Inked by an Angel (13 page)

He nodded, forgetting for a moment that they were talking about anything other than making love.

She tilted her head. “Do you know how?”

Huh? What kind of man did she think he was?
Oh, wait
. . . “Sweetheart, even though Kierstan does all the piercings, I still know how to use my own equipment.”

She seemed to think about it for a minute. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah. Let’s do it.”

Man, he wished she would’ve said anything else. “Well, are you ready to go? It’s about time for me to head into the studio.”

She nodded and grabbed her purse, tucking the sketch safely inside. “Thank you for dinner, Jed. And the picture. It was very unexpected and not necessary, but very nice.”

“You’re welcome.”

He walked her outside, where they stood between their two cars. The soft light of the setting sun made a halo around her head.

“Thanks again . . .”

“Can I ask you something?” They both spoke at the same time.

She laughed and gazed up into his eyes. “Sure. What is it?”

“I was wondering about this date you went on the other night with that Uri guy? You think you’ll be going out with him again?”

She blinked twice like she was confused. Instead of answering, she fumbled with her keys and clicked the remote to unlock her butt-ugly Prius. She opened the passenger door, threw her purse inside, and shoved it closed with a slam.

She turned to go, but he grabbed her arm. “Kyle? What’s wrong?”

“How did you know about that? I’m a little creeped out that
one,
you know about it, and
two
, you’d care.” She held up her two fingers for emphasis.

“Of course I care.”

She looked at him. It bothered him more than he could admit that she didn’t want him to care. “He’s a friend of Michael’s from AA. Mike brought him over to my house for poker night and we heard all about your date and how wonderful you are and how ‘
affectionate’
and how he can’t wait to go out again. I was just making conversation. Don’t get all freaked out.”

“Oh.” This seemed to calm her. “He’s a friend of Michael’s, too?”

“What do you mean ‘too?’”

“I was set up by my friend Bethany.”

“It’s a small world I guess.”

She glanced down to where he still held her arm then back up into his eyes. “Tell me, Jed. What is it that you want to know exactly?”

What he wanted to know went so much deeper than this conversation but he had no words.

She took a small step in his direction. “Well?”

He swallowed and watched her lick her lips. “Did he put his hands on you?”

“Yes.”

This time he took the step in her direction. “Did you put your hands on him?”

She studied him with hooded eyes for a moment and his heart thundered as he waited for her to respond. “No,” she finally whispered.

He took one more step and they were nearly touching, their breath mingling. She brought her hands up to his biceps and he was wrapped in her soft essence.

“Just so we’re clear,” he said, his voice low and gruff, “you did not kiss him or sleep with him?”

Her eyes cleared and the Muffet he knew popped off, “Like I said before, why do you care?”

He backed her up against the car with a gentle shove, trapping her with his body. “I care.”

Kyle’s eyes flew to Jed’s and she sucked in a surprised breath. The look on her face was his undoing. He found the curve of her throat with his lips and her fingers reflexively grabbed his arms tighter as he curled his hands around her hips and pressed his body against hers.

One taste, and he was intoxicated. She turned her head to give him better access and he ran his tongue in a gentle circle behind her ear.

“Oh, God,” she whispered and her hands moved to his neck. She tried to move against him, but he had her pressed against the car too tightly, her wiggling making his aroused state that much more painful.

His lips suckled and drew on the skin of her neck, making her moan as he kissed his way to the other side.

Idly, he heard cars passing by and felt his cell phone vibrating in his pocket, but it was all distant background noise to this overwhelming feast. He never imagined she would be this luscious. He wanted, no, he needed, to get to her lips. But he was taking his time on the pleasure of her neck. The soft little mewling sounds she was making were spurring him on to see just how far he could take her right here, right now.

His hands pressed possessively on her hips before sliding up to her waist. As his fingertips brushed under the edge of her shirt to the hot flesh beneath, her hands grabbed his shoulders and her head whipped upright.

“Jed.” She spoke his name in a whisper. Not in a command to stop or to question him. It seemed to be a plea for reassurance somehow.

He studied her eyes. He wasn’t sure what he had to give to her. So he gave what he could. “I care, okay? I care.”

She reached up and cupped his face with both hands and nodded. “Okay.” She pulled his head down and rose up on her toes to meet his lips.

Her skin was sweet at her neck. Her lips were sweeter. But when her hot little tongue parted the crease of his lips to meet his, he tasted true honey for the first time.
Holy . . .

She ran her hands down his shoulders and arms and found her way up his chest, where she clutched a fistful of his shirt.

His hands, still at her waist, loosened their hold so he could caress the softest flesh along her stomach. She moaned and thrust her tongue deeper as the kiss began to take on a life of its own.

Their lips and tongues became intertwined so deeply, it was difficult to take a breath apart from the other.

Their hands were all over each other. His under her top, on her hot flesh, stroking her belly, her ribs. She let go of his shirt to grip the base of his head and pull him closer.

Something coiled deep, deep within him—in the farthest reaches of his soul. As it settled there, quietly and calmly, he pulled back and let his eyes clear.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked at him.

Neither of them knew what to say as they stood staring at each other in the growing darkness. He was rocked to the core that she had responded that way to his kiss. That he had too, for that matter. What the hell had just happened?

He pulled his hands from under her shirt and stepped back, the night air rushing in cold and unwelcome between them.

“Kyle, I . . .”

She put up a hand to stop him and rounded the hood of her car. “I gotta go, Jed. I’ll see you later, okay?”

She didn’t give him a chance to respond. She zipped out of the parking lot before he could say he was sorry. Though he wasn’t sure he was.

Jed wondered if Kyle would have the guts to come to work that night after sucking face with him outside the restaurant. Part of him needed a breather from her, but a bigger part of him wanted to see if what he felt was real. Maybe it had all been a figment of his overly horny imagination.

He glanced up from sterilizing his equipment as the bell on the front door chimed and, think-of-the-devil, she came strolling in. Her eyes flicked his way, but she quickly looked away as a telling flush crept up her cheeks. Maybe it was just him, but her lips still looked swollen, and sexy as all get-out.

She straightened her shoulders, called out a greeting to Mike, and marched right past him toward her desk in the back. Jed watched her all the way. She still wore her sexy little outfit, and she’d apparently prepped for battle by going back to her standard ponytail and glasses. But she didn’t have him fooled for a minute. She was still hot and bothered.

“Muffet,” he called, halting her in her tracks.

She turned, her eyes wary. “Yes?” Her voice wavered a little.

He took his time putting down the tip of his machine and pulling off his gloves. “I was wondering . . . would you meet me in my office later?”

“Uh, sure.” She turned to scamper away.

“I have some papers for you.” He kept talking so she was forced to turn back and listen or look rude. And he knew that she would never want to appear rude. “And then I thought . . . if you wanted . . .” He caught her eyes. “we could . . .”

Her cheeks flushed deeper. “We could . . .?” she whispered.

He walked up to her, forcing her to look up into his face. He reached out and brushed a finger to her earlobe. “We could see about piercing your ears when things slow down a bit. If you’re up for it.”

She sidestepped him. “I’ll be up for it.” She turned and hurried away. “I’ll meet you in your office later.” She spoke over her shoulder, promptly dismissing him and putting him in his place.

Hmph
. He turned and found Mike grinning from ear-to-ear and Noble studying the scene curiously. “What?”

“Nothing,” they chimed in unison.

“Then get back to work, you two.”

He ignored them and turned back to his equipment. Muffet’s radio clicked on and some hideous R & B teeny bopper started wailing about a love he was way too young to know anything about before she turned the volume down.

Kierstan came in with her latest boy toy and they made a sideshow spectacle of their PDA. God, had he ever done that with her? He sure as hell hoped not.

“What? You jealous, baby?” she purred when she found him looking.

He sighed. “Everyone’s watching. You two are being a little obvious, Kierstan. Get a room.” He looked at the poor, unsuspecting John Doe and felt a tug of sympathy for him.

“Go to hell, Jed.” Kierstan grabbed her boyfriend’s arm and pulled him to a dark corner.

He turned away to finish his work. “Been there.”

The front door opened again and Michael called out a jovial greeting to their newcomer. The woman’s voice had him turning with a smile. “Mom!” He walked over and pulled her into a hug. “What’re you doing here?”

She hugged him back and pressed her lips to his cheek. “Just came in to see my boy. That okay?”

“Of course it is. Come on back.”

They moved toward his office, her arm around his waist. “So tell me why you’re really here,” he said with a smile. “You never come out here at night. You could’ve called if you needed me for something.”

She nodded once. “I know, son. I was out with friends for dinner and was in the area, so I thought I’d drop by and say hello.”

He looked at her, waiting.

“Fine. I also need an oil change. But I can take it in to the shop if you’re too busy,” she continued quickly. “It’s just that your father always did those things for me.” She seemed to be apologizing for dad’s friggin’ heart attack again. Well, it wasn’t her fault that he couldn’t be bothered to take care of his heart. Or hers.

“No. Of course I’ll do it, Mom.” He dropped a peck to the top of her head. “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“No . . .” The temperature in the air dropped a few degrees and she stopped.

Jed looked to see what had upset her. Kierstan was settled against his office door with a proprietary expression on her face and a challenge in her eyes. Where was boy toy?

“Paula,” Kierstan said.

“Kierstan.”

“What brings you by?”

His mother kept her face calm, but Jed could feel her body coiling tightly, like a cobra ready to strike. “I don’t think that is any of your concern, young lady. Now would you kindly move?”

“Sure.” But she didn’t budge.

His mother narrowed her eyes. “You know, you may think you’re clever. And you may hold your stake in this business over my son’s head every day because you refuse to sell out. But you don’t hold
a thing
over my head. So let’s just call a spade a spade, shall we? We both know you only do it because you still love him and can’t stand the fact that he doesn’t want you anymore.” She eyed her up and down. “And who can blame him really? Who would want you after what you did to him? You’re nothing but a trashy little whore who threw away the best thing that ever happened to you. And to think I
loved
you and wanted you as my daughter-in-law.”

“You bitch!” Eyes glittering, Kierstan pulled back her hand, but Jed stepped in and grabbed it, rage dousing his body.

“Kierstan! Don’t you dare!” He turned to his mother. “Why don’t you go sit down?” He pulled Kierstan from the office doorway and his mom breezed past.

Kierstan studied him with tears wavering on her lower lids. She huffed an angry breath and moved away. “Bastard. You two deserve each other.”

He watched her storm away. He looked briefly to the back of the studio. He caught Kyle’s eye and she gave him a small smile of support before turning back to her computer screen. Man, he hated making such a spectacle of himself and his personal life. He wondered what it would take to get rid of Kierstan, short of murder.

He took a long, calming breath before turning and going into his office and shutting the door.

“I’m sorry about that, baby. That girl pisses me off.” His mother shifted in her seat to look at him. “She hurt you so badly and it’s the mother bear in me. I can’t help it.”

He sat across from her and swiveled in his chair. “It’s fine. She probably had that coming.”

“Well, still, it’s your place of business and it wasn’t professional.”

He shrugged. “What’s done is done. Besides, it’s early so there aren’t any customers yet. No harm, no foul.”

“Well, what about your other employees?”

He reached behind him to the mini-refrigerator and pulled out two sodas. He handed her one and popped open one for himself. “Really, Mom. Don’t worry about it.”

She nodded and opened her drink. “So. How have you been, sweetie?”

He took a swig and studied her eyes. “Truth?”

She nodded. “Of course.”

“Stressed.”

“Is it work?”

He leaned forward onto his forearms. How could he explain it? Sure, there was work. Running your own business always held challenges. But there was something else . . . this deep, unsettled, nagging feeling that had been eating away at him.

“I guess. It’s lots of things.”

She sat forward and placed a hand over one of his. “I think you need to get away. When was the last time you had a vacation?”

“I have no idea.” He honestly didn’t.

“I have the perfect idea! Why don’t you go out to the lake house for the weekend? Take a breather, sweetheart. It’ll do you good.”

He sat back and laced his fingers over his stomach. He thought about it. “Maybe.” Noble and Mike could probably hold down the fort for a couple days. He’d always loved the lake house. He could breathe there. “You know what? I think I will. It’s a good idea, Mom.”

She smiled and winked. “I’m still good for a few things.”

“You’re still good for a lot of things.”

He walked his mom out a few minutes later feeling content with his plans to go out to the lake. Even better, Kierstan and her flavor-of-the-month had left the building. Perfect. He meandered over to see what Noble and Mike were up to.

“Hey, guys.”

Noble glanced up from the magazine he was rifling through as Mike opened a fresh pizza from next door, its spicy sausage scenting the air. “Hey. Just looking for that article to show Mike. He doesn’t believe that we were profiled for doing that band’s tats when they were in town on tour.” He flipped a few more pages and pointed before snagging a slice of pie. “Ah ha! Here it is!” He turned the magazine for Michael.

Mike looked suitably impressed. “I never said I didn’t
believe
you.”

Noble smirked. “Well, there’s your proof.”

Jed propped a hip on a stool and reached for his own slice of cheesy heaven. “I need to ask you guys a favor.” He took a bite and swallowed. Man, he loved that old Papa Turnoni. “You think you can watch the studio for the weekend? I’m jetting out of town to the lake.” He glanced toward Kierstan’s workstation even though she was long gone. “I need to get away for a while.”

Noble caught on right away. “Sure, dude. No problem.”

“Yeah, sure,” Mike agreed, less heartily.

“Great. I’ll head out tomorrow afternoon. You can reach me on my cell if there are any problems.” He stood and grabbed another piece to take with him back to his office.

Mike, who’d seemed somewhat troubled during this whole interchange, piped up. “Hey, Jed? What about Miz O’Neill?”

“What about her?”

Mike shot a glance in her direction. Jed looked as well. She was busy as a little bee at her computer as usual. She adjusted her glasses and pressed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. A flash of remembrance shot through him as he conjured the taste of her flesh in that very spot.

“Well,” Mike stammered, bringing them both back to the conversation at hand, “I just meant, what do you think she’s doing this weekend? She usually comes in at least once.”

Jed shook his head. Mike was a strange creature when it came to Muffet. “What she does is no concern of mine.”

Mike shrugged. “Okay.”

Jed started to walk away.

“Oh, Jed?” Mike called.

Jed sighed and turned back. “Yes?”