Quiet does not equal weak…Leaving a dependable job to apprentice as a tattoo artist was a drastic step after surviving breast cancer, but Cassie Fletcher is nearly five years cancer-free. Nearly. She's not ready to go out on her own until she clears that all-important hurdle. Also off-limits are relationships and sex-something Cassie is sure she'll never want again. Struggling tattoo shop owner MJ Flores doesn't give a damn what people think, but losing Thorn & Thistle would mean losing everything. When her former mentor's protégé arrives at her door, MJ hires her out of obligation…at first. Cross-stitching goody-goodies are not her type, but Cassie's business background might just get the shop back on solid footing. They strike a bargain: Cassie will enact new marketing plans and MJ will teach her to find her inner bitch. Only when clients request to see Cassie-having learned of the beautiful, compassionate tattoos she creates for survivors and their families-does MJ realize all Cassie has endured. And as Cassie's fears fade, she finds it harder to keep her admiration for her bad-girl boss from reawakening all she'd feared was lost.
