Page 71 of Bad Boy in Her Bed

“Luck,” she replied with a smile, all evidence of her nerves vanishing.“Nice to meet you, Winter.”

“Oh, we’ve met before,” his brother said with a sly smile.“Once.Rheyna Dubray’s New Year’s party.I asked you to join me in her hot tub and you told me you didn’t swim with small fish.”Glancing at Birch, he placed his hands on the table and stood.“Birch?Good luck with this one.Jocelyn?Keep his ass in line.”

If his jaw wasn’t already on the floor with Winter’s recognition of Jocelyn, it would be smacking off the cement now, somewhere between his brother’s smirk and Jocelyn’s smug grin.

She gave a small wave as Winter turned to leave.“Good to meet you again, guppy.”

The muscles across his brother’s broad back rippled and Birch held his breath, wondering how fast the guards could move before Winter snorted.“Whatever, ballbuster.Next time you visit, bring cookies.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Jocelyn peered overGrey’s shoulder to see his progress, her eyes tracing the delicate lines of Birch’s new tattoo while his brother finished up the shading.“I can’t believe how perfect it looks.”

“Doubting my skill to plagiarize Birch’s art?”Grey asked as he licked his lips and leaned in to work on the final details.After a few seconds, he sat back and set the tattoo gun down.“Done.Want to check it out before you wrap it?”

Birch straightened up and swung his legs over the chair, walking to the full-length mirror.“Of course I do.I need to know how long it’ll take to touch it up when you go home.”

She joined him, giving a wide berth when Grey gave him the slug to his arm he definitely deserved.Standing at his back while he examined his new ink, she kissed the nape of his neck.“I love it.”

“Yeah?”he murmured, a grin spreading across his face.“Me too.”

When he mentioned his idea for a new tattoo on the drive back from visiting Winter, she was less than enthused.The thought of seeing the image of that damned cassette on his chest every day turned her stomach.Nothing he said to rationalize it hit home with her, her mind wholly focused on what the tape represented, the poison it had contained.

But this was beautiful.

“Birch,” she whispered, rising on her tiptoes to nuzzle his earlobe.“You were right.It’s perfect.”

The cassette itself was inked just under his collarbone on the left side, shaded in blacks and grays.From it, the ribbon arched and twisted down his chest, looping around his heart with an elegant J and C hidden among the swirls.

Grey had done an incredible job with the finer details, the slight shreds of the tape, the scuffs on the cassette’s plastic casing.Even the faint discoloration of the ribbon made it appear real enough to touch.

“Since this is about to get gross and awkward, I’m out of here,” Grey called out behind them.“Remember I have class in the morning, so keep the moaning and sex noises down when you two get home.”

Birch met his brother’s eyes in the mirror.“You do killer work.When I get this place open again next week, consider coming on board before fall semester begins.”

As the chimes clanged and the door creaked closed, Birch walked over to the counter where he kept his supplies, rubbing a cream over his new ink and taping a strip of gauze over it.Turning to her, he tugged on a pair of latex gloves.“You sure about this?”

Sauntering over to the door, she clicked the lock and pulled her shirt over her head, taking her time to fold it and place it on his desk.

She could feel his eyes on her, knowing the hazel had darkened to a deep green without looking.Unhooking her bra, she slung it over his shoulder as she passed him and lay down on her stomach, tucking her hands under her head.

“Mark me, Birch Baker.And remember to be professional.”

*

Birch’s hands wereshaking as he stood up and exhaled, grateful his nerves hadn’t made themselves known until he was done inking Jocelyn’s pristine skin.

“All done,” he stated, snapping his gloves off.“Ready to see it?”

She stretched like a satisfied cat, as though she hadn’t spent the last three hours under his gun.“Yes, I am.”

Doing a final scan of his latest piece while she pushed herself off the chair and walked over to the three-way mirror, he followed her, his heart pounding in his chest as he began running through the ways he could cover it if she hated it.

He couldn’t watch while she angled the glass, the coward in him not wanting to see disappointment in her eyes as she took her first look.

“Oh,” she breathed, sending his stomach straight to the floor.“Oh, wow.”

“It’s an easy fix,” he rushed out.“We can play around with the design as much as you want.Maybe change it to a wisteria or lilac tree.Or work it into an entirely new piece—”

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