Inked: A Bad Boy Next Door Romance (4 page)

I almost threw up looking at the poor girl. Vlad said they’d “had a little too much fun with her.” I kept my composure and quickly added a layer of art to the dead girl’s tattoo, but I knew then what kind of sick fucks they were, and that I didn’t want anything to do with them. But it was too late. I didn’t have a choice. The memory sends a wave of sickness through me. I thought then that I’d have to get used to that shit, but it’s only happened the one time. Thank fuck. Other than that day, they stay out of my business, and I stay out of theirs.

I hate being under the mob’s thumb.

I can’t deny that they could have killed me. Nikolai saved my life, and gave me something to be proud of. And I do love my shop and my work.

I wish it was just mine. After all, people come to me for a reason. They want a Zane original. My art on their bodies.

Maddy comes to mind as I think about how I’d love to put my art on her. I start thinking about what I’d go with, but then I push that thought away. It’s pointless to think about.

I pull up to my condo, coming to terms with the fact that I’ll probably never see her again. To my left I see a car I don't recognize at the neighbor’s place. I’m always aware of that shit. Just in case. You can never be too laidback when you’re involved with the mob.

I guess they finally got the place rented out.

It’s a cute little car. I’d bet good money a woman drives it. I check out the tags as I lock up my Audi. The locks slam down, and a small beep rings through the night.

Georgia.

Whoever they are, they’re a long way from home.

“
W
atch
what you’re doing with that!” Katie yells at one of the moving men who's attempting to pick up a heavy ornamental vase from inside the moving truck. It's the day after the disastrous night at the club, and we're busy moving into our new condo. Despite what happened last night, I’m pretty excited about starting a new chapter in my life. “That’s a special gift my mom gave me as a graduation present!” she squawks.

“Sorry,” apologizes the young guy, who looks barely older than eighteen. He gently picks up the vase and carefully walks off the van, moving as if he’s carrying something worth more than gold.

Hands on her hips, Katie growls, “You better be.”

“Jesus, Katie,” I complain, shaking my head and wiping at the sweat on my brow. It's a sweltering ninety-five degrees outside and I feel like going inside and flopping down on the floor and enjoying the cool AC, but Katie insists I help her oversee the moving.

At least I’m not one of these guys,
I think with sympathy.
They’re doing all this hard work for less than minimum wage. And to make matters worse, they have Katie making their lives even more miserable.

To fight the heat, Katie and I are dressed in cutoff shorts and midriff-baring tank tops, but I’m still sweating like a dog.

“You didn’t have to be so mean to the kid. He hadn’t even picked it up yet.”

Katie turns to scowl at me. “Did we, or did we not pay these guys out of our hard-earned student loan checks?”

I snicker at the thought of our student loans being ‘hard-earned’. I guess I know what she meant though, since it’s not like we won’t be paying exorbitant interest rates after college. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you can just treat them like that--”

Cutting me off, Katie turns to watch the young guy make it off the moving truck and onto the sidewalk with the giant vase. “Okay then. I can tell them whatever I want, especially when they’re handling things that are dear to me.”

“Psycho,” I mutter under my breath, giving up.

“Hey!” Katie screams when the guy almost trips stepping over the sidewalk. Luckily, he regains his balance without dropping Katie’s precious vase. “Watch it, clumsy!” After the guy makes it into the condo unscathed, Katie turns on me with a murderous glare. “See,” she says flatly.

“Why are you being so bitchy today?” I demand.

“Because I have a nasty hangover.” About time she admits it.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have drunk so much.” I don’t know why I even bothered responding though. She never listens to me. At least she didn't wake me up at 3 a.m. by puking into the toilet.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have run from the club and left me stranded,” she says without missing a beat. Fuck, that hits a nerve. I do feel bad about that. But what the fuck was I supposed to do? She wasn’t going to leave with me, and I
needed
to get out of there before I did something I’d regret.

I wipe at a trickle of sweat running down the side of my face. “You know what? I’m too hot to deal with your shit today. Can we not do this, please?”

Katie bites her lower lip and says, “Sorry,” even though I know she isn’t. “Speaking of hot, I can’t believe you turned down that Zane guy!”

“I can. The dude was an asshole.” I’m not sure why I’m lying to her. Zane hadn’t done anything particularly wrong, unless you can call making me want to have sex with him a crime.

Just speaking about him brings up the memory of how hot I felt against his body, and how much I wanted him inside of me. When he pressed up against me, I could feel it. His cock was fucking
huge
. Somehow I get a little hotter thinking about what he could have done to me with a dick that big. I can’t help but feel a little regret, but I know it was the right move to leave him there. Wasn’t it?

“Who cares? If it was me, I would’ve fucked him every which way but sideways even if he'd slapped me around and called me his bitch.” She thinks for a moment, and her frown morphs into a naughty smile. “In fact, I think I would rather enjoy that.”

“Katie!” Thank God my face is already red from the heat so she can’t tell how much the idea of him doing that to me turns me on, too.

Katie looks at me with typical feigned innocence. “Wha? That guy was the hottest guy I’ve seen in a long time. I would've killed to have him lusting after me like he was after you.”

“He wasn’t lusting after me,” I argue. “He just wanted to buy me a drink.”

“He wasn’t? Remember how he shoved that other hot guy down in his seat just to get to you?” Fuck, that
was
hot.

“Nope.” The word comes out easy as I shake my head.

“Liar. You said he had you up against the wall in the hallway, ready to bang your brains out.”

The image of his lips being inches away from mine flashes in front of my eyes and I try hard to push it away. I wish Katie would stop going on about Zane. Thinking about him just makes my temperature rise, and it’s already hot as hell. “What does it matter now anyway? I’ll never see him again.”

Which is a good thing
, I think to myself.
He was nothing but trouble.

Katie shakes her head at me in sympathy. “You just don’t get it, do you? You’re so scared to live a little just because of what happened between you and Zach that you’re missing out on the simple pleasures in life.”

“How is going home with a total stranger and getting screwed by him 'missing out'?” I demand. “If anything, it cheapens me.”

“Are you kidding me? That guy was hot as fuck, with a big ass dick to match.”

“And how would you know what he’s working with?” Despite my question, I agree with Katie. When Zane was pressed up against me, I felt his bulge. And if the size of it was an indication of anything, he was hung like a horse.

“Did you see the size of his nose?” she says with a wink.

I roll my eyes. “You’re impossible.”

“And you need to get laid. Preferably last night. Hey!” Katie yells at the other mover. “Don’t carry that like that!”

Katie begins badgering this guy about how to properly carry a box of her precious items of God knows what, even going as far to follow him into the condo, leaving me alone in the hot sun.

I’m about to follow her in when I see a box with my name on it on the back of the truck. If memory serves me correct, it's filled with a bunch of personal hygiene products that I don’t want anyone to see. I’ll take my tampons in myself, thank you very much.

“I’ll just get that, and then I’m staying in the cool air until they’re done,” I mutter to myself. “I don’t care how much Katie bitches and whines at me.”

I jump onto the truck and grab the box. It’s not that heavy, but it’s awkward, and I make it off the truck before I have to set the box down to try to get a different handle on it.

“Need help with that, peaches?” asks a deep, familiar voice.

Oh my fucking God.

I look up into that cocky grin and those beautiful blue eyes. Instantly, images of last night are back in my mind and I’m filled with burning desire. Dressed only in a pair of blue jeans that are ripped at the knees, Zane is standing in front of me with his shirt off.

I can only marvel at his incredible body. Seriously, his abs looked like they were etched by a grandmaster mason, chiseled to perfection. To make matters worse, a sheen of sweat covers his entire torso, and droplets are running down the hardened lines of his stomach muscles. I have to fight an extreme urge to want to bend over and lick it off.

If I thought I was burning up before, now I'm in the fiery pits of hell.

“What are you doing here?” I croak with disbelief, trying to keep my eyes level with his face and not that washboard stomach of his.

Zane’s grin grows wider and his eyes seem to assess my body, making me feel even hotter. He’s pleased that he’s shocked me. “I live right there,” he says, nodding to the condo that's directly next to mine.

I gape with shock. Seriously, I’m fucking floored. What are the odds? What are the odds that I meet this guy at the bar and run away from him, only to find out that he lives right next door to me?

One in a billion,
I think to myself. Fuck! I can’t run away from him now.

“You’re shitting me.”

Zane chuckles. Fuck. Even his laugh is sexy. “Nah. Actually, I was surprised myself when I saw you guys out here. I was like, no way. Apparently fate's decided to bring us back together again.” The way he looks at me conjures up the memory of running from his sexy touch. His eyes are telling me I’ve committed a crime, and he won’t let me get away with it.

“Then fate must be fucked up in the head.”

Zane throws back his head and laughs again. “You’re funny, I’ll give you that.”

There's nothing funny about this situation. I ran away last night because I knew Zane was nothing but trouble, and now fate's put him right next door.

Almost as if to torment me.

“And sexy,” he growls throatily, his eyes roaming all over my body.

I suddenly remember what I’m wearing, daisy dukes that hug my ass cheeks and a cropped tank top that bares my midriff, and I blush furiously under Zane’s appreciative stare.

God, he makes me feel so sexy. Wanted.

“Yeah, somehow fate changed the name of my street to Candyland Road without even telling me.”

My cheeks heat with embarrassment. “It’s alright peaches,” he winks at me.

Right then, Katie comes back out of our condo with one of the moving guys in tow. She stops and stares when she sees Zane, her jaw dropping. After composing herself, she walks over.

“Well, well, well. Look at what we have here,” she says with a huge smile plastered on her face.

“Hey,” Zane greets her politely.

Katie encircles her arm around Zane’s sculpted waistline and looks up at him admiringly. “Sup, hot stuff?”

I roll my eyes at Katie’s silliness.

Zane chuckles. “Not much.”

“Can you believe he lives right next door?” I demand. For some reason the sight of Katie’s arms around Zane is irritating me, though I don’t know why. It’s not like we're an item. Or like Katie would ever go after a guy I liked. My brow furrows at the thought.
Do
I like him? It’s nothing. It’s fine. Whatever.

“Nope. Can you believe these abs, though?” she marvels, actually running her hands along Zane’s muscular lines that are slick with sweat.

“Get your hands off him!” I snap with so much venom it causes Katie to jump away from Zane.

“Damn, Maddy, I didn’t realize he was your property.” I bite down on the inside of my cheek and stare at the house.

She’s right. I don’t know what’s come over me. I ran away from Zane like he was the devil last night, and here I am getting pissed because Katie's admiring his perfect body?

“I’m sorry,” I apologize to Zane quickly, my cheeks burning from embarrassment. “I don’t know what came over me.”

Zane has an amused smirk on his face. He doesn’t look bothered by my outburst in the least. In fact, I think he liked it. “It’s cool.”

“And you were calling me bitchy earlier,” Katie complains.

“Well you were,” I point out.

“Says the one who just screamed at me for touching our hot new neighbor.” She raises her voice on the last words and gives him a wink.

I ignore how much I hate that I feel jealous. “I didn’t scream.”

“You didn’t? I think they heard you on the other side of town.”

I roll my eyes with exasperation and turn to Zane. “Do you see what I have to deal with?”

Zane chuckles. “I think it’s cute.”

Katie sticks her tongue out at me. “See Maddy, even Zane takes my side.”

“Hey,” Zane protests. “Don't put me in the middle of this.”

“You sure about that? The three of us would make a good sandwich.”

I blush. “Katie!” Jesus. She’s so embarrassing. I know she’s joking, but he might not!

“Wha?”

I shake my head. “Never mind.” I cross my arms and lean back against the van.

Katie badgers him with question after question about the area and I watch them interact, only half-listening to what he’s saying. He keeps looking back at me when he answers, even though I’m not the one asking. And as much as Katie loves pissing me off, she’s at least keeping her hands to herself. With every move he makes, his muscles ripple and glisten in the sun. It’s not fair. Fate really is a bitch.

“So, you going to help us out then?” Katie asks him. It’s only when he answers he’s more than happy to oblige that I realize he’s staying to help the movers. Which means he’ll be in our house.

“I gotta go inside,” I bite out and push off the van.

“You alright?” Zane asks.

I fan myself and walk backward. “Just need to cool off.”

“You’re telling me,” Katie says with a smirk. I roll my eyes and nearly fall flat on my face as I try to turn around and walk normally. Fuck. I am not looking back. I refuse to check to see if he saw me.

Despite saying I was going to go inside and enjoy the A/C, I watch Zane at work, admiring his glistening muscles and washboard abs until they’re done. Which happens all too quickly. I fucking hated packing, but I’d go out and buy all of Ikea if I could right now. I wish I had some new furniture I could ask him to assemble for me, giving me an excuse to check him out some more.

I grab a case of water from the kitchen and set it on the table for the guys. It’s the least we can do.

It looks like Katie has set her sights on a new man and is chatting with one of the movers as the guys walk out.

I give them a wave and yell after them, “Thanks again!”

My heart beats faster as Zane, at the very end of the line, closes the door, rather than walking through it.

Oh, fuck.

I can’t run now.

I grab a bottle of water and walk to the kitchen to start unpacking, completely ignoring the fact that he followed me in here. This is bad. I’m hot and sweaty and worked up. My lungs aren’t even working right.

I stand near the fridge and consider bending down to open the closest box, but I know I need to say something. I look up and I’m trying desperately not to stare at him and his sweaty, hot body. Trying desperately not to think naughty thoughts. Trying, and failing miserably.