Tempt Me (Tattoos and Temptation #1) - Mia Monroe Page 0,2
Lucien, and their sister, Claudia, will never have to worry about money, thanks to their generous trust funds gifted from a rich grandfather. They would never have to work, but all of them choose to. Lucien is a gifted attorney, Felix is a talented baker, and Claudia travels the world with Doctors without Borders. The Marchand siblings are doing good things, but it’s their story to tell.
“Make it happen,” Briar says. “As soon as possible. Genesis and I are treading water.”
“I’ll let him know. Thanks, man.”
“No, thank you.”
After a goodbye kiss, Jude and I head to the other side to grab some treats for the shop. As if they weren’t busy enough, Saint is now talking to Nix about expanding, again, and offering coffee and simple sandwiches. Almost any time you come, you have to stand in line, but hey, a busy shop is a good problem to have.
Cairo waves at us. “What can I get you, boys?”
“Throw a bunch of stuff in the box,” Jude says. “Whatever looks good. We’ll hook the guys up today.”
“Awesome.” He grabs a box and starts filling it with pastries. “Never see you over here, Apollo.”
“Yeah, I wanted to talk to Briar. Sorry we didn’t drag your man with us. He’s in the middle of a piece.”
“Better that you didn’t. I don’t need the distraction. Bad enough I can see the other one through the glass all day.”
Jude chuckles. “I couldn’t work with Bri. I’d be all over him all day long.
“Aye, Jude,” Saint says from behind us. “I would never get work done if Casper were here.”
“I chalk it up to extreme willpower,” Cairo says, grinning. “Did you guys meet our new gal?”
“We haven’t,” Jude says.
“Follow me.”
Cairo walks down near the register where Xander and Elliot usually work, but there’s a new face. She’s ringing someone up, chatting with them as she does. Her black hair is done pin-up style, as is her makeup. She looks like she stepped out of the fifties, except she’s covered in tattoos and piercings. When the customer is gone, Cairo smiles.
“Guys, this is Egypt.” He grins. “Cairo. Egypt. How cool, right?”
I laugh. “That is cool. Nice to meet you, Egypt. I’m Apollo.”
“Hey.” She extends her hand over the cash register.
“And I’m Jude, Briar’s husband.”
Egypt smiles. “Ah, you’re the one who makes his cheeks blush when your name comes up.”
Jude nods. “That’s me.”
“Nice to meet you both.” She scoots to the side as Elliot rings up a customer. “I’m interning for the summer before I go back to school.”
“Oh, how cool,” Jude says.
“It’s nice.”
“And she loves being the only girl here,” Cairo says in a teasing tone.
“Yeah, actually, I do. I can focus only on work and not romance. I get very distracted around pretty girls.”
“So do I,” I add, laughing. “Not lately though. It’s complicated. I don’t even know why I’m talking right now.”
“You need to talk it out, boo?” Cairo asks, with a raised eyebrow.
I shake my head. “Nah, I’m good.”
After paying, Jude and I head back to Black Heart.
“Um, you having a dry spell or something, man?” Jude asks.
“Kind of. I’ve been exploring things, you know? I figured out I’m attracted to men, but I don’t really know about dating, and so far, it seems very focused on the hookup.”
“Yeah, Briar told me dating can be like that.”
“What, you didn’t date before Briar?”
“I dated women.” He grins. “I thought I was straight until I fell in love with my best friend.”
“Oh. So you learned this later in life too, then?”
“Just a couple of years now. I never dated men. Only Bri.”
“Ah. And now you’re married?”
“I married him a few months after I figured out I was in love with him. Besides opening Black Heart, best thing I’ve ever done.”
I stop walking for a second. “Can I ask a personal question?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you have a hard time with the physical stuff?”
Jude nods. “Not the doing part, but it fucked with me a little that I was so into it when, up to that point, I had never even thought about it.” He grins. “I kind of took to it though. Are you having trouble with that?”
“Don’t know. Can’t get past really basic shit.”
“Oh. I can see that being hard. I was friends with Bri first, so I trusted him when it came to the other stuff.”
“That would be ideal. I don’t have any gay friends other than the guys at the shop, which, no, for obvious reasons.”
“Right. I could ask Briar for dating tips. He was really