Forbidden Lust: 3 (Lust for Life) (9 page)

“This doesn’t scare me, Eva,” he told her quietly. “But I
need to know if it’s more than you can handle.” He shifted sideways on the bed
to face her. “If you’re going to run because I told you I’m in love with you,
or if you think this might only be temporary for you, I need to know. Sooner
would be better than later.”

She pressed a hand to her stomach as a nervous and highly
inappropriate laugh bubbled its way up her throat. “That’s funny, Oscar.”

His expression was unreadable. “Is it?”

Eva reached behind her and pulled down the zipper on her
dress.

“Fucking hilarious,” she said matter-of-factly, and stepped
out of the dress. “Maybe the funniest goddamn thing I’ve heard in my life.”

She hung the dress next to his jacket and popped the hook on
her bra, dropped it and stepped out of her panties, which were soaked from
their interlude in the car.

“Being frightened of something and wanting to run from it
are two completely different things.” She walked slowly toward him, their gazes
locked, her confidence coming back in a rush. “I’ve been yours since the
beginning of time. I spent years waiting for you to claim me, Oscar.”

She went down on her knees in front of him, pleased that she
could see his cock straining against the front of his pants again.

“If you think I’m going to run, then you don’t know me very
well,” she told him, pulling off one of his socks, then reaching for the other.
“There’s no way you’re getting rid of me.” She slid her hands up the backs of
his calves, over the insides of his thighs, over his cock as she went for the
buckle on his belt. “Now or ever,” she promised.

Between the two of them they made quick work of getting him
out of his pants. He gathered her to him, both of them naked and already
panting in anticipation, and fell onto the bed together. She wrapped her arms
and legs around him and let herself fall into the depth of his kiss.

Their bodies came together on a quick, smooth movement. Her
back arched as he plunged deep, causing her stomach, her chest, her tingling
nipples to press tight to the hot solidity of his chest.

“Love me, Eva,” he demanded in a dark whisper.

“I do,” she swore, her hands digging into his hair.

His hips rocked once and her legs fell open wide. “Say it.”

She had to swallow around her heart beating in her throat.
“I love you, Oscar.”

He rocked his hips again, pulling out farther, thrusting
deeper.

“Say it again,” he said through clenched teeth.

Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes rolled back in
her head. He was buried so deep, felt so fucking amazing.

“I love you.” She managed to pry her eyes open. The ferocity
in his dark, dangerous gaze stole the last of her breath from her lungs.
“Always have,” she said, panting. She lifted her head and bit down hard on his
bottom lip, felt the answering jerk of his cock inside her. “Always, Oscar.”

“Yes,” he hissed, taking her hands and pinning them above
her head. “Always.”

And suddenly, as if something had snapped within both of
them, they were fucking like goddamn wild animals. Eva braced her feet on the
mattress to give herself better leverage, bringing her hips up with a snap to
meet every rough thrust into her wet cunt until they were nothing but a
sweating, heaving tangle of body parts.

At one point Eva could no longer distinguish his grunts and
moans from hers. She came and came and came and still he kept fucking her. And
when she reached the point where she couldn’t take any more, his body came to a
sudden halt, his hips jerking in that tight movement that gave her an
irrational burst of pride because she had that effect on him.

Her
. Evangeline Rodriguez, the tomboy youngest of
seven siblings, could reduce Oscar Gaudin—the coolest, most level-headed,
self-controlled man she knew—to a moaning, quivering heap.

He loved her to the point he worried about whether she would
leave.

Eva wrapped herself around him when he collapsed and
realized she was smiling.

Like an idiot.

Because life was absolutely fucking amazing.

“We can have immediate possession of the place,” Leo said,
bringing up a series of photographs on the laptop he’d brought to Oscar’s
house.

He scrolled through them one by one, showing the empty shell
of a long, narrow retail space in a hip, affluent downtown Chicago
neighborhood.

“Joy’s sister does some web design for the guy who owns all
kinds of buildings like this one,” Leo continued. “There’s a cool,
independently owned clothing store on one side and a small hair salon on the
other. I didn’t get a chance to talk to the guy who owns the boutique yet, but
the woman who runs the salon said she’s been there for years and she loves the
owner. Said she never has to wait if something on the building needs to be
fixed.”

After the series of photos of the storefront, Leo stopped at
a picture of a storage room. There was a counter with cupboards above and below
it on one wall. As far as Oscar could tell, there was easily enough space to
make it into a small but comfortable break room by adding a table, a couple of
chairs and a small refrigerator in the corner.

“The owner said if we wanted we would be welcome to put up
walls to make rooms. We might only be able to put in three, maybe four tops
since the space is pretty narrow, but we weren’t looking to go big right out of
the gate anyway.”

“Or we could forgo walls and have an open floor plan,” Oscar
suggested.

Leo had been doing most of the talking since he and Jamie
had arrived at Oscar’s house. Oscar was catching the enthusiasm Leo clearly had
for the place. While he couldn’t get a real feel for the space in pictures, he
liked the pressed tin ceilings, the well-kept hardwood floors and the large
window in front.

“Maybe just put up a small room in the back for the body
piercers,” Oscar went on, thinking out loud now. “Use standing screens for the
tattoo artists if we’re working on a piece that requires privacy, but have our
stations out in the open.”

Oscar reached over Leo’s shoulder and scrolled back a few
pictures.

“We could put up a wall, maybe five feet high that would
separate the front from the back. Put up a counter for the receptionist on one
side,” he said, showing them where he imagined the wall and the receptionist
would go. “It would make a distinct area for people to hang out that’s not
underfoot, but they could see us working.”

“More of a fishbowl kind of layout than the shop we have
now,” Jamie added, nodding as if he really liked the idea.

“The rent is so reasonable we really wouldn’t need more than
four tattoo artists and a couple of good body piercers to really thrive once we
were up and running,” Leo said, turning to look at Oscar and Jamie standing
behind him. “It’s ours if we want it. The owner really did seem like a cool
guy. We could get the keys and start setting up shop as soon as I get back to
Chicago.”

“Aren’t you supposed to start recording new music soon?”
Jamie asked, going to Oscar’s refrigerator for another beer.

“I’ll take one,” Oscar said when Jamie gestured with a
bottle, silently asking if anyone else wanted one.

“Me too,” Leo said. “We’ve already got a handful of new
songs written. Recording starts in a few weeks.”

Leo’s band Grind had exploded onto the national rock scene
after they toured with a big-name group and played several jam-packed rock
festivals earlier that summer. All the members had happily picked up and moved
to Chicago with him after Leo met and fell in love with Joy. The band was
currently working with a well-known blues musician and producer—Joy’s father,
John Pope—writing their new blues rock record.

“I have time for this too,” he assured them.

“You’re writing, looking at properties for the new shop,
driving back and forth between Chicago and Toledo at least once a week,
training Agnes to take over for you as shop manager,” Jamie said, taking a seat
at the table. “When do you have time for that gorgeous woman of yours?”

“I’ve given up sleep,” he told them with a grin. “Trust me,
it’s worth the sacrifice.”

“Jamie and I can take over most of the work setting up
shop,” Oscar offered.

Despite his hectic schedule, Leo was planning to manage the
new store as well as help Agnes run the old one until she was fully confident
running it on her own. From the handful of conversations Oscar had had with her
since they’d made their choice, it wasn’t going to take her long. She was
young, but she had a sharp business sense that pushed her to the top of the
list to take over for Leo as shop manager.

“I think Pontoon is keeping his schedule flexible in case we
need him,” Jamie said, meaning their friend Chris Pontiff, who’d done
contracting work for the shop as well as for all three of the shop partners
when they bought their houses.

“We just need to decide which of the other artists we’re
going to take with us and how many we need to hire new,” Leo said, looking from
Jamie to Oscar and back. “From the way I see it, we can spare two.”

They all knew there were several guys around the city who
would jump at the chance to come to Lust for Life to replace whoever they took
to Chicago.

“Munson and Clark have both told me they want to be
considered,” Jamie said.

“Munson yes, but not Clark,” Oscar answered immediately.

Clark was a good artist, but he had an inconsistent work
ethic. There were several times the three of them had talked about letting him
go, but he always managed to pull himself together and stay on track right
before that happened, as if he had some kind of sixth sense that his job was in
danger.

“Agreed,” Leo seconded.

“So you’re leaving him with me,” Jamie asked, arching an eyebrow
at them.

“He’s been given his last chance.” Oscar took a long pull
from his bottle. “If he fucks up again you won’t have to worry about him any
longer.”

“We could offer the third spot to Patty,” Jamie suggested.

Leo shook his head. “Her mom was just diagnosed with breast
cancer. I think she’s planning to move home to help her through surgery and
chemo.”

“That really sucks,” Oscar said, just as unaware as Jamie
that Patty’s mom was sick.

“She only told me in case she needed to take some time off,”
Leo told them. “She doesn’t want anyone else in the shop knowing so they don’t
ask too many questions.”

“Donny might want to go,” Jamie said, getting back on track.

Only Donny was the one person Oscar was looking forward to
getting away from. The guy was an amazing artist, but he was an absolute dick,
all day, every day.

“What about Eva?” he suggested.

Oscar had no idea what he was doing. He and Eva hadn’t
talked about the possibility of her being part of the new shop, but as soon as
he said it, he wanted it. He wanted her there. If she got angry with him for
suggesting it, he would fix it later.

By the surprised looks on his friends’ faces, he had a
little explaining to do.

“You want to work with my sister?” Jamie asked slowly. “Day
after day? In that small space, with no walls separating you?”

“My relationship with Eva has changed.” He met Jamie’s gaze.
“Drastically.”

Maybe she was going to kick his ass for telling another
member of her family without her, but it was time. No, it was beyond time. They
all deserved to know.

Jamie’s eyebrows went as far up his forehead as Oscar
imagined they could go.

“I fucking knew it,” Leo said a little too gleefully.

Jamie looked from Oscar to Leo. “Knew what?”

“Eva and I have been seeing each other since your wedding,”
Oscar told him. Once again, it felt damn good to get it out in the open, even
if it turned out Jamie was going to be the brother who got protective and
stomped the shit out of him.

Jamie looked at Oscar again. “You have to be fucking kidding
me. The two of you can hardly stand to be in the same zip code.”

“We wanted to keep it to ourselves for a little while until
we were sure about what was going on,” he explained. “Although Diego knows.”

Nope, Jamie’s eyebrows could definitely go higher.

“And he’s all right with it?”

“He’s more worried about me coming out unscathed than her.”

“That was my first thought,” Leo said with a chuckle, and
Jamie nodded.

“No shit.” His eyebrows dropped and he looked out the patio
doors at his left. “Fuck. That was the last thing I ever would have expected to
hear from you, man.”

“It’s the craziest thing, I know, but I’m in love with her.”

Leo laughed while Jamie just smiled that big, shit-eating
grin of his.

“I need to be the one to tell your parents,” Oscar added
before either of them said anything else. “So if we could keep this between us
just a little longer.”

“Mom is going to lose her mind.” Jamie put down his beer and
stood, came around the table. “You know she still hopes you and Tammy will end
up together, don’t you?”

Oscar stood and got caught up in Jamie’s hug. “Yeah, she’s
never let me live it down that I let her marry someone else.”

“You are a crazy bastard,” he said as he released him.

Leo stood and pulled Oscar into a backslapping hug as well.
“It’s about damn time you admitted you like her.” He let go and picked his beer
up from the table. “So we’ll ask Eva if she wants to move to Chicago?” he
asked, looking from Oscar to Jamie.

“Eva it is,” Jamie said with a disbelieving shrug. He raised
his beer. “Congrats.”

“And good fucking luck,” Leo added, touching his beer to
Jamie’s.

Oscar scoffed jokingly. “Thanks. I’m going to need it,” he
said, and touched his beer bottle to theirs.

* * * * *

On a normal day Eva would have been annoyed—at the very
least—with a client who wimped out before she barely finished the outline on
their tattoo. Clients who got dizzy or nauseous were a totally different story.
Those people didn’t bother her because there was no way to tell how a person
was going to physically react to being tattooed until they were actually under
the needle.

But the asshole she’d been working on who’d flinched and
twitched and grimaced through the part where she’d needed him to stay still the
most, and then obviously faked an emergency phone call, would have gotten her hackles
up on a normal day. But it wasn’t a normal day. She still hadn’t recovered from
the weekend in New York, and she was grateful for the extra hour and a half
between clients.

She didn’t really know why she hadn’t recovered. It wasn’t
as if she’d been drunk or stayed up all night the whole time. They’d been up
until the wee hours of the morning with Oscar’s friends the first night, but
Eva hadn’t really had the stomach to drink, so she’d mostly sipped soda water
with lime and enjoyed the conversation. She’d had a glass of wine with dinner
the night they went to the Broadway show, but only one.

She wrote it off as a collective lack of sleep and made her
way to the office, where she intended to literally crawl under Leo’s desk and
take a nap. Unfortunately, when she opened the door she found Leo occupying
said desk.

“I thought you had a meeting with Oz and Jamie this
morning.”

There was a quiet
woof
and a second later Leo’s dog
Norma Jean came around the side of the desk, doggie smiling and wagging her
tail.

“Well hello, beautiful.” Eva crouched to give her a good
rubdown while she kissed the top of her head. Leo’s humane society rescue mutt
wasn’t actually beautiful, and her wiry white and brown coat wasn’t especially
soft, but she was by far the coolest, smartest, most loving dog Eva knew.

“We had it,” Leo said, meaning the meeting.

“Are Oz and Jamie here?” she asked. She’d been so focused on
getting to the office for some sleep she hadn’t thought to look around for
either of them.

He tucked the strands of his pale-blond hair that had
escaped his longish ponytail behind his ears and crossed his arms. “Ah…no,
they’re not.”

Eva looked up. There was something about the way he was
looking at her that matched the strange tone of his voice.

“What’s that face?” she asked, standing to face him, his
desk between them.

His expression was serious, but his bright ocean-blue eyes
were sparkling.

“Can I say I told you so now, or would you like me to save
it for later?”

He knew about her and Oscar.

“You can shove it up your ass and save it for a fucking
rainy day.”

Leo threw his head back and laughed.

Damn him. It took everything she had in her not to laugh
too.

“All right, that’s enough.” She could feel her face getting
hot as she closed the door and followed Norma Jean around the big desk that
dominated most of the small space. She couldn’t deny she felt jealous when the
dog curled up in the space she’d wanted, laid her head on her paws and blinked
sleepily.

“You called it,” she grumbled, chagrined. She sat sideways
on his lap when he pushed his chair back, turned and held his arms open for
her. “I hope you’re happy.”

He was still chuckling as she rested her head on his
shoulder.

“Are you happy?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her.

Butterflies went nuts in her stomach. For as much as Oscar
had antagonized her all those years, and even though he still pushed her
buttons from time to time, she couldn’t remember a time since childhood when
she’d been so happy.

She sighed. “I miss you.”

They still talked and texted all the time, but since his
band had gotten busy at the same time he moved in with Joy, she’d hardly had
any face time with him.

“I’m right here,” he assured her, resting his cheek on her
head. “And we’ll get to see a lot more of each other since you’re moving to Chicago
to work in the new shop.”

Her head went up. “What the fuck are you talking about?”