This excerpt is taken from the scene where Derek is doing the finishing touches on Jacob’s dueling dragon tattoo that covers his back. Jacob spent a sleepless night thinking about Derek’s sexy sister, Quinn. The night before, Derek made Jacob promise to stay away from Quinn but as luck would have it, he was about to meet the object of his desire face to face right there in Derek’s Tattoo Parlor at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.
Derek kept on working on his tattoo and hollered up to the front. “Come on back, Quinn. We’re just about ready for you guys.” He stopped a second and spoke low enough just for Jacob to hear. “Just relax, Jake. I’m gonna hold you to your promise. Look but don’t touch.”
“Jesus Christ, D. You’re killing me!”
Derek rose from his station, peeled off his gloves, and greeted Quinn with a bear hug as she came back into the work area. “So you’re really gonna do this today?”
“Looks like it. Randi’s all set, and Steve said he’d get one, too, so here I am. You have some sketches you want me to look at while we wait? Hey, what are you working on now?” She walked over to his station and inspected Derek’s work.
Jacob couldn’t breathe. She was so close, and she smelled fucking fantastic.
“How long did that take, Derek?”
“Let’s see, it’s been about two months off and on. Right, Jake?”
Goddamn him! Now Jacob knew he was doing this on purpose. He sat up and turned to look at them. “Something like that, but it’s nearly done now.” Jacob looked into her eyes. “What do you think?” He clenched his jaw as his gut tightened up. “I sort of have a thing for dragons.”
Quinn smiled. That did it. Jacob wanted her, right there and then. “I love dragons, too. But I don’t know if I could ever sit still long enough to have something like that done to me, almost your entire back.” She lowered her voice to a husky whisper. “They’re beautiful. They look real, like they could jump off of your back and start flying around the shop.” She kept eye contact with him a little longer before she turned to Derek. “You’ve outdone yourself with this one.”
“Thanks, doll.” He kissed her on the cheek and handed her some papers. “Here are the sketches for you and Randi to look through. I’m still working on the one for Steve. I should be done with Jake in about fifteen minutes or so and then we’ll start with Randi so you can see how it’s done. Okay?”
She covered her face with the sketches for a second then looked at Jacob again. Those eyes bore right through him. “Okay. If Jake can sit through all of that work, then I can do it for a little butterfly.” She reached out and touched his arm with just her fingertips, setting his skin on fire. “Thank you for letting me look at your tat.”
She walked away from him, and Jacob nearly fell out of the chair. Those hips and that ass—damn it!
Derek looked back at him and just grinned. If he was anyone else, Jacob would have driven his fist through his teeth. Instead, Jacob just groaned and put his head back down on his arms. “You’re one sadistic son of a bitch, D.”
“You’ll survive. You always do. Besides, you‘ll get to watch her again tonight at the concert. Eischer told me earlier that he’s bringing Quinn and Randi to see us.” Jacob thought Derek was thoroughly enjoying torturing him way too much. “And with Eischer around, you’ve got no chance in hell getting her into your bed tonight.”
Jacob laughed along with his friend. “That’s cold, dude.”
“Maybe so, but I love you both and I think it’s best you don’t hook up now. Maybe somewhere down the line.” Derek rubbed away the last of the excess ink from Jacob’s back and then covered it with plastic wrap. “Here, let me help you with your shirt so you don’t dislodge the plastic too soon. It should be okay tonight, but remember to wear a dark shirt—”
“In case some of the ink bleeds. Yeah, I’ve been through this a few times.” Wait, did he just say that maybe I could hook up with Quinn sometime in the future? “So you wouldn’t be totally against me ever hooking up with her, just not now?”
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Behind Closed Doors 