Priceless Ink: A Small Town Romance Page 4

  “Yes, where only poor people live!”

  “Wow,” I chuckled. “Not at all judgmental, are you?”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  I nodded. “I know, you’re just having a bad day and taking it out on the rest of us.”

  “Don’t patronize me.”

  “Hmm,” I frowned. “That’s a pretty big word for a poor man like me to understand. After all, it’s not like I went to college or anything. And without a job, I’m not sure my pea-sized brain could ever figure it out.”

  She huffed and flung her wild hair back from her face. She was beautiful, I wasn’t going to deny that. With dirty blonde hair and perfect cheekbones, she was most definitely a beauty. But that didn’t make up for her lack of manners. Suddenly, I was wishing that I hadn’t been in Chicago making that drop.

  I pulled out my phone, noting I had reception. I could just call for a ride. That would be the easiest thing to do, but right now, after all her condescending remarks, I just wanted to piss her off. I shot off a text to Josh, telling him where my bike was and asking him to pick it up. Then I looked to the trees and decided that a jaunt through the woods was just the way to go. And she was in heels. I grinned to myself and jerked my chin toward the trees.

  “Let’s go. We have to start walking now if we’re going to get home before dark.”

  “What? You think I’m going to walk to your place?”

  I turned toward the trees and started walking. If she wanted my help, she was going to have to follow me. I heard her screeches and grunts and laughed to myself. This was going to be so funny.

  “Wait! I don’t even know your name and you just expect me to follow you into the creepy forest?” she shouted.

  I turned and waited for her to catch up. Her heels kept catching in the mud and she tripped over sticks along the way. When she finally caught up to me, I decided to at least give her my name.

  “I’m Joe. Now you know me and we can move on.”

  “Move on? I’m in heels!”

  I looked down and nodded. “I can see that. Would you prefer to take them off?”

  She looked at me in horror. “Do you have any idea what that would do to my feet?”

  I nodded again. “Yeah, it would tear up your feet pretty good, but like you said, you’re in heels. It’s a toss up.”

  She blanched, her face morphing into shock. “You’re not going to offer to carry me?”

  I jerked back, like I was offended or something. “I don’t think that would be very gentlemanly of me.”

  “Of course it would.”

  “No,” I tsked. “A pretty lady like you, pressed up against my back as I hiked through the trees, that would leave me wanting things. Things that a lady like you wouldn’t be offering. Then again, you were going to marry a man for money…”

  “How dare you! Just because I was going to marry him for his money, that doesn’t mean that I’ll just…do things that…those things.”

  “Those things?” I frowned. Was she too prudish to say sex? “You mean sex? Fucking? Maybe a blow job?”

  Her face turned red and she snapped her mouth shut.

  “You have had sex, right?”

  “Of course, I’ve had sex,” she sneered. “Just because I don’t talk about it doesn’t mean I haven’t…done things.”

  “Uh-huh,” I nodded with a grin.

  “I have!”

  “I’m not saying you haven’t.” I turned on my heel and started walking again, chuckling to myself as she struggled behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw her heel turn sideways. She plopped down on the ground, her hands skidding out in the dirt as she tried to catch herself. She ended up flat on her stomach with her face in the mud.

  I pulled my lips between my teeth and tried to hold back the laughter. When she looked up at me, she was glaring hard at me. I stepped forward and held out my hand, feeling slightly bad for laughing at her. But not bad enough.

  “Don’t,” she snapped. “I can do it myself.”

  “I’m sure you can,” I said, stepping back with my hands up.

  She struggled to her feet, slipping and sliding in the mud. Most of the ground wasn’t that muddy, but luck didn’t seem to be on her side today. My jacket had caught all the mud, but unfortunately, her face took the brunt of the damage.

  She huffed as she got to her feet, yanking the jacket down further to hide her more delicate parts, but I already got a good look at what was under her jacket, and I really liked it. It was a shame she was such a bitch in real life.

  “Shall we continue?” she asked snottily. “Or are you just going to stare at me the whole day?”

  “Well, I won’t lie. You’re quiche AF, but I think I’d like to get home.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Did I stutter?”

  “No, you just aren’t speaking like a normal person.”

  “You mean a person like you.”

  “I mean a person with a proper education,” she shot back.

  Wow, this woman really knew how to twist my balls. The good thing was, I was generally a happy person, and she was right, I didn’t care what others thought.

  “You know, I think you should have stayed with your fiancé. It sounds like he would have been a perfect fit for you.”

  I turned and walked off, frustrated with myself for letting this woman on my bike. What I had thought would be a fun and interesting afternoon was now turning into one hell of a mess. I should just turn around and let Josh take her to town in his tow truck, but something was stopping me. Maybe it was because she was so damn pretty. Maybe it was because as much as her attitude sucked, it also turned me on. Or maybe it was just that I was crazy and wanted to see what happened at the end of the night. That was if I didn’t kill her first.

  * * *

  “Do you even know where we’re going?” she asked as she awkwardly ran to catch up to me as we crossed the field full of cows. “Isn’t this dangerous? What if they start…running at us?”

  I looked at her quizzically. “Have you ever seen a cow run?”

  She frowned, wincing when her ankle turned. “Well, no, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.”

  “It’s not like they’re going to see us and charge us.”

  She nearly tripped again and I sighed. “Why don’t you just take off the shoes? You obviously can’t walk in them.”

  “Are you kidding? These are five hundred dollars shoes!”

  I snorted. “Yeah, I have a brother like you. Buys shit that’s way too expensive and a complete waste of money.”

  “Shoes are not a waste of money!”

  “Really? Are you ever going to wear these again?”

  “Well, not now. They’re ruined.”

  “Then why are you holding onto them?”

  “Because…because I have nothing else. I don’t have a cell phone. I don’t have cash or credit cards. I have literally nothing in the world but what is on me. And if I go home, my mother will no doubt lock me in my room and my father will probably force me to marry Graham anyway.”

  “You know he can’t do that, right?”

  “Obviously, you’re not from my world.”

  “And thank God for that. I may not have money and I may not have fancy things, but I can do whatever the hell I want.”

  She grabbed my arm as she tripped again and almost went down. “My family is worse than anything you could imagine.”

  “I thought you liked your life,” I said mockingly. “All the riches that a poor biker like me would never understand.”

  “It’s not exactly all roses and fairy dust. My mother is not someone you mess with.”

  “What can she do? I mean, just sneak out of her house. What’s the worst that could happen?”

  She snorted and finally bent down to pull her shoes off, grimacing when her toes sank in the grass. “There’s no sneaking out of my house. I’ve been watched by my father’s minions for way too long. And mother has her ways of keeping me in line.”r />
  “Yeah? Does she take away a ball gown?”

  She didn’t say anything for a moment and I glanced over at her, tears pricking her eyes. She blinked them back, doing her best to hide them, but one tear managed to slip free. “Nothing as drastic as that,” she smiled slightly. “Just the usual torture for a girl like me. She locks me in my room for days. Doesn’t allow food until I’m practically starving. She’ll do anything to keep me in line.”

  Starving her own daughter? She had a great body, but if it was because her mother starved her, that was just wrong. “I’m sorry. Why didn’t you ever try to get away?”

  And just like that, the vulnerability in her vanished and the bitch returned. “And do what? Come live as a pauper in the country? Find a hot biker to take care of me? Live my life in rags and never attend any social functions because I can’t afford the clothes? Not to mention that without my name, I have no standing in those circles.”

  “Well, if that’s all that matters to you, I’ll be glad to drop you back at your mother’s house. Maybe she’ll lock you away again and not feed you again. That sounds like a lot of fun. Goals AF, you know what I’m saying?”

  She rolled her eyes at me and stomped ahead of me. I could have shouted out the warning about the cow pie in front of her. That would have been the gentlemanly thing to do, but as she pointed out, I was no gentleman. I grimaced right as she stepped in it and paused. She looked down and then jerked her foot out of the pile of shit.

  “Ew! Ew! Ew!” She started hopping around on one foot, practically in tears as she tried to wipe the shit off her foot. “Get it off me!”

  I rushed to her side and held back my laughter. “Just relax. It’s just a little cow shit.”

  “Shit? I have shit on my foot?” she shrieked.

  “Well, yeah. What did you think it was?”

  Her face was a mix of anger and disgust. “I thought it was mud!”

  I covered my mouth with my hand and did my best to stop my shoulders from shaking. She looked down at her feet and wiggled her toes slightly, grimacing as the shit smeared all around.

  “You have to get it off. You have to…oh God. This isn’t my life. I’m back at the church and this is all a bad dream. I’m marrying Graham right now and we’re dancing to our wedding song.”

  She breathed heavily, trying not to cry as she continued to swipe her foot through the grass. Her hands were fanning her face wildly as she continued her deep breathing.

  “You’d rather be married to a man that cheated on you than have cow shit between your toes?”

  Her head snapped up to meet my gaze and she glared at me. “Anything is better than this. I’m better than this. I’m a good person,” she cried. “I support charities and I donate to homeless shelters!”

  “Using your parents’ money,” I pointed out. She glared at me and I held up my hands. “Hey, you’re the one that said you didn’t have any money. Real charity begins at home. Slipping a check in the donation box as you sip champagne isn’t really that generous.”

  “How would you know? I doubt you even have two quarters to rub together.” She huffed out a laugh. “You don’t even have a working motorcycle!”

  I smirked at her and shook my head, turning to walk away. I didn’t need to explain myself to this woman.

  “Where are you going?” she shouted.

  “Home.”

  “But…but I have cow poop on my foot! I need help.”

  “Oh, you need help, alright.”

  “You’re just going to leave me here?”

  I turned and looked back at her. “You have two feet. I’m sure you’re perfectly capable of following me.”

  I continued on, approaching more trees. It was getting close to sunset now, and if she continued to bitch and slow us down, we would be out here well into the night. Not that I had a problem with that. I loved going camping. There was nothing better in life than sleeping under the stars.

  I trudged across the pasture, stopping when I came to the wooden fence. I waited for a good three minutes for her to catch up, listening to her disgusted grunts as she made her way through the pasture.

  She sighed heavily as she came to rest beside me. “Please tell me we’re almost there.”

  We were. It was maybe a few more miles, nothing that would take too long. But I had a feeling that we’d be out here all night at her pace. And I wasn’t above making her sleep out here just to teach her a lesson. The woman was a menace.

  “Well, if you would stop huffing and puffing every five seconds, we’d get there a hell of a lot faster.”

  “I don’t huff and puff.”

  “Then what would you call it?”

  She stood up straight and lifted her chin in the air. “I’d call it a complete and utter lack of regard for country living.”

  “Well, that’s one way to put it. Come on, let’s go, princess.”

  “I’m not a princess,” she said, stomping her foot. She watched as I climbed over the fence and then held her hand out to me, like she was waiting for me to help her into her carriage. I took her hand and shook it, earning a narrowing look of disapproval. “You’re not a gentleman.”

  “So you’ve told me.”

  She screamed in frustration and slapped her hand on the rail, hoisting herself up. She reached up for the next rail and then yelped, tearing her hand away.

  “Splinter?” I asked in a bored voice.

  She blinked back tears and sniffled. “I broke a nail!”

  I placed my hand over my mouth in mock horror. “Oh no!”

  “It’s not funny! It hurts.”

  “Not as bad as my ears hurt from listening to you all afternoon.”

  Her arms wrapped around the rail as she hoisted herself up, swinging one leg over the top rail. I tilted my head and smiled. From this position, I got a very nice view of what was under my jacket.

  “That’s a nice wax job. They got every last hair, didn’t they.”

  Her head swung around and a mortified look crossed her face just as she reached back to pull the jacket down. Scrambling to cover herself, she lost her hold on the rail and went tumbling down to the ground.

  “I hate you!” she screamed. “You’re so mean!”

  I nodded, knowing it was true at this moment. What could I say? She brought out the worst in me. I was never mean or cruel. I believed in helping others, but that was hard to do when the person you were trying to help was so entitled and bitchy.

  Sofia

  I sat on the ground, completely mortified and ready to hang my head and cry. This wasn’t supposed to be my life. I was supposed to marry a gentleman and be taken care of. I was most definitely not supposed to be sitting in the mud as a sexy biker said disgusting things to me. Why hadn’t I just married Graham? Sure, he would have continued to cheat on me, but my life would have been easier.

  I swiped at the tears spilling down my cheeks and then slapped the ground. I would not give in to this neanderthal. I would beat him at his own game. I wouldn’t let him humiliate me anymore. I was stronger than this.

  Pushing myself up, I almost fell back down when I felt the burn in my ankle. Leaning against the fence, I hauled myself up the rest of the way and tested the weight on my ankle. Putting just a little pressure on it hurt.

  “I’m going to need you to carry me,” I sighed. “I must have twisted my ankle when you made those disgusting comments and I fell.”

  He snorted derisively and shook his head. “Yeah, not gonna happen.”

  “But I can’t walk!”

  He nodded and bent down, examining my ankle. His fingers brushed gently across my skin, sending tingles up my body. I hated this man, but my body didn’t agree. She was telling me to lean into him and let him take me. He rolled my ankle, testing it to see if it was broken. I knew it wasn’t, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t need help.

  He nodded to himself and then he slowly pulled his shirt over his head. I watched in utter fascination as his muscles rippled with every move. My
breath caught in my throat when I saw all the tattoos on his chest. Deep down, I thought it was sexy. But the more posh side of me said that it was horrid. Yet, I couldn’t look away. I was mesmerized by the ink, the way it swirled across his skin, forming designs that were both beautiful and scary.

  He tore his shirt in half and then started wrapping it around my ankle with great care. It wasn’t the most secure wrapping, but it would have to do in a pinch. He slowly stood, his fingers skimming up my leg as he rose. I held my breath, hating myself for loving the feel of his rough fingers along the back of my knee. Would he go higher? What would it feel like to have a man touch me like that? To slide his fingers between the apex of my thighs and brush over my most sensitive flesh?

  I didn’t even realize my eyes were closed. When I opened them, he was towering over me, his eyes burning as he stared at me. His hands slid up my waist to the top of the jacket, slowly pulling down the zipper. My breathing sped up, my breasts heaving in the corset as the zipper slid along the fabric. His eyes flicked down to my breasts, eyeing how they pushed up with every breath. I felt the jacket slip all the way open and his hands slide inside the jacket, skimming my waist.

  His touch was gentle and powerful all at the same time. I was insane, letting him touch me like this, so intimately. This was for my husband. But we were out here, in the middle of nowhere. Who would know if I indulged in a little fantasy? What if I threw caution to the wind and let this man take what he wanted from me?

  I moaned as his hands moved up along the sides of my breasts and up to my neck, pushing the jacket off my shoulders. I could feel his hot breath on my face, smell the spicy scent of his skin. It was intoxicating. The material slowly slid down my arms until it was just at my fingertips. I was so lost in him, needing the slightest touch that when there was suddenly a burst of cool air around me, I gasped.

  Opening my eyes, I saw him back away with a smirk as he swung the jacket around his back and pulled it on. I gaped at him. “You’re taking my jacket?”

  “My jacket, you mean. And since my shirt is now wrapped around your ankle, I need something to keep me warm.”