More Than Meets the Ink Read Free Page A

this,” Ann said while juggling the box with the cats in her arms. “We’re taking Amy and the little ones home. Hopefully those kittens will grow lots of fur to hide behind. We’ll keep them until somehow they improve and we can give them away, or until they grow into us, whichever comes first. And we’re so having a word with that vet and the damn birth-control shots he was giving her. And you,” she continued, now staring at Mr. Bowen, “you better keep that misfit of a cat away from us. There’s no joint custody here.”
    Tate choked on the breath she was drawing in and turned to James, a grimace on her face. “On the other hand, I think we’ll take you up on your offer. Socializing and going out for a while might be a good idea.”

Chapter Two
     
    Damn. James was sexy.
    For the first time in her life, Tate understood Elle’s hopeless crush on infamous bad boys.
    This was so not good. She was the levelheaded one, the responsible, reliable baby sister, difficult to impress, not the one prone to lose it after a tight ass and a crooked smile. But despite her mental pep talks, she couldn’t deny seeing James line dancing was making her stomach do funny things—triple somersaults without a safety net actually.
    He was stunning. James looked spectacular; nicely worn-out jeans, cowboy boots, long, muscled legs, and a black T-shirt that clung perfectly to his roped chest. To say he was easy on the eyes was a gross understatement. The man belonged on the front cover of a firefighters’ calendar, for God’s sake, not in the common area of a senior community skyrocketing everybody’s blood pressure to the moon. He should come with a warning from the health department: Handle with extreme caution and use at your own peril. Looking will cause palpitations, dizziness, and hyperventilation . She knew, for she was having all of those and then some.
    He was definitely too much for her undersexed body to handle, his whole self flaunting so many sex vibes it was breathtaking. All those hard muscles flexing rhythmically to the country music, laughing with Mrs. Samuels on his right and some perky grandma on his left, not taking himself that seriously. Definitely too much mojo on the man. Add that to his rugged looks, his wicked and funny comments, and his warm hazel eyes, and Tate felt overwhelmed. Which didn’t make any sense—her sister was the sucker for bad boys, not her. And he was a bad boy, no doubt about it. He had the act down to the letter—tattoos included. As far as she could see, he sported only one, but it was a huge Japanese-style dragon covering his entire right arm. Space wise, it amounted to four tats at the very least. Thank God it wasn’t the tasteless, homemade-looking ones some of Elle’s friends had. She’d despised all those guys, even the somehow nicer, mellower specimens. So why she was now drooling over James was beyond her.
    From across the dance floor, he signaled her to join him, but she vigorously refused. No way. She was dead on her feet; those seniors had more energy than she did. Besides, she could salivate over him much better from a distance, thank you very much, where she didn’t have to worry about the steps and the turns, or about feeling mortified to be caught staring. And she’d done plenty of those things, the staring and the getting caught. He’d smiled wickedly every time, but thank God he hadn’t said a word about it.
    It seemed that she’d done nothing but run into James the whole day. And it had been good. He was…compelling and damn distracting. Charming and funny, a shade of mischief in his eyes all the time, a ready smile on his lips. It wasn’t only easy to talk to him, but he also had a knack for making her laugh. Such a sucker-punch combination. It’d been confusing in the morning, but now, while dancing, it was lethal. No wonder she was unable to put two and two together.
    James had walked her through the steps, joked with her, all while his big capable hands