Inked in the Steel City Series (25 page)

His apology would seem a lot more convincing if he completely regretted kissing her, but he didn’t – he couldn’t.

* * * * *

 “Did you hear that?”

“That was a male voice. It was definitely male. Did you hear what it said?”

“I didn’t catch any words. It almost sounded like a growl. Let’s get back to the lab and check the EVP recording.”

Karen leaned back in her chair, adjusting the hydraulic lever beneath the seat. Holy crap, she needed a new desk chair. Why hadn’t she bought one yet? That should’ve been priority number one when she’d started making enough money to do more than just barely pay her bills each month. It was a pain to edit photos – or watch TV online while her printer churned out 5x7s – in the worn out piece of junk-on-wheels.

“Holy crap!” Voices crackled through her cheap computer speakers – another office essential that could use replacing. “Did you hear
that
, man?”

Crappy speakers or no, the EVP recording echoed through Karen’s workspace. Ugh, it really did sound like a growl, and they kept replaying it…

Karen glanced toward the window. It wasn’t even dark yet, which meant that listening to the static-laced recording alone in her studio shouldn’t scare her, not even a little bit.

Still, she jumped and nearly upended her aged desk chair when a knock sounded at the door. Spinning as quickly as her wobbling seat would allow, she turned her back on her computer screen.

Her legs shook as she hurried toward the door. Who could be on the other side? She didn’t have any clients scheduled – she’d left the entire day open in order to celebrate her birthday with her grandmother and then get caught up on some odd tasks.

“Karen?” The voice that called from the other side of the door stopped her in her tracks just as her fingertips were about to brush the doorknob.

Memories of the night before rushed back to her, sweet and vivid and a little terrifying when she really thought about them. On the verge of facing Jed for the first time since the kiss, she stood frozen like an idiot with her heart pounding away in her throat. What was about to happen? She let herself wonder for approximately two seconds before she had to stop herself regretting that she hadn’t worn sexier underwear.

At least her bra and panties matched – she was reasonably sure of that, although it was kind of hard to remember getting dressed that morning when her thoughts kept zooming back to the memory of Jed’s short beard scraping her jaw, his tongue wrapped around hers…

“I’m here.” She called out the first thing that came to mind and unlocked the door, opening it to reveal the man she’d barely been able to stop thinking about for the past twenty-four hours.

He looked just like she remembered – sexy as sin – and her already elevated heartbeat sped ahead at the sight. Instead of a button-up with rolled-up sleeves, he wore a black t-shirt. It clung to his muscular torso and revealed the goldmine of well-done ink that covered his arms. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He stood in the doorway for a moment, silent with his thumbs tucked into his pockets.

She let herself admire him for a few seconds as a cloud of butterflies came to life somewhere between her hips and her heart.

“Can I come in?”

“Sure.” She stepped back, unable to resist thinking of his last text. Sorry about last night? What the hell did that mean? Was he sorry he’d kissed her? Sorry he hadn’t done more? Wondering had driven her to tune-out in front of her computer screen, courtesy of her favorite ghost hunting show.

He breathed a barely-audible sigh as he strode into the room, looking like he was on the verge of saying something important. Instead, he paused in front of her computer. “You watching this?”

The barest hint of heat crept into her cheeks as she glanced toward the screen, where one of the paranormal investigators was daring a spirit to approach some sort of EMF reader. “I was.”

“I had no idea you liked this stuff.” Jed’s mouth curled in the tiniest of smiles.

“Let me guess – you think it’s ridiculous?” Jed wasn’t exactly the kind of guy she’d peg as a fan of ghost hunting shows.

He shrugged, his broad shoulders straining his t-shirt in a way so sexy it made her head spin. “I’m just surprised is all. I’ve never watched more than a few minutes here and there.”

“It’s a little sensationalistic at times, but the locations they visit are really cool – seeing the historic old places they explore is my favorite thing about the show and—” For once, she stopped herself mid-babble. Forget ghost hunting TV! Who gave a crap about whether the abandoned prison was haunted when there was last night’s kiss to discuss, and maybe even relive?

She reached for the mouse and shut off the show. “I won’t inflict my reality TV upon you.”

“Reality?” Jed arched a dark brow.

Her cheeks warmed a little more. “They
say
it’s reality. And I figure it’s probably not
all
staged.”

“Mmm.” Jed was definitely smiling now. “There’s no telling, is there?”

“I guess not.” Karen turned to her printer and lifted a fresh print from the tray. She wasn’t going to argue about the existence of ghosts. Not now, and not with Jed.

The silence that filled the studio was absolute, unrelieved by even a questionable EVP clip now that she’d turned the show off.

“About last night,” Jed eventually said, his deep voice banishing the quiet, “I’m sorry. I came here to apologize.”

Karen set the print down on her desk, next to the mouse pad, as her pulse fluttered in her fingertips. “Sorry for what?”

* * * * *

She stood there, green eyes wide and hands loose at her sides, her slender fingers brushing the corner of her desk. How could she look so oblivious, like she had no idea what he was talking about?

“For taking advantage of you.” He resisted the urge to wince as the words came out. “I shouldn’t have kissed you like that – not after you’d been drinking.” It had felt right at the time, but that was just evidence of what a fucking creep he was, wasn’t it? Offering to give her a ride home after she’d been drinking, and then shoving his tongue down her throat before he let her go…

Karen laughed, and the sound sent slivers of disbelief slicing through him. How could she laugh about it? Had he betrayed her trust so badly that she thought she had to make a show of not caring?

“Jed, you didn’t take advantage of me. How could you think that?”

“You’d been drinking,” he repeated. “I should’ve just taken you home, and let that be that.”

She crossed her arms, and he couldn’t help but notice how the motion pushed up her breasts. Visions of her in her low-cut dress from the night before swarmed his memory and amped-up his guilt. She’d looked amazing… She still did, in the new sweater Mina had given her for her birthday.

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t,” she said. “I mean yeah, I drank, but not too much. I was barely buzzed, and well – I don’t know if I would’ve been able to work up the courage without a
little
help.”

“The courage?”

“To – you know. When I leaned forward and…” Her face was suddenly, totally pink. “I thought we were going to kiss so I sort of leaned toward you. When you pulled away, I was horrified. But then…” She shot him a shy grin. “I realized I’d been right.”

“You’d been thinking about us kissing?” The notion sent a pang of sharp-edged desire through him, but he knew he shouldn’t savor it … alcohol had a way of making people think things they shouldn’t.

“For
ages
.” She crossed her arms a little more tightly, almost as if she were hugging herself. “Ever since I first met you. I just didn’t know how… I mean, I was nervous. It was hard for me to tell if you felt the same way.”

Looking at her standing that way, with her arms tight around her own body while her eyes searched his, he wanted to pick her up and wrap his own arms around her and hold her so tightly that he’d be able to feel her heart beat, her breasts compressed against his chest… “Are you serious? Karen, I didn’t realize…”

Ever since she’d
met
him? Holy shit… That’d been months ago. And yeah, he’d felt an instant attraction too, but the idea that she’d been waiting all that time, wanting something to happen... It was unbelievable. And it made him feel like a dick.

All the excuses he’d found to see her, the way he’d sometimes prolonged their little meetings in the back of the tattoo studio even though she’d answered all his questions and provided better images than he ever could’ve hoped for… “I feel like I’ve been leading you on. I’m sorry.”

She tightened her self-embrace so much that it was a wonder she could even breathe. “Oh. I see… You
don’t
feel the same way.” Her face transitioned from pink to red before his eyes, and her expression vacillated from hurt to angry.

Damn it, she looked at him like he’d hit her or something.

“It’s not that I’m not attracted to you,” he said as his mistake dawned on him. “I am, but it’s not like we could be together.”

She raised her gaze again, her eyes searching his. “Why not? Are you seeing someone else?”

“No.” His voice came out a little too deep, a little too scraping.

“Then what are you talking about?” Her face was still red, but she looked more bewildered than hurt now.

He raised his hands in a useless gesture. “Look at yourself, Karen. You’re young, beautiful and successful – on your way to much bigger things than photographing tattoos for my studio, I’m sure. And I’m just myself. I tattoo – that’s it; Hot Ink is my life. I don’t have anything to offer someone like you.”

Karen finally dropped her arms to her sides, where her hands formed loose fists. “Are
you
serious? You don’t think you’re good enough for me?” She looked at him like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“I know I’m not.”

“Jed… You’re not just saying that because there’s some other reason that would hurt my feelings, are you?”

“No.”

For a few moments, she just stood there, hands balled and eyes wide. Then she looked around the studio as if searching for something. “Okay, here’s the glitz and glamour I’m apparently exuding – see this?” She bent down and picked up something between her finger and thumb.

Or at least, she went through the motions – he couldn’t see anything.

“Dog hair,” she said. “It’s been a freaking week, I’ve vacuumed twice and I’m still finding it everywhere.” She gestured toward her khaki-colored pants. “I’ve stopped wearing dark colors because the hair shows up so well against them.”

“I’m afraid I don’t follow.”

“Last week I did a shoot for a pet grooming company. Apparently they thought the world’s most spastic greyhound would be the perfect model of a well-groomed dog. The shoot was a nightmare – I still have scratch-marks on my arms from that dog, and he peed on the carpet!” She thrust an accusatory finger toward one corner of the room. “Who do you think had to clean it up?”

She shook her head, her mouth set in a firm line. “Anyway, I’m just glad he didn’t knock over any of my lights or break anything. In the end, I got a few ad-worthy images, but I worked for them, Jed. I scrubbed
pee-soaked carpet
for them. How’s that for bigger and better things?”

“Maybe you should hire an assistant,” he suggested. “Someone to help keep a handle on your canine clients and clean up accidents if needed?”