Dirty Sexy Sinner (Dirty Sexy 4)

“Jackson?” Georgia said from behind him, forcing him to make a decision right then.

His gut churned at the choice he knew he had to make. As the doors to the elevator started to slide closed and he saw the anguish in her expression, Jackson prayed he wasn’t about to make a huge mistake he’d come to regret later.

“We’re not done, Tara,” he said gruffly, and then she was gone.

He meant what he’d said. Jackson wasn’t giving Tara up without the fight of his life. However, it remained to be seen whether or not she would calm down and come around.

* * *

Tara didn’t know where to go or who to turn to. She drove away from the office building where Jackson worked, her eyes blurry from her uncontrollable tears and her heart feeling as though it had just been cracked wide open and she’d never be the same again. Finding out that Brynn Howell worked at the same firm that Jackson did had been a definite shock to Tara’s system. The loathing and contempt that the other woman still held toward Tara for Michael’s death had been crushing.

But it had been Brynn’s harsh words that had slapped Tara in the face and validated all her greatest fears—that she’d never be good enough for a respectable, honorable man like Jackson. Her shameful past wasn’t something she could erase, and it would forever haunt her. She was also well aware that Jackson’s relationship with an ex–drug addict could potentially taint his reputation for making such questionable choices in the women he dated. She wasn’t the socially acceptable choice, she never would be, and there was no way she ever wanted to hurt Jackson or the career that meant so much to him.

She was an emotional mess and needed someone to talk to so she could clear her head and get a fresh perspective on the situation. She considered going to see Samantha, but she didn’t want to risk running into Clay on her day off, so instead she drove to Mason’s tattoo shop in hopes that Katrina was there.

Parking her car in an empty slot in front of Inked, she wiped away the moisture still on her cheeks and tried to gather her frayed composure. She glanced into the rearview mirror and cringed because she looked like crap. Her eyes were red and swollen, her skin ruddy since she’d smeared away most of her makeup. But it wasn’t as though she was trying to impress anyone, so she got out of her vehicle and made her way inside the shop.

As soon as Katrina saw her, the other woman knew something was wrong. Her brows furrowed in concern as she grabbed Tara’s hands and asked one simple question—what’s wrong?—and Tara burst into a fresh batch of tears that left her sobbing and all her insecurities bubbling to the surface all over again.

“It’s . . . it’s Jackson,” she finally managed to say, embarrassed that a few of the clients in Inked had seen her meltdown.

Katrina opened her mouth to reply, but a deep, terse, masculine voice beat her to it.

“What did the asshole do?” Mason demand to know as he came out of his cubicle and walked toward the two of them. His shrewd gaze took in Tara’s tear-stained face and her devastated expression, and his entire body tensed.

“He didn’t do anything,” she said, defending him before Mason could leap to all kinds of wrong assumptions. And that was the crux of it all. None of this was Jackson’s fault. It was truly on her.

Mason jammed his hands on his hips, a fierce scowl shifting across his features. “Doesn’t fucking look like nothing to me.”

Katrina pursed her lips in annoyance. “Back off, He-Man,” she told

her husband. “She doesn’t need you going all caveman on her behalf. Sometimes a girl just needs another woman to talk to, no violence necessary.”

Mason didn’t look completely convinced, his protective stance not relaxing one bit. “I already warned Jackson that I’d kick his ass if he ever hurt Tara, and the fact that you’re crying and upset is enough to tell me that he did something stupid.”

“I swear he didn’t hurt me,” Tara said adamantly so Mason would calm down. If anything, she’d hurt Jackson or, at the very least, had embarrassed him in front of his bosses. By now, she was sure the entire firm knew of her involvement in Brynn’s brother’s overdose and death, and she just hoped that the bad decisions she’d made in the past didn’t do any damage to Jackson’s career or reputation.

“It’s what I did, not him,” she admitted quietly.

Mason shook his head, looking utterly perplexed. “I don’t get it.”

“You don’t need to get it,” Katrina said, because clearly, she did understand.

He rolled his eyes at his wife. “Women are so fucking confusing,” he grumbled, and stalked back to his workstation.

“Come on,” Katrina said gently as she looped her arm in Tara’s. “Let’s go to the office, where it’s quiet and private and we can talk without a certain someone butting in and adding his two cents to the conversation.”

“I heard that,” Mason shouted from his cubicle.

“I meant for you to,” Katrina shot back without remorse as they walked toward the office.

The exchange made Tara smile, which she needed badly. She was also incredibly grateful for the alone time with her friend. Once they entered the office, Tara sat down in one of the small chairs, and Katrina made herself comfortable on the desk right in front of her.

“So, what happened?” Katrina asked, her tone kind and caring.

The whole incident poured out of Tara, the horrific confrontation with Brynn, the fact that Jackson’s bosses had overheard the entire encounter and now knew all about her shameful and humiliating past, and how she’d ended things because a man like Jackson deserved so much better than what she had to offer.

“Wait a second,” Katrina said, stopping Tara right there. “First of all, what, exactly, are you offering Jackson at this point in the relationship? Besides sex, that is,” she added with a knowing grin.