“Yeah. Not that I’ve ever seen you drink more than a beer or two, but definitely don’t get drunk on a blind date.” Leaning forward, she stared at Keelie, face completely serious. “Now, you should probably order a beer. Because you’ll relax a little and, Keelie, sweetheart, you need to relax. Actually, you should probably get laid, but that’s for another night.”
Covering her face with her hand, Keelie muttered, “I knew I didn’t want dating advice from you two.” She was not going to discuss sex with Javi standing right there. She wasn’t. Absolutely not.
“Hey, this isn’t bad advice. Besides . . . you know how bad an idea it is to get drunk around a guy you don’t know.”
An ugly headache started to pound at the base of her skull. Yes. Keelie knew full well how bad an idea that was. But all she said was, “That’s why I don’t generally drink when I’m going out on a first . . . or even a second or third date.” She didn’t drink much and when she did, it was only within the company of friends.
Anais waved a hand. “Just order a beer at the bar. That’s all you need. One drink. You’ll loosen up a little. Now . . . the most important thing . . . and I mean it, this is serious shit—”
Keelie lifted a brow. “You understand the concept of serious, Ani?”
“Absolutely. But only in reference to men and metal.” Anais did take metal seriously. As the only piercer they had on staff at Steel Ink, that was a good thing. She excelled at her job. And the men definitely loved her. “Now, are you listening to me or not?”
“I’m all ears.” And she was. Considering that Anais actually looked halfway serious, Keelie wanted to know just what her friend considered serious.
“So am I.”
Keelie shot Javi a look. Part of her suspected she should make him leave. There was no telling what would come out of Anais’s mouth. She had no filter. None. But Javi was like a brother to her and if what Anais had to say was going to embarrass her, it would likely embarrass Javi, too. Keelie believed in sharing the misery.
Unaffected by Javi’s presence, Anais pinned Keelie with a wide, direct stare. “Listen, no matter what, no matter how hot you think this guy is—and he is hot, I’ve seen him—no matter how hot he is, you can’t give him a blow job on the first date.”
The bell over the front door jingled, shattering the silence that had fallen after Anais’s declaration.
She might have said something—anything—to ease the embarrassment crawling through her.
But then she heard a familiar voice.
“Hey . . . anybody around?”
That embarrassment exploded and, suddenly, she had a hard time breathing. Her heart raced. Blood crashed in her ears. Her hands felt hot and sweaty.
“Did you hear me, Keelie?” Anais asked, lifted a brow. The hoop there caught the light, shining back. “No blow—”
Blow jobs. She clapped her hand over Anais’s mouth just as Zane Barnes appeared in the doorway. Yes. It was exactly who she’d thought it was. Anais was going on about blow jobs and now—
An image formed in her mind. Full-blown, so detailed it might have actually happened, and larger than life.
Stop it, she mentally shrieked. Stop it right now.
Like it had happened yesterday, she could feel his hands on her, the way he’d covered her mouth as she came, muffling her cries, the way he’d twisted his fingers inside her, playing her body like he’d been born to do just that. His mouth on hers.
And now she could see herself on her knees. In front of him.
Oh. Hell.
His gaze came to hers, lingered.
Oxygen drained out of the room—he had some bizarre effect on the atmosphere, because when he was around, she couldn’t breathe. That had to be it; she refused to admit she just got that stupid around him. Her chest hitched and she forced herself to take in a slow, careful breath.
His lashes swept down low over his eyes and then he shifted his gaze to Anais and the way Keelie was gagging her. “Am I interrupting?”
“No.” Keelie pasted a wide, fake smile on her face and jerked her hand away from Anais’s mouth.
Zane arched a brow.
“Oh, we’re good,” Anais said, that angelic smile on her face. “I’m just giving Keelie a hard time. It’s so easy with her.”
Keelie wondered how easy it would be to tie the woman up, gag her, stuff her in a closet for a while. Anais was tiny. Keelie stood five nine. It probably wouldn’t take much.
Her heart continued to pound and her hands were still sweaty, and when she looked back at Zane, his eyes slid to hers, dropped to linger on her mouth, shooting another blast of memory pulsing through her. Her mouth started to tingle.
“I . . . ah . . . I’m heading out soon. Need to wrap things up out front.” It was a bald-faced lie but if she stood there so close to him for much longer, she was going to embarrass herself. Especially since she now couldn’t stop thinking about Zane. And blow jobs. And his hands on her.
She edged around him and cut into Zach’s office. Once inside, she shut the door and pressed her back to it. Eyes closed, she whispered, “Just shoot me now.”
* * *
Zane gave himself ten seconds to stare after her as she headed down the hall. Ten seconds, because if he didn’t, he’d be looking for her the entire time he was there, and he knew it.
That was how it went when you had an obsession. Zane should know.
He’d been dealing with this one for going on three years now and it had only gotten worse since the night of Zach’s wedding.
He’d thought that finally something would happen, but she seemed to dodge him even more now than she had before. Before he’d kissed her, she’d just smiled and shrugged it off anytime he’d asked her out. Since then, he’d been a little more determined, and all it had done was make her retreat in on herself.
He was getting frustrated.
And pissed.
He could almost accept the fact that she’d had a thing for his brother. At one time, there’d been millions of girls fawning over the former TV star. Zach had grown up in front of the camera, growing from a skinny kid to a teenage heartthrob in his part as Nate in the sitcom Kate + Nate. He’d met Abby there. Met her, fallen in love with her. Even after the show had ended, the public obsession had continued. Paparazzi still hounded Zach and his face graced more than a few fan websites. Zane was definitely used to women looking past him to his famous younger brother.
Keelie wasn’t some faceless woman who’d never met Zach, but she’d also told him that when she’d kissed Zach, she hadn’t felt anything.
So he could almost accept that.
It was hard because Keelie, out of everybody else, was the one woman Zane wanted.
She was also totally oblivious.
Or at least she had been. Seemed to be.
He wasn’t sure how she felt now, but he knew how he felt.
He couldn’t get past this want he had for her.
It had steadily gotten worse, too.
“How’s it going, Z?” Javi asked.
Zane swung his head around, but before he could answer, Javi spoke again, and this time, his voice split the air.
“Ani, what the hell are you doing?”
The blonde had Keelie’s phone and was grinning maniacally as she punched things in.
Zane didn’t know her. He assumed she was the new woman Zach had hired to do piercings . . . or something. He shuddered mentally at the thought, but gave her a smile as she looked up at him. She had a hoop through her eyebrow, a stud in her left nostril, and there were more hoops and studs going up her left ear. In the right ear, she had a simple diamond that winked at him in the light.
She was cute. She’d be perfect for the project Zach had asked him to start, too.
Except she might not live through the night after Keelie found out she’d messed with her phone.
“That is Keelie’s phone, isn it?” Zane asked, arching a brow at her.
The girl nodded, still grinning.
She shrugged, a guileless smile curving her lips. “Oh, just helping Keelie out a little. Relax, Javi.” She paused whatever she was doing on the phone and held out a hand to Zane. Her nails were a vivid, bright green. “Hi. Anais.”
“Zane.” He shook her hand. “Zach’s brother.”
“I can tell.” She lifted a brow and looked him over from head to toe. It was a thorough study, one that would have left him uncomfortable if he hadn’t spent more than a few years working around models who liked to do the same thing.
He returned her frank stare with a level one of his own.
She flashed him a grin and resumed toying with the phone.
“Girl, you are playing with fire. Keelie is going to get you,” Javi warned. “She’s crazy private. But don’t worry. I’ll make sure they play something pretty at your funeral.”
“Oh, lighten up.” Anais rolled her eyes. “She’s not as scary as all that.”
Zane blinked, looked from Javi to Anais and then back. “Ah, how long has she been here?”
“Not long enough.” Javi flashed him a wide smile. “She’ll figure it out, right?”
Zane cocked his head. “What kind of flowers do you like? I’ll make sure to bring them to the viewing.”
“So uptight, guys.” Anais just sighed and shook her head. And merrily continued to have her way with the phone, her curls bouncing around as she bobbed her head to some unheard tune.
Javi just sighed and swung his head around to look at Zane. “Zach ain’t here.”
“Where—” Zane’s question was cut off by a peal of laughter from Anais.
“Oh, man. That’s hilarious. One of her ringtones is “Never Say Never” from Justin Bieber. Justin Bieber—for real. I’m going to rib her hard about that.”
“You have fun with it.” Javi gave Anais a look that might have been pity.
“Where’s Zach?” Zane interrupted before they could start again.
A soft sound came from behind him and he shifted, watched as Keelie came back into the room.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Anais casually lay the phone down, out of Keelie’s line of sight. Amused, he slid his gaze back to Keelie as she said, “He’s not in right now . . . day off.”
“What?” Zane frowned.
Keelie’s mouth, so lush he’d had probably a thousand dreams about it, bowed upward. He remembered how it felt under his, how it tasted. His cock twitched in warning.
Keelie’s mismatched eyes glinted with amusement. “A day off. He takes two days off a week now. He made Abby start doing the same thing.”
“I didn’t think Zach knew what a day off was.”
“He didn’t.” Javi smirked, folding his arms over his chest. “He used to have a day off scheduled but ninety percent of the time? He ended up here anyway. Not now. He’s like some old married dude. That ball and chain wants some of his time.”
Keelie jabbed a finger in Javi’s gut as she walked by. “I don’t know who you should be more worried about—Zach, if he hears you calling Abby a ball and chain, or Abby.”
Javi puffed out his chest. “Ain’t like I’m worried.”
“Uh-huh. And when was the last time you called Aida a ball and chain?” She slid her eyes back over to Zane. Her eyes drove him crazy—they always had, but it was worse now, because he knew how they looked when they were fogged with heat. One brown eye, the color of dark chocolate, the other a pale, icy blue. Those eyes gleamed with humor, and there was an echo of a smile on her face as she looked back at Zane. “Did Zach know you were coming by?”
From the span of a few heartbeats, his mind went blank.
Then he kick-started himself back into gear and shrugged. “I told him I’d be in sometime this week or next. He had a project he wanted me to help with.”
Keelie’s head tilted, her eyes narrowing. “Oh. Yeah. You’re helping jazz up the website, do a better portfolio.” Then she wrinkled her nose. “Of course, a fifth grader with a camera and Flickr could build a better portfolio than we have now.”
“Be nice, Keelie.” Javi sighed.
“I am being nice. Otherwise I would talk about how Zach was a freaking moron to actually pay for that hack job.” She shrugged, her gaze skittering back to Zane before bouncing away.
“You’re nicer than I am. I told him he was a fucking idiot.” Zane tapped the folder he held against his leg. “He was supposed to get some information together for me. Mind if I check his office? I had an estimate, some screenshots that I printed out of what we can do in the timeframe he had in mind.”
“If he’s pushing too fast, ignore him. I’ll handle it. But yeah, go on in.” Keelie nodded toward his office. “I’m leaving, but Javi will be around until closing time. If you want to poke around in Zach’s office and see if you can find whatever, go ahead. You might be better off just calling him and asking him where it is. When it comes to that sort of thing, he rarely thinks to tell me shit. If you let me know ahead of time when you need something, I’ll make sure to have it ready.”
But then I can’t surprise you when I come in, he thought. Instead of saying that, he just nodded.
“Okay. I’m heading out in a minute.” She turned around and headed down the hall.
He made a valiant effort not to eye her ass, but damn. The skin-skimming jeans she had on made it hard. Instead of the sleeveless shirts or fishnet tops paired with tanks that she normally wore, she had on a lightweight red sweater, and her skin, soft and pale, glowed against it. He’d caught another glimpse of the elegant tattoos along her collarbone and he wanted, so very badly, to peel that soft red sweater away and press his mouth to each one. To learn those slight curves and go to his knees—
“You going to go see if you can find whatever?”
“Yeah.” He glanced at Javi. The man had a faint smile on his face.
Zane felt a dull red flush creeping up his cheeks and he headed down the hall before Javi could say anything. The last thing he needed was for Javi to run his mouth to Zach.
Zane was still trying to get things moving with Keelie. He didn’t need his brother getting in the way.
* * *
It wasn’t hard to find what he needed. Zach had been a disorganized mess growing up, but running his own business had forced him to learn some manner of order. Zane found the list of clients and the pictures he’d hoped to use in a file marked Z, along with roughed out notes of what they’d talked about for the online portfolio Zach wanted.
He took the file and left the disk in its place along with a sticky note.
Here are a few ideas for you and Keelie to go over. Filled it in with pics of you or Javi, since that’s all I had to work with, but you’ll get the idea. If both of you like it, we can build from here.
Some of Zach’s tattoos had been done before he opened Steel Ink, but the designs were his own. He’d been drawing for as long as either of them could remember and he’d come up with the designs that had later been inked onto his flesh. But quite a few of the tattoos on Zach had been done by Javi or one of the artists here. If Zach could find a way to tattoo himself, he’d probably do it.
Zane folded the list of names and tucked it into his pocket, hitting the main area of the tattoo parlor about the same time as Keelie. Trying not to look at her, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent Zach a text. Took the file. In town a few days—maybe we can grab lunch tomorrow and go over some of the ideas I have in mind. Later. He sent it and kept his focus on the door ahead, painfully aware of Keelie, that pretty red sweater, the scent of her flooding his head.
“You in town long?” she asked.
He jerked a shoulder. “A couple of days.”
He lingered. Because he’d lied. He hadn’t come to Tucson just to see Zach. He could have handled most of this online, set up the new site, emailed the templates, gone over things with Zach and Keelie in a conference call.
It would have been easie
r . . . cheaper. The trip back and forth between here and Albuquerque wouldn’t break him, but he was going to have to start being more careful about money in the future. None of that mattered, though.
He was here because he had to try. Again. Try to get Keelie to give him the time of day.
Behind him, he heard Anais talking to Javi, but he didn’t hear a word they said. His heart beat in heavy, dull thuds against his ribs and he kind of hated the fact that his hands had gone a little damp. She made him feel like a damn high school kid again. She made him feel stupid. And she made him want more than he’d ever imagined wanting.
Now if he could just get her to admit she felt something, too, then maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.
* * *
Phone in hand, the strap of her purse hanging between her breasts, she shot Javi a narrow look. “Remember, you promised to bail me out if this goes to hell.”
“Relax. You said you’d give him a fair shot. So do it. But if you have problems, just text me, okay?” Javi slumped in the chair behind the counter, staring at the TV. It was damn slow for a Friday. Which was good since Zach was off for the day and she was bailing.
She turned around just as Zane started to push through the door.
She really wasn’t in the mood for this date. She glanced at her phone and tried to think up an excuse—Stop it. She kicked herself mentally. She’d said she’d go through with it.
She started to follow Zane out the door, focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Just do it. Just get it over with.
She never even noticed that Zane had turned around until she slammed into his chest.
Her phone clattered to the floor and his arms came up to steady her. Wide-eyed, she stared up at him as a slow blush started to crawl up her cheeks.
Man. She really got clumsy around him.
Sensory memory slammed through her. Her hands automatically gripped his arms, her nails biting into his biceps. Her heart started to race and her breathing sped up.
He’s so damn pretty . . .
Zane grasped her arms in return to steady her, and his body pressed close to hers. That was all it took to have her libido flare to burning, aching life. It had been dormant up until he’d kissed her a few months ago, and now, here she was, practically ready to tackle him and rub herself against him, and hold him tight.
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