One minute she was starting her shift and the next she was leaving.
I think I’m going to have to extend her hours quicker than expected. Today was only her first day and for someone we’ve all only just met, she fit right in. Dipping the needle into the pink ink that’s going into the rest of Stacey’s tattoo, I’m lost in thought and at the forefront of them is Daisy. She still seemed nervous around me, but nowhere near as much as yesterday. Once I had showed her around, she got straight to work. Apart from when Stace arrived, I didn’t hear a peep out of her until she was saying goodbye.
“What’s got your balls all twisted in a knot?” I hear Stace ask bringing me back to what I was doing.
“Nothing.” I scoff.
“Yeah, okay. You expect me to believe that?”
Apart from her brother and the guys these days, Stace is the only one who can tell when I’ve got something on my mind.
“It wouldn’t have anything to do with the little pink haired, woman that’s just left would it?”
She’s too fucking observant for her own good, this woman.
“Oh no, Stace. Trey doesn’t think about her, in fact he’s adamant he’s not going to fuck her.”
Zak decides right then to open his big mouth.
“Really?” Stace sounds surprised by this.
“Yes. Really. She’s a great girl from what I know of her, so far, but she has far too many issues for my liking. Now keep still and let me get this done.”
Huffing and puffing at my dismissal of the conversation, Stace turns back to her spot, so I can carry on with her tattoo. Zak just chuckles and goes back to his client.
“If you ask me, she seems to mousy for you anyway. You like your women to know what they’re doing from the conversations I’ve heard.” Stace says sarcastically.
“Stace.” I warn her to drop it by the tone of my voice.
“Come to think of it you know, Stace has been coming by for a while now and all we know is that you two went to school together. Is there a history here that we should know about?” Levi decides to pipe up.
I’m quick to answer him.
“No there isn’t, we went to school together back in Texas, end of.”
Stace moves forward to stop me from touching her with the needle and looks at me over her shoulder.
“You haven’t told them, have you?”
She looks hurt and it makes me feel like a total jackass. Shaking my head, no, all the guys stop doing what they’re doing and look at me.
“I’m not doing this now; we have work to do. So, let's all get back to it, shall we?”
I look at them all, daring them to argue with me in front of the clients that they’re working on.
How the fuck did I go from thinking about Daisy, to this conversation?
I really don’t want to have this conversation.
Damn Stacey and her mouth.
If I didn’t love her like she was my own sister and the fact that her brother is dead because of me, then I would tell her to get out and never come back.
This is what I’m realizing I like about Daisy. In all the time we’ve spent together in the past couple of days, not once as she asked me any questions. Well not any that don’t revolve around her working for me.
What started off as a good day, soon turned into one that went to hell.
The minute Smith had finished the last touches on a full sleeve he was working on, they all grabbed their jackets… Mine included and shoved me out the door. Declaring that we were all going for a beer at Zak’s, apparently, I had some explaining to do. More so to Zak. He may come across as if nothing bothers him because of the size of him, but I can tell by the way he’s been acting, that he’s pissed off with me.
Three beers and two shots of Jack later and I’ve sucked it up and finally told them what happened to Cam and who Stacey really is. Levi and Smith are shocked but understand why I carry the guilt around still, but Zak, he’s been quiet ever since. I can see him mulling it over in his head, and even though he hasn’t said anything, I know he wants to.
“Just spit it out, Zak. I know you want to say something.”
Pushing himself from the kitchen counter he’s been leaning against, he comes to the small island that I’m currently sat at and loudly smacks the marble top.
“You may have done what you did, but you didn’t put him in front of you, he did that all by himself. Was it a shitty thing you did fucking his girl, yeah it was, but that shit takes two; You weren’t the only one there in that bed; So no, I don’t think you should feel guilty. It explains a lot, the way you are and your attitude to life. I get that, dude. I really do, but you’ve got to stop feeling guilty. You may not want to hear this, but I don’t think having Stace hanging around is helping you. You’re doing it out of obligation and that’s not fair on you.”
Taking the bottle of Jack, I don’t pour it into my glass, I just take a hefty mouthful, because what he’s saying has crossed my mind more than once. I just don’t want to admit it.
“You know I’m right, that’s why your drinking that Jack as if it’s gonna save you.”
Swallowing another mouthful, I give him the finger which causes Smith and Levi to laugh.
“You know I love ya as if you were my own brother, but you have to get over this. If you give me the finger again, I’m going to shove it so far up your ass, you’re gonna be eating fingernails for a month.”
Having said his piece, we go back to being as if this conversation never happened. Only Zak’s words are going around in my head on repeat.
Am I to blame, really?
Is Stace just clinging to me to stay close to her brother?
I just don’t know anymore.
I’m more fucked up now, than I was to start with.
I thought Daisy had issues; right now, she’s got nothing on me and mine.
Chapter Sixteen
Daisy
“No, not again. Please not again.”
I’m begging him with everything I have, not to do what he did to me, only a few hours ago. Yet, my pleas go unanswered as he locks my bedroom door behind him and starts to unbuckle his belt from his slacks.
“Now Daisy, we both know that you’re going to be a good little girl and do as you’re told.”
He sneers at me as I scramble up my bed and wrap my arms around my knees, hoping that it’ll keep him away. My small body is aching. The soreness between my legs is off the charts from when he bent me over the dining room table, when I came home from school today.
“You know the consequences if you fight me, Daisy.”
He drops his slacks to the floor, before grabbing my ankle and pulling me to the edge of my bed….
“No….”
My scream wakes me up and I can’t breathe. Quickly sitting up, I look around my room and the familiarity of it tells me that I’m not back there, and I am in fact in my own room, in my apartment. It’s when Zoe comes crashing through my bedroom door with complete and utter fear on her face, holding a frying pan above her head, do I start to calm down.
“Are you okay? Who’s in here?”
She glances around my room as if someone is hiding in here and is about to jump out at her. If my nightmare hadn’t seemed so real, I would laugh at the ridiculousness that is my best friend.
“I’m okay, Zo. Honestly. It was just a bad dream.”
I try to downplay it, but she knows my dreams are more than just bad, especially when I scream like that. Lowering the frying pan, she comes over to my bed, climbs on with me and wraps an arm around my shaky shoulders.
“Oh sweetie, you’re shaking. It was more than just a bad dream wasn’t it?”
I nod my head
“It was like I was back there, and I couldn’t stop it from happening.”
“Come on, let’s lie down and try to get some sleep.”
Pulling me back down to my pillow, she stays with me and strokes my hair. Until I’m cal
m enough to close my eyes and not see the monster that invades my dreams.
Waking up the next morning, I feel like I’ve had the life drained out of me. Last night's nightmare is still clinging to me and I can’t seem to brush it off. Pulling the covers back, I climb from bed and straight away, the smell of caffeine hit’s my nose.
Now to some people, Zoe maybe a dumb blonde, but that girl is my life saver and I can’t imagine my life without her. She’s saved my life more than once. Even when I didn’t want saving, she saw something in me that was worth it, even when I didn’t. She knows everything there is to know about me, even the fact that I don’t function until I’ve had my coffee. Pulling on my hoodie that’s thrown over my dresser, I make my way into the kitchen to get my fix.
“Morning, sleepy head. I was gonna leave you another thirty minutes, then wake you up because of work.”
At the mention of work, I start to panic.
“Oh shit. What time is it?”
I start to look at the digital clock on the microwave.
“Calm down, panic pants. It’s only ten, you have an hour, so get this down you and then go get ready.”
Handing me a mug filled with coffee just the way I like it. I smile at her in thanks, before taking a sip and sighing in appreciation.
“Are you okay today? You know after last night.”
I swallow more of the hot liquid before I answer her.
“Yeah, I’m okay. It’s just been a while since I had one that bad, but I’m not going to let it get me down. I’m going to go to work and enjoy it.”
Her face lights up and I can see she wants to say something,
“Come on, spit it out, Zo.”
“Well… Is it just the job you like or does having a boss that’s H.O.T make you hop, skip and jump down the street when you leave here?”
“Zoe.” I exclaim, “I do not hop, skip and jump.”
“Ha. You didn’t deny that he isn’t hot though, did you?”
Oh shit. I slap a hand to my forehead, and she laughs at me.
“Daisy, it’s okay you know. You can like a man. Not all men will hurt you. If Trey is anything like Zak, then I know he’ll treat you with nothing but care and respect. Sure, he’s a manwhore, they all are, but if I was ever in trouble, those guys would have my back in a heartbeat.”
The genuine look on her face tells me she’s sincere in what she’s saying, and she knows I don’t trust easy. So, for her to tell me that they are decent guys, is something in my eyes.
Groaning, I tell her.
“He is hot, you’re right.”
With that she jumps up and down and claps her hands.
“Stop being a girl about it.” I laugh before I continue. “There’s just something about him. On the outside he looks like he could break someone like me in two, with just a flick of his finger. Then when I’ve spoken to him and spent time with him, it’s like he’s a totally different person. Plus, I have to admit, his ass looks great in the jeans he wears.”
I feel a blush creep up my cheeks from saying too much. So, I grab my mug once again and quickly hurry back to my bedroom. Not one to let me get off that easy, Zo is hot on my heels and is beaming with pride when I turn to look at her.
“What?” I question. “It’s no big deal you know, it’s not like he likes me and I’m certainly not gonna throw myself at him, like some desperate floosy.”
Coming to stand in front of me, she takes my shoulders and with her voice all serious, she says.
“But this is a big deal, D. You’ve just admitted for the first time since I’ve known you, that you think a guy is hot. That you’ve been checking out his butt. So, yeah it is a big deal.”
I suppose she’s right; I’ve never been that normal girl, who had a crush on the most popular guy at school. Or the girl who goes to bars to find a one-night hook-up. I’m too damaged for that.
Pulling me in for a quick hug, she finally lets me go and leaves me to get ready for work.
The entire time I’m getting myself sorted, all I can think about is Trey and asking myself if I’m being silly, thinking my boss is gorgeous.
He wouldn’t want someone like me anyway, I have more issues than Vogue and that’s saying a lot.
Chapter Seventeen
Trey
The soft trail of a finger skims my chest and I don’t want it to stop. Stirring from sleep, I take my hand and run my fingers through the hair of the person, that’s making her way down my body. When her tongue peeks out and licks my cock from base to tip, it’s then my eyes open fully in ecstasy and I see that it’s Daisy….
“Shit.”
Bolting up in my bed, I quickly whisk my head from side to side, just to make sure that my dream wasn’t real. It can’t be real, but the hardness that’s currently tenting my bed sheets, is telling me that my dick wishes it was. I can’t be dreaming about Daisy; the woman isn’t like all the others. If I had to guess it, I would say she’s a virgin with the way she’s scared to be around men.
Wiping my forehead with the back of my hand, I climb from my bed and head for the shower. This bad boy ain’t going to go away on its own any time soon. So, it’s left to me to be a dick and go and continue the fantasy, whilst I jack one off.
It’s only this once, it won’t hurt. I tell myself as I turn the shower on and put myself in the direct line of the hot spray. I take my dick in my hand and begin to stroke. With the image of a fucking gorgeous woman, with pink hair and tits, that I could lose myself in for hours.
After I’ve had my shower, I should feel better, but I don’t. Daisy is playing on a loop in my head and I can’t just shake her off. I’ve known the girl for less than a week, but she’s embedded herself into my thoughts and now my dreams. I mean what the fuck is that about? No woman has ever made me dream about them. Daisy isn’t somebody I would normally give my time or cock to, but I have this deep sated need to be around her today.
Picking my phone up from my nightstand, I check the time and see that it’s just a little over ten. She starts at eleven and I want to be there when she gets there. I tell myself that I’m her boss and I just want to make sure that she’s settling into her new job, but I know I’m lying to myself.
I dress in record time, throwing some product shit in my hair with my fingers. Before I know it, I’m out of my apartment and speed walking down the sidewalk to the studio. Quickly stopping at Starbucks to get everyone coffee. Just as I get to the studio, I see a disheveled Daisy, running in my direction.
“Hey, slow down, Pink.” I say to her as she comes to a stop in front of me.
“I thought I was gonna be late and I didn’t want to be on my second day.”
I hear what she’s saying but I can’t take my eyes from her face. Her cheeks are a flushed, pink color, her hair is windswept and she’s panting from the running she’s just done. Just like that, my dick twitches in my jeans at the thought of the other ways I can make her look like this. Shaking my head discreetly to rid the naughty thoughts away, I say.
“You’re not late, don’t worry and if you are, so what? You can just stay and make up the time at the end of the day.”
That’s it, Trey, go all boss mode on her.
Seeing that I have my hands full with coffee, she quickly thanks me for being understanding, opens the door for me and holds it open as I walk into the studio. The smell of vanilla and cream hits my nose as I walk past her and I inhale, committing it to my memory.
I’m seriously starting to sound like a fucking girl, I need to man the fuck up and get my balls back in place.
Placing the coffees on the counter, Daisy walks around to the other side, puts her coat and bag underneath it. Before shouting the guys and telling them I have coffee for them. Handing Daisy hers, she thanks me before taking a sip. My resolve to get a grip, goes to shit the moment she pokes her tongue out and wraps her lips around the takeaway coffee cup. Like a fucking creeper, I just stand there and watch her.
> The sound of coughing breaks me away from looking at her and I see Zak looking at me. His eyebrows are raised, and he has that smug, amused expression on his face, that I just want to punch. The fuckers caught me looking at her and I just know he’s gonna give me shit for it.
“I’m going back to my station; I need to get ready for my eleven thirty.”
Then to wind me up, he places a hand on Daisy’s shoulder, but she flinches and nearly falls over, it’s that bad.
“Whoa there, are you okay?” He asks her, as he rushes to stop her from face planting the floor.
Even then when he’s trying to help her, she still cowers. What do I do? I stand there being totally useless. I want to help her, but I don’t know what to do, so I do what feels natural to me. Instead of just standing there, I walk around to the other side of the counter, take her from Zak and into my arms.
“It’s okay, Pink. You’re okay.” I soothe her.
I notice then that she doesn’t flinch when I wrap my arms around her, like she did when I first touched her. I stroke her hair and rest my chin on top of her head. At six foot, three it’s not easy when the person I’m holding, only just reaches my chest. I notice Zak look at me and he just looks as if to say, what the fuck, yet I can’t give him an answer, because I don’t even know myself.
Eventually, she calms enough to leave my arms and as she does, she looks up at me and wipes the back of her hands under her eyes.
“I’m so sorry about that, I… I”
Stopping her, I slowly place my hands on her shoulders.
“It’s okay, Pink. We all have our problems; we aren’t going to judge. Just as long as you’re okay, that’s all that matters.”
With another thank you and a nod of her head, she pulls away from me completely. Then goes to the stool she sits on, pulls out pencils and her sketchbook, effectively dismissing me.
Well, fuck me. That was interesting and just another reason why I need to understand her. No-one acts like that without some sort of trauma, she’s way beyond just a little fucked up. Pink is broken and for as much as I would love to fuck her, I’m not entirely sure I’m the man who can fix her. Not when I’m just as broken as she is.
Piece By Piece (The Ink Nation Series Book 1) Page 7
