Flame Read online

  “I’m done. Stop,” Piper groans as she pulls off her headphones, almost making me fuck up a wing tip.

  I lean back, looking over the massive piece, knowing the shading will take a fraction of the time the outline did. “We can finish it when we do the shading.”

  Piper’s facial features relax immediately as she sits up, holding her T-shirt against her chest. “I need a month before I can come back and go through this shit again.”

  I scrub my hand across my face, catching Gigi’s eye as she watches us across the room. “Take all the time you need. When you’re ready, we’ll finish what we started. I’ve got nothing but time. Let me just cover this piece, and you can go.”

  Gigi’s eyes narrow. I don’t know if the words I just spoke were for Piper or Gigi. I don’t plan on going anywhere, no matter how badly Gigi says she wants me to. What happened last year between us feels nowhere near finished either.

  That’s the biggest problem.

  I didn’t do a damn thing to the chick. At least, nothing she didn’t beg for me to do to her. Yet, she’s treating me like a piece of shit. A distant memory. A huge fucking mistake.

  Piper pulls her shirt over her head as soon as I finish covering the back piece, facing away from me but giving Gigi the full view of her tits. “Can you put me down for one month from today? I want to have something solid in the books before I leave.”

  “I’ll grab you a water and put you down.” I stand, stretching my back and legs because they’re stiff and ache like a motherfucker.

  Piper follows me back to the front, standing on the other side of the counter as I pull up the scheduling software I’ve had five minutes of training in how to use.

  “That piece is going to be killer when it’s finished,” Izzy tells Piper, chatting with her as I fumble my way through the screens, trying to find next month.

  “I’ll be happy when it’s over. I always forget how much this shit hurts until my ass is in the chair and the needle is pulling at my flesh.”

  “But it’s totally worth it. And Pike does some of the best damn line work I’ve seen in a long time. You’ll be happy when the work is finished and you can show it off to the world.”

  Piper shakes her head. “This one is for me. I don’t plan on showing it off.”

  “Oh?”

  “My husband died last year, and this tattoo is for him.”

  Izzy gasps. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

  I glance up as Piper gives Izzy a pained smile. “It’s not something I share. I’m still not ready to talk about everything that happened. He always wanted me to get this tat, but I was too much of a pussy to do it until now.”

  “Well, it’s beautiful,” Izzy says, placing her hand over Piper’s. “The tattoo and the sentiment.”

  Finally getting the computer program to work, I tell Piper, “There’s a spot open on July 5th at noon if that works.”

  “It’s fine.” She nods quickly. “We’ll be done after that?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  I get the side-eye from Izzy, and Piper’s face falters for a moment. What the fuck is it with the chicks around here? Why is ma’am such a shitty word? Where I come from, every woman is a ma’am. You’ll get yourself smacked upside the head if you call a woman by any other name. But here, in the middle of fucking nowhere Florida, the women act like you’re physically hurting them every time you speak the word.

  “Just Piper, kid,” she throws back my way, just like Izzy did.

  “I keep telling him,” Izzy says, giving me a satisfied smile.

  I scribble the date and time on a business card before handing it to her. “I’ll see you in a month, Piper.”

  “Thanks for helping me push through it today, Pike,” she says as she heads toward the door.

  I nod, smiling at the pretty lady whose face displays all the layers of pain and grief for the world to see.

  “You have just enough time to grab something to eat,” Joe says as he stands across the counter in the same spot Piper just was. “Why don’t you take Gigi and go grab some dinner?”

  “I’m fine.” The last thing I need is to be alone with her tonight.

  “You both need to eat. I have a client coming in, and no one else is free. Just take Gigi. She knows this area, and maybe you two can be friends. It’s always nice to have someone at work to talk to who isn’t related.”

  I don’t want to tell him that she and I have nothing much to talk about. We could fuck like monkeys, but beyond that, I’m not sure we have much to say to each other. Based on our earlier conversation, I’d say there are no words left to be spoken.

  “I can just grab something next door.”

  Joe shakes his head. “I want my kid to eat, and it’s important to me that you two are friends.”

  “Joe, let the kids work their own shit out,” Izzy tells him, grabbing on to his arm and handling him with her words and body. “You can’t force them to like each other.”

  “Gigi!” Joe yells out like his sister didn’t say anything to him.

  Gigi’s in the front, standing behind her father and glaring at me within a few seconds. “What’s up, Dad?”

  Joe dips his head in my direction, not turning around to see his kid. “Go with Pike and grab something to eat. Show him some of the local places that serve the good shit. No fast food.”

  “Go with Pike?” Gigi whispers. “Why?”

  “I want you two to be friends.”

  “Are you fucking serious?” she whispers, eyes turning icy fucking cold, but she’s staring at me and not her daddy. “For God’s sake, why?”

  Joe glances toward the ceiling, muttering under his breath. “Just do as I ask,” he tells her.

  She lifts her phone and shakes it in his direction as he turns toward her. “They have food delivery now, Dad. You don’t actually have to go anywhere. I’ll just order us something to eat.”

  If he knew what he was asking, if he knew what we’d done, he wouldn’t be forcing her to leave this place with me. But I never plan on breathing a word of what we’d done to anyone. I’d have my ass booted from the shop, and my name blackballed from every tattoo place in the state.

  “Just let her order in,” Izzy says, looking at me and then at Gigi. “You know kids today, Joe. They don’t like to actually do anything for themselves.” Izzy laughs nervously.

  By the way Izzy’s acting, I reckon she’s read something in our body language and has assumed we aren’t the strangers we’ve made out to be. She seems like someone who can figure things out quickly and see through bullshit quicker than most.

  “Grab me a burger from that place down on County Line. You know it’s my favorite, and they don’t deliver up here.”

  “That’s fifteen minutes away,” Gigi whines.

  “It’s a good fucking thing you both have over an hour, isn’t it?” He shuts down any argument either of us can make on why we shouldn’t head out alone.

  Gigi curls her lip as she glances at me. “Fine. We’ll go, but you’ve used up your asks for this week.”

  Joe takes a few steps toward his kid. I haven’t moved an inch, just stood there, staring at them both. “I’m not asking as your father, baby girl. I’m telling you as your boss.”

  My eyes widen, and so do Gigi’s.

  “So, grab me my usual,” he says, looking down at his kid, standing a foot away from her.

  “Fine,” she snaps.

  “Oh lord,” Izzy whispers and shakes her head. “Clusterfuck. Total and complete clusterfuck.”

  I rub the back of my neck as I walk around the counter. “I can go alone,” I tell Joe, not needing Gigi’s pissy attitude because her daddy forced her to go with me. “I can find the joint and grab your food.”

  But any other words I have on the tip of my tongue die quickly as Joe glares at me. “No, you won’t. She’s going too. I don’t know what bad blood you two have, if it’s from both being new and starting on the same day, but this isn’t a competition. This is a business,
and you two have to work together. Whatever bullshit, imaginary beef you have ends here and now. Do you understand me?”

  I nod because I’m not arguing with the boss. No way. No how. If he wants me to take a ride with his kid to hell and back to get him a bottle of water, I’ll fucking do it. It’s not like Gigi is hard to be around. Keeping my dick out of her might be an issue, but it isn’t a hardship spending time with a pretty chick who could do more with that mouth than sass.

  “I understand, Dad,” she says softly. “I’ll play nice.”

  Joe’s lips turn up and his shoulders relax. “Now, get moving. I’m starving. Ask everyone else if they want anything before you go.”

  “I’ll grab my keys.”

  “Oh no.” Gigi shakes her head, still glaring at me like she wants to rip off my head. “I’m driving.”

  “Why?”

  She crosses her arms, tilting her head to the side, eyes traveling up and down my body. “Let me guess,” she says, her tone all full of piss and vinegar. “You have the bike, yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  “We’re getting food for everyone, and I’m not fucking holding it while we weave in and out of traffic just because you want to take your bike.”

  I shrug. “I have a compartment.”

  “It’s a big nope for me. We’re taking my truck.”

  “Whatever makes you happy.” I’m not going to stand here another ten minutes arguing about which form of transportation we’re going to take. “I could give two shits how we get there as long as we get there.”

  “Smart kid,” Joe says.

  “Or the dumbest one ever,” Izzy whispers before shaking her head at me.

  Hopefully, whatever scenarios Izzy has swirling around in her head, she comes to me about before blowing up my life. She and Gigi are close. I can tell that from the short amount of time I’ve seen the two interact. If Gigi spills the beans, my ass will be on the back of my bike, searching for a new job and a new town…again.

  “I’ll meet you out front.” Gigi tips her head toward the door. “Black truck.”

  I don’t stick around. I need some air and to get my head on straight before I go anywhere with this chick. She has me all kinds of tangled up inside. My brain is going a million different directions, most of which are bad, but they all end up in the same place…with Gigi back in my bed, moaning my name, and begging for more.

  Fuck.

  The door doesn’t close behind me as I step outside into the damp Florida air. I don’t notice I’m not alone as I start to pace.

  “I don’t know what’s going on, but whatever it is, you better find a way to fix it or move the fuck on,” Izzy says.

  I jump, clutching my chest. “Jesus fucking Christ. You scared the ever-loving hell out of me.”

  She marches up to me, craning her neck to look me in the eye. “Did you hear me?”

  I nod. “Uh, yeah. I said you scared the shit out of me, Iz.”

  “Listen, kid.” She points to the window of the shop. “Gigi’s gunning for you. She doesn’t like you, and she doesn’t hate many people. So, whatever you did to fuck shit up, make it right. I don’t want to lose you already, but she’s family.”

  “Yeah. Yeah. I know how it goes.” I run my hand through my hair and sigh.

  “It’s not my business. She’s my niece and you’re both adults, but mark my words, fix whatever you fucked up, or you won’t be here more than a week.”

  I don’t deny that there’s history. I won’t lie to Izzy again. She’s smart. I won’t be going into detail about all the ways I’m acquainted with her niece. I won’t tell her how I know the way she tastes, how she kisses, and the perfect curve of her ass.

  “I’ll fix it.” I jam my hands into my pockets, trying to figure out exactly how I’m going to do that.

  Maybe I need to remind Gigi of how perfect we are together. I don’t get why she’s so fucking pissed. I did not stalk her across the state. Hell, I knew her first name but nothing else about the girl.

  She lied to me, in fact.

  First, based on the fact that she just graduated from college, her first lie was about her age. She told me she was twenty-two and was about to graduate last year. Second, she told me she was from Miami and stayed there to work. I know there were a million other lies she told me that week, but I wasn’t exactly open and honest about my life or my past either.

  We both knew what we were doing. The week in Daytona was all about pleasure. About being in the moment. Our pasts and futures didn’t matter. The lies we told were of no consequence because there was nothing more than that moment, in that hotel, tangled in sheets and coated in sweat.

  But now…our paths are intertwined. My fate and future lie in the hands of the boss’s little girl, the same chick I’d banged until my legs barely worked anymore.

  “Do whatever you need to do to make shit right,” Izzy tells me before walking away and disappearing inside the shop, leaving me out front with my dick in my proverbial hands.

  She said do whatever, but I wonder if the whatever includes being with her niece.

  I know the spark is still there.

  I caught Gigi staring at me more than once. Not with rage, but curiosity. Watching my hands as they touched Piper’s back, maybe remembering the way they felt sliding across her skin.

  Whatever there is between us…I’m going to leave her alone until I find out.

  9

  Gigi

  Fuck. I love my dad, but come on. Why does he have to be so gung ho about the happy family vibe at the shop? What does it matter if I like Pike or not? I don’t remember my dad going to this much trouble when they hired Kat. But what I do remember is my aunts going bananas about a young little hottie working so close to their men.

  But now my dad wants us to be all kumbaya, holding hands, and one big, happy freaking family. If he only knew…

  He’d fucking kill me, and then he’d murder Pike.

  “We going to talk about this?” Pike asks from the passenger seat of my pickup truck.

  “I think we said everything we needed to say already.” I stare straight ahead, keeping my eyes on the road instead of on the hottie next to me.

  Why the hell does he have to smell so good?

  Pike shifts his body, but I don’t dare sneak a glance. I know his eyes are on me and nowhere else. I can feel the weight of his gaze like a warm blanket, covering my skin. “Darlin’,” he says with a hint of a Tennessee twang in his voice. “I have a lot more to say to you.”

  “Well, you talk, and maybe I’ll listen while I drive.” I shrug one shoulder, wrapping my fingers tighter around the steering wheel. “It’s not like I have a choice, do I?”

  “I like a captive audience,” he says sarcastically. “First, I didn’t follow you. I’m not a stalker.”

  “That’s what you say, but how do I know?”

  “Gigi, how the fuck would I even find you?”

  I shrug again. “Anything’s possible.”

  “You told me your first name. You also told me you were from Miami, and the last time I checked, we’re hundreds of miles away from there.”

  “There are other ways.”

  “What other ways?” He turns and his knee is almost touching mine, but I have nowhere to go. No way to fight back because he’s making all the sense in the world, and it’s aggravating as hell.

  “I don’t know. My uncle’s a private investigator, and I’m sure he could’ve found me with very little to go on.”

  Pike laughs, and I can see him shake his head out of the corner of my eye. “Listen, babe.”

  I growl, which only makes Pike laugh. Ugh.

  “You like darlin’ better?”

  “I don’t like either. My name is Gigi or Giovanna,” I correct him.

  “Giovanna is kind of an uppity name, which right about now, suits you.”

  “I changed my mind.” I reach for the radio because I’d rather listen to anything other than his sexy as all get-out voice.

&nbs
p; He tightens his fingers around my wrist, peeling my hand away from the buttons on the console. “I didn’t have anything to go on. I figured what we had was nice, but it wasn’t anything that would go the distance. The last thing I’d do is stalk you to try to get another piece of that fine ass.”

  My gaze slides to his face for a moment before going back to the road. “Nice?” My voice is high, almost shrill. “What we had was nice?” I ask, grinding my teeth and ripping my hand from his grasp.

  “Well, not really.” He pauses, and he’s lucky as hell I can’t lunge across the seat and wrap my hands around that beautiful neck of his. “It was fucking spectacular. The shit you did…”

  “Stop.” I shake my head, grinding my teeth so hard, my jaw aches. “I was there. I don’t need a play-by-play.”

  Pike laughs again, practically making my blood boil. “I’m just saying, I didn’t track you down. I figured you had your fill and were through. So why would I bother to track you down?” He pauses, but I don’t reply before he continues. “I don’t chase pussy. Never have. Never will. It’s not my style, darlin’.”

  “Thanks for that little nugget of truth, Pike.”

  “You’re acting like I did you wrong. You were the one who just up and left without even so much as a goodbye.”

  I cringe when he says the last few words. I did do that to him. I told him I was running out for some coffee, and I didn’t look back before I got in my car, picked up the girls, and headed back to FSU. But in all fairness, when I rolled over that morning and saw his phone with a text from some skank that read, “When you’re done with the little girl, I’ll be waiting for you,” that shit set me right off. I knew I was just another piece of ass to him in a long line of pussy waiting to take my place.

  For half a second, I thought we had something more than a casual fling, but that text reminded me I was nothing more than another notch on his bedpost.

  “I waited in that hotel room for three hours before I figured you weren’t coming back. I felt like a fuckin’ fool too.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  I didn’t take into account how he felt or if he’d even give a shit. I figured a clean break, no goodbye, no last kiss, and no more questions was the best way to end things with him. It was a coward move, but I’d never done anything like that in my life. I didn’t know how to act or if there was a proper way to say thanks for the cock, big man.