A Co-Worker's Crush (The Rooftop Crew #6) - Piper Rayne Page 0,1
she says because he’s so desperate he’d even try to nail Frankie. Hate to break it to the kid, but he could never handle Frankie. “Top drawer, it’s Jolie’s.”
Lyle brings the clip over and pushes the kid’s hair away before sticking a Paw Patrol barrette in his hair.
“This is embarrassing as hell,” my client mumbles.
“Either that or I mess up the tattoo.” I wait for him to argue, but he doesn’t.
So I prepare my ink and machine, ready to get this tattoo started. Hopefully with the first prick of the needle, the kid shuts up and I’ll get in my zone. If he passes out, I’m done.
“So why haven’t you had sex?” he asks.
Frankie laughs. “Go ahead and tell your little wannabe mini-me why.”
“She bet me I couldn’t go a week.” I nod in Frankie’s direction.
“And what do you get if you win?” the kid asks.
I glance at Frankie, and she stops tattooing her girl to look at me. “Just the satisfaction that she was wrong.”
“So when is the week up?” he asks.
“It was over weeks ago,” Dylan interjects. “I tried to tell Frankie that Jax doesn’t mess around with bets. So now we all have to deal with his cranky-ass attitude.”
As embarrassing as it is, he’s right. I’m doing it to prove a point, but at this point, I’m not even sure who or what for. And I am on edge. More than I’m willing to admit. Not that I’m a womanizing whore, but knowing all prospects are off the table does not make me a happy man.
“Why are you still doing it?” The kid tries to turn his head to see Frankie.
Her head is down, concentrating on the girl’s neck she’s tattooing. I’m going to have to decide when I’ll finally give in. But so far, it just hasn’t felt like the right time.
“Because Jax takes everything to the umpteenth degree,” Dylan says.
“We could wager again?” I offer.
Frankie looks at me from the corner of her eye as she dips her needle in the ink. “You like having blue balls, huh?”
“No blue balls,” I lie. “In fact, you star in my highlight reel every night.”
“Highlight would mean you’ve had sex with her?” The kid tries again to look at Frankie as though he wants to picture the two of us.
“I assure you, kid, I would never be caught in bed with Jax.”
“That’s perfect because I’m not an ‘in bed’ kind of guy.” I grin at her.
She huffs and goes back to working on her client.
“Can we please stop talking about this? Lyle, turn up the music,” Dylan orders.
“Yeah, because you don’t know how to treat a woman with respect,” Frankie says.
I should leave this topic be, but if I did, I wouldn’t be Jax Owens. “No woman wants to be fucked in a respectable way.”
Her groan turns into a growl and I smile at my client, having gotten the exact reaction out of her that I wanted. Yes, might as well enroll me back in the seventh grade for how I love to antagonize her.
“Turn up the damn music, Lyle.” Dylan’s voice sounds pained.
I buzz the needle on my client’s skin—finally—and although he closes his eyes, he surprises me by taking the pain. If only I could get the idea of fucking Frankie out of my head now. I swear I can almost feel her slim hips under my hands as I drill inside her, watching her hatred for me dissolve into lust. I wasn’t lying about her being in my reel. It might be imaginary, but she’s my go-to lately and I think it’s because of the bet. Which probably means I need to put an end to the bet, because I never screw my co-workers. Ever.
A half-hour later, I finish his tattoo. It’s binary code for “no risk no gain” which is a new one for me. He put it on the inside of his bicep, so I give him props for that. I’ve seen other men tear up when I tattoo that area.
Once I’m done, he walks to the mirror. This is my favorite part of my job—seeing the immediate reaction to the tattoo.
His eyes light up and I think he might be a little proud of himself too. “I love it.”
“Let’s go over care instructions.” I take off my gloves and throw them away.
He doesn’t turn away from the mirror. The kid is speechless for the first time since he walked in here. I lean back in my chair and find myself smiling at