Skin Deep (Tattoo Lovers Book 1) Read online

  Skin Deep

  Tattoo Lovers Book One

  Savina Joyce

  Copyright © 2020 by Savina Joyce

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover Design by Low Creek Designs

  Formatted by Nina Morse, VA

  Contents

  1. Danielle

  2. Alexander

  3. Danielle

  4. Alexander

  5. Danielle

  6. Alexander

  7. Danielle

  8. Alexander

  9. Danielle

  10. Alexander

  11. Danielle

  12. Alexander

  13. Danielle

  14. Alexander

  15. Danielle

  16. Alexander

  17. Danielle

  18. Alexander

  19. Danielle

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also by Savina Joyce

  1

  Danielle

  The calming sound of the tattoo gun soothed Danielle. The low hum was almost like a meditation to her. She was tattooing a new client today. The image wasn’t overly complicated, so she could focus on the design in a relaxed state. Sometimes, when she had a new client with a big, complicated design, she found it stressful. Today’s design was a pretty straightforward old school style sailor tattoo. Danielle had done a million of them before. It was a good size. Danielle liked the look of it.

  Her client was good looking too. Danielle got straight to work on his tattoo. Perhaps she should have paid more attention to him. She didn’t notice at first that his eyes were on her. Most people getting inked tend to lose focus on the artist. They usually zone out or close their eyes. Occasionally, they wince from the pain. This guy was staring right at her face. To be honest, she was getting a little uncomfortable. Some people liked a little more small talk, so perhaps he was nervous. Danielle tried to engage him in conversation. And regretted it immediately.

  “So do you have any other tattoos?” she asked.

  “I’ve got a few,” he replied. “Maybe I’ll show you some time, in a more private setting.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

  Danielle bit back a sigh. She couldn’t believe this guy was wiggling his eyebrows at her like some kind of six-year-old with a cookie.

  “There’s no better place to show tattoos than a tattoo parlor,” she replied dryly.

  “Not all of my tattoos are suitable for public display,” he said.

  Danielle never wanted to ban someone for talking about their tattoos before, but there was a first time for everything. She let out a nervous titter.

  “Well, guess we’ll just need to pass all that then,” she replied.

  “If I had known about you, I would come here for my tattoos to begin with.” he said. “I’ll have to come back here for the next one.”

  “Well, this is a popular location,” she said as she looked over at Greyson, one of the guys that worked in the shop.

  He just shook his head and acted like he didn’t hear it. Danielle knew he would step in if the guy got too out of hand, but sometimes the crew got a kick out of watching her talk to dummies. Not all their clients were idiots, of course.

  Danielle dated from time to time. It went well. She just hadn’t met the right guy yet, but she wasn’t about to start with a creepy guy getting a tattoo. They had one thing in common, they both liked tattoos. Something told Danielle that was where their commonalities ended. She had to buckle down, finish this job up, and get this guy out of her chair. He kept trying to ask her what time she got out of work and if she wanted to join him for a drink. It got to the point where she had no choice but to be direct.

  “Listen, I understand you want to talk, but I’m working here. I really don’t want to mess up your tattoo, so it would probably be best if you just let me concentrate.”

  That seemed to shut him up. It also made him a little huffy. Sometimes you just can’t win.

  “Maybe I should go to someone else,” he said haughtily. “I don’t think men have a problem getting distracted when they give tattoos.”

  “You might be right. How many of them do you hit on?”

  He opened and shut his mouth like a drowning fish. The other tattoo artists burst out laughing. Danielle didn’t say another word, and neither did he. She happily finished up in silence. She wondered if she should say anything to the guys about laughing at her client. He might leave a bad review, but his tattoo looked so good that she doubted he would go that far. When everything was all said and done, and he looked in the mirror, his frown immediately disappeared.

  “This is incredible,” he said.

  “You sound surprised,” she said with a smile. “You seemed like a nice guy, I want to make sure I gave you the best work possible.”

  A look of bewilderment spread across his face. It almost made her laugh this time, but she controlled herself.

  “Thank you,” he said.

  “No problem. One of the guys will cash you out at the front. I have to get ready for my next appointment.”

  Danielle shook his hand, and began cleaning up her station, still trying not to laugh. He looked at himself in the mirror for a few minutes before heading out. As soon as he was out the door, the shop erupted in laughter.

  “You don’t even have any more appointments,” Greyson shouted.

  “Mind your business. I’m your boss, you know.”

  The guys I laughed again. Danielle had never been so grateful to have an appointment finish. She’s worried she might have done too good a job. The way he was acting, he might be back. She didn’t know if she could throw him off so effectively again. At some point she would run out of excuses. She could always fall back on her ‘I don’t do customers’ rule. It had gotten her through this far. There’s no reason that should stop now.

  2

  Alexander

  His Royal Highness Prince Alexander of Linvale was going to throw up.

  He had flown a million times before, but this was his first trip to the States. Everyone went to the U.S. at one time or another, especially the royal families. He didn't know what he was so nervous about. Perhaps he was just excited. Based on his research, America wasn't like anywhere else. There were so many different climates. In a single country therewere frozen places, tropical places, plains, mountains, and some of the biggest cities he had ever heard of. People came from across the globe.

  He was so excited that he was making himself sick, like a little kid who ate too much candy. He should be ashamed of himself. Alexander was traveling in the states for official crown business, but he really wanted to be a tourist. He wanted to see the sights. The fact that they were sending him to a city he never heard of didn't deter him at all. Rio Fernando was in California, so he had some idea what to expect.

  Most of his family had been to America, but this was going to be his first trip. He wanted to go in blind and experience it firsthand, so he hadn’t done any research on the area. His security detail would know every inch in detail, so he didn’t have to worry about getting off course. He young enough that he hadn’t been on and other diplomatic trips. This would be his first, and he didn't want it to be his last.

  Most of all, he wanted to make a good impression on his mother. As a mother, the Queen was very confident in his abilities. But she was very clear on one thing. Alexander was not under any circumstances to meet and fall in love with an American woman. She was more of an Anglophile and preferred the Brits. To begin wi
th, but America had the problem of no royalty and if there's one thing that everyone agreed on. It was that Alexander had to marry a royal. He had no problem with that, really. I mean, as the prince. It's not like he could date anyone in his own country. His family was the only royal family in Linvale. Besides, it's not like he could just walk up to grow in a coffee shop and ask a woman on a date. He was barely allowed in coffee shops and he definitely never bought his own coffee. Yeah, he had people for that. So if it came down to him marrying someone deemed suitable by the crown, he was okay with that. It was his duty.

  At thirty, he was beginning to feel like he might never find a wife. People were starting to talk. He would be a leader on the most eligible bachelor list for the rest of his life if he didn't settle down soon. He was just glad that he was a man because if he had been a woman, their talk would have probably been much more damaging. Mostly, he just had to deal with the people assuming every woman he spoke to was a potential love interest. Once he passed a model on the street, and the tabloids splashed their photos everywhere. Of course, there were worse things in life than strangers assuming you were dating models. A man can dream, but some dreams don't come true. He'd even put out feelers to see if this model was interest since the press had already glommed on to it. No luck. The Queen was livid,. He thought his mother was going to abdicate the throne just to stop it from happening. In reality he didn't even know the woman and had never spoken to her, so it was nothing to worry about. Alexander didn't have any hopes of falling in love. He expected to marry well, to fulfill his duties to crown and country. In the meantime, he could at least enjoy a little adventure in the states.

  3

  Danielle

  Danielle stood at the welcome desk in her tattoo parlor in shock. It was a slow day, so she had sent everyone else home. Now she was convinced that was a good idea because not two minutes ago the crown prince of Linvale strolled in. Naturally, he had security with him. But his visit was completely unexpected. Once his guards went through and did a check of the tattoo parlor, without asking Danielle, they gave him the nod to speak to her. Danielle wasn’t sure what to do. Should she curtsy?

  “Hello, your Royal Highness,” she said, trying not to stutter.

  “Hello Miss–?”

  “Danielle. Danielle Peters.”

  “What a lovely name. I see you already know who I am. I apologize for coming unannounced, but I suddenly had the urge to get a tattoo. I’m sure that type of thing happens here quite often,” the Prince said with a warm smile.

  “It does, but not on this level,”

  The Prince laughed. “I’m sure it’s not every day that a royal steps into your establishment.”

  “This is a first.”

  “Depending on how this goes, it might not be the last.”

  Danielle squared her shoulders. She was a professional. She’d been doing tattoos for years. She couldn’t afford to lose her head over one fancy man. Plus, this could be great for business. If people knew she tatted the prince, she would have no problem getting business. She would never have to worry about having a slow day again.

  “So what can I do for you today, your highness?”

  “Please, call me Alexander.”

  “Sure. Sorry about that, you must get that a lot.”

  “Only every day of my life.”

  Now it was Danielle’s turn to laugh. “That does make sense. I understand why you wouldn’t want to hear it for me. What can I do for you today, Alexander?”

  “Well, I’d like a tattoo, but not necessarily today. I want something custom. What I understand from my research is that custom designs might take some time.”

  “Well you’re right about that. So tell me what you had in mind.”

  Prince Alexander pulled out a carefully folded piece of paper from his breast pocket. He had made a rough sketch of the sun rising over the royal family’s coat of arms. He actually was not bad. It was rough, but she could make it great.

  “This is cool. Kind of signifying your reign taking over the throne. Or a new day for the Empire.”

  “Both of those actually, how did you know.?”

  “Kind of my job,” Danielle said with a smile.

  “How long do you think it would take for you to make something like this look suitable.?”

  “Well, since you are a high-value client, I’d like to have a little bit of extra time to work on this if that’s all right with you.”

  “That’s alright. Shall we say two days?”

  Danielle tried not to panic. When she asked for more time, she was thinking weeks, and he only offered two days. How could she say no? An opportunity like this might never come up again.

  “Two days is great. I’ll take some time to work this over and I’ll make sure that the parlor is cleared out in case you have anything else come up,” she replied.

  “Do you have a card or something or I could use to reach you?”

  “Of course. Where are my manners? Here you can call me anytime, really,” Danielle said. She hoped that didn’t sound as eager as it did in her head.

  “I might just take you up on that,” the prince said, hitting her with that dazzling smile again.

  His guards nodded to her and then escorted him from the building. She couldn’t believe her luck. They were in their armored vehicle and driving away before she could blink.

  Danielle wanted to call her friends and brag about it, but she wasn’t sure if they’d be able to keep it a secret. The last thing she needed was a bunch of paparazzi here. She didn’t even know they allowed the royal family to get tattoos.

  This was a dream job. Not only was he the youngest, hottest member of the royal family. He also had never gotten a tattoo before. A blank canvas was every artist’s dream. And his tattoo idea was actually pretty cool. She could make it even better.

  Danielle went back to her desk and immediately get started making a list of alternate versions of the tattoo. She had some ideas of some wild changes she could make while still keeping the integrity of the original piece. Danielle wished she had gotten Alexander’s number herself so she could send him the different versions. Worst-case scenario, she could make several and have them ready when he came back.

  She’d never tatted anyone one even remotely famous before. Not even a local celebrity. She was thrilled at the prospect of doing this. Danielle couldn’t believe he’d chosen her shop of all places. Prince Alexander never said how he came across her shop.

  Danielle planned to work on her sketches later. First, she needed to learn more about the crown prince. She let her fingers do the walk into a web search and found that he was the rebellious one. But since he was his grandmother’s favorite, she should be safe. His mother was the Queen, after all. Plus, this wasn’t his country, so Danielle should be safe from any legal repercussions.

  She wasn’t surprised to see that Alexander was the most eligible bachelor in Linvale. If she could somehow work this into a romance, that would be a story the tabloids would eat up.

  4

  Alexander

  The Prince was having second thoughts. Alexander had been thinking about this tattoo for months, but now he had gone to the shop and met its proprietor. He wasn’t sure if it was the best idea. If his family found out, they would be furious. He had chosen this place because since he was here on diplomatic business the artist wouldn’t be penalized. No one in his country would have been able to stay in business after marring his flesh.

  America was a new and wild place. Alexander needed to take chances. It didn’t hurt that Danielle was so beautiful. The reviews all said that she was a professional. They also said she was one of the best artists in the area. He hoped that was true. Alexander cringed when he thought about his childlike sketch drawn over printouts of the coat of arms. But she seemed to know immediately what he was looking for. That had to be a good sign.

  He wondered what it would be like to live in a place like this and have the freedom to do whatever you wanted. Danielle had many beauti
ful tattoos on her arms. Alexander had admired tattoos since he was a boy, but there were strict rules and what was and wasn’t allowed for members of the royal family. Tattoos were at the top of the list. The only exception that could be made would be if you are, if you served in the military and he was not ready for that.

  Truthfully, this was the first time he asked for a woman’s phone number. He hadn’t given it much thought at the time, but now he was shocked at his bravery. More shocking was his urge to call her and get her thoughts and ideas about the tattoo. Alexander couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to spend time alone with her. His guards would never allow it, he was sure. It might be worth the risk he was going to see her again in just a few short days. Maybe he could find out more about her then.

  Alexander was consumed with her. All he could think about was Danielle, even her name. Danielle. It rolled off the tongue so beautifully. Danielle sounded fabulous. She wasn't like any of the women in his social circles. She had wild unicorn colored hair, mahogany skin, tattoos everywhere, and a nose piercing. She was heavenly. She was like a walking work of art. He would like to get tattooed by her, if only to gaze upon her beautiful face again, because that is all he'd ever be able to do with a woman like that. Look at her. She clearly led an exciting life and wouldn't want to deal with a stodgy aristocrat like him to begin with. He wouldn't even know where to begin to have a conversation with her. She probably had exciting adventures and lived her whole life outside of the box. Alexander had to follow a strict set of rules and decorum.