Denying The Bad Boy (Tattooed and Pierced #2) (6 page)

Well, fuck. He was either going to have to go find
some chick to fuck, or jerk off big time after this. He was hard and aching,
and the longer he sat here with her, the more he wanted her. His dick also
didn’t give a shit that he was trying to stay away from her. The damn thing
wanted her like a fiend.

“Yeah, that sounds good. Whatever you think will
help, and whatever extra time you have will be greatly appreciated.” Alex was
proud of himself for actually forming coherent words, Jessica the waitress came
back around and asked Mary if she wanted anything, but after she said no
Jessica wandered back inside, but not before she glanced at him and smirked in
a pouty way. Alex kept his eyes on Mary, although he should have been checking
out Jessica and figuring how he was going to get her in his bed tonight. “So,
what’s the damage?”

She put her tablet away and looked up at him with an
adorably confused expression.
“The damage?”

He smiled. “How much do you charge? What do I owe
you, Mary?” She looked away sharply, and he didn’t miss how her cheeks turned rose
in color. He was curious as to why his question had suddenly made her feel so
uncomfortable, or why she kept squirming in her seat and refusing to meet his
eyes.
“Everything okay?”
He threw back the question
she had asked him when she first arrived.

She cleared her throat and finally turned back to
him. She still wore a pretty blush, and as much as he tried not to smile
because he didn’t want to embarrass her, he couldn’t help it.

“Uh.”
Suddenly
her napkin in front of her was very interesting since she kept unfolding and
folding it. “I actually had something else in mind for payment.” Her statement
had his dick jerking violently behind his fly, and going from semi-hard to rock
solid. All he could think about was her asking him for sex in payment for the
tutoring, but of course that was a horny boy’s wet dream right there. Shit, he
could imagine her red pouty lips parting as she told him that his cock was
worth more than any dollar he tossed her way. God dammit, he was such a fucking
prick to be thinking about shit like this. She was good and clean, and he was a
dirty bastard with a filthy mind.

He licked his lips, cleared the hoarseness from his
throat, and tried to force his voice to sound halfway normal. “You have
something else in mind?”

She nodded and started playing with the end of her
braid. God, he would give her all the cock she could
handle,
and she didn’t even have to tutor him. And it wasn’t just about him being a
whore, because he was fucking hard-up for her, and in a really bad way. It
seemed like it took fucking forever for her to answer, but really it had been
seconds.

“I have this little problem, and I think you might
be the perfect guy to help me out with it.”
Holy fuck.
The filthy things that
came to mind had him feeling shitty, but of course that didn’t stop him from
thinking them. He didn’t know if she was a virgin, but she certainly looked
virginal. He also couldn’t imagine her saying she only wanted one-night of
bliss, but wanted him to be her first. Alex wasn’t in the business of popping
cherries, but shit he would have broken his rules for her. “So, I have this
wedding next month, my sister’s actually, and I am kind of being forced to
bring a date.” She looked up at him, but didn’t give him a chance to respond.
“It wouldn’t be like a date-date, but more of you helping me out big time, and
well, paying for the tutoring.” Alex was stunned speechless.

“You want me to be your date to your sister’s
wedding?” That wasn’t even in the same X-rated ballpark as he was thinking.

“Well, it’s a little more than that. I…” She looked
around before turning back toward him. Leaning in closer and lowering her voice
she said, “I actually need a bad boy to bring home to my parents.” His lips
twitched, and he watched her irritation over the fact he thought this was
humorous cover her face. “I need you to pretend to be in love with me in front
of my parents and their rich, snobby friends. I want them to see your tattoos,
want them to raise their eyebrows and feel scandalized. I don’t want to be
their cookie cutter daughter, and I want you to help me prove to them that I
don’t have to be with a Harvard graduate to be happy.” She took a deep breath
once she was finished, and he could tell she was expectant of his answer. “I’m
just sick of feeling out of place with them, and since I am kind of obligated
to go and all, and am being all but forced to bring a date, I thought you could
help me out since I’m helping you out. It would only be for the first weekend
in October—”

“All right.”
He
hadn’t meant to cut her off, but she really didn’t need to sell him on spending
the weekend with her. It wasn’t about not having to give her money to tutor
him, because that wouldn’t have been an issue and he would have been more than
happy to compensate her for her time. Alex anticipated the time he would get to
spend with her now and then. Yeah, it was a good month away, but damn it would
be a good fucking weekend. Staying away from her had just suddenly gone out the
window, because there was a shit load of images that slammed into Alex’s mind,
ones that were not innocent, and that concerned him and her doing things that
required a hell of a lot less clothing. Maybe wanting her in the dirty way he
did made him a bastard, but he never said he was anything but. He would be good
to her, make her smile and blush, but in the end he wanted more from her. One
night might not be enough, but it would have to be, because that was all Alex
could guarantee anyone.

“Really?
I
thought I’d have to lay it on thick, you know, really talk you into going.” Her
cheeks were red, and he grinned.

“Nah, I’m all about going. I get tutored by a
gorgeous and smart woman, and I get to go to some swanky party. Pretending to
be head over heels for you shouldn’t be hard.” He gave her a wink, and she
glanced away quickly, her embarrassment tangible. “I’m in.” She glanced up and
smiled, and that cute little dimple popped up.

“Okay, well great.” She started messing with her
napkin again. “That settles that then.
So back to the actual
tutoring.
I can meet you here on Friday for our first session if you
want, or is there somewhere else you would feel more comfortable going to?”

His erection had gone to half-mast during their
conversation, but now the damn thing was at full blown hardness and threatened
to burst through the fucking zipper of his jeans. All it had taken was her
asking him to go somewhere else, and he had only been able to think of that one
thing.

“Could we possibly do this at my house?” A rush of
testosterone moved through his veins when he saw the pink coloring that covered
her chest and neck grow a deeper shade of red. Ah, so he wasn’t the only one
with his mind in the gutter.

“Wherever you feel most comfortable,” she said but
didn’t meet his gaze. She went to stand, and he did as well.

 
“You have to
leave already?” God, he sounded needy. “I mean, you just got here. Maybe you
want to sit down and join me for lunch?”
 

She started playing with the end of her braid and
stared at him.

“I actually have to get back, but thanks for the
offer.” Before he could feel like a dumbass she grinned at him. “Listen.” She bent
down and grabbed her bag, and slung it over her shoulder. “How about I give you
a call before Friday just to make sure everything is still good to go?”

“Yeah, all right.”

“I saved your number in my phone, and I know you
have mine.” She smiled again, and he couldn’t help but notice the way her lip
gloss glistened under the sun, and imagine what her lips would look like
wrapped around his dick. She lifted her hand in a wave and turned to leave. And
like a freaking creeper, Alex stood there and watched her go. Was it wrong of
him to want to hope there was a big gust of wind that would blow her dress up?

“Shit.” Scrubbing a hand over his mouth he sensed
someone step up to him. Jessica stood there, her teeth tugging at her lip, and
her eyes slightly lowered. Yeah, she was trying to appear sexy. He had seen
that exact expression a thousand different times, and although he had found it
attractive each and every time, it did nothing for him right now.

“So, uh, about our earlier
conversation.”
He reached in his back pocket for his
wallet and pulled out some money, handing it to her.

“Thanks, Jessica, but maybe some other time?” It was
just a saying, because really he was only thinking about one girl, and until he
had her no one else would sate this ridiculous appetite he suddenly had.

Chapter
Five

Holy.
Shit.
Mary walked
quickly to the OSU library on 18
^th
Avenue, trying to get her mind
off other things, but only being able to think about her little meet-up with
Alex. It had taken a hell of a lot of strength on her part not to look over her
shoulder. She had felt his eyes on her so palpably it was like he had been
actually touching her. She was rather proud of herself for at least acting
semi-normal, but toward the end it had been damn hard when she had
felt
the way he looked at her, like he wanted
to do really wicked things to her body. It was also a little unnerving and
distracting when she noticed his erection, which he either didn’t care that she
saw, or thought it was something that would go unnoticed. Even now, just
thinking about the way his biceps had bulged underneath his t-shirt, and of the
way his abdomen muscles had been clear as day through the thin material, had
goose-bumps forming along her flesh. She must be a masochist, because the only
thing Alex would be sure to give her was a broken heart. There had been plenty of
girl talk around campus, and she would have had to be hard of hearing not to
catch all the horrid details of the hearts he left in tatters. Mary found it
all rather ridiculous that the girls around campus knew how Alex Sheppard was,
yet they still ran up to him like he was some rock star. The red stone, arched
entryway building came into view. When she reached the entrance she pulled the
door open and walked inside.

Taking a seat at an available computer, she started
searching titles for her courses, but concentrating on anything was pointless,
especially when all she could think about was how her parents would react when
she brought Alex to Margo’s wedding. A lot of eyebrows would raise, a lot of
gasps would sound, and slightly covered mouths would be obvious as they
whispered how scandalous it was that she brought “trash” to their uppity little
gathering. Maybe it was a bit childish to want to shock the lot of them, but
all her life she had felt like an outsider, like the square peg trying to be
shoved into the circle slot. A small part of her also grew warm at the idea
that Alex agreed to go with her. For a wealthy community that her family ran
in, they were worse than the ones they looked down on. They lifted their noses
to the lower class, had the most scandalizing secrets, and stabbed each other
in the back. But face-to-face they were all smiles and catty humor. Mary wanted
to show them that it didn’t matter how much money a person had, or what they
looked like. They were still human beings and deserving of respect. Hearing her
mother repeatedly ask about bringing a date, her sister’s nagging about what
she should and shouldn’t do, and the overall anxiety that seemed to plague her
on a daily basis made her feel unsteady and out of place Inviting Alex to join
her had seemed like the perfect release.

Release.

Such a simple word, but it meant so many different
things. The one meaning she was currently thinking about was the sweet release
that she knew she would surely have by being with Alex. Mary wasn’t a virgin,
but she certainly wasn’t an expert on sex. Alex on the other hand was, and that
could be very intimidating. But no, Mary couldn’t go there, wouldn’t. She
wasn’t in the habit of letting her heart get broken, and she also wasn’t the
type to have random sex. Emotions were always involved, for her at least.

The vibrating in her bag drew her out of her
thoughts. She reached for her phone, and the number that flashed across the
screen had her stopping mid-stride. Why was he calling her? The only plausible
explanation was that something was wrong. Anxiety immediately took root in her
belly, and she slid her finger over the screen to answer the call.

“Hello?” She grabbed her stuff while balancing the
phone between her shoulder and ear, and started walking out of the library in
quick steps.

“Hey.” Lance’s voice was calm and unhurried, so all
of her anxiety vanished. If something was wrong surely he wouldn’t be so
collected. But then that thought was followed by why her ex-boyfriend was
calling her in the first place. She must have paused a little too long in
responding, because he cleared his throat and started talking again. “I know,
you’re probably wondering why I’m calling you.”

Yeah, she was. She found an empty bench outside and
sat down, waiting for him to get to the reason he had called her.

“I was just seeing how you were doing.”

Mary felt her eyebrows knit. There were a few
students down the way laughing rather loudly, a dog barking somewhere in the
distance, and the noise of someone’s bass beating an angry tempo, but none of
those things even held a candle to the loudness of her heart pounding in her
ears.