Read Online Opposites Attract by Michelle M. Pillow - Free Book Online Page A

It’s called trade,’ Ethan said. ‘Otherwise, we’d have given money to the hotel, the hotel would’ve paid her after taking a cut and she would’ve paid me for the tattoo. This way, we cut out the middle man. Everyone wins.’
    ‘Everyone but me,’ Alexis said.
    ‘Not everything is about you, doll. How are you possibly hurt?’ he asked, moving to the bathroom. She heard him washing his hands. When he came back, he was drying them on a towel. ‘You were going to pay twenty for the room anyway. You’re not out anything.’
    ‘Fine, you cheap bastard.’ Alexis nodded stiffly. ‘You want your money? I’ll give you your money.’
    Alexis went to her camera bag, which was now on the floor, and dug into the side pocket. Her hands shook as she pulled out a twenty-dollar bill. She threw it at him.
    ‘Wait,’ he said as she turned to open her suitcase. She pulled out a nightgown and watched him from the corner of her eye. He lifted his hand to give the money back to her.
    ‘No, it’s yours,’ said Alexis. ‘You’re right. I don’t want it.’ Alexis gripped her nightgown and stormed past him. ‘I’m taking a shower. And don’t try to charge me for the water – I already paid.’
    Ethan sighed, feeling like a jerk as Alexis slammed the bathroom door. He’d meant to aggravate her and only ended up feeling like a low-life piece of scum. Moments later, he heard the shower turning on. Crossing over to her camera bag, he unzipped the pouch and slipped the money back inside.
    ‘At least this way I know I’m not a jerk,’ he said under his breath. He slowly packed up his equipment, found his keys by her suitcase and carried his tattooing gear down to the car. She was still in the shower when he got back. Lying on the bed, he threaded his fingers behind his head.
    For a moment, earlier when they’d stopped arguing long enough to talk about art, it wasn’t so bad. What had it been? All of three seconds?
    Ethan sighed. He’d dealt with narrow-minded opinions like hers before about his chosen profession and wasn’t surprised she’d been programmed to think that way. To people like her, all tattoo artists were dirty, uneducated, untalented hacks.
    However, what people like Alexis didn’t seem to realise, or want to realise, was that he’d gone to art school at the same time he’d been apprenticing for tattooing. He’d paid his dues. He’d worked full time as the grunt in a tattoo shop. It was an old tradition, the tattoo apprenticeship. It was a rite of passage into the business. He had to answer phones, sweep floor, layout the artwork, take out trash, pick up food and deal with the attitudes of the artists above him.
    Anything the boss wanted him to do, he did. He’d put in his time and he worked hard and not once had he complained. Everyone did it. It was how the business worked. But did people like her realise it? Could they appreciate his hard work and dedication to his craft? No. They thought he just woke up one morning and said, Hey, how can I not work today and rip people off? I know, I’ll become a tattoo artist. That takes no talent.
    ‘Why do you even care what she thinks, Ethan?’ he muttered to himself. He heard the shower turn off. Maybe he could make an effort to be nicer to her.
    Alexis stood in the shower crying. What was wrong with her? She always felt like crying nowadays. But, then again, why shouldn’t she cry? Life wasn’t fair. It was hard and she felt sorry for herself. Her stomach growled, but it was like she’d been too paranoid to buy food when they stopped. She’d found herself tallying her money in her head, worried about every last penny, wondering if she counted it right. She’d never worried about money before and now she was too scared to spend a dime on a piece of candy – not that she’d ever buy candy. It was way too fattening.
    Alexis forgot to bring her body wash, shampoo and conditioner with her into the shower and was forced to use the little complimentary