Inked in the Steel City Series (12 page)

She pulled her jacket tighter as she strode quickly down the sidewalk, unsure of why she was hurrying. The poster had already lost her job for her. What else could it possibly do that could be worse? A lingering sense of longing answered that question: it hurt to look at the poster. Or rather, it made her want Eric so badly that it hurt. She hastened her step, and when a voice called out to her, she almost thought it was a product of wishful thinking.

“Mina?”

Eric appeared at her side, slightly breathless, but definitely real. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him and she stopped dead in her tracks. “Eric.”

“I thought I saw you standing outside the window.”

A moment of silence stretched between them.

“Do you need something – a touch up on your new tattoo? Or did you come just to see the posters?”

Mina’s heart fluttered at the thought of Eric’s hands on her body, even if it was just to touch up her tattoo. “I came to see the posters.”

A hint of a smile curved his lips. “Well, what do you think?”

Her throat tightened ominously, and she cringed at the way her eyes stung. No way was she going to lose it. Not now and not here in front of Eric. But it had been hard to keep it together at the bank, and even now, almost all she could think about was that in a few hours she’d have to pick up Jess from school and tell her that she’d lost her job.

“Hey.” Eric laid his hand on her shoulder, and his touch was comforting, even through the layers of Mina’s jacket and top. “Are they really that bad?”

She shook her head, swallowing the thick feeling in her throat. “The posters look great.” She tried to smile. “Karen is a fantastic photographer.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“I…” Her eyes stung again, and she tried to blink away the feeling. “I lost my job. Just a few minutes ago.”

His gorgeous eyes clouded with concern as he frowned. “What happened?”

She tipped her head in the direction of the shop. “One of my co-workers saw the posters, took photos of them and turned them in to my boss and the HR department. They said that either the photos had to come down for good, or I’d be terminated.”

He shook his head. “That’s ridiculous. Come on though – I’ll take you to talk to Jed. He’s the owner, and I’m sure he’ll understand—”

“No.” She cut him off, shaking her head. “I can’t ask for that. Karen would be devastated, and I already spent the money Jed paid me.” She sighed. “Besides, it’s done. My job is gone. I can’t even truthfully say that I want it back.”

He took her hand, enclosing it within the warmth of his own. “Do you want to go somewhere? I don’t want to leave you alone.”

She bit down on her inner lip, debating. She wanted to go with him – anywhere or nowhere, it didn’t really matter where. She didn’t want him to let go of her hand and go back inside the tattoo shop, leaving her alone on the sidewalk with her misery. But after the way she’d embarrassed herself last time she’d seen him, she was almost afraid to say yes. Maybe it would be smarter to call Karen. If she hadn’t gone in to work yet, Karen would commiserate with her, and maybe even help her get started on her search for a new job. Eric was looking at her with those blue eyes – she had to say
something
, but she couldn’t bring herself to say no. “I don’t know.”

A little bit of the light went out of his eyes. “Look, about last time… I didn’t realize I was making you uncomfortable. I guess I read your reactions wrong. I’m sorry.” He gave her hand an almost imperceptible squeeze.

She shook her head. “No, you didn’t.” She’d practically jumped into his lap in the car. How was it possible to misread that? “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

He arched an eyebrow at her in question. “Really? You seemed pretty upset.”

“I was, but with myself, not you.”

He took a step toward her, invading her personal space.

Mina’s heart skipped a beat as she was reminded of the hard heat of his body pressed against hers, first in the studio and then in the car. Hopefully she was just imagining the way her hand seemed to be shaking inside his.

“I don’t get it,” he said.

She flinched as a cold gust of wind sent her hair flying. “It’s not really something I can explain standing here on a sidewalk.”

“That’s fine.” He tightened his hold on her hand, taking a step forward. “I’ll take you someplace else. Just say where.”

She let him guide her up the sidewalk, and couldn’t help but turn to stare at the posters in Hot Ink’s windows as they approached them.

“Pretty nice, huh?” He stopped beside her to admire their poster, still holding her hand. The husky tone of his voice suggested that ‘nice’ wasn’t exactly what he meant.

A wave of heat swept through Mina as she stood, entranced by the image of their entwined bodies and almost-touching lips. She could vividly remember how the firm planes of his stomach had felt pressed against hers, with little more than a thin layer of silk between them. And his heat…she could feel it even now, the warm rush of his breath against her cheek as he spoke, so close beside her. “Yeah,” she replied, her eyes glued to the tattoo winding across Eric’s toned back. That same body was pressed against hers now, firm even beneath the thick layers of their clothing.

“I don’t know about you,” he said, “but I really like this one, too.” He stepped to the side, indicating the poster displayed in the window on the other side of the door.

Mina followed his gaze, her lips cracking open in surprise as she looked closely at the poster for the first time. There was just one person on this poster – a glamorous woman inked from shoulder to hip, a soft cut of red silk wrapping around her body, not quite managing to hide the curves beneath. It was her. She hadn’t realized that when she’d first stood in front of the shop – she’d been too distracted by the image of her and Eric together. It was obvious now, though the way she looked in the picture wasn’t exactly how she pictured herself. “Karen is a real artist,” she said.

“Why do you say that?” Eric was still admiring the poster, his eyes slowly tracing the curves of her body.

Heat warmed her cheeks. “Well, look at me. I don’t look that good right now.” Not that she wasn’t happy with her appearance, but the glamorous woman she’d been transformed into for the sake of the photo shoot was bound to turn more heads than she did as her everyday self. Of course, that was the point.

He surprised her by looking away from the poster, turning to face her instead. His gaze swept from her head to her toes, and though she was more than modestly dressed in her work clothes and high-buttoned jacket, she felt as if she were wearing nothing but the red silk again. “Yes you do,” he said, his voice firm and sure.

She was suddenly hyper-aware of his hold on her hand, of his closeness. All it would take would be for either of them to lean a few inches, and their lips would be locked as solidly as they had been half a moment before the picture on the first poster had been taken. The thought released a swarm of butterflies in her stomach.

He began moving again. “Let’s try the whole coffee thing again.” His clear blue eyes met hers and one corner of his mouth turned up in a smile. “What do you say?”

“All right.” How could she say no to coffee? It was innocent, even if her secret thoughts weren’t.

They went to the same café they had the first time, and Mina ordered the same thing, vowing not to leave it behind this time. “I don’t think there are any open seats,” she said, clutching her vanilla latte and turning to scan the shop’s small interior. Most of the tables were occupied by people with laptops, their bags and coats filling the seats they didn’t. Here and there, couples sat together, and the sight of them made Mina glance toward Eric, wondering if he’d reach across the table to touch her hand or kiss her lightly with lips that had been warmed by coffee. She shouldn’t have been thinking about it, as if they were a real couple like the others scattered around the shop, but she couldn’t help it.

“There are a few tables outside,” Eric said, frowning as he glanced at a man whose computer and accessories took up every inch of a table made to seat four.

Mina nodded as she glanced out the window. All three of the outdoor tables were empty, their umbrellas closed and bound shut. No one wanted to sit outside in the cold fall wind, but it didn’t look like she and Eric had much of a choice.

“So how’s Jess?” Eric asked, settling into his seat across from Mina as he opened his coffee’s lid, letting the steam rise to be blown away by another harsh rush of wind. “Does she still have those stitches?”

Mina shook her head, inwardly pleased that he’d remembered Jess’s injury and cared enough to ask. “The doctor removed them yesterday. The wound has healed nicely. He says it shouldn’t leave too bad of a scar.”

“Great.” Even his short hair was visibly moved by the next gust.

“Yeah.” Mina took a sip of her latte, wondering exactly how red her nose was from the cold. Eric might think she looked as beautiful as her professionally made-up and edited image, but she suspected that she looked more like Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer than the girl on the poster. She lowered her cup onto the table, wrapping her hands around it for warmth as she tried to keep her teeth from chattering.

The knowing look that passed through Eric’s eyes was unmissable. “Look, it’s freezing out here. Would you rather finish your coffee at my place? It’s just a few blocks away.”

Her surprise must have shown on her face, because he reached out to touch one of her hands, just like the guy in the coffee shop had done to his girlfriend. “You don’t have anything to worry about. I just can’t sit here and watch you turn into an icicle.”

Another blast of biting air sent her hair flying backwards, as if she were standing in a wind tunnel instead of sitting outside a café. “OK.”

Their chairs scraped against the cement as they rose, and Eric walked close beside her, leading her to his place. The butterflies in Mina’s stomach maintained a state of unrest as she imagined his home and what it would be like to be with him inside it – alone. The idea was both unnerving and slightly intoxicating, but at least it took her mind off what she’d have to say to him once they arrived. After all, she’d agreed to tell him what had upset her during their date, and she wasn’t looking forward to confessing.

Chapter 6

“Here we are.” The brick apartment building was thoroughly ordinary, and a rush of relief swept through Mina as they stepped inside, safely ensconced in the narrow hallway, away from the cold wind. Eric led her to the third floor, and her heart beat as if they’d run all the way up the stairs as he pushed his key into the lock and turned it.

The inside of his apartment was just as ordinary as the outside – modest but reasonably neat and clean. Her eyes settled on a guitar propped in one corner, a couple yards behind the couch that sat in the middle of the living room. Did he play?

“I have a roommate,” he explained. “He’s the one who plays guitar, but he’s at work right now.”

She nodded, settling onto the edge of the couch after he gestured toward it. He sat beside her, his blue eyes locked with hers as he opened his coffee again, releasing curling tendrils of steam. “So about last time,” he said. “You’re going to have to explain if you really want me to believe it wasn’t something I did.”