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‘I must be hurting you.’
‘Trust me when I say I could hold you on my lap for a hell of a lot longer than ten minutes.’
Melanie had to swallow. Paige’s voice, proximity, heat, and suggestions were too much. She shivered and had no doubt Paige knew it.
‘Damn it,’ Paige whispered.
Yes, damn it. Melanie turned her head away from the screen and towards Paige.
Which was a mistake.
Their faces were only an inch apart. Melanie looked into Paige’s stormy eyes. Her pupils were wide, her dark eyelashes outlining her green eyes. She involuntarily licked her lips, and Paige took in a breath.
All the reasons Melanie absolutely shouldn’t be doing anything like this with Paige flew through her mind, but she couldn’t seem to hold on to any of them.
Paige blinked and moved her face a little further away. ‘It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. What we need to do is look at the CCTV for the stores that are closer to you.’
Melanie should be glad that Paige was keeping this professional. But it actually stung when she jumped up and Melanie nearly fell to the ground.
‘Whoops, sorry about that. Come on, with a bit of luck Paulo’s tattoo shop might still be open.’
Paige grabbed Melanie’s hand and led them back through the bar and out onto the street.
‘We can go through the CCTV, but we’d be best asking our neighbours if they’ve seen anything, too. We might get more luck that way.’
Chapter Thirty
Paige
They all but ran down the road hand in hand to Paulo’s tattoo shop. Paige experienced a sense of urgency she couldn’t quite shift, and an energy she needed to syphon off before she did something unprofessional.
‘Paulo!’ Paige shouted as they walked through the first door, maybe a touch louder than she anticipated. But there in the entryway, Paige’s eye went to the same framed tattoo design she was always drawn to. The woman with the long flowing hair, her back on display, looking over her shoulder, like she had emerged from bed covers. She was going to get that on her arm soon. Her mojo was telling her it would happen.
Good, they needed her mojo tonight to get to the bottom of all this.
‘Yo,’ Paulo called out. ‘I’m just about to close. Oh, it’s you Paige, you all right? Finally, here for me to finish that sleeve?’
‘Not yet but definitely soon. Listen, we have a weird favour to ask.’
‘Oh, and how weird is weird?’ Paulo studied them both, his eyebrow raised.
‘It’s a weird one but stick with me. We think Melanie’s place is being observed or like stalked or something. You seen anyone hanging around?’
‘Oh man, I thought she was a tattoo groupie.’ Paulo shrugged. ‘It happens.’
‘Does it though?’ Paige asked, eyebrow raised.
‘Does to me. There’s been someone that hangs about here for a while each day. Like I said I thought she was here for me, so I really wasn’t paying all that much attention.’
‘Wait, really?’ Melanie asked, her glasses almost falling off her face in shock.
‘Why, what’s going on?’ Paulo asked throwing down the cloth he’d been cleaning up with and bringing his arms over his chest.
‘We think Melanie’s business is being targeted. Someone is putting in cancellations with her suppliers, calling the council about her kitchen hygiene.’
‘Inside job,’ Paulo said immediately.
‘We don’t think it is. Tell us about this woman.’
