Haunted Read Free

some work done?”  
    He nodded and immediately he lost some of his playfulness.
    “Yes, ma’am. A tribute piece. But let me first introduce you to my mates.” He gestured to the rest of the rag-tag group.
    They had been chatting quietly, with the exception of a tall guy who still had his aviator shades on and was looking out the front window. I couldn’t see his face, but he was imposing even from across the shop. His toned arms were crossed over his chest and both were covered in black and grey sleeves spreading out from under his snug, white t-shirt. He was wearing black board shorts with Vans, a chain hanging down from his belt loop. Marcus introduced his band mates and I had to focus on breathing as I was presented with each one of these otherworldly handsome men.
    “This is Mage, our bass player. My brother Jade, our rhythm guitar player. Star, our drummer. And that over there is D, our lead guitar player.”
    The man looked over and nodded at me. His shoulder was touching the window giving me a perfect view of his profile once he turned away continued to stare out the window from an angle. My line of sight was immediately drawn to his mouth, his perfect lips that were held in a barely perceptible pout. Beneath his tattoos, his skin was very fair making his black hair that much more dramatic.
    I had to tear my gaze away from this D guy to say hello to the others. They all greeted me as Marcus had and I went through the motions with my head spinning. Damn. Too much male presence and cologne can make a gal heady.
    Mage was around six feet with long curly brown hair, exotic looking cafe au lait skin and pale green eyes. He and Jade were similarly built, but Jade’s jet-black, straight hair hung down to his waist and he had the same hazel eyes as his brother, Marcus. Star was the lone blonde in the group with hair that stuck up all over, tan skin and dark brown eyes. He was a little shorter than the others and leaner. He moved like a boxer, quick and dangerous.
    “It’s nice to meet you all. Do you have reference material or ideas?”  
    They all looked at each other uncomfortably. Mage and Jade actually put their heads down. D was rubbing the heel of his palm against his chest. The air even felt heavy.
    Marcus spoke up, “Actually, we had something a little unconventional in mind.”
    I frowned. The artist in me was intrigued. “How unconventional are we talking?”  
    Daryl laughed out loud. “Chère, don’t you go worrying your pretty little head. These boys are harmless.”
    Marcus made a show of giving me his most innocent smile, complete with fluttering eyelashes. My eyebrow rose even higher, although why I was surprised this manchild would resort to juvenile gestures is beyond me. Daryl put his arm around Marcus’ neck and pulled him into a headlock.
    “Let me put it to you this way, if they don’t behave I’ll tear them limb from limb. I don’t care how many millions those limbs are worth.” The guys laughed nervously, all except Mr. Mysterious who was still staring out my window with a thoughtful look on his face. Double damn.
    Daryl pushed Marcus away and Marcus ran a hand through his hair and chuckled.” Now Uncle Daryl, would I ever be anything other than a gentleman?”  
    Daryl narrowed his eyes at him and the others snickered.
    “Alright, would I ever be anything other than a gentleman with a woman you had under your protection? No, absolutely not. I value all my, ahem, body parts.”
    They all laughed at that, including me. I suddenly thought about Mackenzie and turned to see her talking animatedly with Star over at the other counter. He was looking at her trays of body jewelry. It appeared Star was intimately familiar with a piercing needle. He had wide gauges in his ears, a stud through his bottom lip, a ring through his nostril, and one ear was speared with a barbell. As he smiled and spoke to her I could see light glinting off a tongue stud, a fact Mackenzie seemed to be studying