Текст книги "Wicked Beat"

Автор книги: Olivia Cunning

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Текущая страница: 19 (всего у книги 23 страниц)

Chapter 29

The next afternoon, Rebekah kissed Eric and smiled up at him.

They had skipped lunch at Brian’s house to stay in bed for another six hours. She had been tempted to stay there all day, but she had a few things she needed to take care of. All Eric could talk about was buying her an engagement ring. And she was going to let him.

“Do you want me to pick it out, or do you want to help me?”

he asked.

She couldn’t even imagine the ginormous ring he’d end up buying. She’d have to walk around with her hand in a vault. “I’m sure you’ll go way overboard if you pick it out yourself. I’m going to pack some stuff at my mom’s house. How about I meet you at the mall for dinner, and we can go shopping afterward?”

“Okay.”

She kissed him again and hugged him for several minutes. She honestly did not want to let him go. Ever. But she’d eventually need clothes. And she missed the weight of her butterfly necklace and bracelet against her skin as a constant reminder that Eric thought she was beautiful.

Rebekah climbed into her car, and after waving good-bye, she headed toward her parents’ house. She knew there would be a confrontation with her mother. She was looking forward to it. To standing up to the woman who had tried to rule her life for twenty-seven years. Yet part of her wanted to curl into her protective shell and sneak back to Eric and never confront the woman at all.

When she let herself into the house, her mother was standing in the foyer. “You spent the night with him, didn’t you? That dirty rock star.”

“Well, yeah. I didn’t sleep in my car.” She tried to walk around her mother, but she grabbed Rebekah’s arm.

“You’ll be lucky if Isaac will ever take you back now. You didn’t have sex with that man, did you?”

“Multiple times, Mother. We’re getting married.”

Her mother’s pupils dilated. Rebekah’s heart thudded with fear.

“You are not marrying him. You are marrying Isaac. He told me last night that you said you would marry him.”

“I said that over a year ago. Before we broke up.”

“He was in tears.”

“Tears?”

“Yes, tears. He said he has never loved a woman the way he loves you, and the thought of losing you was tearing him up inside.”

Isaac had cried in front of her mother? What in the world was his damage?

“I’m sorry I have to hurt him, Mom, but I don’t love him. I love Eric.”

“I don’t care who you love, you’re marrying Isaac.”

“This isn’t the seventeenth century, Mother. I can marry whoever I want. I’m a grown woman. I can make decisions for myself.”

“Bad decisions. You always make bad decisions. First you decided you wanted to be a mechanic. A mechanic! Your father said you should be allowed to choose your own career, so we let you go to that vocational college, and after you graduated you worked in a garage for what? A month?”

“Six weeks,” she mumbled. “I don’t like working on new cars.

They have too many electronics.”

“So you decided you wanted to go to college to be an audio engineer like your brother. You went to Alaska each summer to work on fishing boats and oil rigs. Why?”

“To get away from you, maybe?”

“That’s lovely, Rebekah. Where did you learn to speak to your mother that way?”

“Let go of my arm. I’m leaving.”

“And then you got sick during your junior year. You know why you got sick?”

“Because I had cancer?”

“Because God is punishing you.”

Her mother’s words punched Rebekah in the stomach, and her heart gave an unpleasant lurch. “That’s not true.”

“It is. I know it is. You’re lucky He let you live.”

“He didn’t let me live. Medical treatment let me live.” Rebekah yanked on her arm. “Let go.”

“He took your ability to have children, Rebekah. God is punishing you. Punishing you for making bad decisions.”

“Punishing me? What did I do that you think is so wrong?”

“All those bad decisions, Rebekah. Your whole life. Cancer was your wake-up call.”

“It was my wake-up call. It showed me that I have to live life to the fullest each day, and the only one who has ever made me feel truly alive is Eric.”

Rebekah twisted her arm, not caring that her mother’s grip would leave bruises. Mom refused to release her no matter how hard she pulled.

“I’m moving in with Eric. We’re going to get married and adopt kids. That’s what I want.”

“What you want doesn’t matter, Rebekah. All that matters is what God wants.”

“How do you know what God wants?”

“He talks to me.”

“Mom,” she said, “I think maybe you need to talk to, not God, but a psychiatrist.”

“You think I’m crazy?” Mom shook her head in annoyance. “I want what’s best for you. You know Isaac stood by your side the entire time you were sick. He’s a good man.”

That was true. He also did some pretty sneaky, conniving things to come between her and Eric. “If I promise to talk to him, will that get you off my back?”

“Are you going to marry him?”

“No.”

Mom scowled, and then she got a peaceful look on her face.

“Yes, talk to Isaac. God will bring you back together. I have faith.”

Rebekah did plan to talk to Isaac as soon as she left. She had a few choice words to share. Words her mother would be embarrassed to know her daughter knew, much less used.

Eric sat in the restaurant where he and Rebekah had agreed to meet for dinner. She was over forty minutes late. She wasn’t answering her phone. He was starting to worry. He didn’t want to leave the restaurant and miss her, but something wasn’t right. He wanted to believe that she hadn’t gotten cold feet and run for the hills, but that was better than the thought that something bad had happened.

Another ten minutes passed. Another. A petite woman entered the restaurant and his heart stuttered, but it wasn’t Rebekah. When he couldn’t stand it any longer, he dialed her parents’ house.

Mrs. B answered the phone. “What do you want?”

“Rebekah was supposed to meet me for dinner after she stopped by your house. Have you seen her?”

“She’s not here.”

“Did she make it there?”

“Yes, but she already left.”

“How long ago?”

“Almost an hour ago.”

“She should have been here by now,” he muttered, more to himself than Mrs. B.

“I don’t think you’ll be seeing her anymore. She’s with Isaac now.”

He didn’t want to feel the jealousy those words inspired, but he couldn’t help it.

“With Isaac?” he questioned breathlessly.

“I told you they were meant to be. As written in the good book, Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah, his mother, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. Isaac loves Rebekah. She will become his wife.”

“What?” Was she quoting from the Bible?

“I promised God that if He spared Rebekah’s life, I would do His bidding. I promised.”

“God’s bidding?”

“The book of Genesis speaks of it: And Isaac prayed to the lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived.” Mrs. B muttered under her breath. Eric wasn’t sure she knew she was still on the phone. “Though barren, Rebekah conceived. Isaac prayed, and Rebekah had two sons. There is still hope for her. My daughter. My Rebekah. Still hope. She must… must be with Isaac. Must be. So she can have babies. And he loves her. Isaac loves her. Loves Rebekah. It is God’s will.”

Eric was starting to think that Mrs. B was off her rocker. “Where is Rebekah?” he asked.

“When David was paralyzed, I knew God was punishing me again for allowing Isaac and Rebekah to break up. I promised if he spared David that I’d make sure Isaac and Rebekah would end up together. I promised. They must stay together, you see. I cannot live through another tragedy brought upon my children. I cannot.”

“You honestly believe that, don’t you?” Eric asked, flabbergasted. “That the bad things that happened to Rebekah and Dave are a punishment from God.”

“Leave Rebekah alone. I will not let you come between her and Isaac again. Will not.”

“Can I speak to Dave?”

The woman’s demeanor changed from demonic to angelic in an instant. “Dave is with his physical therapist. Did you know he stood for the first time the other day? I’m so proud. I think he’ll be walking soon. God answered my prayers. I must live up to His expectations.”

Eric decided Mrs. Blake needed a new jacket. A jacket with sleeves that fastened behind her back.

“Okay, thanks.”

Eric hung up and tried to call Rebekah again. He wondered if she had any idea how unbalanced her mother was.

Chapter 30

Rebekah took a deep breath and knocked on Isaac’s apartment door. She knew she probably shouldn’t show up unannounced. He might not even be home. She wanted to clear the air between them now. She didn’t want anything to weigh on her thoughts while she was having dinner with Eric. Or while they picked out her engagement ring.

A minute later the door swung open, and Trey Mills stood in the doorway in nothing but a pair of black satin boxer shorts. “Hey, Rebekah,” he said with a devilish grin. “What brings you here?”

“Uh…” Why was Trey in Isaac’s apartment? Maybe they’d hit it off after she and Eric had left the evening before. Okay. That made sense. But why was he almost naked? “Is… is I-Isaac h-here?”

“Yeah, he’s here. Why don’t you come in?”

Trey stepped to the side, and Rebekah entered the apartment.

She could smell dinner cooking. Garlic, oregano, parmesan. Isaac had always been an excellent cook. Italian cuisine was only one of his specialties. Trey shut the door behind her and pressed a hand to the small of her back.

“Don’t be too hard on him, okay?” he said quietly. “He’s happy, but scared.”

“About what?”

“I’ll let him tell you.”

Isaac stepped out of the bedroom, drying his hair with a towel.

He was wearing gray lounge pants, but was shirtless and barefoot.

“I was thinking,” he said, a huge smile on his face, “maybe I should get my tongue pier—” He noticed Rebekah, and his smile faded. He dropped the towel around his shoulders.

They stared at each other wide-eyed for what seemed like hours.

“Isaac,” she said finally. “What’s going on?”

Isaac’s eyes flicked to Trey. He looked like a caged animal ready to dart as soon as a break presented itself. “What did you tell her?”

Trey shook his head. “Nothing.”

“We need to talk,” Rebekah said.

Isaac nodded. He turned and went back into his room. She didn’t really want to go into his bedroom, but she supposed since Trey was there, they needed someplace private to have their falling out.

Rebekah entered his room and closed the door. The lamp on the bedside table glowed softly. She couldn’t help but notice the empty condom wrappers. So he claimed to love her but had slept with some other woman? Not that she cared. It just added to her confusion about how Isaac had been treating her lately.

His back was to her. His head hung low. He was obviously feeling guilty about something.

“I know what you did to my cell phone,” she said.

“I’m gay,” he blurted.

The words registered, but the implications behind his statement were difficult to grasp. “You’re… what?”

“Gay. Homosexual.”

She blinked and shook her head slightly. “You’re… what?”

she repeated.

“I like guys, okay?” He glanced over his shoulder. “I’m gay. Is it that hard for you to understand?”

Yes, it was that hard for her to understand. They’d been in love.

Engaged. Had sex. Granted, it had been passionless, sorta icky sex, but it had been sex. Infrequent. Lights off. Boring. Tedious sex. But it had been sex, by God.

Isaac’s gay.

The reality struck her so hard that she laughed. “You’re gay?”

He nodded, avoiding her gaze.

Her eyes darted to the empty wrappers on the bedside table.

“You had sex with Trey?”

He flushed and did this cute eye-rolling thing that not only told her he had done it with Trey, but it had been phenomenal. Not icky.

Not boring. Not tedious. It had been full of passion. And the lights had definitely been on.

“I need to sit down,” Rebekah said. She sat on the edge of his bed and breathed through her lightheadedness.

He sat beside her. After a moment, he took her hand and gripped it in both of his. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For trying to come between you and Eric. I know you love him, but I needed you to marry me.”

“I’d like to say I understand, Isaac, but I honestly don’t.”

“I need a wife,” he said. “For appearance’s sake. You know my father will disown me if he finds out I’m gay. I might as well kiss the family practice good-bye. You and I get along so well. You can’t have kids anyway, so no one would be suspicious if we adopt. It just makes sense that we stay together.”

“So I’m supposed to give up my chance at happiness so you can pretend to be something you’re not.”

He ran a hand over his face. “It seemed like a good idea at the time. I love you, Rebekah. I do. I always have. I’d be a great husband.

Treat you well. Take care of you forever. Give you anything you could ever want or need. It’s just the thought of having sex with you makes me physically ill.”

As if she could forget how unattractive he’d made her feel. “But that’s not because I’m not sexy or because my body feels weird inside, it’s because…” For the first time, she realized she wasn’t the one with the problem. It never had been. She jerked her hand out of his and jumped to her feet to glare at him. “How could you do that to me?”

“Do what?”

“Make me feel so sexually unappealing! Talk about a major mind fuck, Isaac. If it weren’t for Eric, I’d still think I had nothing to offer a man in the bedroom. I thought there was something wrong with me. That my body was disgusting.”

“I thought there must be something wrong with you. I wanted to be attracted to you, Rebekah. I just… wasn’t. And I couldn’t… I couldn’t force myself to have sex with you after the surgery. I tried.

Mentally, I had convinced myself that I needed to. Physically? I couldn’t even maintain an erection. I really did think it was because of your surgery.”

“It never occurred to you that I wasn’t the problem?”

“Did that occur to you?” he asked.

She lowered her eyes. “Well, no, actually. You’ve always been so… so… well, perfect.”

“That’s a pretty hard label to live up to.”

The turmoil in his eyes made her cringe. She wasn’t even mad at him anymore. She emitted a loud sigh. “You must be struggling to come to terms with this. When did you realize?”

“Last night.”

“Thank you for confiding in me. I’m sure that wasn’t easy.” She sat beside him again and wrapped an arm around his back. He leaned against her for support, and they sat there for a long while, silently offering strength to one another. He’d done this so many times when she’d been sick. Just offered his presence so she never felt alone. She was happy to offer him this bit of comfort in return.

“Rebekah?” he said quietly. “I need to ask you a favor. Will you do something for me?”

She stroked the loose waves from his forehead with one hand.

“Of course.”

“My father is having a big dinner party next week. All the physicians from the clinic will be there. The entire staff too. He didn’t say specifically, but I think he’s going to ask me to join the practice full time. In front of everyone.” He took her hand and clung to it. “I was hoping… would you go with me? We could pretend…”

“Isaac…”

“We could pretend that we’re still a couple, and then after he makes the announcement, I’ll tell him about…” He took a deep shuddering breath. “I need time to come to terms with this, and if you’re there, I won’t get all the regular questions.”

“The regular questions?”

“When are you going to settle down, son? Are you ever going to get married? I already had two kids by the time I was your age.

Don’t you think you need to start having a family?” he said in a pretty good impression of his father’s deep voice. “You know. The regular questions.”

She understood exactly where he was coming from, and she was tempted to say yes, but she wasn’t sure how Eric would feel about her pretending to be Isaac’s woman. Even if it was only for one evening.

“I have to ask Eric,” she said.

Isaac cringed. “He hates me. He’ll never go for it.”

“You have been acting like an ass lately,” she said. “Can you blame him for not understanding how we can be friends?”

“Sorry.”

She kissed his temple. “I forgive you. This time.”

“You’re good to me, Reb. Sometimes I wish… Sometimes I wish you were a guy,” he said.

Rebekah laughed. “I’ve always been sort of a tomboy. Maybe that’s why you thought you loved me.” She glanced at the clock radio beside the bed and her heart sank. “Oh crap, I was supposed to meet Eric an hour ago. He’s probably worried.”

She pulled out her phone and found that it was turned off. She tried to turn it on, but the battery was dead. “Shit. He’s probably been trying to call me. Can I use your phone?”

“Of course.”

She climbed to her feet and kissed him on the temple. “I’m here for you, you know. Just like you were there for me when I needed you during my treatments.”

He groaned and fell back on his bed. “Stop being so nice to me.

You’re making me feel like a complete jerk.”

She chuckled. “Good. Maybe you’ll remember that the next time you act like a selfish asshole.”

He chuckled. “When did you become so blunt?”

“Recently. And I like it.”

She let herself out of the bedroom and went into the kitchen to use the phone. Trey was sitting on a stool at the breakfast bar still in nothing but his boxer shorts. He was fiddling with his smart phone.

He looked up and grinned. “Did he tell you?”

“Yeah.”

He nodded. “Good.”

“Are you going to break his heart?” Rebekah asked.

“Who, me?” His look of innocence wasn’t fooling her.

“Let him down easy.”

“I know what I’m doing,” Trey assured her.

Rebekah dialed Eric’s number and hoped he’d answer. He probably wouldn’t like seeing Isaac’s number on his caller ID. He answered after several rings. “Is Rebekah okay?” he asked breathlessly.

“I’m fine,” she said. “Sorry I’m late. I’m getting ready to leave now. I’ll tell you what’s going on when I get to the restaurant. Are you still waiting there?”

“Yeah. I think I’ve eaten twenty or thirty complimentary breadsticks. I tried to call. You didn’t answer.”

“My battery is dead. Go ahead and order for us both. I’ll hurry.”

Rebekah gasped when Trey cuddled against her back. “Come on back to bed, Rebekah,” he said near her ear and phone receiver.

“Isaac and I aren’t finished with you yet.”

Rebekah elbowed him in the stomach, and he chuckled.

“Is that Trey?” Eric asked.

“Yeah, he thinks he’s funny.”

“There’s nothing funny about how hot you look in this deep sea diver getup,” Trey said, making sure Eric would hear. His bangs tickled her cheek as he leaned close to the receiver. She giggled.

“Have you seen the oxygen tank and flippers on this woman?” he continued. “Lord have mercy. Hot.”

“What is he talking about?” Eric asked.

“He’s just teasing,” Rebekah assured him.

“Isaac, hand me the snorkel. I’m going down,” Trey said. “I won’t be coming up for air for a while.” Isaac leaned against the opposite side of the counter and quirked an eyebrow at Trey.

Rebekah snorted as she tried not to laugh. “Stop it, Trey.”

“Yeah, stop it, Trey.” Eric sounded out of sorts. “Why are you at Isaac’s house? And what is Trey doing there?”

“I’ll explain as soon as I get to the restaurant.”

“It will probably be at least another hour, Sticks,” Trey said and made obnoxious kissing noises against the back of Rebekah’s neck.

Shoulders scrunched, she laughed again and slapped Trey until he finally backed off. She lost her train of thought when Trey leaned over the counter, holding Isaac’s gaze in a sensual stare and kissed him tenderly. The only thing Rebekah could do was gape, heart thudding with… She couldn’t identify the feeling exactly. Curiosity?

Excitement? She wasn’t sure, but she kind of liked watching them kiss.

“Rebekah?” Eric said into her ear, drawing her attention away from the way-too-hot guys totally trying to out-kiss each other at the moment.

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” she promised. “Love you.”

“Me too,” Eric whispered and disconnected.

She hated to interrupt the festivities. It was interesting to see how passionate Isaac could be when he was actually turned on. He’d never kissed her the way he was kissing Trey. Um… “Isaac, I’ll call you tomorrow about the party after I talk to Eric.”

He peeled his lips off Trey’s and said, “Thanks, angel. I appreciate it.”

“Party?” Trey said. “What party?”

“You wouldn’t be interested,” Isaac assured him, eyes wide with what Rebekah could only construe as abject horror.

“I’m always interested in a party,” Trey said.

“No,” Isaac said emphatically.

“I’ll see you guys later,” Rebekah said.

Trey grabbed her and hugged her. “Thanks for introducing me to your ex-boyfriend,” Trey murmured into her ear so Isaac couldn’t hear. “He’s way fun to fuck with. Mmm, and fuck.”

Poor Isaac. He had no idea who he’d gotten himself tangled up with here.

Trey released her and offered a lopsided, ornery grin. He winked.

Rebekah’s heart skipped a beat. On second thought. Lucky Isaac. He had no idea who he’d gotten himself tangled up with here.

“You should totally mess with Eric when you see him. Make him think you were doing something with me and Isaac. It will drive him insane.”

She shook her head. “No way. We’re still in the making-up phase.”

“He wouldn’t hesitate to do it to you, you know.”

Probably true, but she’d already kept him waiting for over an hour and needed to put the poor guy out of his misery. “Bye, Isaac.”

She waved at Trey and let herself out of the apartment.

By the time she arrived at the restaurant, guilt was eating her alive. The scowl on Eric’s handsome face didn’t make her feel better.

She kissed his cheek and slid into the chair across from him. Her salad was already waiting. He’d finished his.

“I’m really sorry I’m so late.”

“I think you have some explaining to do.”

She stuffed a bite of salad in her mouth and held up one finger while she chewed and swallowed. “I went to Isaac’s apartment to confront him about his behavior—reprogramming my phone for one thing—and Trey answered his door. I never did get to tell Isaac off properly. He told me… He told me that he’s—” she lowered her voice to a whisper and leaned across the table, “—gay.”

Eric didn’t look the tiniest bit surprised. “And that makes everything he did okay?”

She had sort of let him off the hook as soon as he’d confided.

“It’s hard for him. His father will never accept this.”

“Like your mother will never accept me.”

Rebekah lowered her eyes. “It’s different.”

“I talked to her on the phone when you didn’t answer your cell.

She was spouting Bible verses at me.”

“Let me guess, the story of Isaac and Rebekah.” She stuffed more salad in her mouth and watched him fidget with the stem of his wineglass.

“Yeah, actually.”

“Did she tell you the reason I got cancer is because I make bad decisions, and God is punishing me?”

“She said that to you?”

She nodded and closed her eyes to hold in emotions suddenly overwhelming her.

Eric reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “She told me she promised God that you would marry Isaac. Otherwise, she seems to think more horrible shit is going to happen to you and Dave.”

Rebekah sighed. “We thought she was better.”

“Better?”

“Yeah, she had a mental breakdown when I was going through chemo. That’s one reason why I depended on Isaac so much. After my treatments, she seemed to recover. I guess the stress is getting to her again. I’ll talk to Dad about it.”

Their entrees arrived before Rebekah had finished her salad. She was grateful Eric had ordered for her. That meant they could get out of here sooner. “Are you sure you want to marry me?” she asked him.

“I’ve got a lot of baggage.”

“It makes you more interesting.”

She laughed. “If that’s what you want to call it.”

“We could do what Brian and Myrna did and skip the engagement.”

“Is that what you want?”

“I don’t know. I never thought much about getting married until a couple months ago, when Sinners started falling like dominoes. I figured I’d be the last one standing.”

“Technically, Brian is the only one who’s married. You could be the second to fall if you want.” She winked.

“Don’t you want the huge ceremony and the big dress and the pile of Crock-Pots?”

“You mean crackpots.”

“Crackpots?”

“Otherwise known as my crazy family.”

He laughed and some of the tension drained from his body.

Apparently, her mother got under his skin too. Another thing they had in common. “I’ll do whatever you want, Reb. I don’t want to make you feel like you’re missing out on anything.”

“I want to do something unusual,” she said, her heart thudding with excitement.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know yet. Let me think about it. We’ll brainstorm.

Come up with something really fun and unique.”

He grinned. “I love you, you know that?”

“Yeah, I know. That’s why you’re going to let me pretend to be Isaac’s girlfriend at a party next week.” She was picking up on Eric’s uncanny ability to change the subject without missing a beat.

“What?”

“No matter when we decide to get married, I still want the engagement ring. So don’t think you’re getting out of that,” she said, trying to keep him unbalanced. “Hurry up and eat.”

“What party, Rebekah? I thought Isaac was gay. Why would he—”

“Pretend,” she said. “It’s just a favor. Nothing more. He’s not ready to come out publicly yet.”

“But—”

“Let’s play cops and robbers when we get home. You can pretend I’m a jewel thief and handcuff me. Show me your long arm of the law until I confess to crimes I never committed.”

“Stop changing the subject.”

She laughed. “Disorienting, isn’t it? Do you have handcuffs at home, or do we need to stop by Bonds-R-Us?”

He dropped his fork and grinned. “It’s definitely time for another pit stop. Maybe we’ll pick up a deep sea diver outfit for you to wear.”

He nonchalantly took a sip of water, while he watched her closely.

She contemplated the idea, knowing he was trying to find out what she, Trey, and Isaac had really been doing in Isaac’s apartment.

After a moment, she shook her head. “I don’t think so. I don’t want to catch crabs.”

Eric laughed and sucked water down his windpipe. He was choking so hard, Rebekah stood to whack him on the back.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

He nodded, still choking. “Jeez, woman,” he gasped between coughs. “I’m the one who’s supposed to crack all the stupid jokes.”

“Sorry. I’ll try to come up with smarter jokes from now on. The stupid ones are all yours.”

“This is why we work,” he said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Compromise.”

“I thought it was the great sex.”

Her flippant comment elicited several stares from nearby tables.

“Well, there’s that too,” Eric said.

After dinner, they walked across the parking lot to the mall.

They found the jewelry store, but when they arrived the metal gate was down, and the lights were off.

Rebekah’s heart sank with disappointment. “Closed? How can it be closed? What time is it?”

“It’s after eight,” Eric said.

“Why is it so late?”

Eric lifted his eyebrows.

She made a sound of annoyance. “Of all the days for Isaac to come out of the closet.” She gazed into a display window with longing. Not because she really wanted a ring, but because she wanted the world to see proof that she’d given her heart to Eric.

“These are all too girly anyway,” she said, trying to make herself feel better about having to wait at least another day.

Eric chuckled and wrapped an arm around her back to direct her to the parking lot again.

“There’s probably someplace still open that’s more suitable to brand you as mine,” he whispered into her ear.

“Yeah, a tattoo parlor,” she said with an unladylike snort.

Once the idea took hold, she grew excited. “Eric!” She grabbed his forearm and stopped walking abruptly. “I want your name as my tramp stamp.” She lifted the back of her shirt and pointed to her lower back. “Right there. Your name and music notes on either side.

Maybe some little butterflies.”

“Are you serious, Reb? That’s permanent, you know.”

“I know. You don’t want me to?” She traced a tattoo on his forearm with one finger. It showed a dagger through a skull. It was a beautiful piece of art, but masculine. “Would you rather I get one that matches yours?”

“I would love my name permanently etched on your sexy little back. I could stare at it while…” He lifted her shirt and took a peek at the area in question. “Damn…” he said breathlessly and gave himself a little shake. “Yeah, okay. Let’s go.”

He scooped her into his arms, tossed her over his shoulder, and headed toward his car.

“Right now?”

“Yep. And I’m going to get your name tattooed down the length of my cock.”

“You are not!”

“Yeah, I am.”

She wondered if her name would get bigger when he was hard.

She wondered about something else. “How long does it take for a tattoo to heal?”

“Several weeks.”

“Then you won’t be able to have sex for several weeks.”

“You’re right. Forget that then. Where do you want your name?”

She thought for a moment. What was the sexiest part of Eric’s body, besides his cock? That sweet V-shape at his lower belly that disappeared into the waistband of his underwear. That’s where she wanted her name. Then when he held her back against his belly, their names would press together.

“Put me down,” she said. “Let me show you where I want it.”

He gently set her on her feet, and she lifted his T-shirt in front.

She pushed the waistband of his jeans lower and traced a swath of bare skin above his underwear. “I want it right here.”

He drew a breath through his teeth. “That is going to hurt.”

“More than it would on your cock?”

He chuckled. “Good point.” He hurried her to the car and opened the door for her. “I know a great artist. He’s done all my ink and the smiley-faced flower on the top of Jace’s foot.”

“Jace has a flower on his foot?”

“Yeah, I got him really drunk. Let’s just say his judgment was impaired. Usually, they won’t tattoo someone when they’re that inebriated, but I’ve known Butch for years. And Jace said it was okay before he passed out. We both got our nipples pierced that night too.”

“Kind of like when girls get their nails done together.”

He looked grievously offended by that comparison. “Uh, no.”

She laughed. “If you say so.”

Eric headed out of the parking lot and drove toward the coast.

“As excited as I was to get you a ring, I’m even more excited by the thought of my name tattooed on your skin.”