Page 6 of His Red Carnation

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath, starting the car and heading toward the tattoo shop just minutes away.

4

Callan

Watching Sloane walk out of her bedroom in that fucking dress with her pretty pink lips had me fucking dying. The things I wanted to do to her, like bend her over and grab that perfect ass and shove my dick so hard in her that her sweet little voice screamed my name. And then sitting beside her in the car, noticing her tits shaking as she bossed me around and rolled her eyes at me. I wanted to fuck her mouth with the way she talked back to me. But goddamn it, I needed to clear my head and stop thinking about my friend’s daughter. My friend’s barely eighteen-year-old daughter. And now I was taking her to a fucking tattoo shop. Of course Ana would approve—she’s always been a firecracker. I remember back in our twenties, at a party, when some drunk asshole grabbed her ass. Without missing a beat, she turned around and slapped him so hard, the whole room went silent. She didn’t even flinch, just stared him down until he slunk off like the piece of shit he was. That was Ana—fierce as hell, and Jake fucking loved her for it. I saw the same fire in Sloane. She played the good girl, but I could tell there was a wild side under there. The way she flirted with me, a guy twenty years older, screamed rebellion. Did she even realize she was doing it? Because it was driving me fucking crazy and if she kept doing it, I wouldn’t be able to help myself. I’d fucking rip that pretty little dress off of her if she asked me to.

We pulled up to the tattoo shop a few minutes later. She jumped out of the car and stomped her way to the entrance, and I hurried to catch up. She always stomped around like she was on a mission to fuck shit up. I wondered if she even realized how much confidence she radiated—it was surprising coming from an eighteen-year-old.

Before I could even try, she yanked the door open and walked right in.

The place was packed for a Thursday night. Sloane headed straight to the front desk and started chatting with the receptionist, a tattooed guy who didn’t look much older than her. The way he stared at her, openly ogling her, pissed me off. I couldn’t make out their conversation over the loud music, so I moved closer, resting my hand on her back—almost possessively. Just touching her soft body made my dick twitch. She glanced over at me, her eyes widening for a split second, her body relaxing from my touch, before turning back to the tattooed kid.

“This your dad or something?” he joked.

“No, you know exactly who she is. I’m her fucking muscle. So cut the jokes, asshole. You got a private room or something? She needs privacy.”

He gaped at me, clearly realizing who I meant. His eyes flicked to Sloane, narrowing.

“Holy shit, itisyou. You’re Sloane Martin.” He continued to blatantly check her out, and I had to hold back the urge to clock him.

“So? Do you have someone who can tattoo me?” she asked quietly, almost as if she were embarrassed.

“Yeah, for sure. Uh, here…follow me.” He got up and gestured for us to head down a hallway.

Sloane shot me a pissed-off look. “Could you maybenotmention who I am to everyone we talk to?” she muttered.

Fuck. “He was being a fucking jackass,” I argued.

She glared at me. “You could’ve told him off without mentioning who I was,” she snapped.

I stayed silent as she walked ahead, following the jackass into a private room. I needed to start considering her feelings more. I wasn’t used to dealing with famous, beautiful teenage girls—especially ones that I wanted to fuck. And not just fuck—I already cared about her. I wanted to protect her. I didn’t want anyone even looking at her, let alone talking to her. I’d never felt this kind of possessiveness toward a woman before.

“Just fill this out. I’ll have someone come in for you soon,” the loser muttered, handing Sloane the paperwork before walking out and closing the door behind him.

She sat down and started filling it out.

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly, taking a seat across the room. There was a chair next to her, but I didn’t think she’d want me being that close to her at the moment.

She shrugged. “It’s fine. It’s just…it’s rare that I get to go somewhere and be anonymous.” Her eyes stayed fixed on the paperwork.

I nodded. “I get that.”

Finally, she looked up at me and smirked. “So, you’re mymuscle?”

I laughed, feeling a little embarrassed. “I just wanted to give him some shit. Honestly, I think you’ve got enough muscle for the both of us,” I teased.

She licked her lips, her eyes drifting to my arms. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was checking me out.

“I don’t know,” she said as a slow grin appeared on her lips. “I was kind of looking forward to seeing that muscle.”

Jesus Christ.I instantly had a semi, but thank fuck someone walked in before I said something I regretted.

“Shit, itisyou.” Another hipster kid walked in, gawking at her like an idiot.

Sloane’s smile faded as she gave a small shrug.

“This is great. What can I do for you? You’re eighteen or…?” He glanced at me, almost questioning.

---