Page 48 of Ink & Desire

“I’m sure,” he says sarcastically. “Next time wait for me or Noah. She’s not a piercer. She’s barely even an apprentice. She needs to focus on learning the business instead of worrying about seeing random dicks.”

My face goes hot even though I have no reason to feel ashamed. Fast on the heels of that is a rush of anger.Who the hell does he think he is? I hadn’t even known what piercing Jessie was doing before I volunteered to help her. Besides, he’s the one who sent me to see if she needed help. I’ve done nothing but follow his stupid rules for weeks. How dare he imply that I was anything but professional?

Jessie blinks, her face a mask of confusion. “Whoa. That’s a little out of line, don’t you think?”

She sounds both hurt and angry. I see Corbin’s shoulders sag slightly and I wonder if he feels guilty for hurting her feelings. I know he has no issue hurting mine, so I don’t give myself time to imagine that.

“Your problem is with me,” I say, my voice hard. “Don’t take it out on her.”

He huffs out a laugh. “Whatever. I’ll be in my office.”

He turns and stomps back toward the back of the building, shoulders tense. I feel a hot, angry ball rising in my chest. I’m not shocked that he was a dick to me, but I can’t believe he would act that way toward Jessie. Sure, she likes to push his buttons, but the two of them have always gotten along great. Judging by the hurt expression on her face, she’d been shocked too. I turn to look at her.

“What crawled up his ass?” she asks.

I work to unclench my jaw. “Nothing yet,” I say. “But that’s about to change.”

“Avery, don’t,” Jessie says.

“Too late.”

Before I can think rationally or talk myself out of it, I let all my righteous fury carry me to Corbin’s office door. I try the knob without knocking, unsurprised to find it locked. Balling up my fist, I pound on the door.

“Open this door!”

“Not fucking now, Avery,” Corbin says from the other side.

“Oh, no you don’t,” I call through the door. “If you’ve got a problem with me, you can talk to me about it.”

“I think I’m going to go,” Jessie says from behind me.

I turn to give her a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks for the educational experience.”

She smiles nervously, eyeing the closed door behind me. “You sure you’re good?”

I nod. “Absolutely. He doesn’t scare me.”

Her lips twitch into a faint smile. “Good luck with that.”

I’m not sure if I’m imagining the knowing gleam in her eye or not, but I choose to ignore it. I turn back to the door as she turns to go. I wait until the front door closes behind her before I start to pound on the office door again.

“Corbin James, open this fucking door! You’re being a child!”

I raise my fist to knock a third time just as the door flies inward and I’m face-to-face with a wall of muscled chest. My gaze moves up to his face and I see the unmasked fury there. Part of me wonders if I should letthis go, but the rest of me is still pissed off at his shitty behavior.

“You’re the one pitching a fit right now,” he says.

His voice is deceptively calm, but there’s a dark fury in his eyes. Even so, I don’t back down. He might try to intimidate me, but I don’t think he’d hurt me.

“What the hell is your problem?”

“You’re my fucking problem,” he says through clenched teeth.

He crowds into my space, but I don’t back down. “Well, that’s too bad. Because I’m not going anywhere.”

He huffs out a laugh that’s devoid of humor. “Believe me, I know. You’re fucking everywhere I turn.”

“What does that mean?”

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