Love Ink

Make no mistake. When it comes to Jesse James, tattoo artist Kat Von D isn’t messing around. “I don’t hang out with anybody unless I am in love,” the LA Ink star told PEOPLE on Sept. 2, when she and James took their romance public at the opening of Von D’s Wonderland Gallery in L.A. So, just two weeks after first trumpeting the relationship on Twitter and less than three months since James’ divorce from Sandra Bullock became final, is Von D really, truly smitten? “Oh, I know I am,” she says. “I don’t think I am.”

As always, James, 41, was a tad more taciturn. Asked what he likes best about Von D, 28, the motorcycle mogul offered one word: “Everything.” The tattooed duo proved inseparable over a PDA-filled Labor Day weekend in L.A., stealing kisses over chips and salsa at Pinches Tacos and buying his and hers “Rebel with a Cause” T-shirts at the J. Gerard Design Studio and Peace Gallery before the father of three headed back to Austin to get his kids Sunny, 6, Jesse Jr., 13, and Chandler, 16, ready for the school week. “They were finishing each other’s sentences and making each other laugh,” says a witness of the couple, who met six years ago and reconnected recently. Von D may have fallen for him “when we were playing Scrabble,” she says. “We both realized how nerdy we were!”