“Holly!” I call out when she leaves through the front and walks in the direction of her apartment.

“Go away, Sy. You’re really annoying!” she shouts back, but I don’t stop.

“You didn’t even know the asshole, Holly. You could have found yourself in trouble.” I ignore the fact that it’s the first time I’ve called her by her name, or how good it feels rolling off my tongue.

“Maybe I wanted to be in trouble,” she snaps as she walks past my bike.

“Stop right there,” I demand, watching as she pauses, turning to me at my command. Why it stirs something in me, I don’t know, but watching her obey when she doesn’t want to is bad news for me.

“I’ll take you home,” I say in the same commanding voice, pointing to the bike.

“I’m not going anywhere with you.” She crosses her arms over her chest. Sexy, funny Holly is hot. Pissed off Holly is a bigger temptation.

“Well, you’re not fucking walking, so get on,” I demand, passing her the helmet. She doesn’t take it.

“I’m not getting on a bike with you again.” She makes her stand, taking a step back.

“Listen, I don’t wanna fucking fight. Just get on the bike so I can get this shit done,” I snap, pushing the helmet toward her and not giving a fuck if I sound like an asshole.

“You’re a real asshole, Sunshine, you know that. Now I’m going to have to find less desirable ways to satisfy myself tonight,” she teases.

I don’t know if she’s joking or just trying to get a reaction from me, but hearing her talk about satisfying herself makes me angrier. “Holly,” I warn, knowing I’m starting to slip. I get on first, waiting for her to do as she’s told.

“Fine.” She caves and finally climbs on the back of my bike. She leans forward and whispers into my ear, “but I’m only getting on because I don’t want to walk.” I try not to react, but the blood rushing to my cock is involuntary. She reaches around me and I look down at her small hands holding on to my cut. I feel her legs tighten as she rubs up against me. I can handle her hands on me, but her body rubbing against my back is too much. My palm goes to her leg, stopping her with a squeeze.

“Don’t,” I warn, shutting her down. She huffs her annoyance, but I don’t respond. Instead, I take off out of the lot, ready to be done with this night, knowing I should never have played with fire.

Three minutes later after a silent ride, I pull up in front of her building and I cut the engine. She lives in one of those secured apartments, but it doesn’t stop me from checking out the surroundings.

“No need to stop. I’ll be fine,” she says, passing me my helmet back.

“I’ll walk you up,” I tell her, ignoring her eye roll. I really shouldn’t. I need to turn around, walk back to my bike and get the hell away from her and her tempting ways, but my brain is telling my body I just need to get her up to her door.

“Oh, a real Prince Charming tonight,” she snorts, walking up ahead of me. The elevator ride up to the top floor is silent and I wonder if being this close to her alone is such a good idea. I regret my play just as the doors open. Following her out and down the hall, I watch as she approaches the second apartment and takes her keys from her purse.

“Well, thanks for ruining my night, Sunshine. I was guaranteed hot, sweaty sex tonight, and now I’m left with my hand or trusty vibrator.” She smirks like it’s a game we’re playing and she’s about to score. It takes everything in me not to push her up against the door right there and punish her for thinking she can play with me.

She huffs when I keep quiet, and turns to open the door when she doesn’t get the reaction she’s looking for. The lock clicks and she pushes the door open. I want to follow her in, fuck the attitude out of her, but I stand still in my resolve.

She pauses and I can see the uncertainty in her eyes as she turns and lays her cards out for me to see. “You don’t even want to have sex?”

“No,” I tell her, hating the word as it comes out of my mouth. I don’t want to have sex. I want to fuck her so hard she wishes she never tempted me.

“You know that just made me wet,” she jokes, and I see her trying to cover the shock of my rejection with her humor, but it doesn’t make me laugh. Nothing about this woman teasing me makes me laugh.

“Holly,” I warn and watch her smirk slowly as she closes the door. Relief fills me as I hear the lock click closed, followed by frustration that I’m left craving more of her. Tempted to knock on her door, I force myself to turn and leave before I do something stupid. Two steps into my retreat the door opens and her voice calling my name stops me.

“If you weren’t going to fuck me tonight, then what was your play?” she asks. Her question has me hating myself more. What was I doing in the first place? I’m not gonna lie. Seeing her pick up the asshole was not a fucking easy pill to swallow, but it’s not like I have a claim on her. I’m not even sure I want to claim her, but my body reacted differently. It was as though it was on autopilot. Before I knew it, she was on the back of my bike and I was taking her home—again. I turn to face her, ready to lie and tell her it’s club business and I had to bring her home, but when I see her standing there, all sex and sass, and the biggest fucking temptation ever, something changes. I see something I haven’t seen in such a long time. A small glimmer of light.

The air around us becomes thick with tension and anger, lust and sexual need, but we’re both stuck in a stare-off.

“What happened to you?” she asks so gently it nearly breaks me. I don’t know how to respond. I’m lost in the question, and the silence of the moment as something passes between us. I don’t want her to know what I hide. I don’t want to talk about it, but I still take a step forward, my body disobeying my brain. This is going to be a mistake. I can already feel it, but if this woman wants to play, I’ll fucking play.

CHAPTER FOUR

Holly

“Sy?” I ask, confused by his sudden change. I step back again as he takes another step closer. “What are you doing?” My voice shakes as he steps past the threshold of my small apartment, kicking the door shut with a booted foot.

The tension in the room is building as we face one another. I’m confused. One minute, he’s looking so torn I had to ask the question, and the next, something snapped in him. My chest rises and falls as the anticipation of having him builds every second he stands inside my home. I don’t know if he’s teasing me, or what this is, but the look in his eyes is telling me he’s just as turned on as I am. Ever since the night at the shop last week I knew he was bad news, with an equally bad attitude; but as he stood in front of me in the hallway, fighting whatever he was fighting, I knew no matter how hard I tried to condemn him for it, I couldn’t. Now that I’m about to get what I want, what I’ve craved since I walked into Ink Me, I’m not so sure of myself.

He takes yet another step towards me.

“Wait,” I say, holding my hands up for no reason other than to get my breathing under control. The man is dangerous. He has me wanting him with just one look and he’ll probably have me coming apart with his touch. He steps closer as I step back, his eyes narrow at each one of my retreats. One step forward, one step back. Him the predator, me his prey.

“Sunshine,” I warn, feeling like I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. It was fun teasing him. Now as I retreat, I second-guess my play. My back reaches the wall, halting me in my escape. His grave face drops for a moment when he sees I have nowhere else to run, and then his hard, warm body presses up against me, pushing me further into the wall.

Getting on his bike tonight, I knew this was going to happen, but when he let me close the door, I was shocked. In one moment he looks at me like he could eat me, and the next it’s like he can’t get away quick enough.