Hidden Depths (8 page)

She had decided that the entire thing had been a simple,
hormonal reaction to being kissed. It had been a very long time since she'd
been kissed, and even longer since she'd had sex. When someone, anyone, kissed
you with that much pent up energy, you couldn't help but respond. Throw in her
celibate status as of late, and she went off like a roman candle. While she did
feel guilty having done that to one of her best friends, she placed most of the
blame on Josh. Hence the name, 'ass hat'. After all, there is only so much
celibacy one woman can take. And he was gorgeous. She couldn't really be blamed
for a natural physical response to a stunning male's touch. Pent up lust did
crazy things to a person. No, not lust... lust implied some sort of feeling for
Josh specifically, and that just wasn't the case. Couldn't be the case. It was
just plain horniness and he'd had good timing. Or rather... bad timing.

So, since she had decided to join a gym anyway, she figured
that she could also find herself some nice eye candy, and possibly even a new
'friend'. Or, just some easy sex. She didn't want husband material, just
someone casual and fun to hang out with sometimes, and enough chemistry to make
it enjoyable. If she were being honest with herself, she just wanted someone to
replace Josh in the, now almost constant, erotic dreams she was having.
Unfortunately, no luck so far, but she was going to keep trying.

On the plus side, she had managed to find a new tattoo
artist in the last few weeks. He was definitely easy on the eyes, as well, if
you liked the dark hair, goatee, very buff, inked up type. Aaron, the new
artist, was funny, sarcastic, and great company to have in the shop. If
business kept increasing, she would even bring him in on a more full time
basis. His work was terrific and the customers seemed to love him as well.

Gia had even gone out with him a couple times after work.
They got along really well, yet as gorgeous as he was, there was nothing there.
No sparks at all. However, since he was willing to man the shop tonight, she
was going to change up her routine and go to the gym this evening, rather than
in the morning. Maybe, with a different crowd, she could find someone that
might at least intrigue her enough to flirt with. And, with any luck, she could
burn off this bout of cranky she seemed stuck in.

"Hey Aaron, if you've got everything here, I'm going to
run out to the gym for awhile. I'll be back in an hour or two."

"Sure thing, boss. I've gotcha covered."

Aaron, looked up from his drawing and let out a wolf
whistle. Gia was dressed for working out in a spandex tank sports bra and yoga
pants. She looked down at herself, then back up at Aaron and laughed.
"Yeah, okay. Thanks for the confidence boost. I'll be back in a bit."

She shook her head as she walked to her jeep, wishing she
could feel even the littlest bit of attraction to him. Unfortunately, though
she could list his attributes, and even appreciate the package as a whole,
there was just no chemistry. Oh well, maybe tonight!

As Josh finally got his luggage, he turned and trudged
outside, never so glad to see the town car as he was right now. He always hired
a driver to take him to and from the airport. He hated leaving his car in the
long term parking. The driver opened the door for him and he slid into the
seat, feeling bone weary.

Melbourne, Australia was seventeen hours ahead of
Sacramento, which meant that he was now seventeen hours behind. He should be
feeling wide awake at eight o'clock since it was only about one in the
afternoon according to his body. Unfortunately he hadn't slept much in the last
few weeks, and he hadn't slept at all last night.

After his night with Gia, he had immediately called Deb.
She'd come over the next night, and a simple conversation had ended their
engagement. Not too surprisingly, she had felt the same lack of enthusiasm he'd
been feeling. He was a little more restless about it than she was, but even she
admitted that their relationship had gotten stale, and wasn't it a blessing
they had discovered this before they had gotten married and not after. Even
their break up had been relatively peaceful and emotionless. Somehow he found
that more disturbing than tears would've been.

After they'd talked, they'd immediately gone and told their
respective parents that it was over. Standing together, to display a united
front, they had diligently explained that there were no hard feelings, it just
simply wasn't meant to be between them.

Though Deb was standing right beside him, clear eyed with no
sign of tears or hostility, his father had obviously thought it was a lie. He'd
decided then and there to send him to Australia on the first flight out the
following morning. Over a week earlier than he'd been scheduled to leave. His
father's version of punishment was apparently time away from Deb. Knowing his
dad, Josh was sure this was intended to make him 'see reason'.

And it had been a punishment of sorts. Only, it hadn't been
Deb he'd been missing. It had been Gia. He was beginning to think it had always
been Gia. He had no idea how he'd ignored it for so long, but he couldn't
ignore it any more. He'd thought that maybe it was just physical, that he had a
need to sate some secret desires, things he'd tried to keep hidden even from
himself, but lately he was coming to realize it was more. She had always pushed
him, driven him to the point where his control over himself snapped. While that
should scare him, and to some extent it did if he were honest, it was also
incredibly freeing. With Gia, he could finally be himself, the person he truly
was, not the image he projected.

Now, he was a free man. And he just needed to convince
Georgia Ann McClellan that everything she thought she knew about him, about
them, was wrong. As daunting as that task sounded, he was still excited about
the prospect. Excited enough that he hadn't slept a wink in thirty six hours.

He should go straight home and go to bed. He was tired,
wrinkled, sweaty and probably stinky. He should at least go and shower first. 
But first, he needed to see Gia. 

After two weeks... with no communication... there was
probably a good chance she was less than pleased with him.

He knew it was his own fault. He shouldn't have left like he
did after what happened between them. He should have at least called her first
thing the next day. Told her how much that night had meant to him. He had
wanted to wait until he'd had a chance to talk to Deb, to break things off.
That way, when he next spoke to Gia he was a free man. The best laid plans...

When he'd found out he was leaving the next morning, he'd
had to go home and pack. He had tried calling her that night, at least five
times, but he got her damn voicemail every single time. This wasn't a conversation
he wanted to have with her voicemail, so he'd simply hung up. So, instead of
heading home like he should, he was going to have the driver stop at her shop.

Since it was only Thursday, Josh was hoping that it wasn't
too busy in there. Maybe he could even talk her into closing up early. He knew
the weekends were always busiest for her, so if he didn't get to talk to her
tonight, he might have to wait until Monday, and he couldn't wait that long. He
needed to make things right with her, apologize for not calling. Hell, he'd
grovel if he had to. He also needed to tell her the wedding was off. Then he
needed to kiss her again. God, how he needed to kiss her. He had been plagued
by the hottest and most erotic dreams of his life for two, very long, weeks.
Even the ridiculously long hours he'd been working hadn't been enough to
completely take his mind off  her. Her lips, her crazy hair, her firm, round
breasts with those fucking hot rings in the nipples.

He groaned, feeling his shaft jump to life at just the
thought of sucking those nipples again. When he realized they were in the
Village, he tried to think of sweat socks and wrinkled, naked grandmas to try
and stop the raging hard-on he already had. He needed to talk to her before he
could touch her. Better get his body back in control.

As they pulled up to the curb in front of the shop, Josh
jumped out before the driver had a chance to even completely stop, let alone
get the door for him.

"I may be a while. Just park and take a break, please.
"

Josh almost ran to the door, throwing it open, excited to
see Gia again. What he saw instead was some guy he didn't know drawing
something at the front desk. Gia was nowhere to be seen.

"Hi there, can I help you with something?" the man
asked.

"No, not really. Where's Gia?" Josh knew it was
rude, but he was too tired to make small talk.

"She's out right now, but I can help you. I'm Aaron.
Are you looking for a tattoo or a piercing?"

"No, I'm looking for Gia." His tone sounded a
little snide even to his own ears.

"And you are?"

"Josh," he said, like that would explain
everything.

Aaron stood up, giving Josh a better look at just how
massive this guy was.

"Well, Josh, Georgia is not here right now, as I've
already said. If there is work you need done, I'll be happy to do it another
time. However, I think you need to go now. Right now."

Knowing it was stupid, but too tired to care, Josh decided
to push his luck. Maybe he just hadn't made it clear that he was a friend of
Gia's, and he wanted to know where she was. 'Out' wasn't working for him.

"Well, Aaron, I'm a friend of Gia's and I would like to
know where she is, or at least when she'll be back. Now. I've been gone for
over two weeks and I want to see her. Tonight."

Aaron's stance relaxed somewhat, although he still looked
like a giant, tattooed guard dog.

"You're a friend?" At Josh's nod, Aaron continued.
"You're not some crazy stalker who got a tattoo from her and now you think
you're friends."

Josh growled. "Look, I just got off a plane, I haven't
slept in like thirty six hours, I just want to say hello. Where the fuck is
Gia?"

Aaron seemed to relax even further, a small smirk making him
look a little less intimidating. Then he asked, "You do know I could kill
you with my bare hands, right?"

Surprised, Josh started speaking without thinking.
"Maybe. But I'm stronger than I look. And I'm fast."

Aaron chuckled a little, but didn't back down. "Maybe
you are. It really doesn't matter. Gia's not here, I don't know when she'll be
back, and you're leaving."

Exhaustion was pulling hard at Josh, making him fuzzy. The
dickhead that wouldn't let him see Gia was only making it worse. Taking a deep
breath to calm himself down, Josh finally sighed. "Fine. I'm leaving. But
I will be back, and I will see Gia."

Josh turned and left before he changed his mind and decided
to try his luck against fuckhead guard dog Gia had apparently hired.

Chapter 10

The next afternoon, Gia was still cranky. She had spent two
hours at the gym last night before coming back to the shop. She hadn't seen
anyone worth writing home about, no one that had sent even the faintest glimmer
of a shiver up her spine.

If she was honest with herself, she knew why she was cranky.
She was horny, frustrated and she couldn't get Josh off her mind no matter what
she tried, including ice cream and even one good drunk. She had practically
fallen into her bed face first one night and she'd still dreamed of him. Yep,
he had managed to go from a mild itch that she couldn't quite scratch to a
painful rash, all in one earth-shattering orgasm.

It obviously hadn't been that earth-shattering for him. He
had only tried to call her once. Well, okay, five times, but all in one day, so
it really only counted as once. He hadn't even called enough to realize that
she was deliberately avoiding his calls. Ass hat!

She turned when she heard the back door open, seeing Aaron
walking in. Maybe she should make more of an effort to fall for him. He was
sweet, funny, into the same things she was, not to mention all kinds of gorgeous.
He smiled at her, his blue eyes twinkling, and she couldn't help but grin back.

"What are you thinking?" he asked as he set down
his backpack.

She shrugged her shoulders a bit, "I'm thinking you are
incredibly hot."

"Feeling's mutual, sexy. Want to do something about
it?" He wiggled his eyebrows, leering at her like the wolf in an old
cartoon.

She laughed outright, feeling moderately better, at least
better than she had in the last few days. "And what would you do if I said
yes? Run the other way?"

He leaned against one of the tables and crossed his arms
over his rather substantial chest, giving her a great view of bulging biceps.
"Hell no! I would take you up on that yes in a heartbeat. However, I feel
it's only fair to mention that some guy stopped by to see you last night. I
think he said his name was Josh. Do you know him? He said he was a
friend."

She felt her heart stop, the breath whoosh out of her lungs,
despite her best efforts. Forcing a nonchalance she didn't feel, she managed a
quick shrug. "Yeah, I know him."

Those blue eyes were watching her, seeing things she was
sure she'd rather he didn't know.

"Still want to take me up on the offer? We could go
upstairs right now. I guarantee it'll do more to relax you than the gym did
last night, and it's infinitely more enjoyable."

She smiled softly. "What would you say to a rain
check?"

Aaron nodded. "Sure. You let me know whenever you
decide you're ready."

And just that easily he turned and started setting up for
work.

Gia couldn't help but think about Josh. There is no way that
he would have been that casual about an offer of sex. At least not with her.
She thought about the heat in his eyes when he'd heard about the nipple rings,
the way she could feel his eyes on her breasts. She remembered the power, the
passion he had shown when he'd pressed against her. He'd desired her enough
that he'd come in his pants. And he hadn't even seemed the least bit
embarrassed by it.