"There is no way in fucking hell that I'm touching that," I pointed to the hall separating my office from my tattoo room with emphasis, "with a ten-foot pole. And here's some friendly advice, A.J. Maybe you should be a little more discerning where you dip your wick, and stop using my shop to find places to dip it while you're at it."
He glared at me, his eyes flashing angrily, and opened his mouth to say something he'd probably regret. I really wasn't in the mood for his shit today.
"A.J." I raised my brows meaningfully, my tone low and commanding as I stopped him before he could say anything. "Choose wisely what you say next. I am your boss. I'm easy going most of the time, but don't mistake that for weakness or think for a minute that I won't fire your ass if you disrespect me."
His mouth snapped shut, but he continued glaring at me. I stared back sternly, waiting for him to make his choice. I had no qualms about firing him today if I had to, and he could see that clearly in my hard steady gaze. His mouth snapped shut, and the muscles in his jaw clenched and unclenched several times, then he chose wisely. He stood and stormed out of the room without another word.
I sighed heavily after he left. This day just kept getting better. I glanced at the clock. Shit, I needed to finish up Tori's tattoo, so we could close on time at eight. I reluctantly returned to my room to find Tori on her phone. What a surprise? Her face lit up as she looked over to eye me up and down as I walked in.
"Ready to finish this up?" I asked in a flat tone.
"Definitely," she purred.
I took a seat on my chair and got to work again, and I finished up about fifteen minutes before closing time. I quickly bandaged it up for her trip home, and explained the aftercare to her. She pulled her skirt back up while I discarded my used needles, aiming her ass at my face again. I wanted to throw up.
When I stood to walk her out, she blocked my path from the room. She stood in front of me, her bosom heaving and her hips cocked to the side. I stared down at her with narrowed eyes, not even hiding my annoyance now. She raised her hands and ran them up my chest.
"What can I do to show you my appreciation, Ford?" she asked in a breathy wanton tone. It probably worked on a lot of men. Not me. I grabbed her wrists and gently pulled them away from my body as I gave her a hard stare. I belonged to Jen, not this tramp. Jenny was the only woman I wanted touching me. When I let her go, she dropped her hands to her sides with a simpering pout.
"I have a girlfriend," I told her pointedly. "This," I motioned back and forth between us, "ain't gonna happen." Now, she looked pissed. Whatever.
"But I..." she started whining.
"If you head out front, Liz can take your money," I interrupted her dismissively. I didn't want to spend another second with her, and I didn't care to hear anything more she had to say. I hoped to God never to set eyes on her again. I ushered her out of the room before she tried anything else. I watched her take off down the hall with a huff, before going back into my room to finish cleaning up.
A few moments later, I heard Tori's shrill voice coming down the hallway. Fuck, now what? I hurried out front to see Tori leaning over the reception desk and getting in poor Liz's face. Liz had long shaggy black hair, numerous tattoos, and stretched earlobes. New and barely twenty-years-old, Liz was a good kid and didn't deserve to be yelled at. I was very protective of her.
"What the hell is going on?" I barked out in my intimidating Dom voice.
The two women snapped their heads in my direction. Tori looked livid, and Liz looked relieved, her dark eyes wide and freaked out. Tori focused her ire on me.
"Three hundred dollars?!" she practically screamed at me. "You never told me that!"
I crossed my arms as I stepped into her space and glared down at her. "I told you the price, twice." I spoke in a deep rumble laced with anger. "It's not my fault you couldn't be bothered to get off your phone long enough to listen to me." She was pushing me right to the edge here. "Berating Liz isn't helping you at all, and if you're refusing to pay, then I can always call the cops to get this straightened out." That got her attention.
"Fine," she snarled out and reached into her purse. She pulled out a credit card and flung it onto the counter in front of Liz, who grabbed it and threw a smirk at me. Thankfully, Tori didn't notice. Liz ran the credit card through the machine. I gave Tori the receipt to sign, then handed her a copy of it along with her card. She snatched both from my hand and stomped out the front door throwing one more glare over her shoulder at me. Good riddance.
"What a bitch," Liz growled out when Tori was gone.
"Yeah," I grumbled out. "Sorry about that."
Liz shrugged. "It was worth it to see you put her in her place."
"I hope she never comes back." I shook my head in disgust. I glanced at the clock to see it was five minutes shy of eight. Close enough for me. I didn't want that bitch to come back in. I headed back to my office to grab my keys, so I could lock the front door.
When I came back out and stopped next to the door to lock it, I happened to glance outside. I noticed that Tori was standing on the sidewalk next to a hideous pink convertible V.W. Beetle, and talking to A.J. while he smoked a cigarette. He was smiling down at her luridly as she pushed her tits up toward his face. Un-fucking-believable. I shook my head in disgust as I locked up. The two of them deserved each other. I turned and headed to my apartment upstairs, planning on calling Jen, so she could help me forget this godforsaken day ever happened.
**********
"Holy shit balls!" A male voice blurted out as I pulled my helmet off and hung it on the handlebar of my bike. "You have a Rocket III Roadster?"
I turned to see Andy, Jen's brother, walking out of the open garage bay of Purcell Auto toward me. His grin was wide as he eyed my bike appreciatively. He walked around it, staring at it until he was standing in front of me.
"You have my permission to marry my sister," he deadpanned as he reached out and ran a hand across my bike's gas tank. I burst out laughing. That was the complete opposite of the last time he greeted me here and questioned my intentions with his sister.
"Wow," I said with a smile. "If I had known my bike would get this reaction out of you. I'd have ridden it the last time I was here."
His eyes lit up mischievously. "Does that mean you want to marry my sister?" he asked with a smirk.
The question should have scared the shit out of me. To be honest, it did to an extent, but a sudden image of Jen in a white dress popped into my head, and it just felt right. Mind you, I wasn't going to rush into anything, but right then I just knew that Jenny was going to be my wife someday. I was sure of it. The revelation was surprising to say the least, considering the only things I knew about marriage I learned from my parents fucked up relationship. My God, who am I?
"Are you that eager to marry off your sister?" I asked him, playing along with the joke he intended it to be.
"To the right guy," he said with a more serious expression as he eyed me sharply. "As long as he makes her happy and treats her right."
"I have every intention of doing just that," I told him gravely. Andy met my eyes, an assessing expression crossing them as he looked at me. He seemed to see what he was looking for because after a moment, he nodded and his smile returned. There was more to Andy than met the eye, just like his sister.
"I'm assuming you're here to see Jenny," he said. "She didn't mention anything about you coming by."
"She doesn't know." I grinned like an idiot without meaning to. "It's a surprise." I was here to tell her that I got my test results back just before lunch, and I wanted to do it in person. Plus, I hadn't seen her since Tuesday morning, and I didn't want to wait until tonight to see her again.
"Well, come on." He gestured with his hand for me to follow him. "I'll take you to her. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."
I nodded and followed after him into the garage, eager to see Jen. I missed her desperately. The last two nights were long and restless as I lie alone in bed, horny as hell and unab
le to get her out of my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about having unprotected sex with her. I'd practically been hard for half the day so far.
"So," he said as we walked. "Is riding her as amazing as they've made it out to be?"
"What?" I asked in a horrified tone. Wondering if he read my mind, and why the hell he would ask something like that about his own sister.
"I hear the Roadster's torque is mind-blowing," he continued as he gave me a bemused look.
"Yeah," I blurted out in an attempt to cover my mistake. "My bike's one hell of a ride."
"So I've heard," he said with a wry twist to his lips. There was no missing the sudden gleam of amusement in his eyes as he realized what just happened.
"It'll get away from you in a heartbeat if you're not careful." I ignored his amusement. "I accidentally popped a wheelie at a light the first time I took her out. It scared the shit out of me."
"I bet," Andy replied, still smirking at me.
Fortunately, by then we reached Jen's office. Andy stepped into Jen's doorway while I waited out of sight a few feet away.
"Hey, sister of mine," Andy smiled widely. "I got a surprise for you."
"Andy," Jen's irritated voice called out. "Can't you see I'm busy? I don't have time for your stupidity."
"I can always come back later if you're busy," I said as I stepped through the doorway past Andy. Jenny's eyes lit up as she stood up out of her chair behind her desk.
"Ford," she said, her tone laced with need and affection. It made my heart constrict and start to pound in my chest. Holy hell, I loved this woman. She hurried around her desk and flew across the room to throw her arms around my neck, heedless of her brother's presence next to us. Her vanilla musk engulfed me, the scent memory making my body instantly react to her. I held her tight against me, feeling like I was home. I leaned back and stared helplessly at her as I studied every inch of her beautiful flawless face. It felt like her sapphire eyes were sucking me down into them, and I couldn't look away. I leaned down to kiss her.
Andy suddenly cleared his throat, and Jen and I startled. We both forgot he was even here.
"I'm going to head back to the garage, and leave you two kids alone," he said in an amused tone. "Need me to close the door on my way out, or are you guys into voyeurism?" I glanced over to see him smiling gleefully at his sister. She glared at him.
"Fuck off, Andy," she told him. He winked at her, unimpressed by her threatening stare and took off down the hall with a wave.
I laughed and shook my head. "Your brother is something else."
"My brother is a fucking idiot," she said as she smiled up at me.
"You sound like my sister," I accused her. "She literally called me that the other day."
"Did you do something idiotic?" she asked with raised brows.
"Yeah, I did." I ran my knuckles down her soft cheek. "I almost fucked everything up with you."
Her face softened. "But you didn't."
"No," I whispered with a warm smile. "I didn't." I kissed her softly and sweetly. The taste of her and the feel of her lips on mine filled me up inside, my love for her welling up and threatening to overwhelm me. It took an effort of will to pull away, but this was not the place for a hot and heavy make-out session.
"I'm so happy to see you." She stared up at me with a brilliant smile, still a little breathless from my kiss.
"Not as happy as I am to see you." I took a step back to let my eyes drink in the luscious curves of her body. "You look gorgeous today, honey." She was wearing a loose-fitting sheer white blouse and a dark-red leather skirt. Her shoes were black stiletto pumps. I didn't know how she always managed to look like such a sexy badass yet still remain professional.
"Thank you," she murmured with a smile, even though I saw a bit of discomfort ghost across her face. I hated making her uncomfortable, but she needed to get used to my compliments, because she was amazing, and I couldn't help myself.
"I got my test results a little while ago," I told her, my voice dropping seductively. "It was negative, and you should check your email."
Her eyes lit up with blue fire at my words as she smiled excitedly at me. It made my knees feel weak. She stepped away from me and hurried back to her desk. I grinned as I took a seat in one of the chairs in front of her desk. I watched her face intently as she stared at her monitor and opened her email. A moment later, her eyes darkened seductively and met mine.
"It's negative," she purred as she ran her tongue over her lips.
Holy hell, I suddenly wanted to push everything off her desk and fuck her right here, right now. I wanted to shove my bare cock so deep inside her that I couldn't tell where I ended, and she began. I wanted to make her scream my name over and over again, and know that she was mine, all mine.
"Fuck, Jen," I breathed out in desperate voice. "I want you right now."
"I know," she whispered needfully.
We stared at each other for several long moments, lost in our desire for each other. I was about one second from jumping across the desk and grabbing her when a smooth male voice suddenly interrupted me.
"Hey princess, do you want me to order pizza for lunch?"
I turned in my chair to see a man in the doorway. He looked to be in his fifties with graying light brown hair, and a trimmed beard and mustache. A pair of glasses were perched on top of his head. I immediately saw the family resemblance to Jenny and particularly Andy around his eyes and nose as he focused his dark eyes on me. Shit, it was her dad, and here I was with an erection thinking about fucking his daughter in her office right under his nose.
"Oh," he blurted out apologetically. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you had a customer with you."
"Hi, Dad," Jen said, her voice a little breathy. "I'm not with a customer. Um...this is Ford." Her voice was suddenly uncomfortable. "We're...we're dating, and he's my...my boyfriend."
Her dad's eyes widened in surprise then narrowed sharply as he studied me closely. It was the exact same expression Andy gave me the last time I was here. I needed to make a good impression right now. I stood and smiled at him.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Purcell." I reached out to shake his hand.
He took in my gruff appearance and tattooed arms, and I braced for a negative reaction. If he was anything like my father, I was screwed. He shot a questioning look at his daughter, who smiled shyly at him, then looked at me again and finally smiled warmly.
"It's nice to meet you too, Ford." He shook my hand firmly, his face open and friendly now. "I had no idea my daughter was seeing someone."
"We were just about to head out for lunch." Jenny said hastily. We were? She stood, grabbed her purse, and came over to stand next to me. She reached for my hand as a discomfited look crossed her face. I wasn't sure why she was seeking comfort from me in front of her Dad, but I gave it to her. I took her hand in mine, and she latched onto me tightly.
"Well, I won't keep you, princess," he said as he glanced down at our joined hands and smirked. "Have a good lunch."
"Bye, Dad." Jenny started pulling me along past her father and out of her office.
"Nice meeting you again, sir." I blurted out as Jen dragged me down the hall.
"You too," he called out with a wide grin and amusement in his eyes just before we disappeared around a corner.
I let Jen lead me outside to her car before I said anything. She got her keys out, but I pulled her away from her car and turned her to look at me.
"What was all that about, Jen?" I asked with concern, even though I was afraid of the answer.
She suddenly avoided my gaze. I felt a hole in the pit of my stomach.
"Honey," I said in a quiet uncertain tone. "Are you...are you ashamed of me?" If that was true, then this was not going to end well. It was bad enough my father felt that way. I couldn't be with a woman who felt like that. I wouldn't do that to myself.
"What?!" she blurted out in shock, her eyes wide in disbelief. "No!"
"Jenny," I said dubiously. "Then why did
you just drag me out of there?"
"I don't know," she said softly as tears welled in her eyes. "I guess it made me think of the last time my dad met my boyfriend."
"Carter?" I asked in sympathy.
She nodded, pain sharply evident in her gorgeous eyes. Fuck that guy and what he did to my Jenny.
"Come on, honey." I grabbed her hand and took her keys. "Let me drive. You're upset."
"Okay." She let me lead her to the passenger side, and I opened the door, so she could climb in. I got in the driver's seat and started the little car. I couldn't stand seeing her hurting over this. I needed to do something, so I was going to take us somewhere quiet, and we were going to talk this out.
**********
I drove Jenny's car to a nearby park, after picking us up some sandwiches from my favorite deli. I parked the car, and we got out to walk hand in hand through a rose garden, before crossing a brick-paved path that framed a sunken pool. There were multiple concrete urns filled with flowers along the edge of the water, permeating the air with their fragrant perfume. The path ended at four steps that were flanked by two low decorative concrete walls. The steps led up to a raised area covered with white pergolas. It was beautiful and tranquil here, which made it a popular place for weddings.
Today though, the park was virtually empty, since it was midday on a Thursday, and it gave us some privacy. The subject I wanted to broach with Jen would be difficult for her, and I thought this place might put her at ease.
"Let's sit there, honey," I said softly as I spied a low bench to our left, shaded by a huge tree. It faced a small pond with a large fountain at its center, and was surrounded by some truly gorgeous trees and landscaping. I led Jenny over to it and sat, pulling her down next to me.
"It's beautiful here," Jen murmured quietly as she looked around. She absently opened the bag with our lunch in it, and got our sandwiches out. We sat in silence for a few minutes as we started eating, listening to the soothing sounds of the fountain and the singing birds all around us. I noticed that Jen seemed disquieted as she stared off into space, picking at her sandwich and only taking small bites. I frowned, worrying about her and wanting to take her distress away.
An Act of Restraint: Order & Chaos Book 1 Page 23
