Significance (Artistic Pricks Ink) Read online

  Significance

  An Artistic Pricks Ink Novella

  By: Cat Mason

  All Rights Reserved. This work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, photographic) in part or whole without expressed written consent from Amy Cox a.k.a. Cat Mason.

  This is a work of Fiction. All characters, organizations, brands, and events are either products of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual events, or persons living or deceased is completely coincidental.

  Copyright © Cat Mason 2015

  In association with Fidem Publishing

  Cover Image and Design By: Katheryn Kiden with Fidem Publishing

  Editing By: Ready, Set, Edit

  Formatted By: Double K Designs

  Shaft on Tour:

  Escaping Me

  Facing Me

  Chasing Me

  Shafting the Halls (A Holiday Short)

  Fighting Me

  Artistic Pricks Ink:

  Gravity

  Dear Reader,

  Significance takes place one year before Gravity, Artistic Pricks Book One. This is Mitch’s story, well, part of it. I had fully intended on moving ahead, but he felt otherwise. His past is one that unfolded before me like a movie, so there was no way I could bypass it or do flashbacks as needed. You have to experience it first hand as I have. It’s told partially through the eyes of his first love, Becky. The mystery that is Mitchell Taylor, answered by the only one who can explain him: the one who holds his heart.

  Chapter One

  Becky

  “Becky, move your ass!” Madison screams, pounding her fists against my front door. “If I’m late to see my sailor because you’re primping, I can’t be held responsible for my actions.”

  Straightening my blue sundress, I stare at my reflection in the living room mirror and smile. “He’s home. He’s safe,” I whisper, reminding myself that after months, I can relax. The nightmares night after night of him not coming home to me are over for a while. Now we can begin to build the life we have talked about on the phone and over video chat while he was serving our country.

  Butterflies and adrenaline course through my veins in anticipation. It’s not easy in this life, as I have learned. In the five years that we have been together, Mitch has been deployed three times. It’s hard, and some nights, I thought I would never survive one more day without him here. A lot of nights, I lie in our bed and cry for him to come home, but I never tell him. It’s my job to be strong for him while he is away, no matter how hard it can be.

  Grabbing my bag, I open the door and meet a seething Maddie. Her heels click against the concrete as she paces my porch while twirling her long blonde hair between her manicured fingers. “Oh, Mads.” I giggle, locking the door behind me. “You know they don’t jump right off the bus for you to tackle. There’s protocol.”

  “I know, I know. I’m just excited.” Pulling my arm, she nearly drags me up the walk. “I still can’t believe you cut off so much of your hair. Mitch is going to come unhinged when he sees how hot you look.”

  “I hope so. I just wanted something different,” I reply, adjusting the new short black layers that took nearly an hour to curl into loose spirals. I tend to romanticize the reunion after being apart so long and want everything to be perfect— it’s hard not to. The first time he was deployed, I didn’t take things into consideration like his exhaustion from traveling for days and adjusting to time change. Needless to say, when he slept for ten hours without even taking his pants off, I was a bit disappointed. This time it’s different. I’ve been planning Mitch’s first day back home since he left. Knowing he will need to rest, his first official day home will end up being spent catching up on sleep.

  Tomorrow, though, is a different story.

  Climbing into my truck, I start the engine and attempt to shake off the nerves while Maddie settles into the bench seat beside me. My fingers tremble as I grip the steering wheel and pull onto the street, but it’s a happy day. The love of my life is only minutes from me right now. My heart leaps in my chest in anticipation the entire ride.

  ***

  The base is packed, the entire crowd waiting in anticipation. Family, friends, and military personnel are all ready to greet the wave of men and women who have spent months bravely serving and protecting our country on foreign soil. I stand clutching Maddie’s hand, the air around us laced with indescribable excitement. As the Commanding Officer speaks, I think back to the moment that brought me here, the day Mitchell Taylor walked into my life and ruined me for anyone else.

  “Becky, you’ve got a walk-in,” Maddie shouts from the front desk of the spa we both work for.

  “Send her back,” I call out, stacking the freshly cleaned towels into the cabinet.

  Turning on my heel, I stop in my tracks when I see him grabbing the bottle of pink nail polish off my shelf. Six foot tall and standing at my pedicure station, his deep brown eyes are locked on me. His long, lean legs are encased partially in khaki shorts, and a gray t-shirt with Navy written across it in blue letters stretches across his shoulders and chest. “Becky, huh?” His voice rushes over me like a tidal wave.

  “Yes,” I reply stepping toward him, forcing myself to speak instead of stare at him. “What can I do for you?”

  He smiles and my steps falter. “Name’s Mitch. Made a bet,” he says, gesturing out the front window to the guys laughing and snapping pictures. “Gonna need a pedicure.”

  Without another word he hands me the bottle and kicks out of his sandals before stretching himself out in my chair. “Okaaaay,” I reply, looking him over carefully. “You don’t look the type to want a pedi, especially one with Feelin’ Flirty Pink nail polish.”

  Mitch’s eyebrow arches, his lips quirk up in amusement, forcing me to bite back a laugh. “Are you refusin’ to serve me, Becky? That’s discrimination. As a man who swore an oath to protect and defend all rights for every American, I’m shocked you want to deny me something so simple.”

  “I wasn’t… I mean…” I stammer, before blowing out a breath. Shit. “I’m sorry, that was very unprofessional of me,” I say, knowing that the last thing I ever want to do is upset a customer. I mean, shit, if the guy wants to have pink toes in his combat boots who am I to stand in the way? Even if the only reason he has to do it is because he lost a bet.

  Here you are rubbing salt in the poor man’s slashed up ego, Becky. Gold star.

  “You should be, Becky, you should be,” Mitch scolds, clicking his tongue in disapproval as his gaze roams over my body before landing on my eyes once again. “The only way to make up for this horrible injustice is after you paint my toes pink, you have dinner with me. What do you say?” he asks, smiling.

  Wait, what?

  Kneeling in front of him, I grab the clippers and begin trimming his nails down.

  “You lost a bet, huh?” I ask, ignoring his question.

  “Who says I lost?” he chuckles, causing me to look up at him. “Got you talkin’ to me, didn’t I?”

  My eyes fly up to the window where the guys are now exchanging cash and it hits me. “You did all this just to talk to me?” I gasp, staring at him in disbelief. “You could’ve walked in and said, I don’t know, ‘Hi, my name’s Mitch. Wanna go out?’.”

  “Sure, it’s over the top, but I don’t hold back when going for something I want. How about l make you a deal, Becky?” Mitch asks, holding out his hand for me to shake. “I’ll bet that if you have dinner with me tonight, you won’t regret it.”

  Looking up into his brown eyes, I cock my head to the side and study him. He’s so cocky, but damn, I can’t help the words tumbling out of my
mouth. “You’ve got yourself a bet, sailor.”

  Five years later and I have yet to regret it…

  The sound of trampling feet snaps me back to reality as the Commanding Officer stops speaking and people scatter toward the field to greet their returning loved ones. Yanking my hand free of Maddie’s, I look around frantically for Mitch through the sea of people.

  I can’t see him through the crowd, but I feel him. The moment his eyes find me, my entire body becomes aware of him. I move around a crying mother hugging her son and a man holding his tiny baby girl and see him. Mitch, my sailor, my heart.

  My feet can’t carry me to him fast enough. The emotions churn in my stomach and my eyes burn with threatening tears of joy. The second his pack hits the ground, I leap into his arms. Without missing a beat, he wraps his thick arms around me and buries his face in my hair.

  “Hey, beautiful,” Mitch says into my ear, exhaling deeply before breathing me in. “Miss me?”

  Wrapping my legs around his waist, I anchor myself to him, letting it sink in that he’s in my arms. Home. My hand slides up to his chest. The minute his heart thumps against my fingers, tears well up in my eyes. “Sailor,” I whisper, emotion clogging my throat.

  “Need to kiss you, right now.”

  Turning his head, Mitch captures my lips with his. A groan rumbles up from his chest and I whimper into his mouth. His tongue runs along my bottom lip. I open for him and feel him smile against my mouth. “Now and Later,” he whispers, and this time, it’s my turn to smile. “Fuck, I needed that. The candy in the boxes you sent never compared to how you taste, baby.”

  “I love you,” I say as he settles me on my feet.

  “Forever or bust, Becky Lynn,” he replies, hoisting his pack onto his shoulder. “Let’s get the hell outta here.”

  “For fuck’s sake, Taylor,” Tyler Sheppard, Maddie’s husband, says from behind us. “Save that mushy shit for when you’re at home, some of us want to keep our cocks attached.” He chuckles, wrapping an arm firmly around Maddie’s waist.

  Mitch shakes his head, pulling me against him as we head for my truck. “Were you drunk when you married him, Mad?” he asks, his grin spreading across his face. “Sure explains a lot.”

  “I’ll let you have that ‘cause I’m in a good mood, asshole,” Sheppard snaps, tossing his pack into the back of the truck once we reach it. He smiles wickedly. “And because you’re buying the first round of beers.”

  Pulling the keys from my bag, I hand them to Mitch once he’s dumped his bag in back. “Fuck that. You’ll be lucky I don’t make you tuck and roll. I’ve been lookin’ at your ugly ass for months.”

  “Do you see the abuse I’ve had to put up with, Mad?” Sheppard asks, yanking open the passenger side door. “This is why I come home, I just need someone to love me.”

  “Quit your bitchin’,” I say with a giggle, nudging around him to climb into the front seat.

  Once we’re settled in, Mitch pulls out of the parking spot and heads toward the gates of the base. With his left hand on the steering wheel, he holds my hand with his right. His thumb taps along my skin in time to the music on the radio while Maddie and Sheppard make-out like teenagers in the back seat.

  “Tyler…” Maddie pants.

  “I’ve missed the fuck outta you, baby,” he growls and I wince when I hear Maddie giggle.

  “Well, you’re not getting reacquainted in my fucking truck,” I snap. Reaching behind me, I slap him in the back of the head making him curse under his breath.

  “Damn, Becky, where’s the love?” he asks before settling in the seat.

  “I have just enough love not to make you walk,” I reply unapologetically.

  Mitch laughs. “That’s more than I’ve got.”

  Stopping at the apartment building we share with Tyler, Maddie, and a few other families, Mitch doesn’t pull into our parking spot. Instead, he pulls behind Maddie’s car and tells them to get out. The minute they are heading up the sidewalk, he pulls out again not giving our place a second glance.

  “Babe, you know we live there too, right?” I ask, wondering if he is more exhausted than I thought.

  He laughs at me. “I wasn’t gone that long.”

  “Then where are we going?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest and watching him expectantly.

  “It’s important for a man to be able to retain a bit of mystery, Beck,” Mitch informs me, grinning from ear-to-ear. “If you completely figure me out. I’ll lose my appeal.”

  “I wouldn’t bet on it, sailor,” I tease, rolling my eyes.

  “As much as I love our bets, I’m gonna have to pass on this one,” he says with a wink as he turns into the bank parking lot. “Be back in a sec.” Leaping from the truck, Mitch disappears inside quickly, leaving me to wonder what the hell he is up to.

  Grabbing my phone from my bag, I see the missed calls from Mitch’s mom, Hannah. Being in a nursing home just outside of Vegas made it impossible for me to surprise him by bringing her, especially since his arrival date was pushed back a week at the last minute. Without the proper notice for approval, the request I put in to bring her with me was denied. Of course she understands, and I have already begun planning the trip there for us to visit her, but today would have been more special with all of us together.

  The door to the bank opens and out walks Mitch, smiling as he heads toward the truck. Opening the door, he slides inside without a word and starts the engine. He pulls out of the parking lot, heading toward downtown. No music plays, there is no conversation. Any other time, I would be talking his ear off and he would be laughing at me for it.

  Right now, I am just content to stare at him and lock every piece of this moment with him away in my memory. Knowing that he could be redeployed any time the government gives him new orders, I want to drown in every second of him being here with me. Of us being together. Every second we have spent apart only makes these moments that much more special.

  Will it always be so easy? Probably not. Does it put a strain on us as a couple and me as a woman at times? Absolutely. But making a difference is important to both of us. My grandfather taught me if you value the life you live, you have to be ready to fight for it if needed while helping those in trouble. That’s what Mitch does, what they all do no matter where they are stationed, or what their job title is. Each service member plays a vital role to the continuation of our freedom as a nation. One weak link and it could all unravel.

  Our love for each other will hold us together while he fights to protect the freedom so many of us take for granted. It’s the warmth we wrap ourselves in when the world can be so cold.

  “You’re too far away from me,” Mitch says, pulling me from my thoughts. “Need you here,” he adds, patting the seat beside him. I scoot against him without question. His arm wraps around the seat behind me, holding me to him. “That’s better.”

  “It is,” I agree, settling into his side.

  “How’s Ma?” he asks, turning onto a side street.

  “She’s good. Sad she couldn’t be here, but you know how hard it is to get approval on short notice,” I reply.

  “I’ll have to call her later and tell her we’ll visit soon.” He sighs, loudly. “I hate that she’s stuck there, but I can’t care for her the way she needs.”

  “She knows that and she loves you,” I assure him. “I’ve begged her to let us move her closer to us and she refuses.”

  Hannah tells me every time that her home is in Vegas, no matter how much I argue. Not having a mother of my own, I have bonded a lot with her over the years, especially during Mitch’s deployments. Being raised mostly by my grandfather after my mother ran out on me, I knew there was something missing. Hannah has filled that space in my heart in so many ways.

  Mitch pulls into the mini-mall, stopping in front of the spa I work at. Shutting off the truck, he turns and opens the door. “I wanna show you something.”

  Rather than letting me slide out of the passenger side, Mitch pulls
my hips so that I follow him out. Taking my hand, he leads me up onto the curb. “What are we doing here?” I ask in confusion. “I planned for my day off to be spent at home, with you.”

  “See this spot?” he asks pointing at the glass, his eyes fixed on the pedicure chair I use in the corner. “I walked by here one day over five years ago and it changed my life. I saw you and had to have you. You’ve been there for me in some of the darkest times of my life. Given me love that I never thought I could feel, let alone return. You fill my world with everything I need without even trying. It pours from you, brightening my entire world. I had no idea I needed rescuing from the storm ragin’ inside me, then there you were reaching for me and everything changed.” Pulling something from his pocket, he drops to one knee and looks up at me with those dark brown eyes that I fall deeper into with every passing day. “Marry me, Becky. Give me that love for the rest of my life and I promise you I’ll spend every single fuckin’ day givin’ you everything I am, if you’ll have me. I’ve never wanted anything more than you sharin’ my bed, my life, and my last name.”

  Tears stream down my face as I listen to him tell me how much he loves me, how he can’t imagine his life without me in it. The emotion is overwhelming and I can’t form the words I know he wants to hear. Covering my mouth with one hand, I nod.

  “Is that a yes?” he asks, grabbing my other hand. “A yes is what I need, baby.”

  Laughing through my tears, I nod again. “Yes, sailor. I’ll marry you.”

  Jumping to his feet, Mitch slips the ring onto my finger. Sliding his hands up my sides, he lifts me off of my feet. “She said yes!” he shouts before brushing his lips over mine, causing people on the street to clap.

  Mitch’s fingers slide into my hair and I melt against him. His tongue moves along mine and the entire world fades away. The man I love more than anything in this world has just asked me to be his wife. I couldn’t be happier.

  All too soon, his lips are gone and we are moving through the parking lot. “I’m throwin’ you in that truck and headin’ straight for our apartment,” Mitch says, yanking the door open and shoving me across the seat so he can follow me inside. “Need to be inside you, then I’m sleeping for twelve hours straight so I can do it all over again once the second I wake up.”