Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 131916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Before she had a chance to respond, I felt the stirring behind me, and I glanced over my shoulder to find Trent pushing to standing, all six feet of him filling the confined space, though he was still two inches shorter than me.
He snagged his tee from where he had it tossed on the back of a chair and dragged it over his head.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? We’re in the middle of a session.”
He shrugged the same shoulder I’d been tatting, paying no mind that it was oozing ink and blood. Dude never would take care of that shit no matter how many times I’d threatened him that I wouldn’t do his work any longer if he didn’t.
“Seems someone needs this spot a little more than I do. Besides, my arm’s on fuckin’ fire. Need a break. I’ll text you next week to set another time.”
He gave me a look like he was doing me a favor.
I sent him a scowl because the last fuckin’ thing I needed was to be boxed in this space alone with this girl.
“Yeah, and that’s going to be two years from now,” I grumbled at him, part of me wanting to argue him leaving and the other part sure I couldn’t get him out of there fast enough.
Chuckling, he clapped me on the back. “Ah, I think you’ll make time for me.”
“You’ve got to at least let me wrap that,” I told him, and he sat back down, lifting the sleeve of his shirt. I did it quickly while he sat there grinning like the asshole knew something I didn’t, and the second I had the piece covered, he wound around me and sauntered all kinds of casual across the lobby of my shop.
Uncertainty swirled around the girl, her gaze swinging between the two of us, no doubt thinking twice about traipsing around town so late by herself.
Didn’t matter that Moonlit Ridge was tucked in the mountains by itself. That the area was secluded and gave off the vibe of being safe.
Bad shit happened everywhere.
No one knew it as well as me.
“He’s all yours, sweetheart,” Trent said, punting me a knowing look before he tossed open the door and strode out.
The door clattered shut behind him.
The second it did, the atmosphere glowed, taking on a hazy aura as I stared across at this girl who stood there staring back, toiling brown eyes doing wild things.
That gaze ran down my body like she was trying to discern every element about me, and I could tell she was reconsidering what the hell she thought she was doing here.
Though there was something that kept her pinned, shifting on her feet, an energy that struck in the space that separated us. It was something that shouldn’t be tangible, but even from across the room, I saw it skitter across her flesh.
Alive and palpable.
Didn’t know what the hell was wrong with me because I liked my women hard and fast and one-hundred-percent without strings, and she was clearly not any one of those things, but my fingers tingled with the urge to peel her out of her clothes to find out exactly how bare that flesh really was.
Hungry and depraved, knowing I would tear right through her.
She watched me like she was both terrified and intrigued.
“You been tattooed before?” I asked, voice low.
The shake of her head was slow. “No.”
My back teeth ground. Just like I thought. Virgin skin.
“And you want to change that tonight?” My voice was grit.
“That’s what I’m here for.”
I peeled the gloves from my hands and tossed them into the trash, pushed from the jamb, and strolled across the lapping wisps of light that played through the lobby.
Those wild eyes got wider the closer I got, her breaths coming short.
When I was within a foot of her, I got smacked in the face by the decadent scent coming off her flesh.
It wasn’t floral or feminine.
It was warm—cinnamon and clove—just like those eyes—and it hit my tongue like the first sip of an old fashioned.
I forced myself to keep the foot between us. “What happens in here, you can’t take back. You sure you want to stay?”
Something intense filled her caramel gaze, and her response nearly knocked me on my ass. “Every choice we make is one we can’t take back.”
“Which is why we should consider them carefully.” I wasn’t sure which of us I was warning.
Her nod was short. “I know…and this is one I need.”
“Alright then, gorgeous, it will be my pleasure to give it to you.”
Then I reached over to the door and turned the lock.
TWO
CHARLEIGH
The sound of the lock clicking into place rang through the tension-slicked air, and my chest squeezed in a way that made it difficult to inhale.
I realized then that it was his aura I was breathing.