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to glance at him. “Sorry.”
    “No!” He pulled her into the thick of the conversation. “Continue.”
    She chewed her lip and nodded. “Do you have a formal contract with Permanent Tattoo?”
    The way she said “formal contract” sounded official. In an instant a tigress had replaced his timid tulip.
    Alfred shook his head.
    “You do understand that if you get a tattoo in Hollywood, Shane’s is the place to go, correct?” She raised her hands and hooked her fingers into little quotation marks.
    At her little sexy gesture Shane leaned back on his heels.
    “Yes, but …”
    Was Alfred going to argue with her? Shane primed to pound him, but Lindsay held her own.
    “No.” Her quotation marks became a disciplinary finger wag. “The only reason the shop is so renowned is because of Shane Elliott. You have a verbal agreement to pay a bill each month, so may I suggest that you choose one immediately because next month you will be paying a normal rental fee with no more trades, comps, or shenanigans.”
    At the talk of shenanigans, rental fees and dominatrix hand motions coming out of little Miss Lindsay, a warmth rose in Shane and he took a fast peek at the front of his pants to ensure nothing else was rising. She was amazing, incredible, and the only one who could save him, but all he wanted to do at the moment was take hold of her, bend her back and lay a hot wet one on her.
    Alfred glanced between him and Lindsay and chose an envelope. Without another word, he opened it and obediently turned it to Lindsay.
    She nodded and Alfred reached into his pocket, rifled through some bills and held them out to her.
    “You’re short thirty-seven dollars and forty-three cents.”
    “How do you know? You didn’t even count.”
    “She knows.” He needed her, bad.
    “Shane never makes me pay the change.”
    “I’m not Shane.” She stomped her foot.
    Alfred coughed up the rest and handed it to her. “She’s harsh.”
    “There are many costs associated with running a tattoo shop including mortgage and taxes.” Once more Lindsay attacked, counting the items off on her fingers. “There is also equipment, disposables, advertising, other marketing, and utilities. These things will be considered as we reevaluate your arrangement in the future.”
    “I need to work at Permanent.” Alfred’s voice took on a whiney tone. “You don’t understand.”
    A slow smile crossed her face, but Shane would have called it more of an evil grin.
    He took her shoulders, stood behind her and bent down to her ear. “What are disposables?”
    Without turning, she answered. “Items that you use up, like your ink and other things that I have yet to research.”
    “Does that mean you are going to help me?”
    “I don’t think I have a choice.” She took the money, recounted it in such a way that every bill ended up facing the same way, and snatched the bill back from Alfred.
    “You’re a goddess.” In an effort to reclaim the moment they had outside the theatre, he bent down and kissed her temple, breathing in her scent. The sick feeling he’d carried with him everywhere when he was drowning in debt and taxes lifted a little, but then she tensed. “Linds?”
    She held a hand out to him. “Give me the rest of the mail.”
    Without hesitation he thrust the bills toward her.
    She leafed through them, and with not as much as another word, walked back to the table, the click of her heels echoing in her wake.
    “What the hell was that?” Alfred pointed in her direction.
    “My new business manager.” He couldn’t take his eyes off her and he shook his head when she tripped on her shoe. “See you at the shop.”
     
     

 
     
    Chapter Six
     
    “I looked over the contracts as well as the listing on the Internet, and I believe with the right bit of persuasion I can convince your building owner to let you out of the lease without penalty.”
    Lindsay assessed the black pants and purple button down she put on, shaking her head at