Page 18 of Worship Me (Men of Inked 7)
I closed the window and placed my phone on the counter before I dried off and tried to get motivated. Maybe taking a bath hadn’t been the best idea. I was too relaxed and ready for a nap, not work.
By the time I kissed the boys goodbye and left them with James’s parents, I was already running late. I drove a little too fast in my souped-up minivan, if there was such a thing, and made it to Inked five minutes faster than usual.
“I’m here,” I announced as I walked through the front door of the shop.
Sitting in the waiting room was Kat West. She could be a pinup for Inked Magazine without a doubt. She was drop-dead gorgeous with pastel pink hair, a recent change, based on her Instagram profile. When she rose to her feet and towered over me with her long legs that seemed to go on for miles, I knew the girls would hate her.
“I’m Kat.” She smiled and held out her hand to me, and I shook it a little too manlike after being around my brothers for so long.
The girl had a smoking hot body. Big tits, long, thick legs, and totally curvy hot and our clients would go gaga over her.
“Izzy Caldo, one of the owners of Inked.”
“I love your work,” she said.
“Thank you.” I couldn’t help but smile. Hearing from another artist that they loved my work was the biggest compliment there was. “Your work is amazing too. I was quite impressed with your portfolio.”
“Thank you.” She blushed, batting her superlong fake eyelashes and biting down on her bottom lip.
Lord. She had all the right moves to keep the customers coming back for more. There wasn’t anything about this woman that didn’t scream sex. I’d have to lie my ass off to my sisters-in-law and assure them that she only licked pussy and totally batted for the other team before they chased her away.
“Come on back and meet the guys, and when they’re done, we’ll start the interview.”
Much to my shock, when we walked into the back room, everyone was cleaning their stations and just about ready to start. All eyes in the room turned toward us, and all movement stopped.
I wondered what they thought of Kat and if they felt the sex-kitten ooze off her like I did.
“That’s Joe, Mike, and Anthony.” I pointed to each one of them, pausing between their names so they could acknowledge her.
“It’s a pleasure to meet y’all,” she said in her best Southern twang.
“We’re happy to have you interview with us, Kat,” Joe said as he walked toward her to shake her hand.
“Max is going to kill me,” Anthony whispered in my ear as Joe and Kat spoke to each other.
“I have a plan.”
“It better be good.”
“Well…” I trailed off as I rubbed my cheek and sighed. “I wouldn’t say it’s good, but it buys us some time.”
“She’s way too beautiful for Max to be okay with this.”
If James were hiring her to work at ALFA, I’d probably worry for about three seconds until he spanked my ass pink and reminded me that he owned me and me alone. I’d never once worried he’d stray, and the same went for him not worrying about me. I was completely satisfied and happy, but I wondered if my brothers could say the same about their relationships after so much angst about another female being in close proximity on a daily basis.
“Maybe you need to man up and remind your wife how much you want her.”
“How? I already spoil her rotten.”
“Figure it out, old man, but the woman is seriously having trust issues with us hiring a girl.”
“I know,” he groaned.
Two hours later, Kat was hired.
When she finally walked out the door, Anthony turned to me. “What’s the plan for our ladies? They aren’t going to like her at all.”
“Well.” I glanced up at the ceiling and relaxed back into my chair, turning it from side to side. “We’re going to tell them that she’s a lesbian.”
Mike started to choke and slapped his chest while clearing his throat. “Is she?”
“Fuck if I know, but it sounds good.” I shrugged.
“Suzy doesn’t care. I don’t need to lie to her.” Joe seemed so sure of himself, but that meant Suzy hadn’t been expressing herself like she did to the rest of us.
“Listen up. I spoke to all your wives, and they’re all uneasy about Kat. I don’t know what’s going on at home, but you boys better step up and start being the men your women need.”
“What more can we do?” Mike asked, clueless and cute.
“Anthony.” I looked in his direction, waiting for him to look up from his fucking screen. “Put the goddamn phone down at home and make sure you pay more attention to Max. Joe, wine and dine your woman, you know she loves to be pampered. And Mike…” I stared at him for a minute, wondering what pearls of wisdom I could give him. “Maybe stop kissing your biceps as much and start kissing on her more.”
“Izzy.” Mike put his hands on his hips and glared at me. “I love Mia more than anything. I quit fighting for her. Don’t you think I treat her like a queen at home?”
“I’m sure you all do. But right now, with Kat just starting, you need to be extra lovey-dovey. Shower your woman with so much love that it leaves little doubt about where her husband’s heart lies.”
“Got it,” Joe said with a quick nod. “I won’t let her out of bed all weekend.”
I held my hand up and closed my eyes. “I don’t need details. Just take care of your shit, and remember Kat’s a lesbian.”
Anthony shook his head and laughed. “This should be interesting.”
“Anthony, I think your life depends on it, buddy. Max can be downright scary sometimes.”
“I’ll handle her.”
That statement earned a laugh from everyone in the room. The only person who handled Max was Max. Anthony could try to sell that lie, but we all knew the truth. The woman had mighty big balls, and I totally girl-crushed on her for it.
The next few weeks at Inked were going to be real interesting. I wouldn’t let my sisters-in-law derail my plans for getting a little more tit power in the shop. I was sick of being the only female and done with having to deal with my brothers alone. In the end, they’d see the wisdom of my ways.
This weekend, we were heading to Jacksonville to hunt down Matías, and hopefully, all hell won’t break loose without me around to handle it. But more than likely, I’ll return to a shitshow, knowing my brothers. They’d never been good liars, and I’d never ordinarily ask them to lie to their wives, but I knew it was in everyone’s be
st interest if they followed the program and labeled Kat West our in-house lesbian.
James
Ret and I carried the bags in from the cars as the girls settled into the hotel rooms. The sun had just disappeared behind the Jacksonville skyline, casting shadows in the parking lot and giving us some relief from the heat.
“Women pack way too much shit,” Ret said, hoisting Alese’s duffle bag higher over his shoulder to free his hands for her other two suitcases.
Izzy wasn’t a lightweight when it came to packing either. This time, she helped me pick out her outfits because she said she wasn’t sexy enough last time. She’d spent a few hours researching Forbidden and found it to be a trendier club than the old shit-in-the-wall Taboo. She wanted to look every bit the part of a pampered submissive.
“Shit never changes as they age either.”
We should’ve grabbed a cart with the amount of luggage we’d packed, but it gave us a few minutes alone to talk about our plan of attack tomorrow at the club.
“We have to meet Connor at noon to learn the layout of Forbidden. I don’t want there to be an inch of the club you’re not familiar with when we’re there with the ladies. Matías is too dangerous for us not to be prepared.”
We strutted through the lobby, looking like every other man in the place, heading to our rooms, shouldering the brunt of the work.
I jabbed at the elevator button with my elbow, not willing to put anything down because it wasn’t easy to balance everything to begin with. “Agreed. We’ll do a late breakfast and take the women with us. It’s important that they’re filled in because I’m sure they’re already nervous.”
Luckily, our rooms were near the elevator, and we didn’t have far to travel when we made it to our floor. “Meet downstairs for dinner in ten?” I asked before kicking open the hotel room door that Izzy left ajar even though I told her never to do that.
“We’ll be ready,” Ret said before his door opened.
Alese stepped into the hallway and plucked the smallest bag from his hands. “Let me help you.”
Ret looked at me and shook his head. The last two feet wasn’t the time we needed help, but at least she offered. Izzy was nowhere to be found, which meant she was probably talking on the phone, checking on the boys.
I dropped the bags as soon as I made it through the door, and Izzy turned around, giving me her signature glower. I jumped on the bed, trying to lighten the mood and wanting to relax for ten minutes.
Izzy walked out on the balcony, resting against the railing as she chatted on the phone. Based on the way her arm was flailing about, it was a heated conversation too.
“Fuckin’ Mike,” she said, walking back into the room.
“What happened?”
“He told Mia that Kat wasn’t a lesbian.”
“Um,” I mumbled because clearly, I was missing an entire piece of the conversation. “And that’s a problem, why?”
She sat down next to me and started to stroke my leg. “The girls are mad we hired a woman, so I told the guys to lie.”
“A little higher.” I winked, wishing we had time for a quickie before we headed to dinner.
She slapped my leg and shook her head. “I’m sure I’ll be walking funny by the
