And suddenly, as if something had snapped within both of them, they were fucking like goddamn wild animals. Eva braced her feet on the mattress to give herself better leverage, bringing her hips up with a snap to meet every rough thrust into her wet cunt until they were nothing but a sweating, heaving tangle of body parts.
At one point Eva could no longer distinguish his grunts and moans from hers. She came and came and came and still he kept fucking her. And when she reached the point where she couldn’t take any more, his body came to a sudden halt, his hips jerking in that tight movement that gave her an irrational burst of pride because she had that effect on him.
Her. Evangeline Rodriguez, the tomboy youngest of seven siblings, could reduce Oscar Gaudin—the coolest, most level-headed, self-controlled man she knew—to a moaning, quivering heap.
He loved her to the point he worried about whether she would leave.
Eva wrapped herself around him when he collapsed and realized she was smiling.
Like an idiot.
Because life was absolutely fucking amazing.
Chapter Nine
“We can have immediate possession of the place,” Leo said, bringing up a series of photographs on the laptop he’d brought to Oscar’s house.
He scrolled through them one by one, showing the empty shell of a long, narrow retail space in a hip, affluent downtown Chicago neighborhood.
“Joy’s sister does some web design for the guy who owns all kinds of buildings like this one,” Leo continued. “There’s a cool, independently owned clothing store on one side and a small hair salon on the other. I didn’t get a chance to talk to the guy who owns the boutique yet, but the woman who runs the salon said she’s been there for years and she loves the owner. Said she never has to wait if something on the building needs to be fixed.”
After the series of photos of the storefront, Leo stopped at a picture of a storage room. There was a counter with cupboards above and below it on one wall. As far as Oscar could tell, there was easily enough space to make it into a small but comfortable break room by adding a table, a couple of chairs and a small refrigerator in the corner.
“The owner said if we wanted we would be welcome to put up walls to make rooms. We might only be able to put in three, maybe four tops since the space is pretty narrow, but we weren’t looking to go big right out of the gate anyway.”
“Or we could forgo walls and have an open floor plan,” Oscar suggested.
Leo had been doing most of the talking since he and Jamie had arrived at Oscar’s house. Oscar was catching the enthusiasm Leo clearly had for the place. While he couldn’t get a real feel for the space in pictures, he liked the pressed tin ceilings, the well-kept hardwood floors and the large window in front.
“Maybe just put up a small room in the back for the body piercers,” Oscar went on, thinking out loud now. “Use standing screens for the tattoo artists if we’re working on a piece that requires privacy, but have our stations out in the open.”
Oscar reached over Leo’s shoulder and scrolled back a few pictures.
“We could put up a wall, maybe five feet high that would separate the front from the back. Put up a counter for the receptionist on one side,” he said, showing them where he imagined the wall and the receptionist would go. “It would make a distinct area for people to hang out that’s not underfoot, but they could see us working.”
“More of a fishbowl kind of layout than the shop we have now,” Jamie added, nodding as if he really liked the idea.
“The rent is so reasonable we really wouldn’t need more than four tattoo artists and a couple of good body piercers to really thrive once we were up and running,” Leo said, turning to look at Oscar and Jamie standing behind him. “It’s ours if we want it. The owner really did seem like a cool guy. We could get the keys and start setting up shop as soon as I get back to Chicago.”
“Aren’t you supposed to start recording new music soon?” Jamie asked, going to Oscar’s refrigerator for another beer.
“I’ll take one,” Oscar said when Jamie gestured with a bottle, silently asking if anyone else wanted one.
“Me too,” Leo said. “We’ve already got a handful of new songs written. Recording starts in a few weeks.”
Leo’s band Grind had exploded onto the national rock scene after they toured with a big-name group and played several jam-packed rock festivals earlier that summer. All the members had happily picked up and moved to Chicago with him after Leo met and fell in love with Joy. The band was currently working with a well-known blues musician and producer—Joy’s father, John Pope—writing their new blues rock record.
“I have time for this too,” he assured them.
“You’re writing, looking at properties for the new shop, driving back and forth between Chicago and Toledo at least once a week, training Agnes to take over for you as shop manager,” Jamie said, taking a seat at the table. “When do you have time for that gorgeous woman of yours?”
“I’ve given up sleep,” he told them with a grin. “Trust me, it’s worth the sacrifice.”
“Jamie and I can take over most of the work setting up shop,” Oscar offered.
Despite his hectic schedule, Leo was planning to manage the new store as well as help Agnes run the old one until she was fully confident running it on her own. From the handful of conversations Oscar had had with her since they’d made their choice, it wasn’t going to take her long. She was young, but she had a sharp business sense that pushed her to the top of the list to take over for Leo as shop manager.
“I think Pontoon is keeping his schedule flexible in case we need him,” Jamie said, meaning their friend Chris Pontiff, who’d done contracting work for the shop as well as for all three of the shop partners when they bought their houses.
“We just need to decide which of the other artists we’re going to take with us and how many we need to hire new,” Leo said, looking from Jamie to Oscar and back. “From the way I see it, we can spare two.”
They all knew there were several guys around the city who would jump at the chance to come to Lust for Life to replace whoever they took to Chicago.
“Munson and Clark have both told me they want to be considered,” Jamie said.
“Munson yes, but not Clark,” Oscar answered immediately.
Clark was a good artist, but he had an inconsistent work ethic. There were several times the three of them had talked about letting him go, but he always managed to pull himself together and stay on track right before that happened, as if he had some kind of sixth sense that his job was in danger.
“Agreed,” Leo seconded.
“So you’re leaving him with me,” Jamie asked, arching an eyebrow at them.
“He’s been given his last chance.” Oscar took a long pull from his bottle. “If he fucks up again you won’t have to worry about him any longer.”
“We could offer the third spot to Patty,” Jamie suggested.
Leo shook his head. “Her mom was just diagnosed with breast cancer. I think she’s planning to move home to help her through surgery and chemo.”
“That really sucks,” Oscar said, just as unaware as Jamie that Patty’s mom was sick.
“She only told me in case she needed to take some time off,” Leo told them. “She doesn’t want anyone else in the shop knowing so they don’t ask too many questions.”
“Donny might want to go,” Jamie said, getting back on track.
Only Donny was the one person Oscar was looking forward to getting away from. The guy was an amazing artist, but he was an absolute dick, all day, every day.
“What about Eva?” he suggested.
Oscar had no idea what he was doing. He and Eva hadn’t talked about the possibility of her being part of the new shop, but as soon as he said it, he wanted it. He wanted her there. If she got angry with him for suggesting it, he would fix it later.
By the surprised looks on his friends’ faces, he had a little explaining to do.
“You w
ant to work with my sister?” Jamie asked slowly. “Day after day? In that small space, with no walls separating you?”
“My relationship with Eva has changed.” He met Jamie’s gaze. “Drastically.”
Maybe she was going to kick his ass for telling another member of her family without her, but it was time. No, it was beyond time. They all deserved to know.
Jamie’s eyebrows went as far up his forehead as Oscar imagined they could go.
“I fucking knew it,” Leo said a little too gleefully.
Jamie looked from Oscar to Leo. “Knew what?”
“Eva and I have been seeing each other since your wedding,” Oscar told him. Once again, it felt damn good to get it out in the open, even if it turned out Jamie was going to be the brother who got protective and stomped the shit out of him.
Jamie looked at Oscar again. “You have to be fucking kidding me. The two of you can hardly stand to be in the same zip code.”
“We wanted to keep it to ourselves for a little while until we were sure about what was going on,” he explained. “Although Diego knows.”
Nope, Jamie’s eyebrows could definitely go higher.
“And he’s all right with it?”
“He’s more worried about me coming out unscathed than her.”
“That was my first thought,” Leo said with a chuckle, and Jamie nodded.
“No shit.” His eyebrows dropped and he looked out the patio doors at his left. “Fuck. That was the last thing I ever would have expected to hear from you, man.”
“It’s the craziest thing, I know, but I’m in love with her.”
Leo laughed while Jamie just smiled that big, shit-eating grin of his.
“I need to be the one to tell your parents,” Oscar added before either of them said anything else. “So if we could keep this between us just a little longer.”
“Mom is going to lose her mind.” Jamie put down his beer and stood, came around the table. “You know she still hopes you and Tammy will end up together, don’t you?”
Oscar stood and got caught up in Jamie’s hug. “Yeah, she’s never let me live it down that I let her marry someone else.”
“You are a crazy bastard,” he said as he released him.
Leo stood and pulled Oscar into a backslapping hug as well. “It’s about damn time you admitted you like her.” He let go and picked his beer up from the table. “So we’ll ask Eva if she wants to move to Chicago?” he asked, looking from Oscar to Jamie.
“Eva it is,” Jamie said with a disbelieving shrug. He raised his beer. “Congrats.”
“And good fucking luck,” Leo added, touching his beer to Jamie’s.
Oscar scoffed jokingly. “Thanks. I’m going to need it,” he said, and touched his beer bottle to theirs.
* * * * *
On a normal day Eva would have been annoyed—at the very least—with a client who wimped out before she barely finished the outline on their tattoo. Clients who got dizzy or nauseous were a totally different story. Those people didn’t bother her because there was no way to tell how a person was going to physically react to being tattooed until they were actually under the needle.
But the asshole she’d been working on who’d flinched and twitched and grimaced through the part where she’d needed him to stay still the most, and then obviously faked an emergency phone call, would have gotten her hackles up on a normal day. But it wasn’t a normal day. She still hadn’t recovered from the weekend in New York, and she was grateful for the extra hour and a half between clients.
She didn’t really know why she hadn’t recovered. It wasn’t as if she’d been drunk or stayed up all night the whole time. They’d been up until the wee hours of the morning with Oscar’s friends the first night, but Eva hadn’t really had the stomach to drink, so she’d mostly sipped soda water with lime and enjoyed the conversation. She’d had a glass of wine with dinner the night they went to the Broadway show, but only one.
She wrote it off as a collective lack of sleep and made her way to the office, where she intended to literally crawl under Leo’s desk and take a nap. Unfortunately, when she opened the door she found Leo occupying said desk.
“I thought you had a meeting with Oz and Jamie this morning.”
There was a quiet woof and a second later Leo’s dog Norma Jean came around the side of the desk, doggie smiling and wagging her tail.
“Well hello, beautiful.” Eva crouched to give her a good rubdown while she kissed the top of her head. Leo’s humane society rescue mutt wasn’t actually beautiful, and her wiry white and brown coat wasn’t especially soft, but she was by far the coolest, smartest, most loving dog Eva knew.
“We had it,” Leo said, meaning the meeting.
“Are Oz and Jamie here?” she asked. She’d been so focused on getting to the office for some sleep she hadn’t thought to look around for either of them.
He tucked the strands of his pale-blond hair that had escaped his longish ponytail behind his ears and crossed his arms. “Ah…no, they’re not.”
Eva looked up. There was something about the way he was looking at her that matched the strange tone of his voice.
“What’s that face?” she asked, standing to face him, his desk between them.
His expression was serious, but his bright ocean-blue eyes were sparkling.
“Can I say I told you so now, or would you like me to save it for later?”
He knew about her and Oscar.
“You can shove it up your ass and save it for a fucking rainy day.”
Leo threw his head back and laughed.
Damn him. It took everything she had in her not to laugh too.
“All right, that’s enough.” She could feel her face getting hot as she closed the door and followed Norma Jean around the big desk that dominated most of the small space. She couldn’t deny she felt jealous when the dog curled up in the space she’d wanted, laid her head on her paws and blinked sleepily.
“You called it,” she grumbled, chagrined. She sat sideways on his lap when he pushed his chair back, turned and held his arms open for her. “I hope you’re happy.”
He was still chuckling as she rested her head on his shoulder.
“Are you happy?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her.
Butterflies went nuts in her stomach. For as much as Oscar had antagonized her all those years, and even though he still pushed her buttons from time to time, she couldn’t remember a time since childhood when she’d been so happy.
She sighed. “I miss you.”
They still talked and texted all the time, but since his band had gotten busy at the same time he moved in with Joy, she’d hardly had any face time with him.
“I’m right here,” he assured her, resting his cheek on her head. “And we’ll get to see a lot more of each other since you’re moving to Chicago to work in the new shop.”
Her head went up. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
He blinked at her once. “Oz just suggested you and Munson be the two artists who go with him to the new shop. This is news to you?”
A riot of emotions got tangled up inside her. She didn’t know whether to be outraged that Oscar suggested dragging her two hundred and fifty miles away from her family without mentioning it to her or elated that he wanted her with him.
She swung her legs off Leo’s lap and stood, paced to the other side of the room.
“He wants me to work at the Chicago shop?”
“That’s kind of what I just said.”
Did she love the idea or hate it? She couldn’t tell.
A chill rushed down her spine and she turned slowly to face Leo. “Jamie knows.”
Leo nodded slowly. “Yes he does.”
“Is he pissed he didn’t hear it from me?”
His broad shoulders scrunched up near his ears. “No idea.”
“Is he here?” she asked, panic starting to rise.
The room spun, stars burst in her peripheral vision and she had to brace her
self on the tall filing cabinet next to her.
“Whoa.” Leo jumped out of his chair and caught her as she swayed. “Hey, come on. Sit down and take a deep breath,” he coaxed, gently leading her to his chair.
Nausea rose and she folded forward, forehead touching her knees, and forced herself to take deep breaths in and out. Norma Jean touched her nose to the side of Eva’s head and sniffed loudly in her ear before giving the side of her face a good lick.
“That was a little scary, Eva.” Leo reassured Norma Jean with a quick scratch to her head and brushed Eva’s hair off her neck as if he knew it had suddenly become hot. “I’ve never seen you…swoon,” he said with a chuckle. “Have you eaten today?”
She breathed in and out. “That’s all I’ve been doing all day. I just need some sleep.” She turned her head and let it hang off the end of her lap. “I’m so tired, Leo.”
There was a long pause and the hand he was running over her back stilled.
“Are you pregnant?” he asked.
Eva sat up straight. Those little points of light looped and swirled and then drifted away as she forced herself to focus on Leo, who looked completely serious. When she didn’t answer for a minute—because her mind was calculating so fast it was making her dizzy all over again—he grinned and knelt in front of her.
“Are you?” He laid a hand on her stomach and his smile stretched wide. “Are you making a little clone of the motherfucking asshole Frenchman as we speak?” he asked, repeating a title she’d used frequently when referring to Oscar over the past few years.
“Don’t be an ass,” she said, and swiped his hand away. “We’ve been careful.”
Well, not completely careful, but it had only been one night since they’d fucked without a condom in New York. There was no way…
“I’m probably just coming down with something.” She leaned back in the chair, drew her knees up, covered her face with her hands and groaned.
“Whatever you say,” Leo said, his tone dripping skepticism.
“I just want to crawl under the desk with Norma Jean and take a nap.”
Norma Jean’s tail thumped on the floor a couple of times as if she approved.
Forbidden Lust: 3 (Lust for Life) Page 8