Page 2 of Sam (Eye Candy Ink)

“I’m not your baby and I’m never going to date you. Get lost.”

Chad’s eyes narrow at me and he sneers “Stuck up bitch. I was going to do you a favor and let you ride this dick,” he says, his hand grabbing his dick through his jeans.

“Hard. Pass.” I enunciate and he glares back at me.

I can hear Zeke take a step closer and I notice that the guy sitting by the door stands to his feet as well.

“Fuck you, bitch,” Chad spits as he turns on his heel and heads for the door.

“Not in this lifetime,” I call after him as he storms out of the shop.

My eyes find their way back to the other customer and I see he’s smiling at me again.

“Heartbreaker,” he murmurs, that same small smile on his lips.

“Trust me, his heart wasn’t involved. Just his dick.”

He takes a step toward the front counter and my heart rate picks up. He’s taller than I first thought and my mouth waters as I take him in from this new angle.

“You know…” he starts to say and my eyes narrow at him.

“I swear to god, if you say I would be a lot prettier if I just smiled every once in a while, that I’m going to hit you so hard that your kids will be born bruised.”

He throws his head back and laughs and I hear Zeke join in as he heads to open the metal gate for the guy. The guy meets my gaze once again, his sea green eyes meeting my sky-blue ones. Confidence and power roll off of him and I can feel goosebumps start on my arms.

“Sam, this is my friend Max. Max, this is Sam.”

“Nice to meet you,” he says, holding his hand out to me.

“Yeah, you too.”

His palm is warm and strong against mine and he squeezes mine gently before he slowly pulls back.

“Ready?” Zeke asks and Max nods at him.

“See you later,” Max says to me.

“Don’t count on it.”

He smirks at me one last time before he follows Zeke back to his office and a shiver runs down my spine at the promise that I see in his eyes.

2

Max

I takeone last look back at the fiery, gorgeous, redheaded woman behind the front counter but as I suspected, she’s not watching me. She’s busy typing away on the computer and I smile as I turn back around. I like her already. Something about her no-nonsense attitude clicks with me. Watching her and interacting with her for that brief moment has already told me a lot about Sam. I can tell that she is a woman who knows what she wants out of life, who knows her own mind, and who doesn’t take any shit from anyone. I’m the same way. I see something that I want or I have a goal and I don’t rest until I’ve gotten it.

Usually my goal is a new restaurant or club. I opened my first restaurant with a friend right out of college. He was the backer but I ran it and did all of the work to open it. When that one was a success, my friend bought me out and I opened my second restaurant and then my third. I’ve opened four restaurants so far, all over Pittsburgh and just recently branched out to nightclubs. My passion will always be restaurants though.

My mom says that I love it so much because it’s all a gamble. Growing up in Las Vegas, I’m well aware of gambling and betting it all. My mom says that it’s in my blood. My dad was a famous poker player before he passed away but I never got a taste for the game. I prefer to make my own luck. Which is probably why I’ve always been so comfortable betting all of my money on one of my restaurants and its success.

My mom would say that I’m not making my own luck; I’m just trying to control everything. Growing up in Vegas with a professional poker player for a father didn’t really lead to the most stable of childhoods. I can remember us living in a new house in a nice neighborhood but we moved when I was five to this shack on the outskirts of the old strip. It was run down and I had wanted to go back home but we never did. It wasn’t until I was older that I learned what had happened. My father had gambled everything and lost. We were broke for a long time after that and then my dad got sick and passed away. He left us buried in even more debt. I kind of hated him for a while. He had just left, gotten off easy, while my mom and I had to work hard and bust our asses to make ends meet. All because of him.

Las Vegas is actually where I first met Zeke. He was a grade higher in school than me but we lived in the same neighborhood and hung out. He had it rough like us and he always talked about getting out and becoming a tattoo artist and as soon as he was able to, he did just that. I always admired his determination and focus.

Me? Well, I never really knew what I wanted to do with my life. I knew that I wanted to get out of Vegas and see more of the world but I had no idea career wise. I worked hard in high school and kept my grades up and then applied to every college on the east coast that I could find. I got accepted to the University of Pennsylvania and I can still remember the day I left for college. My mom had cried but I promised to fly her out to see me soon. I never wanted to return to Las Vegas and I haven’t been back since.

College was a blur of late nights studying and weekends spent working at the campus bookstore and at a hardware store right off campus. It was hard to balance it all but worth it when I got my diplomas in business and restaurant management.

---