Pretty in Ink
by
Merryn Dexter
This title was previously available as part of the Curved Lines Collection
Pretty in Ink
Aubrey Jensen finds growing up means making choices to please herself, even if it puts her in conflict with her family. Her sister’s impending wedding forces her to look at what she is doing with her own life – not much. When opportunity knocks (boots!) in the form of a sexy, inked bad-boy she can’t believe her luck.
Aubrey is all curves and sweet sass – a combination Garrett Chase, the owner of her regular hangout spot is dying to get his hands on. She’s exactly what he wants in life – so why is everything suddenly going to hell?
Sometimes getting what you want, doesn’t give you what you need. To compromise or demand your worth? To turn away or bare your scars? Decisions, decisions….
What the reviewers thought of Pretty in Ink
“Lordy the chemistry between Garrett, the muscular bar owner and Aubrey the sexy curvy kitten was undeniable.”
“I think this story had my favorite heroine. Aubrey didn't depend on anyone; not her rich parents, and certainly not a man. And I wish I had an Aunt Amy!”
“A story so hot, you fan yourself! Or grab the man snoring in bed next to you... :)”
“A sizzling hot contemporary romantic fiction story that’s fresh, kept me hooked and turning pages!”
Table of Contents
*You can click on the title to be taken to the selection. Additionally, clicking on the chapter titles will bring you back to the table of contents.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Also by the Author
Copyright Information
Chapter One
A flash of scarlet paint caught his eye, and Garrett frowned at the little sports car zipping too quickly into the front lot. He straightened up, leaving the table half-cleared to move closer to the front window of his bar. The little convertible pulled into one of the front slots, and he couldn’t hide his smile of recognition. His Saturday night just got a whole lot better. Folding his arms across his chest, Garrett studied the driver as she teetered out of the car. She certainly matched the car, in her short black dress and flashy jewelry. Nothing there of any interest to him. The blonde flipped her perfectly straight hair, waiting impatiently for her passenger to alight.
Raising a hand to acknowledge the customer at a nearby table calling for another round, Garrett kept his eyes trained on the car. Nothing short of an emergency would prevent him from enjoying the sight of his favorite customer. She kept her head down, a tumble of ebony curls shielding her face. Thankfully, her beautiful hair did nothing to obscure his view of the magnificent pair of creamy breasts threatening to spill out the front of her jade green dress as she pushed herself up. The pin-up style dress hugged the kind of ample body a man could get lost in for a week. She turned, bending to retrieve her clutch, displaying an ass so bounteous he surreptitiously checked his mouth for drool.
Garrett Chase loved big girls. Loved. Them. At six foot two and a couple hundred pounds of solid muscle, he preferred a soft landing, and an ass he could get a good grip on as he rode them both into sweaty oblivion. His pulse quickened as his goddess-made-flesh swayed across the lot and back into his life. Aubrey Jensen was the stuff of his dreams. A dark green rose clipped her hair up on one side, matching the fifties style of her dress to perfection. The lifted wing of her hair revealed her face, ruby-red lips quirked into a smile over something her companion said as they approached the door. It was his favorite expression of hers – a little sly, like she got the joke when no one else did.
Not wanting to get caught spying on her, he grabbed up the dirty glasses and strode quickly to his appointed spot behind the bar. Smiling in welcome as they approached, he fixed his eyes on Aubrey as he held out the bar menu. “Anything you want, darling. It’s all yours.”
Her chocolate-brown eyes flicked up to meet his and he winked, relishing the tiny sparkle of mischief the gesture induced. “Anything?” The way she drawled the word made him want to crawl across the bar and fist her hair as he claimed those plump lips.
“Anything,” he emphasized.
She rewarded him with a deliciously dirty laugh. “Garrett Chase, one of these days I’m going to take you up on that.”
Man, he adored women who knew how to laugh properly. None of those polite, smothered giggles. Give him a filthy, rolling belly-deep chuckle every day of the week. Suddenly, there was nothing more important than finding a way to make this woman laugh like that again.
“Oh, Aubrey, I can’t take you anywhere!” The blonde tried to sound like she was joking, but the jagged edge in her tone showed her irritation. A simmering tension he’d noticed before existed between the two sisters. Garrett glanced toward her. She smiled, all teeth and no warmth. Tapping a red-tipped nail on the cocktail section of the menu, she flashed the obscenely large diamond on her ring finger. He remembered well the copious bottles of champagne their group consumed on New Year’s Eve to celebrate her engagement to one of the faceless rich-boys who frequented his joint. I bet her heart is as cold as that rock.
“We’ll both have a Cosmopolitan.” The blonde angled her body toward him, trying to capture his interest. For a woman in love, she tries a little too hard for attention.
“Take a seat and I’ll be with you in a moment.” Garrett finished pouring a beer for another customer. Annoyed with the lovely brunette’s toothy companion, he took his time.
The blonde pursed her lips in a little pout of disappointment at his matter of fact tone, and remained standing. “We have a booking in the name of Windsor. You can serve our drinks at the table. It’s a booking for four.”
The familiar stab of disappointment twisted in his gut. He didn’t need her to tell him they expected company. The two sisters started coming to the bar around November last year, always with the same dates. “You’re at table fifteen.” He nodded toward a high-backed booth in the center of the back wall. The blonde sniffed before turning on her heel and stalking off.
Aubrey paused at the bar, an apologetic smile on her face. Garrett rested his forearms on the bar as he leaned toward her, catching a hint of her rich, amber perfume. “Tell me what you need, darling.” Please let it be my face buried in your pussy.
Her gorgeous eyes widened slightly. Intrigued, he glanced down, following the direction of her gaze. The sleeves of his white shirt had ridden up, displaying the tattooed flames licking the backs of his wrists. Eyes fixed on his ink, the tip of her tongue darted out to slick her lips, and a warm feeling stirred deep in his gut. See me. Knowing he was playing with fire, and not caring a damn, he popped the buttons on his cuffs and made a show of rolling the sleeves back to his elbows. Thick lines of black, red and orange writhed across his skin. The soft noise coming from her throat sounded suspiciously like a sigh of appreciation.
“Aubrey!” The shrill call from her sister shattered the spell between them.
With a small shake of her head, Aubrey turned her attention to the drinks menu. “I’m tired of cocktails.” Something about her tone implied it wasn’t all she was tired of. He wanted to press her for information, but it wasn’t his place to do so. No matter how much he might wish it were. “I’d like to try one of your beers.” The admission pleased him beyond measure. Specialty beers were a passion of his, and he’d worked hard to put together a strong selection.
“Don’t worry, darling. I’ll find you something tasty to wrap those luscious lips around.” His innuendo-laden comment cleared the frown from her brow and drew another of those fantastic laughs from her, and Garrett fell head over heels.
“You are a very bad man.” Mischief dancing in her eyes, she wagged a finger at him and moved away to join her sister.
“Give me a chance, Aubrey, and I’ll be happy to show you how bad.” His use of her name added a little extra swing to her hips, and he gratefully admired the view.
A sharp pinch on his arm startled Garrett. He unglued his eyes from the retreating piece of heaven to frown at his sister. “What the fuck?” He rubbed the abused spot as his sister, Gina flicked her towel at him.
“Put your tongue back in, bro, and stop slacking.” Shaking her head, she marched back to her end of the bar, but her words held no malice. His family knew where his preferences lay, and Aubrey ticked every box on his list.
The door to the bar opened, letting in a gust of warm spring air. March had been unseasonably cool in their little corner of California, but April was turning out more promising. He had plans to add an external seating area to the bar. One day. Like so many of his plans, ambition outweighed his finances. The bar was a relatively new venture for the Chase family, and Garrett and his siblings were acutely conscious of the mortgage secured against their grandfather’s home.
The open door heralded the arrival of “The Suits”, his nickname for the two bland men who dated the Jensen sisters. Garrett didn’t pay much attention to them as he fixed their drinks, until the sneering, sandy-haired one spoke. “Dammit, Brock, she’s a fucking heifer. I still can’t believe she and Marissa are sisters.”
His blond companion just laughed. Clapping him on the shoulder, he followed his friend’s glance across the room to the central booth. “Relax, Kenny. Aubrey just needs taking in hand, the same way I did with Marissa. The Jensen girls run to fat if you let them, but once I got Marissa to take a little pride in herself, it was easy. You’ll find their mother supportive of your efforts too.”
The blond paused to take a swig of his drink, then grinned at his glowering friend. “Don’t forget, her inheritance is as big as her ass.”
“It damn well better be. I’ve never seen her ass. You’d think she was special the way she holds me at arm’s length. Nearly six months, and I still can’t get through her front door.”
A low buzz started in Garrett’s ears. Tuning out the rest of their conversation, he battled the need to beat them both to a bloody pulp. Aubrey was fucking beautiful just the way she was. Mortgage, think of the fucking mortgage. He couldn’t risk bringing trouble to their door. His records were sealed; there was nothing to tie the respectable man to the stupid kid he’d once been. His tattoos raised an eyebrow or two, but he usually kept them covered when he was working. Still, a low-level fear of his past catching up with him always lurked in the back of his mind. Another good reason he shouldn’t entertain thoughts of a class act like Aubrey.
He paused in the process of rolling down his sleeves, seeking her out. Rationalities about their differences melted away as her big, brown eyes studied him with blatant interest. Wanting her to know how much he desired her, Garrett held her gaze. He imagined unzipping her jade green dress, sliding it down her body until her gorgeous tits fell into his waiting hands. His cock stirred in his jeans, and he stepped closer to the bar to shield his lower body. Mesmerized, he watched Aubrey raise the beer bottle to her lips and, holy fucking hell, curl her tongue around the rim. A bolt of lust slammed into his spine, tightening his balls until he feared he might blow his load like an untried boy.
The suits finally moved away from the bar, their movement breaking his line of sight as they approached the booth. The little smile of regret she flashed him brought a moment of clarity. Fuck the differences between us. He would do whatever it took to get her away from the fucker she was wasting her time with and into his bed.
As soon as fucking possible.
Chapter Two
“Oh, Aubrey do you have to flirt with that man?” Marissa hissed through clenched teeth, her overly-glossed lips pulled back in a rictus of a smile.
Oh, Aubrey. Those two words had haunted her every waking moment since she’d been a little girl. Oh, Aubrey, don’t get your dress dirty. Oh, Aubrey, what will everyone think of you dressed like a tramp? Oh, Aubrey, must you eat so much? Their mother’s endless refrain of criticism and disappointment had been picked up by her sister, and it pissed her off no end. She remembered a time when they’d been close, not best friends, but connected and genuinely caring about each other. Marissa had been a lot more relaxed before she’d met her fiancé, Brock Windsor, and succumbed to his narrow ideals of beauty. She’d never been big, but these days there wasn’t a spare ounce of flesh on her. As each pound fell away, her attitude toward Aubrey had also changed. As though her new diet restricted kindness as well as calories.
Being an ugly duckling in a family of swans could be forgiven, overcome with a sparkling personality and a reputation for good works as her Aunt Nancy had proven. Being a fat duckling, however, was akin to a capital crime. Almost worse than being poor. Almost. Aubrey liked the way she looked, regardless of the pressure from her family to conform to their ideal standard. She liked food, and thought Kate Moss was a moron with her “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” crap. Kate needed to get on the right side of a tub or two of Cherry Garcia, in Aubrey’s opinion.
She wanted someone who would take her as she was; love every curve and dimple. Someone like Garrett. Shaking her head at the errant thought, Aubrey smiled. Flirting with the barman at Chase’s was certainly a highlight in her calendar. Tall and built, his massive shoulders filled every inch of the white cotton shirt he wore. She’d caught a glimpse of his tattoos before, but the sight of them fully displayed to her when he’d rolled up his sleeves had dampened her panties almost as much as the wicked gleam in his bright blue eyes. Her mouth went dry at the thought of tracing her tongue over the wild flames licking over his forearms, and she raised the beer bottle to her lips. The tang of the hops blended delightfully with a refreshing hit of raspberry. Not being an expert on beer, she’d expected something darker, a heavier taste with a hint of wildness, the way she imagined Garrett’s mouth might taste as she swept her tongue between his lips. Lord, I need to stop thinking about him! Savoring the layers of flavor on her tongue, she ignored her inner chastisement and cast another glance over to the bar. The flirtatious promise on his face had been replaced with a dark scowl he directed at Brock and Kenny, who lounged against the bar.
She watched him turn away, feeling a pang of regret as he rolled his sleeves down to cover his ink. As though sensing her watching him, he looked up, the frown on his brow clearing like a cloud rolling back from the sun. Eye fuck. She’d heard the term before, but this was the first time she’d been on the receiving end of one. The frank desire in his stare stirred something deep within her. Gazes locked, she raised the bottle and teased the rolled edge of the rim with her tongue. Time stretched into infinity, and a pulse thudded between her clenched thighs. The weeks of smiles, winks and flattering comments between them coalesced into a single thought. I could have that man if I wanted to. And, hot damn, she wanted to.
A pointed elbow dug into her side, breaking the spell of connection. “Oh, Aubrey, do you have to?” Marissa said again, lips pursed in a disappointed pout. There it was, that chiding, censoring tone. The sharp retort on her lips died as she watched Brock and his best friend, Kenny Ross, stride across the bar toward their booth. It had started as a casual thing, a way for the best man and maid of honor to get to know each other as they helped the happy couple plan for their big day. A drink here, a meal there and, before she knew it, Aubrey found herself dating a man she actively disliked. Oh, he’d been pleasant enough at first, good manners making up for what he lacked in personality. As the weeks passed, however, those manners slipped, and an ugly side to him started to emerge. She was pr
etty sure the apathy she felt for him was entirely mutual. So why does he keep hanging around? That was the mystery she couldn’t quite get to the bottom of. Well, it didn’t really matter anymore, after tonight she was done with him. The attraction between her and Garrett might not come to anything, but she would not waste one more moment of her time on a man she didn’t even like. Not wanting to embarrass him in front of the others, she decided to call Kenny in the morning and let him down gently.
Putting on a smile, she tried her best to tolerate his company for the few hours it would take for the evening to be over, but her patience was wearing paper-thin. His attempts to change her food order had been thwarted by a quiet request to the server to ignore his demands she have a salad and an entrée of chicken and vegetables. Aubrey ignored the glower he cast toward her when her preferred starter of baked camembert was followed by a succulent filet steak and the best fries she had ever tasted. The gorgeous man behind the bar wasn’t the only thing she loved about coming to Chase’s.
Holding up the dessert menu between them, she tried to block Kenny’s sharp, flushed face as she perused her options. Hot fudge sundae or apple pie and ice cream… “You’ve had more than enough for one evening, Aubrey,” he declared, snatching the menu from her surprised grasp. Leaning low across the table, he hissed in her face. “You ought to bear some thought to your poor sister. How do you think she’s going to feel in a few weeks’ time with you waddling up the aisle behind her?”
The naked disgust in his eyes shocked her for a moment, and she waited for one of the others to say something, to protest. Refusing to acknowledge the embarrassment burning her cheeks, she turned her head to look at Marissa. There was censure in her eyes, but not for Kenny. “You did struggle a little at the dress fitting last week. It wouldn’t do any harm for you to try and shed a couple of pounds.” Her sister placed a placating hand on her arm. “For me, Aubrey.”
Pretty In Ink: A BBW Novella Page 1