Paint a Story on Your Skin

By L.J. Hamlin

Mike is a gallery owner who is looking to put on a show with a few local artists, and the first step is interviewing them.

Interview number one is Tommy: attractive, funny, amazing ... and far too young for Mike's forty-odd years, even if Tommy himself strongly disagrees.

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Aug 17, 2019
• ISBN: 9781646560479

L.J. Hamlin

L.J.Hamlin is a chronically ill writer who likes to write to escape from the pain. She loves animals and the supernatural.

Book preview

Paint a Story on Your Skin

By L.J. Hamlin

Published by JMS Books LLC at Smashwords

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2019 L.J. Hamlin

ISBN 9781646560479

* * * *

Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

All rights reserved.

WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

* * * *

To Dodger sister, for the many times you've listened to me ramble ideas. Love you. Thanks a million.

* * * *

Paint a Story on Your Skin

By L.J. Hamlin

Mike Barber walks into his small gallery, whistling tunelessly. He’s in a good mood. Today he has a few local artists coming in to show him their work for one of his upcoming shows. He wants to give the young artists in his area an opportunity to show their work, and it obviously never hurts the business to connect with new artists.

He goes to his office in a back room and takes a seat behind the desk, his bad knee creaking painfully. It’s an old football injury, and he’s lucky arthritis has only recently set in. He’s forty-six; he shattered his knee in his twenties. It doesn’t always hurt, but the weather has started to turn as it moves into October, and the damp and the cold make the pain in his knee flare.

Mike’s lucky, though. He has a job that means his bad knee is hardly ever an issue. He’s not on his feet all day. The only time he has to stand, really, is when he puts on shows. But today, for example, he can sit in comfort as long as he likes and do the exercises he’s been given to do at his desk by his physical therapist.

His first job is to open his laptop and turn it on, cracking his knuckles while he waits for it to load. A habit his mother always told him would lead to arthritis in his hands, but there he doesn’t have a trace. It’s been five years since she passed, but Mike still remembers her hands, which were curled with arthritis at the end, paining her with every little movement.

Once his laptop is ready, he opens his emails. He has a ton of them, a combination of things. There are work emails, more from friends, and the usual spam. He deletes the emails asking if he wants a larger penis because he has no problems in that department, thank you very much. The