Tempting (Inked Hearts 1)

"Yeah. But she's not a kid. Kay has been taking care of herself for a long time."

"She's sweet."

"Your type."

"Yeah, but... I'm a fucking pervert," I say.

"No shit. You're into your little sister's best friend."

"No, I mean—"

"What? You like it rough so you're a pervert?"

Yeah, basically.

"Lots of girls like it rough. You should know. You've fucked most of them."

"Yeah."

"But, what, none of them were Kaylee? She's too sweet, too good to be into that shit?"

How the fuck does he have my number?

"Get over yourself, Brendon. You don't have a monopoly on dirty thoughts."

"That's not—"

"With any other woman, you'd be into her inexperience. How is Kay different?"

"She's Kay."

"That's retrograde shit. You're better than that."

No. I'm really not. I shake my head.

"Yeah. You are. Kaylee is an adult. She knows what she wants. If you can't handle that, then you don't deserve to be around her at all."

"Fuck off."

"Strong words for someone who needs my help so badly he's here at four a.m.," he says.

"We're about to be business partners. You're stuck with me."

He chuckles. "No. I want to work with you. I come into work every day because I want to be there. And you do too. You think Ryan or Dean does anything they don't want to do?"

"You have a point?"

"What happened with Kay? What did she do?"

"Crossed a line she shouldn't have." But that isn't the problem. Not exactly. It's my fucking head.

"For good reason?"

"Yeah." I get it. I want to peel back every wall around her heart. I've seen her journal and thought about taking a peek. I've been tempted.

"You really aren't a talker."

"You just figuring that out?"