Inked: A Bad Boy Next Door Romance by Lauren Landish, Willow Winters Page A

wanna press my lips against her neck and kiss down her collarbone. Farther. I’d kiss down her breasts. I know just how they’d feel in my hands.
    I could put something there for her, something on the underside of her plush tits. Maybe have it travel down her side. Fuck, she’d be so fucking sexy with a touch of ink. She’s got a beautiful sun-kissed tan. She’d look even more beautiful with my art on her. Not that she isn’t already gorgeous.
    But she’s a good girl. I bet if she has anything on her body it’s just some sweet little butterfly on her shoulder. And I didn’t see a damn thing on her shoulder. Her tight body's just the perfect canvas for my art.
    Just as I start thinking about every inch of her body and what else I’d love to do with it, Marky comes in. He’s a regular. He’s retired and comes in here all the time just to hang out. When we remodeled a few years ago he even did half the work. He didn’t want to be paid, just wanted to be useful.
    I gave him a free tat and we called it even.
    I like that he comes in here just to hang out and keep us smiling. He brings a good vibe into the shop. Adds to the comfort of this place.
    “Zane, Needles,” he says in a gruff voice as he sets down a carrier with four coffees. He’s got his own in his other hand. Trisha and Logan will be in soon to snag their coffees. Marky’s pretty fucking reliable for bringing in the morning brew.
    Trisha wasn’t into it at first. She’s a picky broad. But Marky was determined to break down her walls and it started with getting her latte right, or whatever the fuck she drinks. Out of all of us, she opens up to him first when she has something she needs to get off her chest.
    “Yes!” Needles grabs his cup and doesn’t even check the temperature before guzzling it down. I take mine in my hand, but I don’t like mine kissed-the-fucking-sun scalding hot like he does. I vent the lid, giving it a chance to cool off some.
    “Thanks, man. What are you up to today?” I ask Marky.
    “Not much.” Marky grabs his usual seat in the chair next to the counter. “Just needed to get out of the house this morning.” He lost his wife a while back. They’d been married for nearly forty years before cancer took her from him. I know it still hurts him to live in the house they'd had together since they got married. But the stubborn fuck won’t leave.
    Can’t say I blame him, but I don’t envy him either.
    “What’s new with you?” he asks. “You look too fucking happy for not having had your coffee yet.”
    Needles snorts. “See, told you.”
    I look between the two of them like they’ve lost their damn minds. “What the fuck?”
    “Just saying, you’re not much of a morning person is all.” Marky looks at me expectantly.
    “I can’t be happy?” I ask.
    “Quit fucking around,” he says, rolling his eyes.
    “Met a girl,” I say with my grin spreading into an all-out smile.
    Needles laughs at me, and Marky cracks a smile.
    “She’s that good in bed, huh?” Needles asks as he slaps my back and sets his cup down on the counter.
    The smile leaves my face. I don’t wanna tell them I haven’t tapped that yet. But at the same time, some part of me also kinda does. There’s something about having to chase her that I fucking love.
    “She’s not that kind of girl,” I say before taking a sip of my coffee, trying to play this cool.
    Needles looks at me incredulously. “You’re hung up on a girl you haven’t even had yet?” Marky chuckles at him and leans back in his seat. Needles has no fucking room to talk. I don’t even know the last time he got laid. He's all talk, no game. So he can shove it.
    “Fuck off,” I say. “She’s a challenge. I like that about her.”
    His brows raise. “Ten bucks says she’s too good for you. Either that or she’s stuck-up.”
    My jaw tics at his words. I don’t like either of those thoughts. I also don’t like that the first one is true. Yeah, she’s too good for