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easily.
    “Still don’t want anything visible?” He glanced back at her.
    “Nope.” Not until her part-time gig playing keyboards and singing backup with a local band made her enough money she could quit her day job as a middle school music teacher. Then she’d be able to show her parents she could make a living doing what she loved—performing her music, not playing referee for a bunch of kids, most of whom didn’t want to be in her classroom to begin with.
    Rico straightened his spine and stretched. “Well, there’s always a nipple ring.”
    “That sounds really painful.” She winced just at the thought.
    “I’ve had worse.” He shrugged then bent low over her partially exposed crotch again.
    “I’m sure you have.” Silver laughed. “Maybe a tatt on my boob?”
    “Sure.” Rico nodded. “Design?”
    “Don’t know yet.”
    “Something will strike you. When it does, I’m here.” Rico moved the ink gun away from her skin. “Can you bend your knee and pull it back to your chest? I’m having trouble getting this one flower.”
    “Sure.” At least there was one steady man in her life who was always there for her and could perform miracles between her legs. Too bad he was her tattoo artist and the miracles were his inked works of art. Silver thought one more time how it was a good thing her parents and her overprotective brother, Aaron, couldn’t see her now. Her phone vibrated on the table next to her. While holding her leg up in a porno-worthy pose, she managed to glance down at the Caller ID. Speaking of her overprotective brother…
    She glanced at Rico. “Will it bother you if I take this call?”
    “Nope, not at all. Go ahead.”
    “Thanks.” She hit answer and cradled the phone on her shoulder so she could go back to holding her leg with both hands. “Hello, brother dear.”
    “Hey, Susan.”
    “Aaron!”
    “I mean Silver.” The exasperation was evident in his tone.
    “Thank you.” Silver could practically hear him shaking his head at her insistence he call her by her stage name, which she’d recently made her legal name.
    Too damn bad. It was horrible enough her parents still called her by her given name even after she’d asked them not to, but Aaron of all people should understand the need to follow one’s dreams. He’d gone ahead and become a damn pro bull rider for God’s sake. That made her moonlighting in a band and buying a motorcycle for herself on her last birthday seem like nothing, at least in her mind.
    So why did her parents give her grief and none to her brother? He’d limped into a family dinner with one body part or another injured more times than she could count. Did they ever tell him he should stop bull riding and get a real job? That it wasn’t safe like her “deathtrap” of a bike? Nope. Still, she loved him anyway. It wasn’t his fault their parents were sexist.
    Aaron sighed. “Anyway, what are you up to?”
    There was no way in hell she was answering that question with the truth. How could she tell her brother there was a man with enough piercings in him to set off airport security currently between her legs while her underwear dangled off one leg? She couldn’t.
    “Uh, you know. Just hanging out. Not doing much of anything.” At the lie, Rico raised his head and shot her an amused look. She chose to ignore him. “What are you doing?”
    “The guys and I are already here in town. We’re checking into the hotel now. What time you fixin’ to get here?”
    “Um, what time am I getting there? Well, I guess that depends on what time I get stuff done and leave here…” Silver spoke very slowly and a little louder than necessary, hoping Rico would take the hint and give her some approximation of when he’d be done. When he glanced up, she opened her eyes wide in silent warning that he shouldn’t answer too loud. She could only hope he’d take the hint.
    Laughing quietly, Rico shook his head. “Another thirty or forty minutes.” He’d