House of Payne: Tag

by Stacy Gail

  “You learn something new every day,” she murmured between breaths, starting to smile. “Come to find out, my mom’s recipe for chicken cacciatore is one hell of an aphrodisiac. Who knew?”

  At that, Tag chuckled deeply and kissed her neck.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “I can’t believe you’re actually going to get a tattoo here, of all places.” Shaking her head at Minnie, Ivy leaned an arm against the touchscreen kiosk her friend was focusing on, busily flipping through tattoo images. “Why House Of Payne? And why are you looking through their tattoo catalogue? I thought you said I created the perfect image for you.”

  “I just want to see what else is out there in the same category of sisterhood or best friends, or whatever. So far all I see is crap. Compared to your design, anyway.” That didn’t stop Minnie from left-swiping at a shocking pace. “And of course I’m getting this tattoo done at House Of Payne, because it’s the best, and because they’re smart enough to carry your artwork. The only question I have now is where to place it.”

  “I thought you’d already decided on your hip.”

  “I can’t show it off to people there. Well, not without getting semi-naked, and I don’t want to do that while at work. Mama would kill me.”

  “Speaking of, we need to get back by two. Your mom allowed us this extra time off to do this, so I hope we can get it done soon.”

  “She didn’t actually give us any time off,” Minnie drawled, slanting her a look while continuing to swipe. “She’s keeping our asses an hour past closing tonight to make up for it. Shamar was supposed to pick me up for a night out, but now he’s crabby because his plans have been set back.”

  Ivy clicked her tongue. “Poor Shamar. How will he manage to go on without you for an hour later than he’d expected?”

  “Shut up, you. I’d be willing to bet Tag’s going to be just as bent out of shape, knowing he can’t get his hands on you tonight until Mama says so. Or am I wrong?” she added, turning her full attention on Ivy. “Have you two not yet made it to the part where you want to spend every waking moment together?”

  “I don’t know about Tag, but I’m definitely there.” Ivy shook her head, because she had no clue if this was a good thing of a bad thing. “I’m at the point where all my thoughts either start or end with Tag—‘my schedule’s changed, so I’d better tell Tag. It feels weird being here at House Of Payne without Tag. Tag’s going to love the matching bra and panty set I’m wearing right before he rips it off my body.’ See? All thought-roads lead to Tag. It’s ridiculous.”

  Minnie snorted and went back to flipping through tattoo designs. “Sounds like love to me.”

  Ivy’s breath caught before a flash of heat enveloped her. “Love? What the hell, Minnie? I thought you didn’t believe in love.”

  “My views on that particular subject are currently in a state of flux. For instance, you didn’t freak out when Tag won the first tattoo challenge, did you notice?”

  Ivy blinked. “Not…really. What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Ivy, it was the first time in your life that you’ve ever lost in an art contest. Since you’re so competitive and fierce when it comes to your art, I was totally expecting you to lose your shit over something like that. But you didn’t because you lost to Tag, and that made it all right. Right?”

  “Well… I mean…” She trailed off, not sure how to answer that, because Minnie was right. Her loss to Tag hadn’t been a big deal, because it was Tag who’d beaten her. Anyone else, and she would have been screaming.

  Weird.

  “Another thing I noticed,” Minnie went on. “Usually you don’t tolerate any kind of interruption in your work. You go all crazy-eyed psycho, and you’d be the first to admit it.”

  “True.”

  “But your rooftop garden project has almost come to a standstill, and you haven’t even begun to paint your walls. Yes, you’re busy with your day job and the ongoing House Of Payne tattoo challenges, but I know you. Once you start a project, you don’t stop. Except you have stopped, and you’ve stopped because you’d rather spend all your free time with Tag instead of creating. And to me, that’s the biggest clue of all that you’re head over heels in love with Godzilla.”

  “Holy crap,” Ivy said faintly, pressing a hand to her chest. She had to. Otherwise her heart would have hammered its way out. “I have changed, haven’t I? I didn’t even realize it until now. But…it’s hard to explain, Minnie. I just feel like my priorities have shifted now that Tag’s in my life. He’s at the top of the list, and everything else comes in second. I don’t know if that’s love, though. Is it?”

  “You’re asking the wrong person on that score, but I’d say it certainly looks that way. It’s no big deal,” she added when Ivy started to frown. “People fall in love every day.”

  “That’s them, not me. Going all dewy-eyed and giggly and swoony…that isn’t how I am.” Ivy shook her head, not sure if she was more unnerved or exhilarated by this new concept of being in love with Tag. She enjoyed so much about him. She was in awe of his intellect, as well as his creative talent and dry sense of humor, all of which made him the amazing person the world knew him to be—Tag, one of the greatest urban artists the world had ever known.

  Any woman with a pulse would fall for a man like that.

  Couple that with a rock-solid dream of a body, devastating good looks with a killer smile, and he was practically irresistible.

  “Ivy. I wasn’t expecting to see you here today.”

  Ivy and Minnie turned to find Payne closing in on them. “Hey, Payne. My friend Minnie’s on the list for a walk-in with the first person who’s available, so I thought I’d keep her company.”

  “More like she wants to sit in judgment of the abilities of the tattooist who gets their hands on her design.” Minnie dug into her purse to fish out the design Ivy had made for her, and handed it over to Payne. The twining of two feminine hands cupping a yin and yang symbol represented Ivy and Minnie—best friends in perfect balance. “You do allow personal artwork here, don’t you?’

  “Absolutely.” Payne studied the image for several seconds before he looked up at Minnie. “I’m free right now. You okay with me doing your ink?”

  It was adorable, how Minnie’s jaw dropped. “You? The man who founded House Of Payne wants to do my ink? The famous Sebastian Payne? Really?”

  “Yeah, it’s no problem, as long as you’re cool with it.”

  “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!” Minnie bounced with each word before grabbing Ivy’s hands and squeezed them until Ivy half-feared she’d lose a finger. “This is the most epic thing that ever happened to me! Yes, please, and thank you, Mr. Payne, so freaking much.”

  “Just make it Payne, and I’m happy to do it. Come on up to my booth and let’s get this done. It’s an awesome design,” he went on as he led the way up the stairs to where Ivy now knew the frosted glass-enclosed tattooing booths were located, as well as the executive offices and large, comfortable break room. “Don’t suppose you’d be willing to donate it to the House’s exclusive tat design collection, once we’re done?”

  “Um.” Minnie darted at quick glance back at Ivy as they followed Payne into a booth that held a stainless steel worktable with cabinets beneath it, a padded ergonomic office chair, a rolling metal tray and a padded adjustable chair that resembled a vintage dentist’s or barber’s chair. “You’d have to ask Ivy about that. She made that design specifically for me. When her uncle and brother were killed my family took her in, so we’re kind of like sisters. Even before that, we were best friends, so our closeness is what that design symbolizes.”

  “The meaning is very clear, and the closeness of the gently interlocked fingers with the different nail length and finger length clearly shows that it’s two different women holding the Yin and Yang symbol. It’s beautiful, it’s significant in its detailing, and I know it means a lot to you. The thing is, it could mean a lot to other women who have sisters, best friends
or wives in their lives.”

  “It could be made for any combination of hands, you know,” Ivy remarked idly, far more interested in looking over the neat little ink pots on the worktable. Everywhere she looked there was seriously cool stuff, and the artist in her wanted to start playing in the worst way. “Female-female, male-male, male-female. Even the image of a baby’s hand to illustrate the start of a new family could be worked into the design. What’s this?”

  Payne glanced up from assembling his materials on the rolling tray. “A stencil maker. I’m going to put your design through that and make a stencil of it. But first I’m going to take this—” he held up a squirt bottle of greenish liquid, “and clean and shave the area that’s going to be tattooed, and then I’m going to apply the stencil. Where am I applying it, by the way?’ he asked, turning back to Minnie.

  She waved her right hand. “Inside of my forearm. I want everyone to be able to see it.”

  “I don’t blame you. It’s amazing artwork. So what do you say, Ivy?” Getting down to the business of preparing his living canvas, Payne helped Minnie into the adjustable padded chair before taking a seat next to her. “Great artwork deserves to be seen, and your friend agrees with me on that score. This design would be perfect for the House.”

  “That design is exclusive to Minnie and me.” On that, Ivy was firm. “It’s modeled from our actual hands, so no one deserves to wear it but us.”

  Payne didn’t bother hiding his disappointment, but he nodded. “Fair enough.”

  “I wouldn’t mind replicating it in all the alternative ways this design could go, though,” Ivy shrugged, picking up an ink pot to examine closely. “Like I said, lots of combinations, so I’ll go ahead and make it into a nice tattoo series. How long did it take you to learn tattooing? Did you go to school for it?”

  “Back in the day when I learned, tattooing wasn’t exactly a trade you got a diploma for. It’s more of a hands-on apprenticeship kind of thing, and for an artist like you it wouldn’t be any time at all before you picked up the process.” He finished shaving Minnie’s inner forearm, then rose to his feet to head for the stencil-making machine. “I could teach you how to tattoo, if you want.”

  “Whoa,” Minnie breathed while Ivy’s gaze snapped to Payne’s.

  “Seriously?” She stepped forward, eyes on the funky looking gun-like tattooing machine waiting for Payne on the tray. ”Can I use Minnie as a guinea pig?”

  “Hell, no,” Minnie almost shouted.

  Payne burst out laughing. “Down, girl. You can hang over my shoulder as I do Minnie’s ink, and then I have some synthetic skin here in the booth you can practice on. Before you know it, you’ll be slinging ink with the best of them. Once you’ve got the hang of it, you can join the rest of us crazies here at the House. God knows you’d fit right in.”

  Both Ivy’s and Minnie’s jaw dropped, and Ivy should only wonder if she looked as brainless as Minnie. “I’ve already got a job, Payne.”

  “At my mom’s nail salon,” Minnie clearly thought it best to add, looking flustered. “Ivy’s booked eight months in advance.”

  “She could be booked a year in advance here, and,” he added glancing back at a wide-eyed Ivy, “whatever you’re making at your current job, I’ll double it. Your designs alone are worth it, and if you’re as interested in learning how to sling ink as I think you are, an artistic genius like you would be worth your weight in gold. Just think about it, all right?”

  Stunned, all Ivy could do was nod.

  “You’re not really going to take Payne up on his offer, are you?” Minnie’s tone matched her gloomy expression as they walked toward their apartment building, with Ivy turning to lock up her car with a click of her key fob. “Forget about my mother losing her shit. I can’t imagine what life at the salon would be like if I didn’t have you right across the aisle from me helping me keep my sanity.”

  “I have no idea what I’m going to do.” Ivy shook her head, still stunned by the offer. From the outset—and in all fairness she couldn’t blame Payne—she’d had the feeling he wasn’t her biggest fan. “I can’t imagine what it would be like, becoming a tattooist. I mean, it’s not like you can scrape down the canvas if you mess up, you know?”

  Minnie sighed mournfully. “But you’re interested. Really interested. I can tell.”

  “I’m not about to make any decisions now, especially when I’ve got obligations at Clawsome for another eight months,” she said as honestly as she knew how, then looked around when she heard her name. Her heart did a crazy super-ball bounce when she saw Tag approach from where he’d parked his SUV, his dark eyes fixed on her like he could see nothing else. “Hey, honey.”

  “Hey, yourself.” In a handful of strides he was with her, his hand twining with hers as he leaned in for a kiss that took her up on her tippy toes. She wasn’t at all satisfied when he ended it to glance over at her friend. “Minnie, I’m kidnapping Ivy for the night, so if there are plans for her to be somewhere else until she shows up for work tomorrow morning, you know who to blame.”

  Minnie’s eyes rolled as she opened the building’s main door. “Which place of work, Clawsome or House Of Payne?”

  “Clawsome or House Of Payne,” Tag repeated after they were in his SUV and headed for the freeway. “What the hell was that all about?”

  “Oh, it’s nothing. A thing happened earlier, and Minnie’s kind of freaked out by it.”

  “What happened?”

  Quickly Ivy explained Payne’s offer, still stunned and more than a little intrigued by the unexpected turn of events. “I was totally shocked Payne offered anything to me. There was a time not too long ago when he would have been happy to push me off the nearest cliff.”

  “You rocked his perfect world, but he’s fair-minded enough to recognize that if your roles had been reversed he would have done the exact same thing. More than that, he knows you’re an incredible artist, and that’s the one thing he worships in this world above all else—the art. He’d be stupid to let you go without trying to snag you into his stable of elite artists.”

  “Like you?”

  “Like me.” Smiling, he reached for her hand so he could bring it to his mouth even as he kept his eyes on the road. “So what’s Minnie pissed about?”

  “I don’t know if pissed is the right term. She’s just wigged out, and I don’t blame her because I’m right there with her. I never gave tattooing a thought as a part of my artistic repertoire, but I have to admit I really wanted to get my hands on that tattooing machine thingy Payne was using today when he was doing Minnie’s ink. But it’s so intimidating, the thought of putting a permanent mark on a living human being. Nails aren’t a problem. They might be part of the human body, but if you screw up you can erase it, start over. With tattoos, that’s it. Done deal. I don’t know if I’m up for that.”

  “All tattooists are artists, but not all artists were born to be tattooists.” He shrugged, and to her surprise he aimed the SUV deeper into the Loop instead of heading for his place. “All you can do is give it a shot and try your best. God knows you can do just about anything else art-related, from tiny baby nails to commercial buildings, so why not tattooing? Hell, I might even try to learn it with you. Sounds like fun.”

  “The more the merrier,” she said, delighted. Then she mentally shook her head and wondered when the mere possibility of doing things together with Tag made her giddy with happiness. She was such a weirdo. “I’m headed to House Of Payne day after tomorrow after work, if Minnie and her mom don’t kill me with a guilt trip first. I know you’ve been busy with a project of your own, though, so I’d understand if you can’t make it.”

  “First, no one has the right to lay a guilt trip on you about any goddamn thing. The Dao family took you in when you were alone in the world, and that’s great. Good for them. But if they did it because one day they wanted to use that generosity against you to keep you in line, then fuck them. Or, if they’re trying to play the guilt card now, turning a genuin
ely good act into a tool to manipulate you, that’s also an epic shit move, so fuck them again. You’ve more than paid them back from a monetary standpoint by being the best draw any artist can be for a business. They’re the ones who should be thanking you for being so loyal to them all these years. You should have stretched your wings and flown far beyond a nail salon in Back of the Yards a long time ago. It’s about damn time you find a place for yourself in the art world where everyone knows your greatness.”

  Man, did he know how to melt her from the inside out. “Thanks, Tag.”

  “Secondly,” he went on, squeezing the hand he still held, “I’m done with my project as of tonight, so my schedule’s freed up for a while. Better still, my agent’s already got an auction lined up to buy my latest project, so I’m feeling pretty good about where this piece is going to land. That means it’s celebration time, so you and I are going to have a night to remember.”

  “Wow, congratulations.” Thrilled beyond words that he wanted to share that celebration with her, she couldn’t seem to stop herself from beaming at him. “Where are we going?”

  “You inspired me with your rooftop garden.” He pulled into a porte-cochere of a fancy high-rise. As they passed a pillar decorated with a brass plaque announcing they were at The Mark, one of the premiere hotels Chicago had to offer, she could actually feel her eyes widen. “The rooftop garden here has a view that’s unforgettable.”

  “I’m not sure I’m dressed appropriately for The Mark, honey.” As he handed his keys over to the valet, she glanced nervously around the porte-cochere, then nearly jumped out of her skin when something went boom across the street, where a maze of scaffolding and construction tarps covered a portion of the building. If they were staying overnight, she could only hope he’d requested a room on the other side of the hotel. “A head’s up would have been nice.”