Page 6 of Chic Steel

“Do you promise I’ll like it?”

“Yes.” I hope.

“Fine,” he says, and closes his eyes.

Well, he proved me wrong. I was sure he’d make me show him the jewellery, but there’s no going back now.

I guide the barbell in and screw the end on, careful not to catch hair in it, and then I prod it into place and move to the side so I can see his reaction to my choice.

Snapping my gloves off, I say, “You can open your eyes now.”

His eyes blink open and squint in the light before they settle on me.

I nod to the jewellery with a smirk. “Have a look.”

His eyes slide from mine slowly, and he tucks his chin to look at his chest.

His brow furrows, and there’s a swooping sensation in my stomach. He doesn’t like it. Why did I try to be fun instead of doing a simple barbell? Why did… Is he smiling?

Heis.The left side of his lip tilts up, followed by the right, and his brow smooths out. It’s a small smile, but it’s there. I blow out a breath.

I made him smile.

His gaze lands on me again, brows raised, eyes crinkled, smile still in place. “A dinosaur? Really?”

I shrug and purse my lips, but can’t contain my smile. “I figure you were a kid obsessed with dinosaurs. Just bringing some fun to your workaholic life.”

“How do know I’m a workaholic?”

I bite my lip to hold in a laugh. “You give off vibes.”

“Vibes?” he asks hesitantly, as if the word isn’t in his vocabulary.

I nod. “I’ve never seen you out of a suit and you live in a beach town. You’re one of the only people I see in suits.” Although, he’s currently shirtless on my piercing chair with a dino barbell through his nipple, so what do I know?

“I could be on my lunch break.”

“It’s eight o’clock on a Thursday night, Oliver.”

He rolls his eyes, and I rub a hand across my mouth to hide my grin. He’s too cute. I love riling him up.

“Fine. I work a lot. How did you know about the dinosaurs?”

“Lucky guess.” And it was. He can be quiet, doesn’t talk much unless he has something to say or wants to understand something, and seems a little lonely. And dinosaurs are awesome, so who wouldn’t like them?

He sits up, glances at his chest and brushes the jewellery with a gentle finger.

I raise my eyes to the ceiling. Don’t need the image of him touching his nipple in my head, thank you very much, or to replace the image with him touching my cherry jewellery in the same gentle way. Nope. Absolutely not.

“How are the other piercings going?” I cringe. Sure, change the topic from imagining his hands playing with my nipple jewellery to his dick piercings. That’ll help me sleep better tonight.

I’m not emotionally stable enough to changethosepiercings today. To touch him there. My eyes trace downwards but I drag them back up to his eyes before I reach his crotch.

He reaches for his shirt and shrugs it on. “All good.”

“Good. That’s good.”

He’s finished buttoning his shirt and has his jacket on again. Hiding his piercing. Business ready.

---