Rock Steady (7 page)

So she savored her last glass of wine as the candle burned low and she finished the dragon.

* * *

Someone laid their fist on her door at nine in the morning.

It was the building door, at the street level, and the iron gate was making a huge racket that echoed up the narrow stair corridor. Jewel groaned, but she’d be lying if she said she’d been sleeping. She ran her fingers through her hair and slipped her feet into a pair of shoes and headed down.

“Good, you’re up.”

The woman at the door had a rose tattooed on the left side of her neck. Her forearms had ink as well. She was also wearing a spiked dog collar around her neck with a little metal tag that had “Pony” inscribed on it. “I’m Pony from Spike Collar.”

“Hi. What can I do for you?” Jewel kept the key to the outer door in her hand.

“It’s what I can do for you,” Pony said with a snap of chewing gum. She propped one hand on her hip, the short, lacy skirt she had on flipping with the morning breeze. “Heard Ted booted you to the curb for doing the tat on Ramsey. Casey sent me over to tell you we’ve got a spot open for you.”

Or more precisely, for her ten seconds of fame as tattoo artist to the stars.

“You know I was covering up your guys’ work?” Jewel asked pointedly.

Pony snapped her gum again and smirked. “Sure do.”

There was a gleam of enjoyment in her eyes. Jewel decided it was pretty ugly. “Sorry, but I don’t roll that way.”

“Like what?” Pony demanded. “The dude got what was coming to him. Even if you’re straight, you know men like him are massive pricks. About time he found out what it feels like to be on the business side of being used. You’ll make a lot more money working for Spike.”

“I’m a professional. I don’t do drunk tats or vengeance ones,” Jewel said firmly.

Pony snorted. “Don’t judge it, bitch. At least I don’t live in an armpit like this. Your morals aren’t going to keep you from getting evicted tomorrow.”

Jewel stiffened. Pony snapped her gum again. “Yeah, we know the manager of this building. He heard you got canned. Already has someone lined up to move in. Casey can make it right for you. Show up if you don’t want to be on the street tomorrow night. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, baby. Better get with the program.”

She turned with a flip of her torn skirt hem and started off down the street.

Jewel leaned against the wall, feeling like the world was making ready to beat the crap out of her. She had options; she just didn’t like any of them.

Something shifted, and her jaw dropped when Ramsey appeared in the doorway next to hers. It was all of three feet away. He had a T-shirt on today, to cover his new ink. But the thin jersey material stuck to him, sending a ripple of awareness through her.

God, he was lickable.

“Are you getting evicted tomorrow?” he asked.

She drew in a stiff breath and decided to roll with the facts. “Ted claimed my pay as rent due on my slot at his shop. So, I guess so.” She tried to shrug it off but felt like she didn’t quite pull it off. “Like you said, this place is a death trap. I’ll be well rid of it. I’m sure not going to go to work for Spike to keep it.”

“Did you mean that?” He pointed toward Pony making her way up the block.

She opened her hands, slightly confused. Okay, slightly dumbfounded, because he was there, messing with her thought processes again.

She was pretty sure she liked that best about his personality.

Glutton for punishment.

“Yes, I mean it,” she confirmed. “It’s a no-brainer. I’ll go home first.”

His lips curved. It was the real McCoy too, a genuine smile.

“Why’d you leave last night?” he asked.

She shrugged, but it was a chicken answer. He knew it, too. She saw the flicker in his eyes. Heat teased her cheeks, and she realized she was actually blushing.

Brain-frying time.

She ended up offering him a half bark of laughter. “I was worried I’d get caught in your gravitational pull and end up on a one-way trip into the sun. It would be a blast, no doubt, but I’d end up frying in the end.”

He snorted at her.

“What? You think I’m buttering up your ego? Like you don’t have scores of women flinging themselves at you? And not just the desperate ones. I Googled you on the train ride home. You tend to run with some tight girls. Why are you here? I mean, it’s not like you have to go chasing anyone.”

“Aren’t you glad to see me?” His lips twisted into the cocksure grin she found far too irresistible.

Oh yeah…undermining.

She caught herself returning the grin. “I’m going to claim my fifth amendment right and refuse to answer that question on the grounds that it will incriminate me. And encourage you, which you definitely don’t need.”

His eyes narrowed as his lips curved. For a moment, he basked in the glow of the amusement her comment had provided him.

“Part of me was glad you took off last night,” he said.

“Sure,” she said to cover her shock, deciding on a change of topic to keep from looking too lame. “Thank you for the car and strawberries. It was a blast of a show.”

“You still left.”

Jewel drew in a deep breath and decided to level. “I don’t do drunk tats, or vengeance ones, and I wanted to keep my memories of you in the area of ‘he’s an awesome dude, not a prick who’s trying to get into my pants.’”

He contemplated her for a long moment, all hints of playfulness gone. A tingle touched her nape as she realized she was facing him. Just him, the person he kept locked behind a shield.

“Okay. Fair enough. I do like to party.”

“I’m not judging,” Jewel said.

“Didn’t have to.” He reached through the bars and plucked the keys from her grip. “Everything you think shows on your face. That’s part of your allure. It was all I could do to resist kissing you last night when you looked at my mouth. But I wanted a bit more privacy for our first kiss.”

“There isn’t going to be any kissing,” she told him flatly.

He pushed the key into the lock and gave it a turn, completely ignoring her. The lock stuck, as usual. “Pony had one thing right. This place is an armpit.”

The lock gave with a groan. Ramsey pulled the gate open and stepped inside. He was too large for the space.

Or at least his persona was.

Her belly tightened, the reaction surprising her. She was fascinated by how extreme it was.

“I wanted to see that look on your face last night.” He slid a hand along her jawline, knowing exactly how to touch her. For a moment, she soaked it up, savoring it. The guy had talented fingers.

But her belly growled, long and deep.

He chuckled. “Come on, let’s get some chow.”

He was up the stairs before she realized he still had her keys.

“You’re going to take me to breakfast?” she asked.

He sent her a wink so roguish, she felt her belly do a little flop. “Gotta work on the ‘being more than a prick’ thing, because I do want to get into your pants. That part’s not changing.”

“Not sure if you’re honest or brazen to say that point-blank,” she confessed as she fought back a smile. Damn, the guy oozed charm.

He offered her a steady stare. “I’m not a liar.”

She liked that. It kept him on that pedestal she’d decided she wanted him on. “Fair enough.”

“Need anything?” he asked as he started to lock her door.

She choked on what came to mind. Ramsey raised an eyebrow at her. His blunt honesty was catching, though. Her lips curled up into a naughty grin as she answered him.

“Underwear. I need…underwear.”

She’d struck him speechless. And she got the impression that didn’t happen very often. There was a flash of savage enjoyment in his dark eyes.

“That is completely a matter of opinion.” His gaze slid down to her breasts. He looked like he was in pain for a long moment. “Yeah. Definitely underwear, or you’ll be on the menu. I will eat you up.”

It was her turn to feel her tongue stick to the roof of her mouth. He caught his lower lip between his teeth and growled at her.

Part of her wouldn’t mind.

A large part of her.

Her clit was already throbbing with anticipation.

Crap. Did a guy like him even go down on a girl? It wasn’t like he had to in order to get laid.

Danger. Danger. You really do not need to know the answer to that question.

Oh, but she wanted to know!

He hooked her arm as she tried to pass him once again. Doing that thing where he stepped toward her but around her and managed to turn her in a tight backward circle that made her feel like she was completely surrounded and the one running into him.

“I do.” His voice was a raspy promise against her ear. He was cradling her head, his fingers threaded through her hair, taking her instantly to the edge of reason.

“Do…what?” She was pretty sure she’d never sounded so breathless.

“Give as much as I receive.” His grip tightened, pulling just enough to send a jolt of sharpness through her scalp. It never really became pain, which only turned up the heat another notch, because his control was so mouthwatering. “But you’re not a fangirl, Jewel. You’re an artist. Get dressed before I forget how much I admire you in favor of how good you smell.”

He released her, and she felt like they’d been jerked apart. His eyes glittered with the same need she felt pulsing through her.

She was torn.

Right, wrong, immoral…maybe.

So very true, though.

He was leaning casually against her wall, but looked a whole lot like a giant cat contemplating its next kill.

It wouldn’t be an altogether bad fate.

She made it into her closet and flung off her yoga pants and T-shirt. She could have sworn she felt the air sizzling. Her tiny loft apartment was too damned small for someone like Ramsey.

In the time it took her to climb into her only pair of good jeans, he’d wandered to her kitchen table-slash-desk.

“You added to the dragon.” He inspected the drawing of his tattoo.

“You put on a hell of a show. I was too amped up to sleep.” She came out of her closet and enjoyed the way her work was keeping his attention. “I was just…”

“Thinking of me.” He pulled his attention away from the dragon and locked gazes with her. “I like these details.”

“They’re subtle, just refinements really. A little separation anxiety. I never want to let my art babies go completely.” It really was a confession, an intimacy, and she wasn’t too sure why she was sharing with him.

“The additions. I want you to do them.”

“It would be best to let the work you have heal before adding them. About three weeks.” She smiled as she looked at the design.

He nodded before looking around the apartment. “How much of this stuff is yours?”

“Ah…” The question caught her off guard. “Not much, actually.” She didn’t care for how exposed she felt admitting it either. Church mice had more than she did.

“I thought that might be the case when Pony made that crack about your landlord already having someone lined up.” He scanned the bare walls and the two-decades-old sofa.

“I just got out of school.” She started to defend herself and then bit her lip when she realized she was feeling inferior. She’d made her choices and wasn’t going to apologize.

Ramsey flashed her a grin that warmed her chilled insides. It wasn’t arrogant or presumptuous, just knowing. “It wasn’t so long ago that everything I owned fit into my duffel bag.”

“No way.” Just went to show she had no clue about his life. “Sorry. That was a little judgmental.”

“Part of it’s deserved,” he surprised her by saying. “I live wild now because I can. Kind of like letting my inner kid run crazy in the candy store.”

The images she’d pulled up on Google came to mind. “You do like to indulge.”

His eyes narrowed. For a split second, she glimpsed his annoyance before he tapped the drawing. “I’m serious. I want you to do these additions.” That businessman she’d glimpsed inside him was staring at her now. “Pack up your personals. Ditch this armpit. Ride along with us for a few weeks. It will give you time to hook up with a new studio. You can make sure I remember to keep this covered.”

Oh man. It was the option she hadn’t had when Pony had been there, slapping her with reality. That longed-for escape from doing the sensible thing and holding tight to her dream.

“Just hop on the tour bus?” It sounded ludicrous and amazing at the same time. “What will your bandmates think of that?”

“Don’t care.” And his tone told her he didn’t. “There are forty-six members of the crew with us. Room, salary, and board. You don’t have a better offer.”

“I don’t,” she agreed, but crossed her arms over her chest. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to just roll over. I’ve made it this far on my own two feet. What would you be paying me for? I don’t take charity. My parents paid for my education so I can earn my way. If my art doesn’t pan out, I will use my degree.”

“In marketing,” he answered, a little too easily for her comfort.

Yeah, he had people to do stuff, all right.

“I may like to party, but Toxsin is what it is because we all pull our own weight. You’ll be expected to do the same. I don’t pay groupies.”

That both reassured her and set her back on edge. There was something in his tone that made it clear he planned to be in control. She chewed on her lower lip as she contemplated him.

“Don’t like me telling you what to do, Jewel?” There was an undertone in his question that set off a warning bell.

But she still shook her head. There was a flicker in his eyes like lightning, a white-hot bolt of pure electricity. She ended up rolling her lower lip in because it had gone dry. His attention shifted to it before he returned to looking into her eyes.

He had his hands pressed down flat on either side of the drawing. “Finish your dragon.”

“Are you asking me or telling me?” It probably wasn’t the wisest question to voice. He looked a lot like he was baiting her.

“I’m challenging you,” he said flatly. “I make you nervous.”

Touché
.

His lips curved, victory glittering in his eyes. “You’re not stupid, Joan. The wind has changed. Set a new course.”