Chapter 1
The fog had settled in over the city of San Francisco. The locals put on their coats and stayed on the streets, casting off the chains of the workweek with excess. The bars and clubs were in full swing even two full hours after midnight.
“Where in the hell did you go?” Kate Braden propped her hands on her hips and sent Ramsey a seething glare. “We’ve been shaking the trees for you.”
Ramsey offered her a smile that was a shot of pure sin. He curled a hand around her hip and pulled her against his hard body while taking a moment to enjoy the display her corset top pushed her breasts into. “Would have surfaced sooner if I’d known you wanted me.”
He purred out the word “wanted.”
A faint scent of scotch surrounded him, but it was a fine grade and only added to his dark-as-midnight persona. He was wearing leather pants and vest as usual, but it fit in with the crowd on the sidewalks of San Francisco. At least the crowd that was out at two thirty in the morning.
He started to nuzzle her neck.
“Hands off my wife there, Rams.”
Syon Braden appeared, neatly lifting Ramsey’s hand off Kate’s hip. Syon slid in and took possession of her as Ramsey grinned.
“What happened to Tia?” Syon asked his bandmate.
Ramsey frowned. For a moment, his rocker image cracked, showing the very sharp mind of the man who lurked inside the Toxsin band member. It was only a momentary glimpse before Ramsey shrugged and offered them a bored expression, retreating into his bad-boy persona.
“Guess she’s gone.” He kept his tone nonchalant. If Kate didn’t know him, she never would have guessed he cared at all about the girl in question. He shrugged again, his leather vest opening to display a peek at his six-pack abs.
But it also showed her a flash of something else.
Kate reached forward for the waistband of the leather pants he wore.
“She might be your wife, but she can’t keep her hands off me,” Ramsey taunted Syon.
Her husband shifted, trying to decide what she was doing. Kate nudged the leather down just an inch and gasped.
Syon cursed.
The other two members of Toxsin had found them and joined Syon.
“They’re”—Kate pushed the waistband a little farther to get a better look at the new tattoo on Ramsey’s lower abdomen—“cherry blossoms.” Her voice was a horrified whisper.
Ramsey frowned and looked down. He was sobering up quickly, his expression turning deadly. “That bitch.”
“Damn it, Ramsey,” Syon snapped. “You can’t slip the leash like that.” He peered at the delicate, blush-pink blossoms.
“I wasn’t drunk when I went off with Tia,” Ramsey said.
“Damn straight you weren’t,” Taz said. “I would have stayed on your butt if you were.”
Ramsey was struggling to remember how he’d ended up with a tattoo. “I didn’t have that much.” His forehead furrowed as he tried to concentrate. He popped open the button on his waistband and looked down.
“Oh, shit,” Drake said, his British accent emerging.
“That’s bad,” Taz agreed.
“We’ve got to do something,” Syon confirmed.
Clearly tattooed on the singer’s body were two sprigs of pink cherry blossoms. They conflicted so badly with Ramsey’s dark image, his bandmates stared at him for long moments as shock held them silent. It was a serious crash-and-burn moment.
Kate pulled him closer to a streetlamp, hoping the light might show it to be a temporary tattoo.
No such luck.
“You’re screwed.” Kate detected the faint red marks from the needle. There was a slight gloss from Vaseline too.
“We’re screwed,” Syon added. “We’ve got a show in forty-eight hours.”
The members of Toxsin stuck together. Ramsey and Syon were tighter than most married couples. Kate had learned that firsthand when she’d met Syon and spent a season on tour with them as their costumer.
“It’s Toxsin!” someone yelled from across the street. There was the blare of a horn as the fangirls stepped right into traffic in their quest to connect with their music idols.
Kate reached out and refashioned Ramsey’s pants to hide the tattoo.
“I dreamed about this differently,” Ramsey drawled. “You took my pants off in my dreams. I remember that detail perfectly.”
“Right now, they need to stay on.” She fastened up his vest while she was at it, but the garment wasn’t going to hide the top half of the second blossom.
“We’ve got to get this fixed. Now,” Syon said. “That is going to show on stage, big time.”
They might have been sporting long hair and leather, making them look like society’s rejects, but all of them were dead serious when it came to their image. The potential for disaster the little feminine tattoo posed was off the scale.
As in…epic disaster.
The tabloids would have a field day if even one fuzzy picture surfaced. They’d just hit the Bay Area and had two days until show night. Ramsey was known for his guitar solos, and his lack of a shirt made sure his abs were on display.
“I don’t think cover-up is going to do the job on that one,” Drake offered.
“One little rub from the waistband of your pants, and it would be all over cyberspace,” Kate added.
“We need tattoo rescue. Like, now,” Taz said as he dug his phone out of his pocket and started searching the Internet. “The paparazzi get a shot of that, and we’re never going to live it down.”
“Well, gotta do what we gotta do for image…” Ramsey slid behind Kate, trapping her in front of him as a human shield as the fangirls made it to them.
Syon punched him in the shoulder, but all he did was smirk and rub his chin on top of her head.
“You’re so hot!”
“Can I have a picture with you?”
The girls squealed as they tried to push their way closer to Ramsey. Kate ended up sandwiched between them.
“Got it,” Taz said.
Drake went to work, settling his arms around the fangirls and steering them away as he charmed them with his British accent.
“Three blocks south. All-night tattoo parlor. Good references,” Taz said once the fans were out of earshot.
“Let’s check it out.” Syon whistled. A young Korean man looked up from where he’d been leaning against a streetlamp enjoying the view of the bay. “Better get some sleep, Kate.”
She let her bodyguard take her toward a black SUV with tinted windows. Syon and Taz surrounded Ramsey, guiding him away. They were three lean, hard bodies, and if she did say so herself, they were wearing really great leather pants. Kate took one last look at her work, as the leather showed off their prime butts, before she ducked into the SUV, Yoon holding the door for her.
Yoon claimed shotgun before the driver pulled the car away from the curb and took her back to the five-star hotel the band was staying at. The paparazzi were camped out as usual. They perked up as the car pulled up, raising their cameras as Yoon opened her door, ready to catch one of the members of the mega rock band Toxsin in a moment of inattention. There was a ripple of disappointment when they realized it was only her, but they were always ready to make the most of every opportunity to claim a headline.
“Hey, Kate, how is it being married to the Marquis?”
“Are you pregnant?”
“Is it true you’ve filed for divorce?”
“Are you allowing Syon to date?”
The paparazzi had no shame. They’d hound her with the most ridiculous questions, and as far as personal boundaries went, they didn’t have any. Taz had brought in his cousin Yoon to be her bodyguard and keep them at bay. The paparazzi stood behind velvet-covered ropes as Yoon swept them with a keen gaze to make sure they weren’t breaching the barriers the hotel had set up.
Yoon escorted her inside. He’d finally stopped shooting glares at the more insensitive questions. Hotel security was waiting for her, making sure none of the camera jockeys followed her inside.
“The boys still out?” Brenton, the band’s road manager, greeted her with a handshake and a room key card.
“Um…yes. And we have a problem, with Tia.”
Brenton fell into step beside her, never losing his congenial grin. Managing a mega superstar band like Toxsin meant the walls had ears and telephoto lenses. He waited until the penthouse elevator door closed the curious spectators out before his expression went serious.
“How big of a problem?” Brenton asked.
“Cherry blossoms.”
The road manager’s eyebrows lowered as he listened to her.
* * *
“What do you think you’re going to prove?”
Jewel tapped her fingers against the countertop and bit her lower lip. Her mom was just getting started.
“Don’t you appreciate the education your father and I paid for?”
“I do, Mom.” Jewel managed to keep her tone even and sweet. Really, it shouldn’t have taken much effort. At this point, she should be well acquainted with her mother’s disdain for her current employment choice.
But her skin wasn’t as thick as she’d like to think. The tone of her mother’s voice cut deep, slicing into the dream she was trying to live with the sharp blade of reality.
Don’t hate the messenger…
“Well, you wouldn’t know it by the way you’re playing around in that tattoo shop like some sort of orphan who didn’t have the benefit of a university education paid for by her parents,” her mom said.
“I just love art.”
“So love it.” Her mother was completely exasperated now, her breathing rough on the other end of the line. “What I don’t understand is why you aren’t using that marketing degree. You need to get out and start your career. If it was your own shop, I might understand. I hate to think about you suffering. Living in a death trap apartment, wondering where your next meal is coming from, sleeping on a futon.”
Guilt chewed on her. “Money isn’t that tight.”
Her mother made a low sound of disbelief. Jewel couldn’t really form another argument because, well, it would be a flat-out lie. Her boss was a prick, who paid her only when she had a client, and he scooped up the best hours while the parlor was open, leaving her to mind the shop from three in the morning until lunchtime, when most of their clientele woke up.
And she did sleep on a futon. In an apartment building that had been built in the twenties. Plugging more than one kitchen appliance in at the same time was asking to break out her fire extinguisher.
It wasn’t anywhere near the exciting adventure she’d hoped for when she’d decided to try a year of being a struggling artist. So far, all she’d really experienced was the “struggling” part. Substandard wiring and plumbing were everyday challenges. So was scraping together enough funds to pay the landlord. She had a newfound understanding of the girls who resorted to stripping a couple of nights a week to supplement their income.
“Mom, I just wanted to venture a little off the beaten path. Just for a bit, while I’m not responsible for anyone else. I don’t even have a houseplant, and I have the safety net of knowing I can come home. I do appreciate you. I just want to try walking on the wild side, to say I did it.”
There was a soft sound as her mother sighed. “I was young once too,” her mother confessed with a soft snicker. “Burned my bra at a concert once; bet you didn’t know that.”
“You didn’t!” Jewel exclaimed.
Her mother smothered a giggle. “I did. Whipped that puppy off, tossed it into a trash can, and lit it up. It was the night I met your father. I wanted him to see me as a woman of the world: fearless, confident in my sexuality, a true wild child.”
“Get out!”
“Your sign says twenty-four hours.”
Jewel looked up and fumbled her phone. She was pretty sure her mouth hung open, but wasn’t completely sure, because her brain decided to fry, leaving her staring at the decadent man prowling across the shop toward her.
“Tell your mom you’ll call back. I need you right now.”
Okay, fried wasn’t nearly hot enough a word to describe the sensation going through her. The guy in front of her was a god. Six and a quarter feet of raw muscle, with black eyes that looked like they’d been carved out of a moonless night sky at midnight. His shoulder-length hair was spiky and screamed nonconformity. But it was the flash of arrogance in his eyes that drove home just how raw he was.
This guy took what he wanted and never apologized for any of his desires.
It should have raised her hackles. Instead, it made her wet.
And she wasn’t sure she liked it.
Scratch that. She was sure she didn’t like it, because it felt like she was losing control.
“Mom, I’ve got someone in the shop.”
Her voice had become raspy. She blinked, trying to scrape together some poise. It felt like mission impossible as the god grinned at her, his lips curving in a sensual way that sent a bolt of heat straight into her clit.
Shit.
The guy was sex on a stick. And his leather pants made it clear he had quite a stick.
“How can I help you?” she asked.
“So, you’re open?” She hadn’t realized the god had companions. One was an Asian man with short, spiky hair, black as a raven’s wing, with a flash of blue fire that made it look amazing.
“Oh…sorry. I was talking to my mom.” Her tongue felt like it had gone lame. “When you walked in, that is. We’re always open.”
And her day was suddenly looking up. “I’m Jewel. What are you gents looking for?”
“Do you do tattoo rescue?” The blond one was talking now. His hair fell just to his shoulders, and his eyebrows were slashes.
“You can only go darker. So if it’s already black, your options are limited. But sure, I do rescues.”
“Wait,” the Asian guy insisted. “Do you have a portfolio?”
“Of course.” Jewel pulled a large book from under the counter.
She was used to seeing leather and brawn in the shop, but there was a level of detail on all three of them that spoke of money. The pants were all custom-made, or she’d pack up and start sending out marketing résumés like her parents advised. She knew the difference between wannabes and genuine badasses.
These were the real McCoy.
“I mean, nothing personal, but we can’t have this done by an amateur,” the Asian continued as he started flipping through the pages of her work.
“Speak for yourself, Taz.” The dark-eyed one was leaning farther across the counter, making the air between them sizzle. “I’d like to get very personal with you.”
His voice was like black velvet. It would be super easy to just let it rub all over her. She got the feeling she’d end up purring. There was a flash of something in his eyes, sending a tingle of apprehension through her.
He knew exactly what sort of effect he was having on her.
God, that was sexy. It really redefined her concept of the word. He knew exactly what to do with every inch of her body.
She ended up rolling her lower lip in and setting her teeth into it. His dark gaze dropped to the little nervous motion, his lips curving rakishly in response as he leaned on the counter, moving closer to her. He was too damned smooth, pushing in on her comfort zone with an ease that was annoying, but at the same time, forced her to admit she admired it. A ton of guys thought they were good at getting under a girl’s skin.
This guy was amazing at it.
He was arrogant, but with a solid core of confidence that sent a shiver down her spine. Part of her really wanted to put him to the test.
Which wouldn’t help her pay the rent. She dug deep, trying to get a grip on her professionalism.
“You might want to see these too.” She lifted another album from beneath the counter and handed it over. “These are my awards, and the back half are rescues, before and after shots.”
The blond took it in a flash, leaving her once again staring at the dark-eyed god. Her mouth actually went dry when he opened his mouth and bit the air between them. “Maybe you should let me in on the…problem?” she said.
His grin grew into a huge smile that showed off gleaming white teeth. “Thought you’d never ask me to open my pants.”
He’d straightened up, giving her another glimpse of just how tall he was before he popped the button on his fly.
It was totally unprofessional for her to get a buzz out of his brazen attitude.
But frickin’ awesome nonetheless.
She was actually holding her breath as he worked the buttons.
One…
Two…
Oh, hell, the guy was chiseled.
But the delicate pink blossoms hit her like a bucket of ice water. “Oh, that is just wrong.”
She came around the counter, her attention fixed on his lower belly. Jewel sank to her knee to get eye level with the cherry blossoms. It was a sacrilege, like putting pink ribbons in the ears of a panther.
“Hmm…” The dark god made a soft sound under his breath and reached for her head. For a moment, she was caught in that second, waiting for his fingers to land on her.
“Don’t be an idiot, Ramsey.” Taz smacked the hand away. “These pictures are good. We don’t need her getting pissed off because you get touchy.”
“Looked to me like she wouldn’t mind me…touching.” There was a brazenness to him that should have pissed her off.
Really, it should.
Jewel straightened up, forcing herself to take a reality check. Ramsey was dark temptation, completely lickable, and he knew it. Yeah, she had that part of his persona pegged perfectly. The little cherry blossoms proved that she was far from the first girl to feel his magnetism. She’d better get a grip before she found herself driven to extremes, like the jilted ex-flame who had clearly lashed out at him through the tattoo.
“Pissed off your girlfriend?” she asked pointedly.
“She wasn’t really a girlfriend.”
Jewel clicked her tongue and looked back at the cherry blossoms. “By the look of that, she disagreed with you on the topic. She must have taken you to Spike Collar.”
Taz was typing into his cell phone as she spoke. “Makes sense. You surfaced right around where that tattoo parlor is on the map.”
“Just don’t go back there,” Jewel warned as she went behind the counter and pulled a blank sheet of paper in front of her.
“Why not?” the blond asked. “I’ve got half a mind to have my lawyer pay them a visit.”
Jewel didn’t look up from what she was drawing. “Won’t do you any good. They never touch a client without a release of liability signed and sealed, with video footage to back it up. Whoever was gunning for you did her homework. The gals at Spike Collar don’t like guys, and they really don’t like any males who try to charm them.” Jewel cast a look at Ramsey. “You are exactly the sort they hate. Bet they popped a bottle of champagne the second you cleared the doorway with that little gem.”
Taz made a low sound under his breath.
But Ramsey was watching her. She felt his attention tightening, focusing on the motion of her pen as she inked a design on the paper. He’d sent a shiver down her spine before, but now he was warming her insides, melting her core slowly with the absolute devotion he was giving her. She looked up, locking gazes with him.
Her insides churned.
And her toes curled.
She’d never felt so connected to another soul. It was his doing, and she realized that his arrogance was something he’d earned.
That fact slapped her across the face and sent her into a full meltdown. He was the sort who could captivate.
Which was a damned dangerous place to go.
It wasn’t like she had any personal experience with it. Still, she felt like she was on pins and needles. The sheer level of sensitivity the guy was able to elicit from her was off the scale. It was fascinating to say the least.
As well as a really bad place to go when he looked like he could afford to hire her.
She looked back at her work, forcing herself to focus on the art and get a grip on herself before he knocked her flat. Sweat popped out on her forehead, but her hands responded perfectly. Art was like a living force inside her. A place she could take refuge in as well as being a gift she might share. She let it consume her, the drawing coming to life beneath the strokes of her pen. It was a little like giving birth: first she had to let it grow and form before it was ready to breathe.
“That is smokin’ hot,” Taz said as he leaned on the counter to peer at her work.
“You’re good,” the blond said in a tone full of awe.
Ramsey reserved judgment until she’d shaded in the last few areas on her sketch. When she lifted her pen, he swept it up and studied the drawing. It was a metal dragon crawling down his abdomen toward his cock. Its front claws would be where the cherry blossoms were, and its tail would wrap around his lean hip and onto his lower back. It wasn’t a reptilian dragon. It was a steel one, a merging of metal and mythical creature.
His eyes narrowed as he studied it, seeing more than just the black lines. He was seeing the attitude she’d tried to capture and portray. His expression gave her a hint of the man inside him. She got the impression he spent a lot of time covering up that man with his don’t-give-a-rat’s-ass attitude.
But she saw it.
His attention shifted to her, their gazes locking over the edge of the paper. For a moment, she caught a flicker of understanding in his eyes. Just a moment of awareness, a few seconds when he admitted to himself that she saw him.
Really saw him.
It didn’t last long. In fact, she found herself questioning if it had really been there, when his gaze hardened and sealed her out of that place he was determined to keep private.
“You recognize me,” he said.
It wasn’t a question, but she felt inclined to answer anyway. “It isn’t hard to peg you for a metalhead when you’re wearing nothing but leather and have a stud bar through your nipple.”
“I’m a metal god,” he said.
“Right,” she countered, feeling a rise of heat in her cheeks. “I’m good at what I do.”
“You are,” the blond interrupted. He was studying her portfolio. “So why are you working the graveyard shift?”
“I wanted to work at the best shop in town. That left me to choose between Spike Collar and here,” Jewel said without hesitation.
“But you’re not a lesbian,” Ramsey finished for her. “Bet that was a bit of a problem with getting hired over at Spike Collar.”
“Definite ripple in the pond,” she confirmed. “Not on my side, mind you. They just don’t like straight girls. Shame really, they know how to do tats.”
“So do you.” Ramsey was thumbing through the pictures of her work. He wore that businessman expression.
“Who are you?” she gave in and asked. All three men looked up at her. “I mean, since it sounded like you were trying to impress me.”
“Impressing you will involve more than my name,” her client said. His lips curved, and his expression became sensual. He flattened his hand on the counter between them and leaned toward her. In one flat second, it felt like her breath caught in her lungs. She was hyperaware of him, fighting not to take a step back. There was a flicker of approval in his dark eyes as she managed to stand her ground.
“Count on that fact.” Her voice had turned raspy, but his arrogance was rubbing her pride raw. “I do tats. Only tats, for pay. So if you’ve got a problem understanding boundaries, the door is behind you. There’s another place a couple of blocks up that opens in a few hours.”
Taz reached over and shoved Ramsey. “I told you not to piss her off.” He shook his smartphone in the air between them. “She’s the best in the nearest three cities—checked her out.” He turned to look at her. “Your references rock. Why are you working in this dump?”
“Because my boss might be a prick, but he’s also got twenty-five years’ experience, and references to top mine. I want to learn from the best, and there are a few things you can’t learn from anyone but a master.”
Taz nodded. “True, even if some masters are egomaniacs.”
“You didn’t answer me.” Jewel aimed her inquiry at Ramsey. “Who are you?”
“Ramsey, Taz, and I’m Syon,” the blond answered. “We’re members of a band called Toxsin.”
She bit back the snide Yeah, right that tried to escape her lips.
No way.
But they were all standing there looking pretty confident. She reached over and tapped “Toxsin” into the laptop on the countertop. Their website was the first thing to come up. She clicked on the link.
“What the fuck are you doing roaming the streets?” She looked up from the screen at the three guys standing in front of her. It was weird, to say the least, to have the pictures from the screen living and breathing in her shop. “Don’t you have people to deal with stuff like this?”
Ramsey eyed her from where he was lying on the counter. “I’m a hands-on sort.” He covered her hand with his, stroking the back of it.
Jewel ended up taking that step back. Victory flashed through his eyes as she sent him a sharp look.
Taz punched him in the shoulder again.
“How’s that ‘hands-on’ thing working for you tonight?” Jewel said. It was a barbed comment, a challenge. Hell, it felt like she’d smacked him across the jaw with a white glove and dropped it at his feet.
The way his eyes narrowed confirmed that he felt the same way. For one split second, she half feared he might just flip the counter out of the way or jump over it.
“Let’s focus on the problem,” Syon said. “We need this fixed—discreetly, quickly.”
“No joke.” Jewel happily changed thought tracks. She pulled one of the shop disclosure agreements up onto the counter. The tightly packed lines of legal mumbo jumbo didn’t give her the same sense of comfort they normally did. Ramsey grabbed it and yanked the top off a pen before boldly scrawling his signature across the bottom line.
Taz was flipping the lock on the front door.
“Good idea,” Jewel agreed. She didn’t care for the fact that she had to take a breath before getting her feet to move.
Ramsey flopped down on her worktable, popping his pants open. They were custom-made, all right; the right side of them shaped perfectly to contain his cock.
The guy had an impressive package.
She ended up stopping halfway around the counter, earning a smirk from him.
“Don’t let my fame make you nervous,” Ramsey teased her.
“Typically, I worry about my clients taking their displeasure out on my hide.” She made it to her stool and sat down. Her workstation was normally the place she felt most comfortable.
Today, she felt like the padded stool was full of spikes.
“So what’s your problem with me?” Ramsey asked.
She wasn’t going to answer that.
Nope.
Not a chance.
She turned half away from him and sterilized her hands.
“Cat got your tongue?” he asked.
Jewel turned back toward him and swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.
What a man-animal.
She really needed to get a grip and enjoy the moment. She was pretty sure she was never going to get the chance to work on so fine a specimen again.
“I’m thinking you wouldn’t think twice about filing a lawsuit against me, signature on a release form or not,” she said.
His expression turned serious, his eyes narrowing, his lips thinning. “I don’t get my kicks out of using my money to pin my mistakes on other people. I own my fuckups.”
It wasn’t what she’d expected him to say.
But she liked it.
A whole lot.
Integrity was something most people sold out on. Especially when it came to admitting they’d made dumb mistakes.
“I’m beginning to see why the gals at Spike didn’t refuse to do your girlfriend’s dirty work.”
Ramsey leaned his head back. “She wasn’t my girlfriend.”
“I’m guessing that was the problem.”
He’d closed his eyes but opened them and looked at her. “Guess it was. But I didn’t lie to her.”
He really did own his screwups. It was there in the flat acceptance on his face. He looked past her to his bandmates. “I’m good. You guys can shove off.”
“Not a chance.” Syon settled himself on the other worktable. “Those little pink flowers will take us all down.”
“Yeah.” Taz sat down behind the counter and claimed her laptop. “Besides, I don’t trust you to be polite. Jewel is a lady.”
Ramsey made a low sound under his breath. “I bet she gets naughty with the right company.”
Jewel didn’t look up from where she was cleaning the skin on his abdomen. She was no stranger to personal jabs, especially off-color ones.
What surprised her was the way her pulse leaped.
She needed to get a grip.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Taz said. “She’s an artist, like Kate.”
“Yeah,” Ramsey agreed. “Sorry, I’m still a little buzzed. Talking out of my ass.”
Jewel warmed under the single word of praise. She got the impression Ramsey didn’t hand out undeserving compliments. She ended up looking into his eyes because he was watching her.
“Kate made my pants.” He gestured at his buddies. “She makes all our leather gear.”
“She’s good.” Jewel picked up her sketch and began to position it. “I see my share of leather around here. The good, the bad, and mostly the ugly.”
“She’s the best,” Syon added without opening his eyes. “Even has good taste in men.”
Ramsey snorted. Syon offered him a single-finger salute.
“Aren’t you guys cute,” Jewel muttered.
“There’s nothing cute about the part of me you’re looking at.”
She should ignore him.
Should, but she wasn’t going to. Jewel looked up and caught Ramsey grinning at her. “Did you want this done sometime before Christmas?”
“You wouldn’t let me go on stage wearing flowers…would you, Jewel?” He tried out his puppy eyes on her.
“The idea is growing on me.”
He made a soft humming sound beneath his breath. “I like a girl who plays rough.”
“I bet you do.”
Which was just enough of a reality slap to get her focused. He was an animal, the prowling kind.
And she was already living on the edge enough.
She got the drawing into position and transferred it onto his skin.
Canvas.
Normally the word helped her tune out everything but the art.
Yeah, well, there wasn’t much of anything that was normal about Ramsey.
“Do you want any painkiller before I start inking?” she asked. “You seem to have sobered up. This is going to feel like a cat scratching at sunburned skin.”
He bared his teeth at her. “Scratch me, pussycat.”
She ignored the word pussy.
Or at least she tried to.
“Okay. But you might reconsider, since you’re a virgin—”
He curled up as he laughed. Taz was snorting, and Syon actually rolled off the other workstation.
“Cute,” Jewel said as she pushed her hands into gloves. “I’ve never had that response before.” She dabbed a bit of Vaseline from a tub and put it on the skin she was about to work on. “But you are a virgin, big boy, an ink virgin.”
Ramsey straightened back out, his lips curved into an expectant grin. “Can’t wait for you to pop my cherry.”
Oh yeah, one hundred percent animal. Night jungle cat, unless she missed her guess.
She got the impression it was something she’d both love and hate. He was a study in extremes. Which was something that combined rather well with the dragon she started to ink on him. It was a potent combination that made her feel linked in to the creature taking shape beneath her fingertips.
She wanted to breathe life into it.
Needed to, actually.
It was an obsession, one she willingly submitted to. Inside her art was her personal haven, where things like doubt didn’t penetrate. She knew she was good and made sure she worked hard at becoming better. The little needle gun in her hand was a way to express herself and share the wealth of dreams inside her with the outside world.
She ignored the way her neck stiffened up and the pain in her knuckles. Bringing the dragon to life was all that mattered. Through it all, Ramsey watched her. It was hypnotic in a fashion and deeply intimate in another, because he didn’t turn his face away when he flinched. It was like he was mesmerized by her, which couldn’t be true. Not a man like him. Maybe she had her cute factor, but he must be chased by hundreds of women daily.
Still, he watched her. It warmed her cheeks, and his lips twitched up slightly in response.
Oh yeah, he knew what effect he had on the opposite sex.
But that just seemed to be part of his charm.
* * *
Her entire back ached by the time she finished.
Jewel decided she didn’t care.
Ramsey was looking at his tat, his face set into an expression of dark satisfaction. He turned slowly in front of her full-length mirror. His gaze shifted up until he was watching her through the polished glass.
Her breath froze.
She was kinda sure that something shifted between them.
The sun was just coming up.
He was a little too perfect. Part of her actually expected him to dissipate as she woke up and realized she’d fallen asleep on the countertop because the night had been another dud.
“You rock, Jewel.”
He wasn’t teasing her, wasn’t trying to get a rise out of her. The three words were sincere, and she realized she liked the glimpse of his serious side far too much. There was something inside him just as tempting as his animal persona. Something she got the feeling he didn’t share very often, if at all.
“Keep it out of the sunlight for three weeks,” she warned him as she handed him a printout of rules for making sure the tat healed. “And follow these instructions. Seriously, follow them.”
He offered her a lazy smile as he came toward her. “Worried that I don’t follow rules?”
“Actually, I’m pretty sure you view rules as things to jump over, but in this case, follow them or you’ll end up with scarring or in the hospital with an infection.”
Taz reached over and whacked his bandmate on the side of the head again. Ramsey jumped, looking like he’d been caught off guard, and flipped Taz off. The Asian member of Toxsin wasn’t intimidated. He pointed a stern finger at Ramsey before reaching past him and taking the instruction sheet.
“Right, I’ll follow them,” Ramsey said.
He was opening his wallet, digging out a bunch of bills. She hesitated before reaching for them. Which was stupid, but she didn’t want to let the moment end.
Of course it had to.
He stopped with his hand on the door. “I’ll leave your name at the security desk tomorrow night. Come see the show. You should get a front-row seat to the unveiling of your work.”
Ramsey, Mega Rock Star, offered her a wink before he walked out of her life. Jewel watched him go, enjoying the uniqueness of the moment. There was a soft sound of an engine as an SUV pulled up in front of the shop without a shred of regard for the red curb. A guy hopped out from the front seat and had the door open before Ramsey and his buddies made it across the narrow sidewalk.
Oh yeah…they had guys to do stuff for them.
Jewel didn’t waste her time feeling jealous. She soaked it up. It was the adventure element her life had been lacking.
And a fine, healthy dose of it, too.
* * *
“Hmm…” Ramsey considered the list of rules. “Tight clothing is ill-advised.”
Syon groaned. “Why do we have to suffer?”
Taz snickered but turned and looked out the window as Ramsey popped open his pants. Ramsey didn’t care for clothing most of the time anyway. Having an excuse to shed it was welcome.
“She was cute,” Syon muttered. “The artist.”
“Yeah.” Ramsey stretched out his legs and let his eyes close. But his brain was churning. Jewel’s face was there, and all the intensity that had shown while she worked. It was sexy, but he was used to having sexy females around. There was something else snaring his attention, something he hadn’t associated with a female in a long time.
Admiration.
That made him frown, because it might lead to things like respect. Sure, he respected a fellow artist, but the last thing he needed to do was think she was sexy too. He enjoyed his sex life the way it was—uncomplicated.
Jewel was complicated. Problem was, that was the thing about her that he liked best.
* * *
“You fucking bitch!”
Ted threw his hat toward the hat stand as he blew through the door of the shop just before noon.
“Ramsey of Toxsin was here, and you didn’t let me do his tat?” Her boss was in top form, his neck and face red as he threw one of his tantrums. The man knew how to seethe better than anyone she’d ever met. In fact, she was pretty sure she’d never actually seen a human seethe before she’d met Ted. Because in toddlers, what her boss was doing was called a temper tantrum.
He was covered in tats from his shaved head to his feet, and wore only a tank top with a low, scoop neckline to better show off his tats and body.
Jewel rubbed her hands, her joints aching from the hours of work she’d done on the dragon. “The deal is walk-ins are mine during my shift.”
“Not when it’s a mega rock star,” Ted argued. “And why is this place a pig sty? Cleaning is part of your job.”
“I had a customer.”
“That you should have called me in to deal with.” Ted planted his foot on the stool at her workstation and kicked it across the shop. “Get out of my shop!”
“You’re firing me because of a walk-in?” she demanded. “That was our arrangement.”
“You bet your ass I am,” Ted snarled. “No bitch is working under my roof who doesn’t know who gets the lion’s share of the meat! In case you don’t understand English, it means mega rock stars are mine, no matter when they walk in. I built this place, not you.”
Ted chucked a half-full coffee mug at her.
Jewel yelped as she jumped out of the way. Cold, day-old coffee splattered across her leg as the pottery shattered.
There was a blur of motion as she regained her balance. Then a gurgle, and the sound of someone struggling for breath. She looked up and stared at Ted’s arms and legs flailing while Ramsey held him pinned against the wall, a full foot off the floor. It was more than impressive, because Ted liked to lift weights, and wasn’t flabby by a long shot.
“I don’t let pricks near me.” Ramsey released Ted. There was a scuff of boots against the floor as he landed. Ramsey faced off with him, his stance ready.
“Throw something else at her…” Ramsey’s voice was low and menacing. “I’d really love a reason to kick your ass.”
Ted spread out his arms. “What’s the big deal? She’s a fucking ice queen. Won’t give out a pony ride or even lip service. You want to fight over that?”
Ramsey shook his head and looked back at her. Jewel discovered herself standing in stunned shock. She’d never expected the look of protectiveness in his eyes. “Get your gear.”
Ted started to move. Ramsey turned on him in a flash. A tingle shot through her as she realized his well-honed body was more than just a showpiece. The guy had training in more than how to use the local gym weight equipment.
“And you”—Ramsey faced Ted again—“shut up before I kick your ass for being too stupid to recognize the value of professional behavior.”
“I’ll sue you,” Ted threatened, sounding like a weasel.
“And I’ll tweet, at the top of my mega rock star bandwidth,” Ramsey countered, in complete control and command of the situation.
The tension was tight, the two men settling into a staring war. She flipped open her case and started dumping her gear into it. The second she closed it and secured the metal latches, Ramsey reached over and grabbed the handle. He opened the door for her in a few long strides.
She was standing on the pavement before everything really sank in. Just shy of noon, the streets were fairly empty, because it was a Thursday.
“Which way?”
“Uh…” The guy was just as sexy by the light of day, which should have been against some cosmic law.
“Your place,” Ramsey said, enlightening her.
“Oh.” She reached out for her gear box. “I’ve got it.”
He offered her a raised eyebrow and kept her gear box out of her reach. Short of chasing his right side around in a circle, she wasn’t getting it back.
“I didn’t expect to see you back here.”
Ramsey shrugged. “I wanted to bring you some tickets, since I had only a first name. Your real name is nowhere on the website, a real jerk move by your boss to keep you from building a following, if you ask me. Seems like the dude doesn’t feel his own work can stand up against yours.”
He raised his voice, and she realized Ted had followed them outside. Ramsey shot that last comment straight at him. There was a muffled word of profanity behind them before she heard the door of the shop slam.
Ramsey gave her a grin that melted her a little. Sure, he was sexy, but when he was being sincere, there was a relaxed set to his eyes that made him as adorable as a puppy.
And likely just as much trouble as one too.
“I thought you’d be sleeping,” she said.
He shrugged and started down the street. “Just drove in from Los Angeles on the bus. That’s enough rack time for me, unless there’s some action between the sheets.”
Oh yeah, trouble in spades. The guy was adorable, made her fingers itch to stroke him, but he’d jump right into her lap and have his way if she didn’t watch out.
Her nipples drew tight, tingling with anticipation.
“Well, you shouldn’t have risked a fight with him.”
Ramsey made a low sound in the back of his throat. “Worried I can’t handle myself?” He slid her a sidelong look that was brimming with confidence. “Don’t worry, Uncle Sam made sure I know how to protect myself.”
“Seriously?” The question slipped out before she realized she already knew the answer. It was in the way he moved, the way he positioned his feet when he stopped. She knew her share of loud, self-proclaimed badasses, and the difference between them and Ramsey.
“Navy, EOD, bomb patrol,” he offered.
It was impressive, and she lost the will to ignore him. Her gaze slipped down his lean body. He had on just a leather vest that gave her a teasing glimpse of his flat abs when he moved. His pants were black and fitted perfectly to his hips, giving her a glimpse of her work along his side. Just the back spikes of the dragon. She couldn’t have placed it any better if she’d been working with a blank canvas.
“Oh, crap.” The slight sheen of lotion slapped her back into reality. “You’ve got to cover that up. Right now.”
His eyes narrowed for a moment. “Sunlight, right, you mentioned that.”
Her mind was on the dragon. She dug her keys out of her purse and hurried ahead of him. She fiddled with the barred building door, finally coaxing the rusty lock to move. She pushed it in and waved Ramsey up the narrow stairway. He paused on the first step as the weathered floorboards creaked.
“Yeah, I know, it sounds ominous, but no one’s fallen through yet,” she tried to reassure him.
“Yet,” he said before following her up the stairs. One of the stairwell lights was still clinging to life, flickering on and off in a vain effort to keep the stairwell lit. At night, it resembled a medieval castle that was lit only by torchlight. The steps groaned under every footstep, the sound bouncing between the peeling plaster walls.
She was suddenly self-conscious, noticing the scent of moldy plaster more than she normally did. The door that led to her tiny apartment was a mass of cracked varnish. Normally, she shrugged it off and labeled it “vintage.” Today, she bit her lip to keep from apologizing for the condition.
Ramsey carried her case into the middle of her apartment, but he didn’t put it down. He was taking a survey of his surroundings. She got caught up watching him because of how sharp he looked. His exterior hadn’t changed. He was still the lean, leather-clad man more suited to darkness than daylight.
Which made the way he looked over her apartment more interesting. He was staring at the single window that had a fabulous view of the rusty fire escape ladder. He reached out and ran his finger along the edges of the wood, where there was so much paint, the pane would require a crowbar to raise it.
“This is a fucking death trap,” he said.
“Yeah, it is. Welcome to the Bay Area, excessively high rent zone extraordinaire,” she said with a flourish of her hand.
He found the small emergency escape hammer she had bought in the event that she needed to get through the window. Its handle was bright orange, and she always kept it on the windowsill.
“You’re no idiot, Jewel,” he remarked with a touch of admiration in his tone.
She thumbed through her meager supplies for enough gauze to cover the exposed areas of his tat.
Actually, she felt like a mega fool for bringing him inside her apartment. She was practically going into heat with so much raw brawn so close to her fingertips. Getting him out of reach was a priority, or she might end up hating herself when she did something impulsive.
She got the feeling Ramsey knew exactly how to take advantage of “impulsive” moments.
“This will do the job.” The paper wrapping crinkled, seeming excessively loud, because every nerve ending she had was on high alert.
Ramsey turned toward her, the case settling onto the worn floorboards. He popped open the top button of his pants, and she fought off the urge to run a hand across her chin in case she was drooling.
Boy, was he worthy of it.
But she wasn’t going there.
Nope.
As in…No! All you have is your pride, girl.
It was a sad little truth. Jewel covered the new ink carefully.
Ramsey chuckled softly.
Warmly.
So very…male.
“Don’t be intimidated.”
She looked up, the cloth tape she’d planned to secure the gauze with still dangling from her fingers.
He cupped her chin and lowered his head until their lips were a single inch apart.
“Don’t be intimidated, babe.” He stroked her jawline, sending ripples of delight down her body. “Touch me.”
She shook her head, recoiling as a warning bell went off somewhere in the part of her brain still functioning on a rational level. “I am going to cover this and…”
Her fingers were trembling.
Hell, she was rapidly turning into a quivering mass of overstimulated receptors.
But she got the gauze taped in place and pushed the button on his fly back through its hole.
And realized she’d been holding her breath the entire time.
She stepped away from him and drew in a deep breath. As she blew it out, she heard the unmistakable sound of him chuckling.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…” She discovered herself laughing along with him. “Like you don’t know what you do to the opposite sex.”
His eyes narrowed, his expression becoming insanely sensual. Her mouth went dry as she stared, transfixed by the glitter in his eyes. She wasn’t sure when he moved, only that he was suddenly folding her into his embrace.
“Glad to know I’m not the only one turned-on.” His voice was a husky promise, just a whisper against her temple that shouldn’t have had the power to send a shiver down her spine in the bright light of day.
“Whoa.” She flattened her hands on his chest, but pulled away when it felt like she’d grabbed a pair of live jumper cables. “We’re not doing this.”
He cupped her nape, the grip ripping through the fragile hold she had on logic. As in shredded. There was something primal about the way he handled her, taking control and tilting her head up so she got locked into his mesmerizing stare. But he held back, just enough to make her have to commit to the moment. If he’d kissed her, she could have labeled him an overbearing jerk. A spoiled celebrity. Instead, she was caught between temptation and the screaming warning from her common sense.
“We’re not doing it…yet,” he rasped.
Disappointment drew its claw across her as he spoke. There was a flash of iron-willed control in his dark eyes that frustrated her as much as it titillated.
“You’re not nearly excited enough, Jewel.”
Hell…
“What I’m not is into jumping clients,” she informed him with what was left of her rational mind.
She tried to shift away, but he moved his hand into her hair, threading his fingers through the delicate strands before he massaged her scalp. The motion set off a crazy twist of awareness that went coiling through her until it set fire to her clit. Her hips jerked toward his, giving her a blunt, firsthand knowledge of just how hard his cock was.
“Better,” he said. “But still not enough.”
“I mean it, Ramsey. Back off.” She hated how desperate she sounded, but there was little help for it. She was transforming into putty, just a hairbreadth away from losing all grip on what she should do, in favor of what she craved.
All those dark cravings no one really wanted to admit they had. For the first time, she feared him, because Ramsey wasn’t afraid of those dark tidings. Oh, hell no. He danced into the center of the storm and let it consume him.
“Really—” She pushed away from him, taking a moment to touch his chest, getting a glimpse of what she was forbidding herself to experience.
Being practical sucked.
He let her go, but she didn’t think for a second he was in agreement with her. No, there was something in his eyes that warned her this was just beginning.
“Well, I’ve got to find another job,” she said, trying to get herself focused on real-world issues. Trying to keep a roof over her head was as practical as it got.
He snorted. “Let me take care of that.”
She felt cold now that she’d separated from him, but the chill going down her back came from her need to stand on her own two feet. “I don’t need you to get me a job.”
“Yeah, that’s what I like about you. No handouts. That’s not your style,” he muttered. From another man, she was pretty sure she would have labeled that a line. Insincere words meant to weaken her resolve. But there was a flash of confidence in Ramsey’s eyes that told her he’d meant exactly what he’d said.
He tossed his head, his black hair whipping through the air, looking like black rain. “Get some sleep. Your talent will get you another job as soon as I reveal this tat tomorrow night. I’ll send a car around for you.”
Relief surged through her. She got exactly three seconds to enjoy it before he moved, hooking his arm around her back and stepping forward at the same time. The result was being closed in his embrace. Not pulled to him or being crowded.
No, it was far more overwhelming than anything she’d experienced before. He truly enveloped her. A level of control she’d never experienced. He knew his body, knew how to use it for maximum effectiveness.
She was so ready for him to kiss her.
Except he didn’t. He nuzzled against her head, inhaling the scent of her hair.
“You smell…delicious.” He drew in another deep breath, shifting so she felt the hardening of his cock against her midsection. “I want to circle you for a good long time before we get to the jumping part.”
She recoiled from the hard certainty in his voice.
And his body.
But once she was staring at him across a space of several feet, she realized what she was reeling from was her reaction to him.
And boy, was it knocking her for a loop.
“I do appreciate the help in getting me another job, but I’d like to keep things professional between us,” she said.
His jaw tightened. “Me too, but I don’t think either of us is going to be able to ignore the other,” he answered with what sounded like her own thoughts.
She heard a hint of distaste in his tone and thought she saw a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes before he turned and left. It felt like the damned temperature of the room went down several degrees with his departure.
Oh…shit.
Just…shit.
Exactly what she didn’t need, an epic infatuation with a bigger-than-life rock star. She was going to end up like a discarded candy wrapper, one of those little foil chocolate-bar ones, crumpled and tossed aside when he was done devouring her.
And his sweet tooth wouldn’t be satisfied. Nope. He’d move on to another treat before she forgot what it felt like to have his mouth on hers.
Well, she was just going to have to find the strength to say no.
It was really about self-preservation more than morality.
Really.
* * *
He was tired, but it was worth it.
Ramsey didn’t lament the hours of sleep he’d missed out on. He finished showering and walked out of the bathroom nude, through a thick cloud of steam. He went into the bedroom of his suite to see Jewel’s work in a full-length mirror.
It was badass.
The dragon was clawing its way toward his cock, looking like it was going to breathe fire on the appendage.
His cock twitched, beginning to harden as Ramsey started to turn, admiring the way Jewel had inked the reptile along his hipline. It was done in soft shades of blue and pewter, the shading a true mark of Jewel’s skill level. The proportions were perfect too. Moving around the curve of his body to where the back of the dragon was on the flat of his lower back and the tail trailed down over the top of his right ass cheek.
He’d seen his share of ink and knew quality from shit. This was true art. More than that, she’d seen him.
He wasn’t sure how he felt about that, except he knew for a fact that he owed fate a massive “thanks.” The members of Toxsin had rules about sticking together when they were drunk, and he’d just had a head-on collision with the consequences of not minding that code. The tabloids would have shredded him, and that would have spilled over to the other band members. It was a lapse in judgement he couldn’t allow to happen again. They’d all worked too fucking hard to let anything take them down even a small amount.
The tattoo was itching now that his skin was dry. He turned around and found some lotion. Honestly, he was avoiding thinking about Jewel. Someone knocked on the suite door across the hall.
“Room service.”
The scent of hot chow made his belly rumble. Ramsey found a pair of pants and slid them on. He wandered across the hall to where Syon and his new wife, Kate, were eating. Breakfast was laid out on the table in their suite. Every sort of breakfast dish you could imagine, from pancakes to blintzes. It was close to four in the afternoon, but they ran on their own schedule when they were on tour. Heavy metal concerts were a night business.
Kate offered him a “Good morning” as he settled in and started rummaging around the grub. She was looking at his hipline above the leather pants he wore.
“Want to see the whole thing?” he asked.
Syon flipped him off but followed the obscene gesture with a grin.
Kate was curled up in a chair, cradling a cup of coffee. “Said the spider to the fly.” She drew off a sip before continuing. “See…I do want to see it, but…” She held a slim finger up in the air. “You’ll likely show it to me if I admit it.”
“It’s too early in the morning to deal with your bare ass, Rams,” Syon interrupted.
“Marriage is making you soft.”
Syon shot him a hot look. “Sure is, over, and over, and over again.”
Kate made a groaning sound under her breath.
“I messed up last night,” he said. “Won’t happen again.”
There was a moment of seriousness in the suite. Taz offered him a two-finger “peace” sign. Drake nodded before going back to his breakfast.
“Going to fill Sammy in on Tia?” Syon asked.
Ramsey shook his head. “I’m not going whining to Sammy. He’s our producer, not my nanny.”
“Tia will run right back to him,” Drake stated.
“Let her. Sammy’s not stupid. He knows what she is,” Ramsey replied. “I’m the dumb shit who let her get me drunk.” Ramsey finished up and tossed his napkin on his cleared plate. “Got to talk to Brenton about stuff.”
Normally, hanging out with Syon was his morning enjoyment. Today, he was focused on making sure Jewel showed up at the concert they had in a few hours. He avoided thinking about how much he wanted her there. So he focused on the idea of her being around when her work was revealed, one artist to another, professional behavior.
Yeah, he was completely full of shit.
What he wanted was to get his hands on Jewel again.
But he took comfort in the fact that he would be helping her career. She deserved it, and he knew firsthand how unfair the universe was when it came to giving an artist a well-deserved break.
And right after he got finished doing the right thing, he could get on with doing what he really wanted.
* * *
Jewel’s phone buzzed with an incoming text around noon. She thought about ignoring it, but even with limited sleep under her belt, she was wide-awake. She reached for it and swiped the screen to unlock it.
Your car will be there at five. Ramsey.
How had he gotten her number? She rubbed her eyes and looked at the screen again, but the text wasn’t a dream.
Guess he had people to do the stuff he didn’t want to deal with. It was a little unnerving.
Another text came in. We’ll be backstage. Someone will bring you through security.
Backstage? Well, it was going to be a premium experience for sure. So long as she didn’t chicken out.
Acknowledge.
She stared at the text, stunned by the formalness of it. A little tingle touched her nape, rousing a memory of how Ramsey looked when he wasn’t hiding behind the bad boy he seemed to think the world believed he was. She got the feeling he was a whole lot more, and that whatever was hidden inside him was also responsible for his rise to fame. There were people who thought success just happened, but she knew it took more than raw talent to make it to the top. You needed a dose of luck and enough brainpower to fuel a solid business approach.
She texted him back. Looking forward to it.
Good.
She heard his raspy tone as she read the text, a tiny ripple of sensation moving along her skin in response.
Wow. Just…wow. The guy was so potent, she felt the effect a full day later.
And through a text message, no less.
Suddenly, moving back into her parents’ home in Denver looked a little more like a good choice, because it would be a shield against her suddenly impulsive nature. Except it would mean tossing in the towel on her dreams of being an artist, and admitting she was a chicken.
Those ideas left her feeling hollow.
So, she’d hang on a little longer. Sometimes things happened for a reason.
* * *
Keeping a car in San Francisco was a luxury.
Rent was super high, which meant garages were income generators if you were lucky enough to have one, willing to compromise on your personal freedom, and willing to use public transportation so you could rent your garage out to someone who needed it.
In many cases, using public transit was easier than trying to drive through the congested streets and find parking when you got to your destination.
Still, there was something about having a car to herself that Jewel admitted she liked and missed.
A whole lot.
She missed it even more keenly when she pushed open the metal security gate and a tinted-window sedan pulled up in the street. It was smooth. Judging the timing was tricky, but the driver was out of the car and opening the door for her without a care for the blares of horns from other drivers caught behind his double-parking job.
She stretched out in the backseat of the sedan as the driver hightailed it back into the driver’s seat and pulled back into traffic. There was a privacy screen between her and the driver, a control panel on the armrest for her to use at her will, and a small selection of beverages, including ice. But what caught her eye was the little box sitting on the armrest between the seats. It was bound with a scarlet ribbon she recognized. The box was from her favorite bakery. A name tag was affixed to it.
Joan Marie Ryan.
Oh yeah, he had people, lots of folks to dig up her personal life. She didn’t care for the slightly off balance feeling the name tag left her with, so she opened the box and smiled at the two chocolate-dipped strawberries resting inside. The scent rose up, teasing her nose.
It was her normal order. Her indulgence when life was too frustrating or she’d found a moment to celebrate. A little shiver went through her body, but what actually made her the most apprehensive was the idea that he’d set someone to looking into how to please her.
It had been a really long time since someone had spent much effort on trying to make her happy.
She lifted one and bit into it, savoring the combination of strawberry and chocolate. Dark chocolate. Like Ramsey. She hummed softly.
Get a grip, girl. Or he’s going to toss you into the air like a Frisbee.
Well, that could be fun too.
Ha! Only if you want to suffer through the emotional meltdown tomorrow morning.
Truth was such a sharp-edged little bitch. She drew blood with every bite.
The car inched along, going slower as they got closer to the downtown area where the arena was located. Cars jammed full of long-haired fans were blaring Toxsin’s music with their windows down. The sidewalks were full of more fans who had taken the underground trains from their hotels. Summer hadn’t lost its grip on California yet. Even as the sun was setting, it was over eighty degrees, thanks to an end-of-summer heat wave.
The city police had intersections closed down. Officers stood out in the middle of them, directing everyone toward the entrance to the underground parking lot. But her driver cruised through, drawing the attention of those stuck in traffic. The driver knew what he was doing, pulling the vehicle past the “Road Closed” signs and the “Private, No Entrance” warnings. A couple of uniformed officers stepped up to the driver’s-side door. The driver flashed a card at them and was waved through.
It was pretty cool.
They drove up the backside of the huge arena and onto the roof. Jewel climbed out without waiting for the driver, because she was curious. There was a whole staging area on the roof. Three black SUVs were backed in, waiting for a getaway. Hell, there was even a helicopter.
“You came.”
She turned around to discover Ramsey standing behind her. He’d obviously come through the tinted glass doors that led into the area.
And he was very obviously a rock star tonight. His hair was teased and gelled into spikes. There was a sheen to it that caught the light and made it flash black with undertones of blue. Someone had done a brilliant job on his face with foundation and eyeliner.
He voiced what she was taking in. “Performance makeup. Can’t be a blur on stage.”
“I don’t think anyone will miss you, eyeliner or not.”
He closed the distance between them, moving with a fluid grace that was a whole lot more like a prowl than a stride. The guy was off the scale when it came to sheer presence. Her damned toes were curling as he took the last couple of paces.
His dark eyes were full of anticipation. It made her breath catch and her lips tingle when his gaze dropped to them.
He wanted to kiss her.
Hell, she wanted him to do it.
But he left her hanging in that moment, suspended between breaths as she waited to see what the next second would bring. He reached out for her, slipping his hand along the side of her jaw. It was a delicate touch. Like a promise of control when he looked so wild. He was tempting her, teasing her. Although maybe the best way to put it was…baiting her.
“Come on inside.”
“Ah…sure.” Her tongue felt like a wad of half-responsive tissue in her mouth.
Ramsey had started to turn away. He reversed course, sweeping back around and capturing her against his body.
She was suddenly surrounded by him, immersed in sensory overload as his scent filled her senses and the heat from his skin warmed her.
“I want to.” His voice was muffled against her temple.
Jewel shifted back, recoiling as her brain fried and left her at the mercy of her emotions. “Want to what?”
He followed her again. Turning her around in a tight circle to control her attempts to escape—not holding her, just moving so she ran into him as she tried to avoid him. It caused her head to spin. She looked up, seeking out a stationary spot to fix her gaze on.
It ended up being his eyes.
And once she locked gazes with him, the remains of her thoughts scattered.
“I want to kiss you…” He cupped her head, gathering her hair in his hand and pulling the strands just tight enough to send a spike of sensation through her.
A wild, untamed spike.
“Umm…well, that’s not a very good idea,” Jewel managed to force out.
His lips curved softly. “Agreed.” There was a mocking sound to his tone as he snorted. “And that is a first for me.”
His gaze dropped to her lips, his expression tightening; she saw the desire glittering in his eyes. She ended up quivering, pushing against his chest, only to discover she was very much his prisoner.
“But I don’t want you like this.”
She was free before his words sank in. He’d turned away from her, and she realized he was hiding from her.
Don’t ask.
Really, she needed to heed that warning, but she reached out and cupped his bicep, yanking him back as she stepped forward so she could see his face.
She ended up sucking in her breath.
Ramsey chuckled at her, turning all the way to face her and taking one long step to loom over her. “So you want to see? Sure you can handle it?”
His tone was rough.
But what she heard was the challenge in it. “You don’t intimidate me.”
“Yes, I do.” He lifted his hand, reaching out to touch her. She stood her ground, unwilling to let him see her retreat. He ended up tapping her lips with the tip of his index finger.
The connection was electric. She shivered, her eyes sliding closed as she lost all control of her thoughts and just slipped into a bubble of pure reaction.
“Okay…” She stepped back, fighting the urge to pant as her heart raced. “I’m not sure I can handle it.”
“Neither am I.” His eyes narrowed, surprise flickering in them before he captured her hand and turned toward the door.
The doors opened as they approached, and he took her through them as she was caught in her own moment of surprise.
Ramsey, the Mega Rock Star. She expected a fair number of things from him, but uncertainty wasn’t anywhere on the list.
He was a beast.
An animal.
A creature carved out of midnight.
He was so far out of the realm of normal, and yet, she discovered herself drawn to that crack in his shell. The one she was pretty sure he wasn’t happy about her seeing.
It struck her as special.
Maybe “intimate” was a better word. Even if using it set off another warning bell. It made no sense and was really a far-fetched idea altogether. Mega rock stars didn’t play by the same rules as the rest of the world. Feeling connected to him on any level was going to end badly.
Very badly.
Still, she found herself looking at the way his fingers were curled around hers. A tender touch, innocent, and yet her heart rate accelerated. When was the last time a guy had held her hand? Before he’d made a move on her?
Okay, well, Ramsey had made a move on her. He’d embodied exactly what she’d thought he was: cornering her within minutes, laying waste to her morality with the force of his persona in a few polished moves that lived up to her image of him. Yet he hadn’t taken her. No, it had been far smoother. He’d stepped into her path, unnerved her, baited her, teased her, tempted her, and made sure she was the one tumbling into his embrace.
It was a blast.
A total high.
The only problem with that was the fall to the ground when she came down.
Mega rock stars didn’t leave the sky.
Nope. She’d end up looking up at him from the broken heap she landed in.
Alone.