Tempting (Inked Hearts 1)

Fifty bucks says she's about to ask if I'm really Ethan Strong.

A hundred bucks says she follows up with something about how she'd never screw a stranger, but she feels like she already knows me.

Hell, a thousand bucks says she mentions something about my skill with my hands.

It's true—I am fucking fantastic with my hands.

She shimmies her hips as she moves closer. Her eyes find mine. "I hate to ask, but are you really Ethan Strong?"

Damn. So much for a night of anonymous sex. I'm about to become the story she tells all her friends.

I smile my megawatt smile, the one I use to win over the crowd. "That's me. What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Natasha." She laughs. "You're so funny in interviews. Do you get that all the time?"

Yes. I smile back at her. "Not as often as I'd like."

"I normally don't do this kind of thing but I feel like I can trust you." She squeezes my bicep over my leather jacket. "Oh listen to me, I forgot to start with the best part. You're so good in Dangerous Noise. Your hands must be talented."

"You can be the judge of that, sweetheart." I try to hold my smile, but it's getting difficult. This is such bullshit. She must realize it too.

There. I manage to smile wider. If I'm going for this, I have to hold up my end of the rock star fucks groupie bargain.

She gets her fantasy. I get a few minutes out of my head. We both come. Yeah, I'm using her, but she's using me too.

It's win-win.

Usually.

Right now, I'm having a hard time convincing my body to get in gear. This whole place screams of Violet. And the contrast between the way Violet stared at me—she saw every fucking inch of me—and the way this woman is looking at me, like I have famous guy tattooed on my forehead, is underlining how much this is bullshit.

I have to move closer. I have to slide my hands to her ass and whisper in her ear I shouldn't do this, sweetheart—to be honest, I've already forgotten her name—but there's something special about you.

That's my usual move.

I shrug my shoulders to shake off my funk. It's been almost two years since Violet left. Doesn't matter that no one compares to her. I'm not looking for a new girlfriend. I'm not looking to fall in love.

I'm not interested in love. That's more bullshit.

"This bar is getting crowded, huh?" she asks. "How about we go back to your place?"

Uh-uh. Nobody comes back to my place. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna leave her wanting. I turn on the charm. "My sister's in town. How about we go back to your place. Or-" I slide my arm around her waist "—we could go around back."

"Okay." She grabs at my shoulders.

"I like your dress, sweetheart." I play with the spaghetti strap going over her shoulder. This is happening. And it's gonna feel good. Period. Violet doesn't enter into the equation. "Have to apologize in advance for how I'm going to destroy it."

She lets out a needy sigh.

I lead her through the side door. No sense in wasting time. I need to stop thinking.

I pin her to the wall.

She rises to her tiptoes to kiss me. I turn so she gets my cheek. From the sound of her whine, it's not what she wants, but that's too bad.

Her lips go to my neck.

I close my eyes.