Inked Playboy Next Door

It was reckless. No names. No strings.
A night I've dreamed about ever since.
Now my fantasy lives next door.

I came to Mill Creek to disappear.
New town. New job.
A quiet life where the biggest crisis is a cat with a nosy owner problem.

Then the bartender next door came home from abroad.

Tattooed. Shirtless — I mean shameless.
Grinning at me like he knows exactly what I sound like when I fall apart.
Because he does.

He's chaos wrapped in ink and a dangerous smile.
He's loud when I need silence. Reckless when I crave control.
He calls me wildflower like it's a dare.

But he sees me — not the version I perform for everyone else.
The one who wears black lace under pearl buttons and pretends she doesn't burn when he's close.

I swore I'd never let another man have power over me.

Gabe doesn't want power.

He wants me.

I'm finally learning what it feels like to be chosen instead of controlled.

But the man I ran from just found my new address.