“It depends. If it’s classy, then count me out.”
“I was thinking more of a diner. Unless you like a hole in the wall instead?”
“Nothing wrong with a good hole in the wall or greasy spoon.”
“I think home-cooked is best myself.”
Bella hesitated. She had no idea what she was doing. She shouldn’t do it. God, she shouldn’t, but damn it, she couldn’t help herself. She was like a dude, thinking with her- well- the throbbing parts of her were siphoning all the blood from her brain. That was probably a nicer way to put it.
“Yeah. I guess so.”
“From here? Or from your place?”
“My place,” she forced out, her mouth suddenly so dry and her head spinning, so that she craved one of her own super-sweet juice concoctions. Maybe I can convince him dinner is overrated. No. No- we are not going there again. This is just about making it up to him for not coming out of the bathroom, and damn, he really did get a tattoo just for me. Kind of. Probably. Maybe?
Rhett was all easy confidence. If he was rattled, she couldn’t tell. He produced a business card, of all things, a damn card, out of his wallet. “Good. You can text me your address.”
“I- how are you sure that I actually will?”
He frowned, but it was forced. The crinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened adorably and god help her, he completely stole her breath. She watched his lips as he spoke, aware that she was doing it, but completely unable to tear her eyes away.
“Because if you don’t, I’ll come back for another tattoo and another and another, until you’re forced to explain who I am and why I keep coming back.”
CHAPTER 8
Rhett
He might have changed his last name a long time ago, but he was still a dick. Showing up at Bella’s work unannounced and getting tattooed wasn’t the smartest thing he’d ever done. He now had a permanent reminder of her aching on his leg.
Okay, maybe not of her, but… hell yes, he’d think of her every time he looked at that panther. It wasn’t the most pleasant experience of his life. He’d kind of dove right into the whole tattooing thing, but he was kind of surprised to find that he actually liked it. The experience left a little to be desired. During the first half hour, he wasn’t sure if he was going to have to tap out of it and walk away with a sixth of an outline on his leg, but Rick was right. When he settled in and it numbed out it was bearable. Up until the time it sure as hell started to feel like his leg had become little more than tenderized meat. Rick worked fast though and even with the hamburger skin, the guy finished fast.
His work was nice. Rhett hadn’t exactly gone in blind. He’d at least checked out the guy’s portfolio and the shop’s reviews before submitting himself as a human canvas.
His prize… Bella. She was so worth it. The art was pretty good too.
Rhett pulled up to a small condo. It wasn’t fancy, just a two-story skinny building with grey vinyl siding and white trim around the windows- the kind of thing that was mass-produced and sold for a budget price. The neighborhood was decent and there was a small playground in the middle of the square condo complex. The buildings were probably less than five years old.
Rhett paused momentarily as he pulled his rental sedan up to the visitor parking spot. If he really considered it, it was ridiculous for him to be there. It was completely inappropriate for him to take Bella out for so many reasons, not the least of which was that he’d got completely drunk and banged her on his wedding night then left after she locked herself in the bathroom and refused to come out. When he really thought about it, there was a high chance she’d probably lied about her address.
Wouldn’t that just be great if he walked up to the door and some angry old person told him to fuck right off when he asked if Bella lived there.
No, she wouldn’t play that kind of joke on him. Not once he’d threatened to keep coming back to her work. The last thing Bella obviously wanted to explain to her co-workers was that she’d- well, he didn’t know what exactly about him was so embarrassing. That he was a tattoo virgin. Or that he’d been so up until that afternoon. That was probably a good start.
I shouldn’t even be here. He was a dork royal, but hell, he’d been moping around the house long enough. He wasn’t just thinking with his cock either, though thoughts of Bella went straight to his groin and heated up his body in all sorts of ways that were just… wrong. Straight up so inappropriate. His body wanted what it wanted, and it had been a hell of a long time since he’d felt truly alive.