fingers and the paper towel away from her mouth.

“Okay, you should be able to talk a little
bit better without your fingers and everything in your mouth. So
what did you do?,” Brandon asked Allie.

“I was eating a fudge bar and when I licked
it, well, you know…when you eat a popsicle and you put it in your
mouth and then kinda suck and pull it back out? Know what I mean?”
Allie trailed off, waiting for someone to acknowledge that we knew
what she was talking about.

I wasn’t going there. And if Brandon’s eyes
got any bigger, they were going to pop out of his head. I didn’t
think his lips could stretch any further either, judging by the
huge grin he had plastered on his face.

Allie continued earnestly, “ Well, I was
eating the fudge bar and when I pulled it out, the ball to my
tongue ring kinda dug into it and I felt this excruciating sharp
pain in my tongue. Then I tasted the blood, which, hello, does not
go with chocolate. Guess I could never be a vampire, huh? Anyway, I
looked in the mirror and ‘lo and behold, I ripped my tongue!” The
last part ended on a wail.

Brandon lost the battle and burst out
laughing. I was more polite and turned away before losing it. Which
earned me a quick smack to the back of my shoulder. What the hell,
man!

We tried to control our laughter as Allie
stood there and glared at us before asking Brandon, “Well? Can you
fix it?” I swear she even stomped her foot.

Brandon guffawed even louder before wiping
tears from his eyes and then taking a deep breath to get himself
under control. (I was still giggling)

He put his hand out for Allie to take and
told her, “Come on, Allie, let’s check you out.”

Brandon and Allie took off down the hall
ahead of me, turning into a different room than the one I was in
last time with Luke. I turned to follow them, letting out a muffled
“oomph” when I ran into a brick wall. Well, it was a soft brick
wall.
A soft, solid, living, breathing
brick wall. And boy
did it smell good, too.

I felt hands grab my hips to steady me as a
deep, silken voice spoke in my ear, “Hey, careful there. Wouldn’t
want you to bust your lip again, sugar.”

Oh. My. God. It was Luke.
And he knew who
I was
. Eek!

I pulled back and looked up into his gorgeous
eyes, giving him a sheepish grin. He was saying something, but the
intense smoky blue-grey of his eyes drew me in, mesmerizing me. I
don’t think I’ve ever seen that color before, but I think its my
new favorite.

“I’m sorry, what?” I stammer.

Luke grinned at me, shaking his head. “What
are you doing here? Something wrong with your tattoo?” As he said
this, he lightly grabbed my chin between his thumb and fingers and
turned my face to the side. I felt his other hand come up and
lightly trace the outside edge of my tattoo.

“No,” I said. “We’re here because Allie,
believe it or not, ripped her tongue while eating a fudge bar.
Brandon has her in the back looking at it.”

“Oh…okay…” Luke drew out the words in
confusion, as if he wasn’t sure I was being serious. Sadly, I
was.

“Can I go on back with her?” I asked him.

“Sure,” he replied, “I’ll come with you. I’ve
gotta see this; it‘s definitely not the usual story we hear!”

We walked back to where Brandon had taken
Allie and as I went to enter the room, I felt Luke’s hand rest at
the small of my back. Whoa. Yup. There goes that electricity again,
sending shivers skittering up my spine.

Allie was looking up at Brandon with a scowl
on her face while he stood doubled over from laughing so hard. He
had tears pouring from his eyes.

Luke asked, “What the hell, girlie?” and
grinned at Allie.

Brandon wiped his eyes and straightened up,
looking over at me and grinning widely.

“I’ve seen people rip their tongues before.
But none by eating a
fudge bar
!” Brandon lost it again until
Allie reached out and smacked him on his shoulder. He tried to
reign in his mirth, but was failing miserably.

I looked over at Luke who was trying his
damndest to keep from laughing and couldn’t help but smile at
him.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” Brandon wheezed,
catching sight of the dismayed expression building on Allie’s face.
He stopped laughing and walked over to cup her cheek in the palm of
his hand. “Its just a little tear, didn’t do much damage, and as
long as you don’t go sucking on any more fudge bars for the next
week or two, it should heal fine. Might have a small scar, but the
tongue literally is the fastest healing muscle in the body.” He
stooped down to look into Allie’s eyes, watching her
expression.

Allie replied quietly, “Okay. Thanks,
Brandon. I really appreciate it.”

I could tell that she was affected by his
gentle touch, but hell, so was I. He was being so sweet…well,
now
he was, since he wasn’t laughing uproariously in her
face.