Evanescent Ink (Copperline #4) Read Online Free PDF

small room and leaned against the doorframe. I didn’t really want to stand out in the hall where Neil might hear, yet I felt as though I needed just a little distance. I needed to work out what I was going to say. To sort through the jumbled chaos rocketing through my head.
    However, nothing came out except, “You changed my tat.”
    Raven shrugged, as though she had simply brought me a Coke instead of a Pepsi.
    “That bitch isn’t worth the bitterness that it represented.”
    I remembered her saying something like that last night, too.
    She’s not worth this, Drew…
    For a second, I was lost in her gaze. In the flash of stubborn determination behind those violet eyes. She lifted her chin ever so slightly, challenging me to argue. Flickers of that purple color blazed through my mind. The dark makeup and thick lashes half-closed in ecstasy as she lay beneath me, breathlessly gasping Drew when she came. Her hair spread on the chair, all tangled up in my fingers.
    Fuck. Stop.
    “Eventually,” she continued slowly, “you’d regret the tat you wanted. Someday, you'll fall in love—”
    “Fuck that,” I interrupted
    “—in real love,” she clarified, hardly missing a beat, “and that ink would have been an ugly reminder of something that never should have been. To you and the future love of your life.”
    I’d fall in love. Right. Fuck that. I was done with love.
    Awkwardness suddenly set in. I became acutely cognizant that I was standing here talking about falling in love, about my bitch of an ex, with the girl I’d just banged the night before.
    Jesus.
    I was still a wreck over Maggie, and this… well… Raven must have wanted me. She must have been harboring some kind of feelings for me. For fuck’s sake, I was in no way ready to start anything with anyone. Bad timing. Such bad timing. I didn’t want to hurt her, but I had to make it clear where I stood.
    “Listen, Raven,” I started, “about what happened—”
    “It’s not a big deal, Drew,” she cut me short, looking down into her mug before taking a long sip.
    “Well, it… um…” What the fuck was wrong with me? This shouldn’t have been so hard. “It’s just that, well… you’ve been a good friend, but I didn’t want to lead you on when everything is so—”
    She laughed, a sparkle lighting her eyes, catching me by complete surprise. “Drew, I’m not some naive little virgin with stars in her eyes.”
    I shook my head a little in confusion. Even more confounded by this. Girls got all emotional about sex. Okay, so Maggie didn’t, but most girls did. Right?
    Raven shook her head and gave me an easy smile. “I’m not pinning all my hope on a future with you because we did the nasty.”
    “You’re… um…”
    “You were lonely. You needed someone… something to take your mind off things. It doesn’t mean I expect anything from you. I was just happy to give you a hand…" she shrugged with a grin, “or a pussy.”
    I choked a little. Pussy . Just like that it all came back to me. Again . Every movement and moan. How incredible it had been to sink myself inside her. Her sweet little mewling sounds reverberated through my head. My erratic heartbeat suddenly went into overdrive, and I almost felt dizzy with the rush of blood headed straight to my dick.
    “We just…” I cleared my throat, “well, we work together. You work for me. I just don’t want things to be awkward.”
    “They don’t have to be.” She gave me a quick perusal and a lighthearted smile. “You’re hot, so it wasn’t like it was a real hardship.”
    What do you say to something like that?
    “Uh, thanks?”
    “Anytime,” she murmured with a wave of her hand and wafted past me out into the main part of the shop.

     
    I found myself obsessing over that little nonchalant reply all day long.
    Anytime .
    She was just being polite. That was it. Like she’d loaned me a dollar for a pop or answered the phone when I was tied up with a customer.
    Or was