Denying The Bad Boy (Tattooed and Pierced #2) (9 page)

Vince opened the door, and the sound of fighting and
grunts filtered into the medical room. Vince waited for his answer, and Alex
knew he wouldn’t back out.

“Yeah, man, I’m in.”

Chapter
Seven

Mary pulled her BMW into the compact driveway of
Alex’s house. She cut the engine but sat there for several moments. Why was she
suddenly so nervous?

Uh,
possibly because you have been lusting after this guy every time you see him,
and now you’re going to be seeing a lot of him, close and personal.
After she went to the gym and worked out so hard her legs had felt like
pudding, and she had probably lost enough water weight to fill her kitchen
sink, she had gone home and taken a shower with water so hot it could have
melted her skin. A pair of jeans and a tee seemed like fine attire to go out
in, but when Darcy had seen her clothes she made a scoffing noise and shook her
head. She had all but dragged Mary back into her room and rummaged through her
closet until she found a dress thrust in the back of her closet. It was a
black, tight little thing, one that she had only worn once to a dinner with
Lance. She should have burned the damn thing, but she had spent too much money
on it, and well, it was a beautiful dress. Made from French silk with
practically no back and formfitting enough that it actually looked like she had
a figure, Mary had worked all summer just to buy it. Maybe not the best way to
spend her money since she only wore it once and it was now associated with her
ex, a guy she never wanted to think about again, but she told herself she’d
wear it again. Yeah, that had never happened, until tonight she supposed. It
seemed too fancy for going to a nightclub, but Darcy assured her one could
never be overdressed, especially to this particular place, one that was known
by everyone, but where only a select few could get in. But lucky for them Darcy
knew the bouncer.

Yay for them.
Insert sarcasm.

Mary was still a bit hesitant on going, but all it
took for that uncertainty to vanish was looking at Darcy and the sad expression
she carried when she thought no one was looking.

Darcy planned on meeting her at the club at eight,
so that gave Mary a little over an hour to tutor Alex, and then swing back home
to get ready before heading out. So now here she was, staring at Alex’s house,
feeling all kinds of anxiety and anticipation, which was dumb because she had done
this type of thing a hundred different times. This was no different.
He
was no different, and she needed to
remember that. She grabbed her bag that was filled with several books she had
checked out from the library on Human Sexuality. Figuring they would start from
the beginning since she had no idea what he even absorbed in the class, if
anything at all, she made her way up to the front door. Bringing her knuckles
down on the door three times she dropped her hand but instantly clasped them
together in front of her.

Several long moments passed, and she lifted her hand
to knock on the door again. She knew someone was home because the sound of loud
laughter,
and a football game on the television
playing in the background came right through the door. She had sent Alex a text
earlier today telling him she’d be here at six, so he should be expecting her. Seconds
later the door flew open.

“What the fu—” Adam stopped midsentence and stared
at her. He lifted his hand that wasn’t holding the edge of the doorframe and
ran it over the top of his head, further disheveling the strands.
“Oh, sorry ‘bout that, Mary.”
He looked over his shoulder
toward the stairs and then turned back to her. “I thought you were someone
else. Come on in.” He moved out of the way, and she stepped inside. The house
smelled funky, like sweat, old gym socks, and something stale.

“I’m here to tutor Alex.” She turned around to face
him. Adam shut the door and glanced at the stairs again.

“Oh, okay. He’s upstairs primping.”

Primping?
“Excuse me?” Adam grinned and shook his head.

“He’s getting all pretty for his date tonight.”
Something twisted in her stomach at Adam’s words.

“Oh, well I wouldn’t know anything about that. I’m
just here to help him with his class.”

Adam was staring at her strangely, and she hoped her
sudden and irrational disappointment was written across her face. Before
anything else was said the sound of heavy footsteps descending the stairs
filled her ears. Adam grumbled something under his breath and headed back into
the living room. Mary turned around and watched Alex making his way toward her.
He wore a pair of loose fitting distressed jeans and a button down shirt. The
sleeves were rolled up his forearms, showing off the muscular, tanned flesh,
and the first two buttons at the collar of his shirt were undone. His hair was damp
and the strands were spiky around his head, but that wasn’t what caught her
attention. A nasty bruise marred his cheek, and there looked to be a gash right
above his right eye.

“You weren’t waiting too long, were you?”

She shook her head, his words kind of going right
through her as she stared at his wounds. “God, are you okay?” On instinct she
reached out to him, but he took a step back. Mary was immediately embarrassed
for doing something like that, so she took a step back herself.

“Yeah, I’m good.” She wanted to ask what had
happened, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out. Besides, Alex
did have a reputation for getting into fights. Mary looked up at him again, and
even though someone had gotten in a few hits, she had no doubts the other guy
probably looked worse. He was close, far too close for her comfort because a
rush of heat filled her. The scent of soap and a light undertone of cologne
filled her nose, and she actually felt herself leaning toward him.

“Whoa, you okay?” It was only when he placed his big
hand on her shoulder to steady her, or maybe it was to keep her away, that she
realized what she was doing.

Oh my
God.
Heat rushed up her neck and covered her face. There was no doubt in her mind
that she looked like a tomato, but whether Alex saw that or not was a mystery
since his expression remained stoic.
“Um.”
She cleared
her throat and quickly looked toward the living room. Adam and a few other guys
sat around the big screen TV watching a football game. “No, it’s fine.”

When she looked back at Alex he was watching her
with a strange expression, and a tick under his cheek jumped. She looked to her
right, into the kitchen, but it seemed there was some kind of card game going
on with several more guys. Was this how it was all the time? She had only been
here a few times in the late evening to help Adam, but it had never been like
this. It seemed chaotic and crowded, and as if to prove her point the guys in
the living room started roaring out at something that happened in the game, and
the ones in the kitchen were swearing and talking about “eating out pussy” and
“fucking chicks in the ass”.

“Maybe tutoring on a Friday night wasn’t the best
plan.” Mary wasn’t a prude by any means, even with her upbringing. She meant it
as a joke, but when she caught his eyes, saw something flash behind them, she
suddenly felt far too dizzy. What was it about this guy that made her feel so
on edge? Had it just been too long since she was with someone, touched by
someone, or had sex? Lord, it
had
been
far too long since she had any kind of sexual interaction with someone, not
since the last time she slept with Lance. Just thinking about her ex put her in
a sour mood, but then again it was welcome because anything was better than
this arousal she had for a guy she could never give herself to.

“Sorry about them.” He didn’t look embarrassed, but
then she supposed there probably wasn’t much, if anything, that rattled Alex.
“It’s like this most days.” He looked around and then suddenly seemed uncomfortable.
Huh, I guess the Great Alex Sheppard can
be shaken
. “I hate to say this because it’s going to sound like some kind
of lame pickup line, but it is kind of crowded down here. Can we do this in my
room?”

Her face instantly heated again at his words,
because even if he didn’t mean them in the way she was thinking, Mary couldn’t
help but imagine what they could be doing in his room instead of studying. Her
silence must have made him think she was uncomfortable with the idea when in
reality she was picturing all kinds of very dirty things. “There really isn’t
anywhere else in the house, and I didn’t think these assholes would take up
both rooms where we could have studied.”

He glanced down, and she couldn’t help but smile.
She should have told him hell no to his
suggestion,
because heaven help her it had to be bad news to go into Alex Sheppard’s room
with him, where they would be so very alone. “We can go someplace else. Shit.” He
looked up and her and gave her a pained expression. “Sorry.”

“Alex, really it’s fine.” Mary was quite proud of
herself for keeping it together when she felt herself unraveling inside.

“You sure?
I
don’t want to make you feel weird or anything.” It wasn’t like she had never
tutored someone in their room before, although it wasn’t really the norm, and
the ones she had helped in their rooms had been female. The problem was she had
never wanted any of the people she tutored. But then here was Alex, so freaking
gorgeous that she couldn’t stand it, and wrong for her on every level.

Just
get through the next few weeks and it will be all good. You can go back to your
life where Alex Sheppard doesn’t even know you exist.
The
problem was she hated thinking that, hated knowing that it was true, and that
his date tonight wasn’t really a date, but his next piece of ass. That sour
feeling that thinking about Lance had caused inside of her grew. She wouldn’t
be anyone’s piece of ass, and if she let herself be with Alex that is exactly
what she would be to him.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Her voice was harder, more to the
point. Going out tonight was sounding better and better. Maybe if she actually
let loose and had a few drinks she could relax and not think about unrealistic
things?
Things that would only mean trouble.
“Lead the
way.”

He stared at her strangely again for the next
several seconds, but then again her tone had been kind of sharp and to the
point. He nodded once and headed up the stairs. She followed him down the short
hallway and to the first door on the right. Her heart was beating a mile a minute
when he pushed the door open and she followed him inside. How many other girls
had he brought up here? She must be a masochist for thinking such things,
because she suddenly felt so dirty, yet still aroused by it all. His room was
small, but then again Alex was a huge guy, with broad shoulders and a frame
that was so masculine it had her entire core melting. A large bed took up a lot
of the room. A flat screen TV hung on the wall across from the bed, and a
leather recliner across from that. Aside a few half-nude women draped over
motorcycles, or in lingerie with football gear on, the room
was
bare. Yeah, it was everything she expected to find in his room.

“I don’t really have any place for us to study aside
from the floor, the chair, or the bed.” She looked over at the huge mattress
and forced herself not to blush. “The floor is uncomfortable as hell.” Mary
could only imagine how he would know why it was uncomfortable, and the nasty
images of him and some naked girl rolling around on the ground appeared in her
mind.

“The bed is fine.” They stared at each other for a
moment, and she realized time was being wasted over something so stupid. She
made the first move, sat on the edge of his bed and got the books out of her
bag. The sounds from downstairs were loud and obnoxious, but not nearly as
thunderous as her beating heart. Alex sat beside her, and fortunately he was
looking at the thick books she had set on the bed. He picked one up, leafed
through it, and looked at her with knitted brows.

“Well, damn, these things are thick as fuck.” The
tension Mary had felt thus far vanished a little, and she couldn’t help but
laugh. “I didn’t think sex was this in-depth.” Still smiling, she took the book
out of his hand and opened it to the first chapter.

“That’s probably why you are failing Human Sexuality
since it’s not just about sex.” Lifting only her eyes to his, she smiled at him,
and a flurry of butterflies started moving in her belly and the lopsided grin
he gave her.

“Well, I can’t argue with you there.”

For the next hour she explained how sex has played a
role in society. She had to give Alex credit, he actually acted like he was
interested in the subject, but she also reminded herself that they were still
talking about sex, and therefore appealing to the guy in him.

“Well, our hour is up, and besides, I don’t want to
keep you from your date.” She grabbed the books and shoved them in her bag.

“Huh?”

It was already seven, and she still had to get ready
and head over to the club. Traffic would probably be a bitch since it was a
Friday night, and downtown Columbus was also busy. She looked at Alex.

Mary didn’t comment on the fact he seemed confused
by what she said, so she just kept talking about tutoring. “You want to get
together tomorrow, maybe at two, if you’re free? I figure we can get two days
in a row since I’m free.”