And of course, since she couldn’t ever spend time with a man without becoming consumed by him, his mysterious nature only made her more desperate to figure him out.

But no. She couldn’t fall into that trap again. Her arrangement with AJ worked because it was temporary. As long as she kept viewing him as nothing but a fun sexual partner, she wasn’t in danger of losing focus of what mattered.

So rather than force him to tell her what was wrong, she opted to concentrate on what was right.

“If you want me naked, then take me home,” she said boldly.

“What if I want to take you right here?”

Brett’s uneasy gaze drifted to the front window. It was slightly tinted, but not enough to shield them from view of the street if they did the nasty in the main room. Besides, having sex in her family’s tattoo parlor was wrong on so many other levels.

When AJ caught sight of where her gaze had traveled, he pursed his lips and said, “Not here then.” He took her hand and coaxed her to the back corridor, guiding her behind the thick red curtain that blocked off her workspace.

AJ’s mouth curved when he spotted the padded chair in the center of the room.

“Oh yeah, this will work.” His voice was low, rippling with desire.

Brett ignored the tight clenching of her thighs. “I’m not going to have sex with you in my place of business,” she said primly.

“No? So you’re backing out of your end of our agreement?” His expression flickered with challenge.

“How was sex in my shop ever part of the agreement?” she protested.

“I play the part of doting, respectable boyfriend, and in return, you show me a wild time, remember?” He pointed to the tattoo chair. “And that, is a wild time.”

The image of AJ fucking her right there on the chair flashed to the foreground of her mind, and her entire body shuddered in response.

He chuckled. “Sounds fun, doesn’t it?”

God, it did. But…

She hesitated again.

“You locked up for the night, right?”

She nodded.

“And do your brothers or dad usually drop in after hours?”

She slowly shook her head. They never did. Once the shop was closed, they were done for the night.

“Then I don’t see a problem.”

AJ’s hands lowered to his waistband, and her traitorous gaze was drawn to his every movement like a magnet. He slid the belt from its buckle. Undid the button of his trousers. Inched the zipper down.

“C’mon, angel, give me a taste of the wild girl you used to be. I promise you can lock her up again after tonight…” He parted the top of his pants. “At least until the next time I want her to come out.”

He was evil. Pure temptation. Sin incarnate.

Brett hadn’t been able to say no to him that first night at the club, and evidently that’s how it would always be.

“I want to see your cock,” she ordered.

A grin lifted his lips. “Good. Because he’s dying to see you.”

The moment he released his erection, Brett’s mouth went dry with anticipation. God, maybe he was right. Maybe it was healthy to let her inner bad girl out every now and then. What was the harm in throwing caution to the wind and being bad again? The shop was closed. Nobody was around.

So why the hell not?

“What do you say we up the stakes?” she said devilishly.

“I thought the only stakes were the ones that involve my cock inside you.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” When he wiggled his eyebrows, she quickly corrected herself. “Fine, that part is fun, too. But wild? I don’t know. And dangerous? Definitely not.”

“Huh. So now you’re interested in injecting some danger into our sex life?” He sounded amused…and ridiculously intrigued. “How?”

“I propose a wager.” She stepped forward and gave his erection an impish squeeze.

He groaned. “What kind of wager?”

“Well…first, you’re going to sit your sexy ass down in my chair…”

“Sounds good so far.” He thrust into her waiting palm. “Then what?”

“I’m going to climb on top of you.”

“Even better…and then?”

“I’m going to screw your brains out.”

AJ’s cock thickened in her hand, a drop of moisture leaking onto her thumb. “I…” He shivered when she stroked him again. “…really don’t see where the wager comes in.”

“Oh, didn’t I mention?” She smiled broadly. “The first one to come loses.”

A laugh rumbled out of his chest. “That sounds more like winning to me.”

“You’d think so, huh?” She released him and reached for her zipper. “But I haven’t told you the stakes yet.”

“Fine. I’ll bite. What happens if I ‘lose’?” He used air quotes around the last word, his lips twitching as if he were fighting another laugh.

“I get to tattoo you.” Brett wiggled out of her pants and underwear and kicked them away.

AJ’s sultry gaze promptly zeroed in on her lower body. His features grew taut with passion for a moment, before his head snapped up as if he’d just realized what she’d said. “Wait, what?”

“I get to tattoo you,” she repeated. “You can choose the design and body part, but it’s my needle that does it.”