by Jaci Burton
“At first, yeah. Working alongside Tina gave me confidence. But I knew if I didn’t strike out on my own, I’d never have that independence that I’d wanted for so long. And I already had a client base, so it was slightly less scary than if I’d tried to do it on my own from the beginning.”
“And look at you now, hiring an assistant and talking about bringing on another tattoo artist.”
“Yeah, well, we’ll see how both of those go. The other tattoo artist will help me pay rent.”
Jackson exited the highway and made a right turn toward their neighborhood. “What? You’re not going to mentor some young artist like Tina did with you?”
She stared at him and didn’t answer. He wondered if he’d insulted her, so when he pulled into the driveway, he turned to face her.
“Did I say something to hurt your feelings?” he asked.
“Actually, no. You gave me a great idea.”
“I did?”
“Yes. I should pay it forward, like you said. Mentor a young artist who needs to learn the business.”
“You’re already doing that with Aria.”
“She doesn’t want to learn how to tattoo. She just needs a regular paying job. But it’s really hard to get a mentorship with a tattoo artist because they’re all so busy. No one wants to take the time to bring up the new kids.”
He turned off the engine and they went into the house. “Okay, so how do you find a new artist?”
She shrugged as she laid her bag on the kitchen island. “Word of mouth is big in our community. Everyone knows everyone else. If I put some feelers out there, I’ll have ten apprentices at my front door tomorrow applying for a mentorship with me.”
Jackson went to the fridge and pulled out a beer, holding it out for Becks, who nodded. He popped it open and handed it to her, then grabbed another one for himself. They went into the game room to sit down.
“Okay, but who’s going to help you pay rent? An apprentice won’t bring in money right away, will they?”
“No. I’ll still have to bring in another artist. But once they’re hired they can work independently. And Aria can keep track of their schedule and mine. I’ll work the mentorship with the new artist, and once I get them rolling there’s still ample room at the shop for another artist.”
Jackson took a swallow of his beer. “So it’s that simple to find someone to mentor?”
“Sure. I’ll be at the shop tomorrow getting things set up to open Tuesday. I’ll send some text messages and see what happens.”
He leaned his head against the sofa. “You’re going to have a busy day tomorrow.”
She leaned back and smiled up at him. “Yeah. It’s going to be a great new start.”
He tipped his beer toward her and she clinked her beer with his.
“I like seeing you smile. I hope your new place works out.”
She took a sip of her beer. “I know it will. I had a good feeling about the location and the shop from the first time I walked in.”
She sighed and laid her head against his shoulder. Jackson figured she was tired. It had been a long afternoon. But then she sat up and turned to face him.
“I’m hungry. We should grill something. Where are the guys?”
He shrugged. “No idea.”
She pulled out her phone and started typing. “I’ll see if they want to come home for dinner.”
Part of him appreciated that Becks thought of his brothers and wanted to include them.
The other part of him really wanted to be alone with her and wished she hadn’t texted Rafe and Kal.
He estimated that the part that wanted to be alone with her was about eighty percent, and the part that appreciated her notifying his brothers was around twenty.
So maybe he wasn’t as generous as Becks was.
Her phone buzzed a couple of times. She stared down at it.
“Hmm. Rafe has plans elsewhere and says he won’t be home until late.” She looked up at him. “Very vague.”
“He probably has a hookup that he doesn’t want to tell you about.”
“Really. I thought he was dating someone.”
“Rafe never dates anyone exclusively.”
She studied him for a few seconds. “I see.” She looked down at her phone. “And Kal says he’s having dinner with your parents, then he’s meeting up with a few of the guys from the station house at some place called Tommy’s Fish House?”
Jackson cracked a smile. “Tommy Rodriguez is a firefighter. He owns a family restaurant and bar near the beach. Actually, his grandfather Tomas, also Tommy, built the place, and Tommy and his family run it now. We all go there to hang out, eat and watch sports in the bar while we drink.”
“So kind of an extension of your firefighter family.”
“Yeah.”
She looked down at her phone, then back up at him. “Should we go there?”
“To the bar? No.”
“You don’t want me to meet your firefighter family?”
He took the phone from her hands and laid it down on the table. “I absolutely want you to meet everyone. But it’s been a long day and we’ve been hanging out with a lot of people. And now we’re alone here at the house. How about we take advantage of that alone time?”
“Oh. Sure.” Then her eyes widened. “OhhhhmyGod I’m so dense.”
He laughed. “No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am.” She kicked off her shoes, then climbed onto his lap and straddled him. “You know, it’s been a while since I’ve been with a guy, so I don’t want you to think I’m not into you. Which I totally am. How could I not be? I mean, look at you.” She swept her hands up his arms and rested them on his shoulders.
He tried not to laugh, but damn, the ego stroke was nice. “Thanks. Look at you, too.”
“I wasn’t after a compliment, but thanks. I guess I was overly focused on the homeless kids today. And then making sure Rafe and Kal were taken care of. But now that everyone is, let’s focus on you and me.”
“You do that a lot, don’t you?”
She frowned. “Do what?”
“Take care of everyone else.”
“No, I don’t.”
“I think you do. As soon as you moved in here you started cleaning the place and making sure we were fed.”
“That was more of a thank-you.”
Her voice had lowered and he was afraid he’d offended her, when he’d really meant it as a compliment. He tipped her chin with his fingers so she was looking at him. “Hey, it’s not an insult and I’m not picking a fight with you. You’re a caregiver, Becks. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Thanks.”
“As long as you don’t let people take advantage of you.”
“Trust me. No one takes advantage of me. I’m fully capable of knowing the difference between offering assistance and people taking too much. I learned that the hard way.”
“Good.” He started to touch her, then stilled. “Wait. Taking too much? What does that mean?”
She rolled off him and slid onto the couch next to him. “No, not physically. But someone did use me emotionally. Someone I thought was a friend. Only it ended up being a one-sided friendship. She’d come to me for advice and counsel and to rant, but when I needed to do the same she wasn’t there for me.”
He hated that someone had hurt her that way, especially knowing what a giving person Becks could be. “Well, that’s bullshit.”
Becks nodded. “I didn’t notice it at first because she was always so sweet to me. And we spent a lot of time together at a time when I really needed someone in my life. It took me a while to realize that all that time we spent together she was doing all the talking, and I was listening or offering advice. I never got to tell her about my bad day or a lousy date or when I had problems with my boss. It was always about he
r.”
“That’s not a real friendship.”
“No, it’s not.”
“It should be two-sided. Someone to listen to you vent, to offer you advice and a shoulder to cry on when you need one.”
“Yeah. I finally had to end the friendship.”
He smoothed his hand along her arm. “Bet that was hard.”
“It was really hard. We were friends during one of my first jobs as an adult. But our relationship had grown toxic and I just couldn’t do it anymore. I felt bad about it because she didn’t have any other friends.”
“For a reason, Becks. She probably drove them all away.”
“I know, but I still felt bad.”
“You did what you had to do for yourself. And probably for her. Maybe it opened her eyes to the fact that she couldn’t treat her friends that way.”
She shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know. I hope so, for her sake.”
“Me, too.”
She leaned in and brushed her lips across his. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For listening to me, for your empathy. And for coming along with me today. I know it was hard for you.”
As usual she thought of him and how he felt. He’d never known a woman with that kind of capacity for empathy.
“Not as hard as I thought it was going to be.”
She rubbed her hand along his thigh. “Hey, how about being honest with me?”
“I don’t want to be one of those friends that lays all my troubles at your feet.”
“I don’t think you are. Especially since I just spent all that time whining at you about my ex–best friend. You listen to me, now I listen to you. That’s how it works, you know?”
He supposed she was right about that, but digging into today would only bring back memories, and that just wasn’t his thing.
“Honestly, it wasn’t bad. I liked meeting everyone. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say it made me ache feeling that tug of memories.”
“It’s hard for me, too, Jackson. It always brings dark memories going there. But I feel compelled to give back. I got out and managed to make a life for myself. So many don’t.”
“You’re braver than I am, Becks.”
“I don’t know about that. Look at what you do for a living. You give back to your community, just in a different way than I do.”
He appreciated her compassion, but it was misplaced. “Thanks, but what I do gives nothing to those homeless kids.”
She shifted on the sofa so she could grab his face between her soft hands. “Hey, don’t do that to yourself. You could have let Josh and Laurel rescue you and done absolutely nothing of value with your life. But did you? No, you didn’t. I can’t imagine that what you do as a firefighter is easy. So maybe you’re not seeing the kids every day, but never underestimate the value of your work.”
“Okay.” He wasn’t sure he bought it completely, but obviously Becks wasn’t going to let it go and he needed her to. He didn’t need to be anyone’s hero. He was fine right where he was.
On the couch with a beautiful woman sitting next to him. He turned to her.
“Know what I think?”
“What?” she asked.
“That we should get naked.”
She arched a brow. “Really. And where might we do that?”
“Here. Upstairs. Outside by the pool. Doesn’t matter to me. The guys won’t be home for a long while.”
“I thought we were going to grill something to eat.”
“Oh, right. You had mentioned that. And then we started talking and forgot about food.”
“Aren’t you hungry?” she asked.
“Yeah, but not for food. I’d like to kiss you.”
She turned to him and leaned into him. “I’d like you to kiss me.”
His lips curved. “I thought you were hungry.”
“Yeah, but not for food.”
He smiled, cupped her neck and brought his lips to hers.
CHAPTER 17
As his mouth moved over hers, Becks breathed in the scent of Jackson, her tongue winding around his. The flavor of beer lingered in his mouth and he smelled like sweat, like a man who’d spent the day outside, which was a bit of a turn-on, she admitted to herself.
She doubted there was much about him that wouldn’t hit all her Yes! buttons. She was so tuned into him that she was sure she could differentiate his scent from other men while she was blindfolded.
And wouldn’t that be a fun party trick? Though she wouldn’t want to kiss anyone else. Not when kissing Jackson was so all-consuming. He had an amazing mouth, and used it with such finesse, moving his lips over hers until she couldn’t help but moan in response. She couldn’t remember ever being kissed so deeply, so thoroughly.
So damn well. He was really good at the kissing thing.
He pressed her down on the sofa, his body covering hers.
“Mmmm,” was all she could manage.
He lifted his head. “Am I too heavy on you?”
“No. I was just trying to comment with my nonword about how now that you’re on top of me, I can feel all your good parts rubbing against all my good parts.”
He smiled down at her, sliding his hand along her hip and toward her butt. “You have some really good parts, Becks.”
She wriggled her brows at him. “Right back at ya, Jackson.”
“Maybe we should consider rubbing all our parts together. While naked.”
“What a fantastic idea. You should start by taking off all your clothes.”
He hopped off the sofa and Becks had never clocked it before, but she was almost certain she’d never seen a man get rid of his clothes that fast.
“Impressive.”
He looked down at his erection, then grinned. “Well, thanks.”
“I didn’t mean that. Though your cock is very impressive. I meant how fast you can get out of your clothes.”
“Hey, where sex is involved, I can strip faster than eggs cook on hot asphalt.”
She laughed. “Good to know.”
“Now, your turn. Though I might want to help you.”
She sat up on the sofa. “Why? Do you think I’ll be too slow for your liking?”
He shoved all his clothes on the floor, then dropped to his knees between her legs. “No, because it’s way more fun if you let me take your clothes off.”
“Oh, this is interesting,” she said, her thoughts going immediately to all the fun things they could do while he undressed her.
Maybe she’d been too quick about asking him to undress. Because she sure could have a good time revealing all the ideal parts of Jackson’s body. Especially since all of him was ideal.
But then she got distracted when he ran his hands over her ankles, up her calves and toward her thighs. When he reached her shorts, she arched upward, giving him access to pull her shorts and underwear off, leaving her naked from the waist down.
He lifted her shirt and kissed her belly, then rolled his tongue around her navel, making her laugh.
“No tickling allowed,” she said.
He lifted his head. “Is that your only ‘No’ rule?”
She arched a brow. “Just what exactly do you have in mind?”
“Only fun things, Becks.”
Maybe his idea of fun meant sucking on her toes. Which would be totally weird. Then again, she didn’t see Jackson as a toe sucker. The thought of it made her laugh.
“What?”
“You’re not going to suck my toes, are you?”
He frowned. “What? No. Why? Wait. Do you like that?”
“Uh, no. Like I will get up and flee to my room if you get anywhere near my toes with your mouth—or any other part of you.”
He rubbed one of her feet. “They’re very cute toes, Becks.”
<
br /> She laughed and jerked her foot from his grasp. “Stop.”
“Okay, toes are definitely out of bounds. But I’m playing here.” He kissed the top of her sex before lifting her shirt to—this time—lightly brush his lips across her belly. She had to admit his mouth on her skin lit a fire inside her.
“And here.”
No tickling that time, and she lost all thoughts of giggling when he raised her shirt over her head and unhooked her bra to release her breasts.
“Nothing in that vicinity I intend to say no to.” She laid back and sighed. “Have your way with me.”
He played with her breasts, sucked her nipples and generally drove her crazy, making her writhe and lift up toward his mouth.
Oh, he was good. So, so good. And as he kissed his way down her body, that taut feeling of delicious expectation grew within her.
He blew a soft, warm breath across the top of her sex. And when the warm wetness of his tongue slid across her tender flesh, it was a sweetly gentle flick, yet so incredibly erotic she trembled from the shock waves it sent across her nerve endings.
She tingled from her hair to her toes and all her sweet spots in the middle.
She rolled from one gentle wave to another as Jackson took her from bliss to torture, those waves gathering in intensity until every muscle in her body tightened in anticipation of her orgasm.
She was so in tune to every delicious movement of his tongue, every suck of his lips over her clit. He took his time to take her right there, to give her exactly what she needed that she didn’t have to give him direction, only ahhs and yeses and moans of appreciation.
And when that inevitable burst hit, she arched, pressing against his magical tongue to draw in more explosive pleasure.
After, she felt boneless, and utterly satiated. She felt Jackson move up on the sofa beside her.
She sighed and reached for him. “I’d tell you how great that was, but I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to speak again.”
“You just did, and I could tell how much you enjoyed that. I think the screaming spoke volumes.”
She lifted up on her elbows to look over at him. “I did not scream.”
His lips curved. “Yeah, you did.”
She climbed on top of him, sliding against his very hard cock. “Prove it.”