Page 5 of Ink & Desire

Her expression is all the confirmation I need.

“I didn’t think so. I’m willing to bet this is your first time inside a tattoo studio, isn’t it? What did you think was going to happen? You’d walk in here, looking like a sweet little angel and I’d roll over and beg you to let meteach you? Not a chance. Go back to your country club and your private tennis lessons, or whatever prissy little girls like you are into.”

I turn to walk back toward my office, finished with this conversation. Before I can take two steps, I feel a small hand on my arm, pulling me backward. It’s not enough to actually move me, but it’s clear she’s not letting go. Amusement wars with irritation, but I feel myself turning back to face her.

Gone is the meek-looking woman of a moment earlier. Her eyes flash with fiery anger and her cheeks have bright spots of color on them. Her jaw is tightly clenched and those previously full lips are drawn in a tight line.

“You’re going to listen to me,” she says, her words almost a command. “It’s the least you can do. Besides, I’m scheduled for a 30-minute consultation.” She glances at her watch before looking back at me. “I still have 18 minutes.”

I’ll be damned if the sight of this tiny woman spitting fire at me doesn’t turn me on, just a little. I’d been slightly attracted before when she was just standing there looking innocent and nervous. But now? The defiant stance and the angry glare have me wondering how far I can push her before the little angel snaps and does something reckless.

“You made your appointment under false pretenses, Miss Scott,” I grit out. “So, I don’t need to stay and listen to anything you have to say.”

“Just give me five minutes of your time,” she says.

“I think you’ve wasted enough of my time,” I say.

“I think you should hear her out.” Jessie’s voice comes from my right, and I turn to glare at her.

“Don’t,” I warn, pointing a finger in her direction. “This doesn’t involve you.”

As usual, Jessie ignores me and keeps talking. “I work here, so it involves me. I think this place could use a fresh perspective. Plus, she could help with our scheduling issues.”

“What scheduling issues?” Avery asks, turning to look at Jessie.

“He double books himself at least twice a month,” Jessie says. “Some of the clients get pissed. Leave bad reviews online.”

I grind my teeth and give Jessie an even darker glare. “I’ve got it handled.”

“Doesn’t seem like it,” Jessie mutters before turning to walk back to her station.

“I can handle scheduling,” Avery says brightly. “Plus, any other little things you need me to do to help your business run smoothly. I have a double major in graphic design and business with a minor in fine arts. You saw my portfolio. You said yourself my work is good. You need me. You just don’t see it yet.”

Regardless of whether I need someone to help manage the office side of things or not, I hate being backed into a corner and I won’t be manipulated this way.Avery came here under false pretenses. Her dishonesty pisses me off more than her audacity.

“Leave now, or I’ll call the cops and have you escorted from the premises,” I say.

Her eyes widen with the first real hint of fear I’ve seen since she walked in the door. Interesting. Something about the police worries her. Or maybe it’s that she doesn’t want to cause a scene.

“That’s right,” I say. “You don’t want your name in a police report, do you? An angel like you has probably never been in trouble with the law. What would your parents think? Would they cut off your trust fund? How would you survive? Would you have to get arealjob? What would your sorority sisters think?”

“Fuck off, Corbin,” she says. “You don’t know the first thing about me.”

I flash her a smile of victory, knowing I finally managed to get under her skin. “I think I’m closer to the mark than you want me to be. Tell me, how would mommy and daddy feel about their little angel slumming it with a bunch of tattooed, pierced degenerates? I’ll bet they’d have a stroke if they knew.”

“You’re an asshole,” she mutters.

I laugh. “First true thing you’ve said since you walked in, angel.”

We stand there, glaring at one another for a few seconds before she sighs. She closes her eyes for just a second, shaking her head. She mutters something under her breath that I don’t quite catch before turningtoward the door. A sharp stab of disappointment hits me, surprising me. I told her to leave, so why does it bother me that she’s giving up? Because I’d enjoyed goading her. I liked knowing I could get under her skin. Seeing her shift from the meek, shy woman she’d been when she walked in, to the fiery, assertive one who insisted I give her an apprenticeship had been interesting.

Interesting? Hell, it had been hot as fuck. My dick has been half-hard since she stood up and grabbed my arm. Not that it matters. My dick doesn’t call the shots. This is business. I’ve never taken on apprentices. I won’t let something as trivial as a pair of hazel eyes and a bold attitude change my stance now. She can find some other studio to work with. It won’t be mine.

Chapter 4

Avery

It takes me several minutes to calm my racing heart and steady my breathing after I storm out of Elemental Ink and back to my car. I can’t believe that just happened. Not Corbin’s reaction. That part I’d almost expected. Well, I’d expected him to be unhappy when he discovered the reason for my appointment wasn’t a tattoo consultation. I feel a little guilty about that lie. But how else was I supposed to get time to see him? It’s not like I could just walk in. Everything at ElementalInk is by appointment only. I needed some way to get through the front door.

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