Unleashed (A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance) (167 page)

My phone rattles against the glass coffee table, and both Rose and I look down at it. I’m curled up on the sofa trying my best not to think about how disastrous my first day apprenticing was.

“Who even has your number?” she asks.

I shrug. “I gave it to Tina.”

“Why would she be texting you at half-twelve?”

My eyes flick to the clock on the wall above the television, and she’s right. It is way too late, and I somewhat doubt it’s an emergency. Playing on the television is a nature documentary about jellyfishes…

I squirm out from under the blanket and reach for the phone, unlocking it.

“Unknown number,” I say, and then I read the text. My eyes go wide.

“What is it?” Rose asks, concerned.

“You won’t believe this,” I say, shaking my head. “How the hell did he get my number?”

“What is it?” Rose asks again, reaching over and grabbing the phone from me. She reads the text.

Drinks and dinner, tomorrow after my tattoo.

“Who is this?”

I look at Rose. “Guess.”

She shakes her head. “I have no idea. Someone from the tattoo shop?”

“Yeah. Someone you know.”

“Someone
I
know?” she says, pondering with a finger to her lip. “I can’t think of anybody.”

“It’s Pierce.”

She balks. “Pierce
Fletcher?
He gets his tattoos from your boss?”

I nod, and I rub my forehead. I’m trying to hide it as best as I can, this heady concoction of mixed emotions I feel. On the one hand, there’s annoyance, irritation, even anger. How could he just be asking me out like this?

On the other, excitement, anticipation, a physical response. Personally, I think Rose sees right through it, judging by her smile, but she’s holding back from saying anything.

Which is totally unlike her.

“You going to go?” she asks.

“Probably not,” I say.

She just shrugs and makes a ‘
huh’
noise.

“I’m not!” I say. “He really is an asshole, Rose. You should have seen him today at the shop. Plus, like I told you before, my dad is dating his mom. No way!”

That’s when she starts laughing. “Well, damn, Penny, it’s not like they’re getting married! It’s not like he’s your
stepbrother
or anything! You should go. See what he wants.”

“I know what he wants.”

“You obviously made an impression on him the other night, not to mention the fact that you saw him this morning in the tattoo parlor.”

“So what? He was a dick. I don’t want to go. Plus, we don’t like to call them ‘
parlors’
.”

Rose peers at me, and then grins. “Did something happen today?”

“No.”

“Yes it did!” she says, wagging a finger at me. “What haven’t you told me, Penelope?”

“He’s in the middle of getting a tattoo.”

“Oh? And it just so happens that Tina is his tattoo artist, right? Now
that’s
a coincidence.”

“Yeah.” I bury my face in my hands. “What are the chances?”

“Well, it’s a big city, but it’s not
huge
.”

“He was getting a tattoo near his groin.”

Her eyes widen, and she gets this really mischievous grin. She lowers her voice and narrows her eyes. “Tell me more.”

“He had to be naked from the waist down.”

She covers her mouth and lets out a high-pitched laugh. “So you saw…?”