Tangled Web Series Box Set

by Jade C. Jamison

  She shook her head and peeked at him before looking ahead once more. God, he could tell already that he could gaze upon her beauty for hours. That she seemed to not notice how striking she was made her all the more appealing. Her answer seemed honest. “Oh, probably pretty much what you think it is. I teach a bunch of high school kids throughout the year and usually find a part-time job during the summers to keep myself busy. I also do a little academic writing during my breaks, writing literary analysis for journals…just for the fun of it. But…uh…I do a little camping and go to concerts during the summer, and—”

  Aha. That explained so much. “I thought so.”

  “Thought what?”

  They stopped walking when they reached a white sedan, and Riley figured it was Erin’s car. For now, though, he needed to prod a little further. “You acted like you recognized me.”

  Her eyes—her entire face—told it all. It had been a shot in the dark, but now he knew for sure. “You could tell?”

  This was good…very good. “Well…it was a guess. A good one, apparently.” She smiled but it wasn’t long before that look just kind of slid off her face, and he felt the magic happening. He knew, though, that if he grabbed a woman like this shortly after meeting her and swallowed her in a consuming kiss, he could probably also kiss his future chances with her goodbye. Yeah, he might have been the big, bad, famous rock star, but he also knew he could push his limits. He’d been called a pig and a heartless bastard more than once. He really liked this girl, even though he barely knew her, and he didn’t want to blow it so soon. So that meant he had to distract them both by changing the subject. He cleared his throat and forced himself to concentrate. “So what am I supposed to wear to this thing tomorrow night?”

  “You know, I’m really not sure. I’ve never done this before. I’m just filling in for the real cheerleading coach, and so I’ve never been to one of these. If I had to guess, it’d be like a real date.”

  That was cute, the way she was trying to act like things like this happened all the time in her world. And then Riley tried to remember the last real date he’d had. Jesus. It had been years—and he used to get so fucked up, pulling those memories out of the cobwebs of his mind would likely be impossible. So he nodded and tried to think of how he might dress for a date today, and he couldn’t imagine himself wearing a tie or any shit like that. Yeah, he would if he had to, but he wanted her to tell him what she meant. He smirked before waving a hand over his body and asking, “So…like this?”

  She took her sweet time, raking her eyes over his body, starting at his head and ogling her way down. Holy shit. He felt like a piece of meat…but in the best way possible. That was all he’d needed to see to know that the attraction was mutual. Yeah, sure, he was a pretty confident guy and knew he could play the rock star card whenever he wanted or needed to, but for a woman like this to let go of all pretense and drool, all he could think was wow. The smirk that had been on his face froze itself while she gazed upon him, not answering his question. Then, suddenly, he saw her eyes grow wide as she caught herself and made eye contact with him. She swallowed and started speaking rapidly. He couldn’t help the grin that was spreading over his face, but he let her talk without interruption. “Well, uh…where you come from, that might be acceptable date attire, and, I suppose, the teens wouldn’t mind, but I’d guess you might want to be a little more conservative. Maybe a button-down shirt at least?”

  He nodded. “Got it.” He was ready to move in for the kill, so he got close to her, his hand on her car but his face close to hers, once more feeling like they could kiss at any moment. He hoped she was feeling the electricity like he was—he had to believe she did—and he dropped his voice. “What are you planning to wear on our date, Ms. Erin?” Oh, God. He shouldn’t have even said anything, because his mind was going all kinds of wild places. First, he pictured her in a cheerleader costume, jumping and doing mid-air splits, her tight little panties hugging her ass. Then…hell. He needed to pay attention. He was going to go insane and say something inappropriate if he didn’t focus.

  She seemed almost breathless. “Uh…I’m not sure yet. Like I said, this was kind of a last-minute thing for me.”

  Oh, legs… “A dress?”

  “Well, yeah, I have to wear a dress.”

  That was it. All focus was gone and he couldn’t stop his mouth from letting the words fly. “You don’t have to, Erin. That’s a societal expectation, and you forget…my job’s all about rebelling against expectations. You wanna wear a bikini tomorrow night, I wouldn’t object.”

  He could almost literally feel her cool. “I’m sure you wouldn’t, Mr. Schultz, but I can assure you I’ll wear something date appropriate.”

  Riley almost laughed but kept himself in check. “Mister? Fuck…that’s the second time I’ve been called that tonight. What the hell?”

  “Apparently, I and others are trying to show you the respect we expect in return.”

  Mmm. He was going to call her on her bluff. She’d made the cold/hot switch way too fast, and he wasn’t buying it. She’d turned to open her car door and he wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her into his body. Oh, shit. She felt just right up against him, but he couldn’t drop the mask of confidence. He turned his head and spoke softly into her ear. “Oh, I respect you. I just think maybe we could have a little fun together too.”

  He let her go as soon as she started pulling away. He hoped he could hide his disappointment. “If your idea of fun is seeing me in a bikini at something like this, I’m afraid you’re going to be sorely disappointed.” She opened the car door and sat in the front seat before adding, “There’s a Hooters in Colorado Springs if that’s more your cup of tea. Otherwise, see you tomorrow.”

  Riley smiled. He loved the fire in this woman, but he had to try to salvage the situation. “It was just a joke, you know.”

  “I wasn’t joking.” In a matter of seconds, Erin slammed the door shut and sped off out of the parking lot. Riley pulled his hand through his hair, watching her car grow smaller and smaller as she got farther away. He wasn’t too worried. He knew he could be charming when he had to be. How the hell this woman had already managed to harpoon his heart, he had no idea…but the fact that she also had little tolerance for his shenanigans only helped her case. Now he had to figure out how to be the gentleman she needed for the dinner that would be coming up soon…because she wasn’t just the kind of girl he’d be able to erase from his mind. Not by a long shot. And Riley couldn’t even remember the last time he’d been so thoroughly rebuffed by a woman.

  He had to have her…

  Punctured, Bruised, and Barely Tattooed

  (Tangled Web Companion Novel)

  Jade C. Jamison

  Chapter One

  KORY MCCALLISTER SAT on the brown vinyl couch in the air conditioned studio. She pulled her thumb away from her lip once again, because that nail had already been chewed into oblivion.

  So stupid. Yeah, stupid that she was so nervous, but she couldn’t help it. She was going to see Stone Bowman soon. God, that man was her dream guy and he probably had no idea she even existed.

  She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. No, she wasn’t nervous about getting pierced. She’d done it plenty of times and, with her fear of needles, she was surprised that she’d been able to do it so many times, but it was because of Stone. She’d entered this place two years ago and there he’d been—tall, dark, shoulder-length hair, scruff on his face, coal-dark eyes, and holy hell, more tattoos than her eyes could take in. His neck, arms, chest (although his shirt covered most of it), and heaven knew what else. His body was a living canvas, and Kory had fallen in love with the guy the first time she’d seen him. He was a dream. He was also a calming influence, part of why she thought she’d never be able to be pierced by anyone else on the planet, and she supposed that was why he was so good at his job.

  He was also a hell of a tattoo artist, but Kory’s fear of needles had prevented her so many times fr
om getting a tattoo.

  No one would have ever guessed she was afraid of having a needle poke her because the girl was pierced all over—multiple eyebrow piercings, nose, lips, and her ears were pincushions. She also had a belly ring. She still had plenty of places to pierce, but she didn’t want to have Stone doing the honors on her nipple…not now, anyway. She definitely didn’t want anyone else doing it, either.

  She knew having Stone pierce her was a waste of his supreme talents as a tattoo artist, but he was co-owner of the shop. She always requested him and he’d never refused.

  Kory knew her friends thought she was crazy. Earlier that day, they’d been shaking their heads at her, asking why another piercing? Didn’t she have enough holes in her body? And how would that work with her business major anyway? They never listened to her counterarguments—that she could remove the piercings whenever she needed to, very little harm done, and it wasn’t like she was getting tattoos.

  Of course, that was what she was working up to…but there was that fear of needles stopping her.

  Silly, yes, because she was pierced. A lot.

  The needle was quick, though, and it wasn’t like getting a tattoo, where it would take hours of work with a vibrating gun. No, instead, it was with a—well, yeah, that fucker was a big ass needle, but it was fast…at least the way Stone did it.

  That was why she’d gone to get pierced in the first place—to get over that fear. She had an irrational phobia about needles, and she was tired of saying she was a strong woman when she couldn’t even get her nose pierced.

  She had thought about it for weeks and weeks and finally found the courage to march in to the shop called The Iron Maiden. It was early evening, close to the time the shop was going to close, and she’d told the guy she wanted her nose pierced and wanted it done fast. He had so many questions, though, and she couldn’t remember their conversation to this day. All she could remember was his absolute beauty, inside and out, and she credited him with making needles a little less scary.

  Since that day two years ago—during the summer after she graduated high school—she’d been back almost every month. She doubted Stone even remembered who she was from one visit to the next, but his image in Kory’s head had kept her focused for years.

  Truthfully, Kory knew she belonged more in that shop than she did in college, majoring in business. With her background, she was surprised she wanted it too, but she never wanted to have to beg from anyone for anything. When she left her foster parents’ house after graduation, she knew she had one of two paths—she could be the tough-as-nails, hard ass, bruised and destroyed burnout who worked shitty jobs or maybe became a stripper, but that would be following the path of her egg donor, and there was no way in hell she wanted to be like that woman. The other path was the one untraveled by people of her kind. She didn’t want to be beholden to the man, so she would become him. She was smart enough—street smart, anyway—and her foster parents had helped her see that she had value. She could learn whatever she needed to, so long as she applied herself.

  She heard the door to the back part of the shop open. They played the same music back there that they did in the front area where they sold the body jewelry and clothing, but hearing the music coming from that area wasn’t what tipped her off to the door opening. No, it was Stone walking out with a satisfied customer. Kory tried not to feel jealous, but that customer was tall, thin, and blonde, and Kory was pretty sure the woman had fake boobs to boot.

  Stone was smiling and chatting with her as he led her to the counter while continuing to discuss aftercare. She tittered, revealing overly white teeth, as she handed a silver toned credit card to the guy at the counter. The guy—a kid named Richie—mentioned to Stone that he had another customer waiting. Kory looked at her phone, hoping she looked distracted, as though she hadn’t a care in the world, because really she was on pins and needles waiting for him to get his ass over there.

  God, he probably thought she just was a stupid kid. She’d grown her dark hair out since the first time she’d seen him, and she knew she looked more like a woman today than she had back then. Unlike the busty babe he’d just tatted, though, Kory’s breasts were small. Of course, they matched her body. She was small all over, and it just made her self-conscious. She knew people dismissed her, so she had to make up for it with her voice and gestures. The problem was that behavior was often at odds with how she felt inside.

  She was a mess, a basket of contradictions. That meant she’d never make a good girlfriend, would never be dating material, would—

  “Hey.” She heard Stone’s voice just a couple of feet away as her brain was considering an exit strategy.

  Too late. Besides, she could feel the butterflies freaking out in her tummy now as an eerie calm washed over her back. “Hey.” She looked in his eyes. Wow. Yeah. This guy was the shit.

  “Richie said you’re itching for another piercing.”

  She swallowed. “Uh, yeah.” God, she felt like she could drown in his dark eyes. She could—and she’d be content breathing in the water, filling her soul with his essence. Kory so many times felt like she didn’t belong anywhere—nowhere on the planet—but she could see herself finding peace in his eyes.

  Now, though, his gaze unnerved her. It wasn’t like it was in her fantasies. There they had an easy relationship. In real life, though, he was just a hot guy and she was merely his customer. His annoying punctured, slightly stalkerish customer who needed an excuse to be touched by him once more.

  He tilted his head toward the door to the back, indicating that he was going to lead her behind the glass door. She stood, her legs a little wobbly, and she couldn’t help but focus on his hand as he grabbed the handle. Fuck. Those tattoos all over his hand made her feel warm between her legs. If he knew what seeing him did to her, he’d be kicking her ass out and filing a restraining order.

  Jesus.

  She was so absorbed in her warm thoughts that she almost missed what he asked. She forced herself to focus so she could remember the words that had just come out of his mouth. Oh, what she wanted pierced. Yeah. She gulped again, walking through the door toward the back while he held it open, and said, “Tragus.”

  He half smiled and nodded. “Right or left?”

  She hadn’t thought about it, really. No way would she get them both done—not now. It would give her another excuse to visit if she only got one. She turned around, pulling hair behind her ears on both sides. “I don’t know. What do you think?”

  He shrugged. “I think it would look okay on either side.” They stopped near an alcove where a cushioned table butted up against a wall, almost like a doctor’s office. She knew the drill and hopped up before Stone could say a word. He opened a drawer and started getting out supplies and set them next to the piece of jewelry Kory had chosen long before he had been involved. “Do you have a preference?”

  No, not really. She just wanted his hands on her again. She would never say that, though. “Hmm. Maybe balance. You know—even me out?”

  He didn’t even look up from what he was doing. “So on the right then?”

  Wow. He remembered that she had more holes on the left than the right. Part of that was because of the industrial she had in the right ear, and she’d never bothered to put other piercings in the gap above where the bar went through. That was good, though, because it gave her plenty of options for later…until he realized she had a problem and refused to continue piercing her.

  She wasn’t a freak, though. She knew plenty of people who were crazy pierced—the ones who had to have surgery to be pierced through bone, and even some of the extreme ear stretchers, something Kory couldn’t quite get into…those were the ones who had a problem.

  Sure, she did too, but it had nothing to do with being addicted to body modification. It was an addiction for the man doing the work.

  “Yeah, that’s fine.”

  He turned around and wiped with alcohol the tiny area where the tragus piercing would go. She couldn’t
help but look at his face. He was right there and he was close, and it was at that moment that Kory realized that she probably trusted this man more than she trusted anyone else. Why? Because he had, multiple times, had her well being in his hands and, while piercings stung, he’d never injured her.

  God, he was gorgeous. Kory loved how the colorful tattoos crept up his neck. If he would have decided to grow out his beard, it would have covered the tops of them. More than that, though, she loved the tattoos on his hands. The ones on his arms crawled down the backs of his hands, and he also had letters on his fingers. One hand had the letters P-A-I-N on the knuckles and the other had the letters F-U-C-K. Kory was pretty sure it was a statement—fuck pain—which was appropriate for a guy who tattooed and pierced others for a living. Kory knew he wasn’t pierced much, at least where her eyes could see. He had slightly stretched piercings in his ears and Kory could tell he used to have snakebites that he had since allowed to close up. She bet those had been sexy.

  If Kory were the blushing kind, her cheeks would have turned pink when she started wondering if maybe he was pierced in places she could only imagine.

  The alcohol felt cool against her skin and he turned away from her to grab his needle. She bit her lip and looked ahead, swallowing. “You gonna close your eyes?”

  She grinned and glanced up at him. That meant he did remember her, because she always had to close her eyes. That was okay, though, because she could feel his body heat close to her, assuring her through the pain that it was going to be all right.

  Chapter Two

  KORY SAT AT the outdoor table outside the little café where she and her friends met every Wednesday at noon. Her friends Lacey and Tina were also her roommates, but they realized once they were working and going to school that they rarely saw each other, so they made a plan to meet for lunch—just once a week, because it was all they could afford—and that way they could catch up on anything they might have missed.