by Ranae Rose
“Wow, Jed. This is beautiful. I’ll definitely use it.”
Every. Single. Day. She’d use it even if she didn’t need it, and not just because it was so pretty.
“But you know, you really didn’t have to get me anything. Now I feel bad that I didn’t get you a gift.”
He shrugged, his broad shoulders straining the dark fabric of his ridiculously sexy shirt. “Don’t worry about it. I wanted to get you something – you’ve done so much for Hot Ink. You deserve a gift.” He motioned toward the camera strap. “You deserve a lot more than that, actually, but I saw it in a camera shop and thought it would look nice on you.”
Her cheeks burst into figurative flame as he held her gaze, eyes dark and more intense than his casual shrug.
“Thank you.” For once, she didn’t ramble or babble. No other words came as she lowered the strap back into its box, carefully replacing the tissue paper.
Time flew after that – each moment Karen spent trying not to stare at Jed seemed to take forever, but when she slipped up and caught his eye, the evening seemed to melt away in fleeting hours instead of minutes.
Eventually Mina and Eric rose to leave, along with Jess and Blake, saying something about the kids having some sort of extracurricular weekend trip related to their school’s art club starting the next morning.
Karen nodded, smiled, hugged Mina and thanked her again for the sweater, butterflies fluttering in the pit of her stomach all the while. Jed wasn’t making any move to leave, and neither were the others from Hot Ink. In fact, they’d just ordered another round of drinks.
“Have a great rest of the night,” Mina whispered in Karen’s ear, leaning back with the tiniest of winks.
“You’ve gotten downright evil lately, you know that?” Karen whispered back, careful to keep her voice low. “I can’t believe you’re leaving me.”
“Eric and I both volunteered to chaperone the art club’s summertime weekend trip, and that means getting up at five tomorrow morning. Obviously, the others aren’t ready to call it a night yet. You’ll have fun without us – you’re among friends.”
“They’re your co-workers, not mine. I don’t know any of the others half as well as I know Jed.”
Mina’s smile broadened. “So talk to Jed. See you, Karen. I’ll give you a call and let you know how the trip goes.”
“You do that,” Karen said, fighting a fit of nervous laughter as she watched her friend leave, waving until she could no longer do so without looking like a weirdo.
Cheeks still blazing, she finally turned around.
“For the birthday girl.” Abby pressed a shot glass into Karen’s hand.
“What is it?” Karen asked, staring down into the shallow depths of the shot glass. A furtive glance around the table revealed several sets of hands clutching the little cups, all of them full of the same greenish mixture.
“It’s a kamikaze. You’ll like it. Come on!” She thrust a hand into the air, raising her own glass.
Karen shot a sideways glance at the empty glasses crowding the space in front of her and Abby and noticed for the first time that Abby had already knocked back several of the potent lemonades Nate the bartender considered his specialty.
Karen had been too busy worrying about Jed to notice. Fortunately, she’d also been too busy to order another drink. She’d had two lemonades, but the first had been almost two hours ago, and she’d had a big meal. She could afford to have a shot with the group. Maybe it would do her good – Jed’s gift had sharpened the edge on her nerves considerably.
She drained her shot glass along with the others, on Abby’s count.
It wasn’t bad. Her lips burned a little in the wake of it, and she focused on the sensation as she paid way too much attention to her empty glass.
“What’d you think?” Abby’s glass clinked loudly against the table top as she set it down.
“Not bad,” Karen said, looking up to smile at Abby and catching Jed’s eye.
“We should do another round!” Abby declared, and Tyler agreed, high-fiving her.
Oh, boy. The Hot Ink staff seemed a lot rowdier after dark and away from the studio than they did at work. Was this how they released the tension of having to concentrate so intently on their art all day? All of them except Jed … he was still sitting calmly, and was probably the only other person at the table besides Karen whose head wasn’t spinning.
He smiled a faint half-smile. “You look a little flushed. You don’t have to let Abby ply you with shots if you don’t want to.”
Karen laughed as Abby whirled around from her conversation with Tyler, her expression indignant. “Of course she wants to. It’s her birthday! And it’s yours too, Jed. When are you going to lighten up?”
Jed just smiled and shook his head. “Someone has to open up the shop tomorrow.”
Abby groaned. “Holy crap, Jed. James can handle that for once! Live a little.”
James, who was halfway through what looked like one of Nate’s lethal Long Island Iced Teas, looked utterly hapless.
The next hour sped by in a blur of shots and cocktails, most of which were imbibed by Abby, Tyler and James. Karen took a tentative sip of a lemonade Abby had ordered for her, then left it barely-touched when she glanced at her phone and saw that it was approaching midnight.
“I’m going to get going, guys.” Her grandmother was taking her to a birthday brunch at her favorite winery, not far from the city, the next morning. The last thing she wanted was to show up red-eyed and drowsy.
“I should head out too,” Jed said, flattening his hands on the table and pushing back his chair. “I don’t think I trust any of you three to open up shop tomorrow, and I’ve got a session scheduled for noon, anyway. I’ll leave cash for my bill – make sure the waitress gets it, and tell her to keep the change.”
“Nooo!” Abby cried when Jed pulled out his wallet. “No way. Don’t you dare leave any money! This is on us.”
James echoed her, and Tyler went so far as to give Jed a shove. “Get out of here. You’re not paying for anything tonight.”
Jed didn’t move – Tyler’s shove might as well have been a spring breeze. He did slip his wallet back into his pocket, though.
“You too, Karen,” Abby said. “Your money’s no good here.” She wagged a finger and managed to look stern for about half a second.
“Thanks a lot, guys.” Karen gripped her purse strap. It was a good thing the prospect of walking outside the restaurant with Jed had her so nervous she wasn’t capable of laughter.
“I never realized Abby was so … lively,” Karen said as she and Jed walked away from the table together. “She’s always so into her work at the shop, I hardly ever hear a word out of her.”
“She’s not always like this. Abby’s got a hot and cold personality – when she’s quiet, she’s quiet, and when she’s not, she’s really not.”
Karen gripped her purse strap, thinking of the camera strap she’d tucked inside. “It was nice of them to cover our checks.” The other artists had bought Jed dinner and drinks. Should she pick up a belated birthday gift for him, or would that be weird?
“Yeah. Hey, do you need a ride home?”
“I was going to call a cab,” she said, pausing by the door and gripping her purse strap even harder. “You’re not going to drive, are you?” Her heart plummeted down to her toes at the thought. Jed, drive after drinking? It went against everything she’d thought she’d known about him.
“I am.”
“I don’t think…” She mustered up all of her courage and looked him dead in the eye. “I realize I’m a lot smaller than you Jed, but if you try to get behind the wheel, I’m going to have to find a way to stop you.” Maybe she could lasso him with the fancy camera strap he’d given her or something. The thought was daunting, but what other choice would she have?
Years ago, Mina and Jess had both been injured in a car accident because their mother had driven under the influence of drugs. And now Jess couldn’t walk.
>
When Jed laughed, anger rose up inside Karen, sharp and hot. “Don’t laugh. I’m serious.”
“I know you are – I can see it in your eyes. I didn’t have any of those shots Abby and Tyler ordered, Karen. That fruity crap doesn’t sit well with me. I did drink a little, but that was hours ago, and I’m sober as a judge, I promise.”
Karen’s cheeks began to heat as she mentally tallied the alcohol he’d consumed during their long hours at Ruby’s. She’d seen him drink a beer with his meal, and then he’d had whatever drink he’d ordered at the bar a couple hours ago. Was that really it? Two drinks, with a big meal, over the course of several hours, for a man approximately the size of a bull… “Sorry. I didn’t realize…”
“It’s okay. I tried not to let Abby notice I wasn’t drinking those kamikaze things she loves so much, so if no one caught on, I’m in the clear. Well, no one except Tyler – he drank mine, but he won’t tell.”
Karen couldn’t resist a bubble of nervous laughter. “I feel like such an idiot. I guess I’m the one who had a little too much to drink – I just assumed you were joining in.” She hadn’t gone wild, but a light buzz blurred the edges of her thoughts and amplified her emotions.
“Don’t worry about it. Can I give you that ride? I hate to think of you riding alone in the backseat of a cab on your birthday.”
“Okay.” It wasn’t like she savored the idea of a cab ride either, especially compared to the allure of being chauffeured by a shirt-sleeves wearing, sexy-as-sin Jed. Technically, her apartment was within walking distance, but she wasn’t stupid enough to walk alone at night, especially after drinking. “Thanks a lot.”
Stepping out of Ruby’s and into the street-lit parking lot felt oddly surreal. Jed walked close beside her, leading the way toward a shining red car. A Dodge something – she didn’t know much about cars, but it looked nice, and it suited Jed.
The seats were leather. She slid onto one, enjoying the glide against the backs of her thighs as Jed held the passenger side door open for her like a perfect, tattoo-covered, sex-exuding gentleman. How the hell was she going to make it through the car ride without embarrassing herself?
“You’ll have to give me directions,” Jed said as he settled behind the wheel.
She did so, watching the way his hands dwarfed the wheel and the muscles in his forearms shifted as he drove. Light and shadow drifted over his skin from knuckles to elbow as they passed streetlights, taking a turn that had them disappointingly close to her apartment. “It’s just up the street here.”
Jed slowed the car to a smooth stop by the curb in front of her building.
The leather stuck to the back of her thighs a little, but unfortunately, the hold wasn’t strong enough to serve as an excuse not to leave the car. “Thanks for the ride,” she said, gathering up her purse and smoothing her skirt. “It was nice not to have to take a cab.”
“Anytime.” He lowered his hands from the wheel and met her gaze.
Karen’s heart did a cartwheel as the atmosphere inside the car changed. Was it just the lemonade coloring her perceptions, or did the air feel suddenly electric? Sitting there with her fingers tangled in her purse strap and her eyes locked with Jed’s, she couldn’t help but feel like she was balancing on the edge of something.
A sense of the inevitable tingled in her veins, and a voice in the back of her head screamed that she couldn’t let the opportunity pass.
Maybe it was just the lemonade, but hell, what were the odds she’d be able to gather enough courage to act any other time? She’d been admiring Jed quietly for months, and quiet was sort of against her nature. Still, she was silent as she leaned forward, lips already burning as she breathed in his scent and the console pressed into her hip…
He moved. In the opposite direction – away from her. Just the tiniest bit, but still. Some part of Karen shriveled up and died of sheer horror as her mind registered the fact that he’d leaned away from her attempted kiss.
She leaned back too, trying to make it seem casual, as if that was even possible. “I, uh, have a brunch date tomorrow. I’ve gotta get up kind of early. I’d better get to bed…” She squeezed her purse strap so tightly that her knuckles ached. Every fiber of her being urged her to escape the car and the fog of humiliation that had descended upon her, upon the whole evening.
Silent seconds ticked by, and they seemed more like hours as she waited for Jed to respond.
“All right.” Two words – they were all he said. And then he leaned forward, across the console and directly into her personal space. Before she could react, his breath was flowing hot against her cheek and his facial hair was scraping the edge of her jaw, causing her spine to tingle and her nipples to harden. There was no mistaking the electricity in the air when his mouth met hers.
At first, his lips were soft. Then they were firm, so hot against hers that she wondered briefly whether he had a fever. But her temperature rose to match his as the kiss continued and his tongue ventured out to skim the edge of her lower lip.
Yielding to the touch was utterly instinctual – something she’d been craving since the first time she’d laid eyes on him. As he slipped his tongue past her teeth, she reached out, pressing a hand against his chest.
His muscle was as rock-hard under her palm as she’d imagined it would be. What tattoos were there, beneath his shirt? She’d never seen, but knew there had to be some. He was tattooed from his hands to his collarbones, from what she could tell. Her speculations blurred as his tongue entwined with hers, melting her attempts at coherent thought.
For a few moments, she simply floated, thinking of nothing besides the heat and pressure of his mouth against hers. And then the kiss was over.
The end seemed abrupt, and the air too cool against her lips, but a slow burn still heated her from the inside.
“I won’t keep you,” Jed said in a voice so low it rasped against some place deep inside Karen, bringing every nerve she possessed to expectant life.
She breathed, in and out, still tasting him on the tip of her tongue. “Okay.” Her voice came out surprisingly steady considering the fact that her head was spinning.
“Have a good time at brunch tomorrow.”
“I will. Thanks.”
“Happy birthday, Karen.” He was still leaning on the console, and his fingers brushed her arm, the touch shockingly sensual for such light contact.
“Happy birthday to you, too.”
Her heart practically leapt out of her chest when he exited the car. What was he planning to do … come inside? It didn’t make any sense, given what he’d just said, but the thought had her head spinning even faster and her nerves buzzing.
He opened the passenger side door for her, and her heart rate slowed a little as realization dawned on her. “Thanks.” She stepped out, into the night, and looked up at him.
He smiled a smile she would’ve called conflicted if she’d trusted her judgment, which she didn’t – Jed’s kiss had been more powerful than any shot. It had left her giddy, happy and bewildered all at once. “Goodnight. I’ll see you soon?” She hadn’t meant for it to come out as a question, but it did.
“You know you will. Goodnight.”
He waited by the curb as she made her way to her second story apartment, and she paused to wave at him before slipping into the privacy of her home, where she was free to sigh, collapse onto the couch and dedicate all her mental efforts to wrapping her mind around the fact that Jed had just kissed her.
Why had he leaned away at first? Why hadn’t he tried to take things further? And why, God why, was he so unnaturally good at kissing? No one else had ever made her feel that way with just a kiss…
Nothing made any sense, but that didn’t stop her from savoring his heat and taste as both faded slowly from her tongue, leaving a deep craving in their wake.
CHAPTER 3
The sight of Karen’s name on the phone screen snared Jed’s attention more effectively than an explosion would have. As he accessed his
messages, guilt sped through his veins like poison. It was going on six in the evening … the better part of a day had passed since he’d succumbed to temptation and kissed her the night before. And they hadn’t spoken since.
She’d mentioned brunch plans for that morning, and he’d justified the delay in his apology by telling himself he’d probably be interrupting her plans if he tried to get in touch. Truth was, he was fucking procrastinating. Because what could he say that wouldn’t drive home the fact that he’d acted like an ass the night before?
I’m printing a ton of stuff right now. Need any more prints for around the shop?
He read her text three times over despite its simplicity, searching for any hidden resentment in her words.
It was impossible, and trying was more than a little pathetic. For a second, he let his finger hover over the call button.
Fuck it. A phone call wouldn’t be good enough, either. If she was printing out photos, that meant she was in her photography studio. If he hurried there, he could probably catch her in time to apologize to her face, like she deserved.
No. Thanks though. Listen, I’m sorry about last night.
Even if he was about to see her, he couldn’t text her back without at least scratching the surface of the apology he owed her.
?
Her sparse reply burnt itself into his mind, igniting a fresh bout of guilt. If she was trying to say that he owed her more of an explanation, she was right. As he exited the shop with a quick wave to the other artists and receptionist, he tried to stop savoring the memory of having his tongue entwined so thoroughly with Karen’s that he could still practically taste her.
His apology would seem a lot more convincing if he completely regretted kissing her, but he didn’t – he couldn’t.
* * * * *
“Did you hear that?”
“That was a male voice. It was definitely male. Did you hear what it said?”
“I didn’t catch any words. It almost sounded like a growl. Let’s get back to the lab and check the EVP recording.”