by Stacy Gail
Damn it, he had her there.
And, wow, he thought her boobs were amazing?
Well, then.
“The point I’m trying to make,” she plowed on determinedly, trying to ignore how her nipples began to tingle, “is that we’re volatile in a Mt. Vesuvius kind of way. That’s not healthy for either of us.”
“I don’t know that, and neither do you. That’s what I’m interested in finding out, and that’s why I’m here now instead of going over some contractual bullshit with my agent that involves doing a portrait of some rockstar chick out in Cali.”
Her mouth pursed, impressed in spite of herself. “Seriously? Who?”
“Hell if I know.”
“Good grief, how could you forget the name of a rockstar who’s chosen you above everyone else to do her portrait?”
A corner of his mouth tilted up. “Easy. I’m looking at you, Ivy.”
That stopped her dead. Maybe she’d misheard. “What?”
“How the fuck am I supposed to remember any other woman when I’m looking at you? That’s why I’m here now. That’s why I’m not bothering with business issues. That’s why I can’t stay away from you.”
No force on earth could have stopped her from putting a hand over her wildly beating heart. “You didn’t just say that.”
“I did. Meant every damn word, too. When you’re looking at me, are you able to think about other guys?”
“Uh…” She shook her head, drawing a blank. “That isn’t a fair question.”
“Why not?”
“When you’re looking at me with those all-consuming eyes of yours, it’s hard to remember that there’s even a world, much less other people in it.”
Again, that half-smile appeared. “Good answer.”
“Not really, because it kind of freaks me out. It’s like you have this weird hypnotic superpower, and you should have your own comic book because of it.”
“That’s got to be the weirdest compliment I’ve ever received.” But if his smile was any indication he was pleased as hell about it. “Good to know you’re just as interested in me as I am in you.”
“I don’t… You think I…?” She gave up, mainly because she hated liars, and also because she knew herself too well. She sucked at lying, even to herself. “Okay, yes. You’re hot. And not just any kind of hot. You’re the oh-my-God-girl-check-him-out kind of hot, where you grab your best friend’s arm and you just stand there drooling on your shoes.”
The lift of his brow was designed to make panties spontaneously drop. “Wow.”
“I know, right? It’s almost unfair. If Minnie had seen you first, she undoubtedly would have dropped all her boy-toys and had you over here instead of her officially intended, Hyun, and the two of you would’ve made the place smell like sex and coconut. Though seriously, I don’t know what to make of that coconut smell,” she went on, frowning. “Do you smell that? What does coconut have to do with anything? Maybe they were baking?” Just to make sure, she checked the stove to see if it held any lingering heat.
“I doubt they were baking. It’s probably the lube they used.”
That made her turn back to stare at him for a full second before she lifted her gaze to the ceiling. “Never before have I wanted to black-light my apartment more so than I do right now.”
A huff of laughter escaped him. “You’re probably better off not knowing. And as for your friend, I wouldn’t touch her with a ten-foot pole, no matter how hard she came on to me. I don’t mess with bed-hoppers.”
Ivy sucked in a sharp breath, and in an instant her humor vanished. “Do me a favor and watch your mouth, Tag. That’s my best friend you’re talking about.”
“What I say stands. She’s got side pieces in addition to her official man, yeah? I avoid that kind of behavior like the plague.”
“Slut-shaming.” Tight-lipped, Ivy shook her head and crossed her arms. “How very testosterone of you. Men can sleep around however much they want, and no one bats an eye over it. But for some reason I don’t even understand, women are expected to somehow keep their knees together and not enjoy sex just as much as men do. Why is that?”
“Slut-shaming’s got nothing to do with it. If bed-hopping is how your girl likes to play, then fine. That’s how she plays. But I personally have never played that way, and I never will. I know what I want in a woman. I also know I have too much respect for myself to act like a fucking manwhore, so it’s not surprising I’m not attracted to someone who doesn’t have that same sense of respect.”
That made a whole lot of sense, and he had a right to hold himself to any standard he chose. But she wasn’t ready to give up defending her friend. “Minnie’s not a whore.”
“Never said she was. What I am saying is that I’ve never kept more than one woman at a time in my personal life, because I value loyalty more than anything else, so you can fucking bet I’d want my woman to show me that same respect. If she can’t, or won’t, because she enjoys hopping from one dick to the next, then I want nothing to do with her. It’s a personal preference. I’ve been this way from the time I had my first woman when I was thirteen and I’m not gonna apologize for it. Find a way to deal.”
“Thirteen…?” Damn, that was impressive.
“What can I say, I was a precocious kid.” He reached out to gently hook her hair behind her ear. “When I choose someone to get close to, to fuck them and invite them to fuck me, I do it because I believe they’re worth the risk. And don’t think that invitation’s given to just anybody, Ivy. It’s not. It fucking means something. You understand?”
She found herself nodding before being conscious of it. “I’m that way, too.”
“Good.” The hard intensity of his gaze softened with obvious approval, and an absurd surge of delight filled her. “Acting like a horny kid in a never-ending candy store full of pussy and grabbing for all I can whenever a sweet tooth hits… That kind of fucking around never satisfies a real and abiding hunger. And a real and abiding hunger is what’s going on between us now, whether you admit it or not. That means there’s only one thing left to do.”
She sucked in an audible breath. “What’s that?”
His eyes never left hers. “We feed that hunger. We give it every goddamn thing it wants, and we don’t stop until we’re both more satisfied than we’ve ever dreamed of being. That’s what we’re going to do.”
“Man, you really don’t believe in wasting time, do you?” Each beat of her heart punched the air out of her lungs. Any minute now she was going to collapse like a Victorian virgin at his feet. “Gotta say, no one has ever straight-up talked to me about hunger and… and getting satisfied like this when they’ve only just met me.”
“I do.”
“Yeah, I’m getting that.”
His eyes narrowed as he studied what had to be her stunned—and probably aroused—expression. “Serious question. You want me to lie?”
She was so bowled over she wasn’t sure what she wanted. “There’s coming on strong, and then there’s you.”
“I might be coming on strong, but it’s clear to me you like it that way.”
That dragged a scoff from her barely functioning lungs. “Don’t presume to tell me how I feel, pal.”
“I know you like me coming on strong, because you haven’t run out of the room. If you had,” he added with a shrug while she just gaped at him, “that would’ve been it. I’d drop the subject along with the high hopes I’ve got for you, and I’d never see you again. But here you are, standing your ground and daring me to do something about it.” With his gaze never leaving hers, he cupped his hands on either side of her jaw line. “That’s why this is happening.”
With that, he bent once more to kiss her—as hot and bold as the man himself—before he lifted his head to look into her eyes. “First tattoo design is due by the end of the week. I don’t want to distract you from your work because I want the very best your creative genius has to offer. But the moment that’s off your plate, all bets are off
.”
Chapter Seven
“So, what theme did that House Of Payne guy choose for the first tattoo?” Minnie asked as she settled into an overstuffed chair by Keep Grinding’s sugar and milk station. The neighborhood coffee shop was buzzing with activity, and a line stretched out the door with people patiently waiting to feed their caffeine habit. Ivy considered it a lucky break she and Minnie had gotten a couple empty chairs, so she settled in with a grateful sigh before giving her friend a derisive glance.
“For some reason, Sebastian Payne chose a nautical theme for this week’s tattoo design. Apparently he thinks Tag and I look like sailors.”
“Yeah, that giant Godzilla guy totally looks like he should be sailing the seven seas. Never mind that he could single-handedly sink a boat just by stepping on it.”
“Tag’s not Godzilla.”
“He’s not exactly pocket-sized, either.” Minnie took a delicate sip of her coffee, then made a sound of pleasure. “Hm. I wonder just how big he is.”
“I’d say he’s in the neighborhood of six and a half feet, since he’s about a foot taller than I am.”
Minnie burst out laughing. “I’m not talking about height, silly. I’m just wondering if he’s as big as, say, Shamar.”
“Shamar?” Ivy stared at her blankly before turning her attention to the man in question behind the counter, his dark, bald head gleaming under the lights. “Obviously Tag’s bigger than Shamar, anyone can see… oh.” Her eyes went wide and her gaze snapped back to Minnie. “Oh.”
“Exactly. Oh.” Minnie laughed again, clearly enjoying herself. “I’ll bet Tag can give a woman a vast amount of ohs when he puts his mind to it, if you know what I mean.”
Ivy snorted even as her face heated, right along with certain other body parts. “Nympho.”
“And proud of it.”
“What about love, though?” Still smiling, Ivy set her phone on the table beside her so she could open her cup’s lid. “You’ve got three hotties to choose from, and they all worship the ground you walk on.”
“And rightly so.”
“Of course it’s understandable you’d want to play the field while you can. But what do you feel in your heart for Hyun, Mal, and Shamar?”
“Did you say my heart?” Minnie lifted a slow brow before taking another sip of coffee. “It’s not my heart that feels something when I’m with my boys, hon. But hey, if you want details about how they can turn me on, I can do that, too. You’re my girl, and there are no secrets between us.”
“Thanks, I’ll pass,” Ivy said, rolling her eyes. “I’m serious, though. All three of your guys are hot and sweet and totally into you, and you can be damn sure any woman would kill to be sitting where you are now. But out of those three men, isn’t there someone who’s a bit more, I don’t know… special?”
“In what way?”
Geez, did she have to draw her a picture? “Isn’t there someone you kind of love more than the others?”
“Love?” Her friend stared at her like she belonged in a psychiatric ward. “What the hell have you been smoking? What does love have to do with getting freaky whenever the mood hits?”
And there was her answer. “Right.”
“Ivy, love’s not an actual thing.”
Uh… what? “What does that mean?”
“It’s not a real thing, at least not for me. I used to think Renaissance poets made it up because they were bored and didn’t have the internet. But now that I’m older, I think it’s because people are scared they’re going to wind up old and alone. They’ve convinced themselves there’s this huge, overpowering emotion that compels them to stay together or whatever, because that’s what storybooks and greeting card commercials have programmed them to expect.”
Ivy couldn’t begin to explain why that made her sad. “You really think that?”
“Look, Hyun and I have been matched up from the time we were embryos, so I’ve never had to worry about who I’m fated to be with, right? It’s Hyun, and I’m stuck with that until the end of time. That gives me a unique perspective on the issue. The sky’s up, water’s wet, and Hyun and I are going to be each other’s soul-crushing ball and chain one day. I don’t have to worry about finding love in this world, and that’s a good thing because I’ve never found even a hint of it. Considering I don’t exactly live a sheltered life, that’s got to mean one of two things—either love doesn’t exist, or it’s so damn rare it’s almost impossible to find in this world.”
“I think getting promised to Hyun right from the beginning holds you back from a lot of things,” Ivy said, shaking her head.
“Holds me back? What do you mean?”
“I mean that if you didn’t have Hyun hanging over your head, I suspect you’d see the world very differently. I think you’d allow yourself to get hot and bothered when a man you’re crazy-attracted to walks into a room. You’d get breathless when he closes the distance between you while he watches you with a hungry, I’m-going-to-eat-you-alive kind of intent. Your panties would melt right off your body when he makes you meet his gaze even as he’s zeroing in for a kiss you’ve been secretly dying for. Your lungs would stop working and you’d feel like you’re about to burst into flame, but it’s all okay because you’re getting that kiss, and it. Is. Epic. That’s what I’m talking about.”
Minnie’s eyes were like saucers as she stared at her over her coffee cup. “Oh my God, Ivy. Are you talking like that because you’re feeling that way about someone in your life?”
Ivy blinked. “What? Wait, no, I wasn’t—”
“Don’t bother denying it. That totally sounded like you were talking from personal experience.” She leaned forward, and the eagerness in her expression made Ivy want to groan. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’ve gotten hot and breathless and in a panty-melting state over… Oh my God,” she said again on an excited squeak, and if possible her eyes grew wider still. “It’s Godzilla, isn’t it? You’re hot for Godzilla.”
“Will you stop calling him that? Godzilla destroyed things, whereas Tag does the complete opposite. He creates beauty, satire and vicious social commentary, with nothing more than his amazing talent and imagination. If I live to be a hundred, I doubt I’ll ever have as much impact on the art world—or the world in general—that he’s already had. To me, that’s just so… so…”
“Sexy? Hot? Fuckable?”
“Inspiring.” Though in all honesty, Minnie wasn’t too far off. Tag was an amazing package that included all her yummy favorites—talent, intellect, smoldering eyes, a ripped, hot body and a bold mouth that knew how to kiss a woman the way she yearned to be kissed. Really, how was she supposed to resist? “You know what else? He’s a stand-up guy. He could’ve let me do all the heavy-lifting at that news conference while he kept his anonymity intact. But he didn’t do that, Minnie. He manned up like a boss, and he didn’t even hesitate about it. He came out of the shadows to show the world who he was, claimed full responsibility for using my tag and helped me explain the situation. I don’t know if he hurt his career or not, revealing his true identity the way he did, but I’m still in awe of how he gave all that up just for me.”
“That was first-class, I’ll give him that. And I liked how he defended you when that snooty prick with the loud tie kept trying to bust your chops,” Minnie added, and her gaze wandered over to where Shamar dealt with the fast dwindling line up at the counter. “Generally speaking, most people suck. You know that and so do I. But there are a special few you stumble across as you go along in life that aren’t like everyone else. They’re different. They’re so good and beautiful they kind of stand out like diamonds in a world full of gravel. Does that make any sense?”
“It does.” Ivy’s gaze followed Minnie’s and she smiled when Shamar—as busy as he was—glanced their way. “I’m thinking those diamonds we find in this world are special, Minh. So special we need to take care we don’t ever lose them. And who knows? Maybe someday we’ll be thought of as someone else’s diamond. Would
n’t that be something? A couple Back of the Yards chicks, becoming someone else’s diamonds.”
“Yeah. That’d be something,” she murmured distractedly before she pushed to her feet. “I’m going to, um, go order more coffee. This might take a while.”
“No worries.” Ivy watched as Minnie joined the end of the line, and when it was her turn to put in her order, Shamar motioned for another worker to take his place. With an inviting head tilt and a smile, he had Minnie behind the counter and disappearing through an Employees Only door.
Well, then.
Apparently Minnie’s order needed special, one-on-one attention.
No wonder this place was so popular.
The familiar tones of Stravinsky’s Firebird Finale had her reaching for her phone, and her heart did a weird little skip when she saw Tag’s name.
“I’m not sure what the rules are to this tattoo contest thing,” she said by way of greeting, curling up in the overstuffed chair so that her legs were slung over the armrest. “But I’d be willing to bet we’re not supposed to be in contact with each other.”
“Since when did you ever give a shit about rules?”
It was scary, how well he already knew her. “The same could be asked of you.”
“The answer’s the same for the both of us.” Someone behind the bar dropped something into the stainless steel sinks, making everyone in the coffee shop jump. “Where are you?”
“Keep Grinding. It’s the coffee shop down the street from my apartment building.”
“You didn’t walk there, did you?”
She’d lived in that neighborhood too long to not understand his meaning. “I didn’t walk here alone, and it’s a bright and sunny Sunday morning in a nicely crowded coffee shop. I told you, the neighborhood’s changing.”
He made a sound that could have meant anything. “You make sure you stick by the people you’re with, you understand? Now that you’ve been on camera, you’ve got a target on your back that you’ve never had before.”
“So do you,” she said softly, and even she could hear the concern in it. Good grief, what was happening to her? “I’m still bowled over by how you revealed yourself to the world. I didn’t mean to offend you when I said your anonymity was a gimmick. It was a stupid thing to say, because that wasn’t what I meant. It just came out all backwards and wrong.”