by Jess Bryant
Skylar had developed a fascination for ink when they were still relatively young. It had started as part of her rebellion against her overprotective parents and become an expression of her true self. The few tattoos Jemma could see now were intricate and detailed and she knew for a fact that there were more beneath Skylar’s clothes. What she had not known was just who had been putting all of that beautiful ink on her friend’s skin.
“He did yours didn’t he?”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t hmm me like you didn’t understand the question. Colt. He drew that.” She motioned to the pattern of delicate lace and roses that caressed Skylar’s shoulder and upper arm.
A small smile lit Skylar’s face as she glanced down at her own skin. Softly, she traced the pattern with her finger, as if she couldn’t help it. When she glanced back up and Jemma raised an eyebrow, her smile didn’t fade but her cheeks flushed a light pink.
“This is the first one he ever did for me.”
Her eyebrows went higher, “The first?”
“He’s done a few more since.” Skylar nodded, “He’s an incredible artist.”
“Yeah, he is.” She agreed easily.
“That’s how we became… friendly. He put in the shop and we kept running into each other. I gave him the cold shoulder for months before he reminded me of something you always said.”
“Me?” She asked in surprise.
“He isn’t his family.” Skylar shrugged, “That’s what you used to say about Cash. He’s a Bomar but that doesn’t mean he’s a bad person. He and Colt are twins but they aren’t the same person either. I figured, maybe you had a point, and hating Cash for hurting you didn’t have anything to do with Colt.”
Skylar had never told her any of that. Hating Cash on her behalf, she’d known. Skylar was a good friend, a loyal friend, and she would hold what he had done over Cash’s head until hell froze over. She hadn’t known that Skylar was holding it against Colt too but she supposed she should have. They’d always been a package deal. But Skylar had softened towards Colt at some point in the last five years and she hadn’t said a thing about it.
That had to mean something.
“Anyway, we got to talking and I mentioned wanting a tattoo and he offered to draw something for me.”
“And that’s what he came up with?”
Skylar smirked, “Mmm, yeah, no… well, eventually.”
“Roses. Like your middle name.”
“He has no idea my middle name is Rose.” Her friend smiled again, “But yeah, roses with thorns. I think that’s why I finally said he could do it, because he didn’t forego reality. He included the pretty parts and the rough all together. It felt like me.”
Jemma nodded because she thought that summed up Skylar perfectly. Beautiful and perfect from a distance but when you tried to get close, you had to watch out for the sharp edges. Soft but dangerous. She wasn’t one thing or the other. She was both.
“He did an incredible job.”
“He did.” She agreed with a laugh, “Or I wouldn’t have ever let him touch me again.”
“Touch you?”
“These things don’t magically appear, Jem. It took hours in his chair for him to create this masterpiece.” Her cheeks flushed again, “Hours of him, quite literally, holding me down as he put the needle to my skin.”
“Sounds painful.”
“It was.” Skylar grinned, “It was also, really, really hot.”
Jemma laughed as her friend finally gave her the information she’d been digging for. There it was. Skylar thought Colt was hot, which… yeah. Even from Jemma’s completely objective point-of-view the man was gorgeous and that had nothing to do with his face being so similar to Cash’s, or maybe it had everything to do with it, they were twins after all. But they weren’t identical, not anymore, she smiled.
“His tats are kind of sexy huh?”
“No. I mean, yes, they are, duh.” Skylar giggled, “But…”
“But?”
“But…” Skylar got a far-away dreamy look on her face, “It’s not just that, it’s… there’s something about being in that chair and hearing that buzzing sound and feeling the sting of the needle while that big, dangerous man has his hands on me.”
She raised her eyebrows again, “And you said there’s nothing going on.”
“There’s not.” Skylar’s face fell, “We’re friends. We flirt. The only time he touches me is when I’m in that chair getting a tattoo.”
“I’m not sure I believe you.”
“You should, because I’m telling you the truth. He flirts with everyone like that. I’m nothing special.” She frowned, “Or maybe I am, because out of all the women he flirts with, I’m pretty sure I’m the only one that’s never been invited through the revolving door the skanks use to get in and out of that apartment over there.”
“Maybe because you have a boyfriend?”
“Maybe.” Skylar snorted and then propped her feet up on the coffee table, “And don’t think for a second I don’t see what you’re doing, turning this back around on me. We were talking about you and the other half of the Bomar twins.”
Jemma let her get away with the change of subject, for now, “You’re right. We were.”
“You were trying to convince me you weren’t going to get involved with Cash I think.”
“Cash is… complicated.” Jemma sighed, her mind already wondering where he was, what he was doing, if he was thinking about her, “We’re not jumping into anything. I promise.”
“You sure about that?”
She nodded, “He said the same thing you did. I’m not ready and I need time to think.”
“Oh, he did, did he?” Skylar smirked.
“Yeah.”
“Good. Maybe I won’t have to threaten his balls again anytime soon.”
“Good.” She grinned, “Because Colt was right, I do kind of like Cash’s balls right where they’re at.”
The two of them burst into a fit of giggles. Jemma laughed harder as her best friend teased her about a boy. It was all so simple and silly. They’d done it a hundred times in high school. And like this, it was easy to forget that whether or not she and Cash decided to give it another go wasn’t her biggest problem.
Chapter Eight
Cash cursed under his breath when he looked out the window and caught sight of his every late-night fantasy.
Her red hair was tied up in a messy ponytail and she was wearing the sorriest excuse for a sundress he’d ever seen. The white material was completely see-through, not just hinting at the curves beneath but highlighting the lines of what he hoped and prayed was a bikini and not her underwear. Not that it mattered. Her hips swayed as she crossed the street towards the pool and he was hard, just like that.
“Shit.” He watched her disappear behind the small white gate that served as the privacy fence for the complex pool and tried to convince himself of all the reasons following her was a bad idea.
It had been a little over two weeks since he picked her up off the side of the road. Two weeks since she came storming back into his life and turned him inside out. Two weeks since she’d looked up at him with those beautiful hazel eyes like she trusted him to keep her safe and two weeks since she’d kissed him all sweet and soft and told him she wanted him.
Damn, that wasn’t helping his erection any.
Neither had two weeks of random run-ins. She was staying with Skylar, right next door, and it didn’t matter if he was coming or going, his gaze always strayed to that door hoping for a glimpse of her. He’d had more than his fair share of those in the past two weeks, probably because he’d reduced himself to stalker status and kept the blinds in the living room open so he could see her if she walked past.
She’d come by to thank him for his help the day after she went home with Skylar. He’d dropped over with the excuse of updating her on her Jeep a couple times. They’d run into each other at the mailboxes. She’d waved when he parked the truck coming home from w
ork a few times. He’d helped her carry in groceries once.
They’d made small talk. They’d chatted about the weather. She’d asked him how work was going. He’d asked how she was settling in. They’d barely delved deeper than that and he’d already felt skeevy enough keeping an eye on her that he hadn’t wanted to push for details of her life if she didn’t feel like opening up.
For that, he’d been reduced to pleading with Colt for information. His brother and Skylar saw each other daily because their shops were so close. They did more than make small talk apparently. From his brother, Cash had learned that Jemma wasn’t planning to go back to Houston, or anywhere else for that matter, that she was looking for a job and intended to move in with Skylar for good.
She was back, officially, and she intended to stay.
And he was overjoyed. She was here. She was sticking around. She was moving in next door. He would get to see her. He would get to talk to her. He might even be able to convince her to give him another chance and let him take her out. If she was here, he might get to keep her this time. But then his old worries and doubts would start to rise up again.
Jemma was made for better things than Old Settlers could offer her, than he could offer her. She’d left once. She could do it again. Not everything about her life away from here could have been bad, could it?
If he got close to her again, and she left, it would hurt all over again. He’d be opening himself up to having his heart broken all over again. And, his conscience never missed an opportunity to remind him, he’d yet to come clean about his lies so even considering being with her wasn’t a possibility right now.
Even knowing that he would be better off, that she would be better off, if he kept his distance, he couldn’t stop himself from going to his room to change. It was Jemma and he’d been drawn to her like a magnet since they were kids. She was right on the other side of that fence, most likely in some tiny excuse for a bikini, and so he dragged his work clothes off and pulled on his board shorts and a t-shirt to go to the pool.
Cash grabbed a towel out of the cabinet, tossed a pair of cheap sunglasses on, and then headed across the street. The pavement was rough and burned his feet but he skipped his way across it like any kid that had grown up running wild on the plains could. He flipped the latch on the gate to let himself into the pool area and he didn’t have to look far to find Jemma.
If he’d thought he was hard before, he could use his dick to pound nails now.
She hadn’t gone for a swim yet. Instead, she’d placed her towel on one of the chaise lounges and was lying on top of it. Her arms were stretched over her head and she had one leg bet up slightly at the knee. She’d taken off the cover-up and was wearing what amounted to tiny neon pink triangles over all of her best parts. He had a flash of memory, of having her beneath him in just that position, and damn near forgot how to walk. He pulled his towel from his shoulder and held it in front of him to hide his erection as he walked towards her.
She was wearing those same sunglasses she’d had on when he found her on the side of the road. The little silver aviators were wide and covered a good portion of her face. Her eyes were covered but that didn’t matter, he could feel them on him and his body reacted just as it always did to her perusal.
God, he’d always loved the way she looked at him. Plenty of women over the years had stroked their eyes up and down him and made him momentarily forget how much he hated his Bomar genes. Only Jemma had ever looked at him and made him feel like she appreciated more than just his God given good looks. She looked at him like he was capable of conquering the world and for her, he would damn sure try.
“Hey babe.”
Her lips twitched up into a smile, “Hey yourself.”
“Whatcha doing out here?” He grinned back at her when she didn’t call him out on the endearment, “Trying to bake that pretty porcelain skin?”
“I put on plenty of sunscreen.”
“Damn, and here I was gonna offer to rub it on your back.”
She giggled, “I think I got it covered but I could probably be talked into helping you with the hard to reach places if you need.”
He groaned and snapped at her with his towel, “Sassy girl, you better watch what you offer. I just might take you up on it.”
She squirmed and laughed again, “Sit down you giant, you’re blocking my sun.”
Cash slid onto the chaise lounge next to her and watched as she resituated herself to face him. Her breasts were barely contained and they bounced as she moved. He swallowed another groan and tried to think about baseball stats to control the situation in his pants but it was useless with Jemma within reach.
“So, what’re you doing out here?” She turned her head to face him once she got comfortable.
“I saw you come out and thought I’d say hi.” He told her honestly and watched her smile widen. “You don’t mind the company do ya?”
“Not if the company is you.”
He relaxed a little at the pleasure in her voice. He’d hoped she wouldn’t send him away but he hadn’t really known for sure. Things were still so up in the air between them. Until two weeks ago, he’d known without a doubt that she hated his guts for what he’d done. That night he’d picked her up had changed things, had proven there was still something between them, but he’d tried to convince himself not to read too much into her reactions to him that day.
She’d been emotional. She’d been vulnerable. And she’d clung to him because he was familiar. He’d forced himself to back off that day and he’d tried to give her time and space to deal with things since. She was coming off a highly traumatic experience. She didn’t need some old boyfriend lurking around, getting hard, thinking about kissing her and stripping her naked every time she breathed in his direction.
“I heard you’d decided to stay in Old Settlers.” He prompted when she was quiet.
“Yeah. I’m moving in with Skylar for good.” She paused, a frown momentarily marring her beautiful face, “Well, I mean, I will be moving, if I ever work up the courage to go back to Houston and get my stuff.”
He sat upright immediately, “You’re going back to Houston?”
“To get my stuff.” She nodded, “I left everything, remember?”
“I know but can’t you just replace it?”
He hated the idea of her going back to Texas, even if it was just to get her things. He didn’t want her anywhere near the bastard that had hurt her. He didn’t want her in the same state as the guy, let alone the same city or apartment. Hell, he realized he didn’t even know if she’d been living with the guy, though since they had been engaged he assumed she probably had been. He hated that too.
“Unfortunately, no. Not everything.” Jemma shook her head, “I’ve bought some new clothes and stuff like that but there’s personal stuff I’d like back.”
“Like what?” He growled.
“I left all of my jewelry supplies. I spent years saving up and buying those tools and materials. I’m good at it and Sky says I can sell my stuff in her salon but I can’t do that without my tools.”
He scratched his head, “You’ve been making jewelry?”
“Yeah.” She nodded and glanced away, “It’s a hobby mostly but it’s something I love doing and I could use some income until I find a full-time job or figure out what I’m gonna do with my life.”
“I remember you making jewelry in school. You sold bracelets to all the cheerleaders and jocks with their boyfriends and girlfriends initials and names carved into them.”
Her smile returned instantly, “You remember that?”
“Of course I remember that.” He fought the urge to reach over and brush her bangs back, “I still have the necklace you made me in a drawer somewhere.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“I would have thought you’d gotten rid of it.” She bit her bottom lip, which he was pleased to see had healed.
“Because it reminded me of you?” He shook his head when s
he nodded, “That’s why I kept it. You gave it to me so it was important to me. It still is. I’ll have to see if I can still get it around my fat neck just to show ya.”
She giggled, lightening the mood, “Your neck isn’t fat. Nothing about you is fat.”
He almost smiled but then he remembered what she’d said, “So you’re really going back to Houston to get your things?”
“Yeah. Eventually.” She fidgeted, tugging at the string holding her bikini bottom together, “I haven’t decided when I’m going yet but I need to go, to put it all behind me once and for all.”
“You think you can do that? Just pack up your things and forget all about it?”
“I don’t know if I can ever forget, or that I’d want to. It’s a part of my life, part of who I am now. But I have to put it behind me before I can move on.”
He found himself wishing he could see her eyes when he asked, “Are you ready to move on?”
She was silent for a long moment. He could feel her gaze on him. He didn’t move, didn’t even breathe. She stared at him from behind the safety of her sunglasses for a long time before a hint of a smile curled at one corner of her mouth and he let himself release the breath he had been holding.
“I want to be.”
“That’s a good start.”
Her smile inched higher, “I’ll let you know when I’m ready.”
He felt his own answering grin but forced himself to focus on the conversation and not on his wildly beating heart, “Do me a favor, let me know when you’re ready to go get your stuff too. I don’t want you going alone.”
“I didn’t intend to go alone. Skylar was going to drive me.”
He shook his head, “Two women driving to Texas to confront your abusive ex? No. No way you two are going alone.”
