Page 6 of Executive Ink

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Ashlynn hadto be seeing things because there was no way her one-night stand could be standing in the middle of her company’s front lobby. She’d left Jax sleeping in his Atlanta hotel room bed, all naked and roughed up from their sexcapades the night before, and she hadn’t looked back.

Okay, that was a total lie since he’d been the primary focus of her thoughts and dreams since she walked out of that room, but she’d been doing a pretty darn good job of lying to herself since then.

Now that was all out the window because, dear God, the man was sex on a stick.

Inked and bearded sex on a stick.

And right in front of her.

“Did you follow me?” The words came out as a whispered snap, and she held back a wince. She hadn’t known what she planned to say if she ever saw him again, but those particular words weren’t the right ones. Not when Jax’s smirk fell off his face, and his eyes narrowed at her.

“I was going to say it was damn good to see you, but maybe I should have asked if you were following me.” He ran a hand over his beard, and Ashlynn wanted to cover her face with her hands.

She wasn’t handling this right and was beyond flustered. Ashlynn Kelly did not get flustered. She was the one who made others quake in their boots. She was always the one in control.

That’s what made Jax so dangerous.

And she didn’t even know his last name.

She raised her chin and did her best to keep from drawing attention to herself. She didn’t need gossip within her company about her, not if she wanted to keep doing what she was.

“I didn’t follow you,” she said softly. “I work here, Jax. I was just surprised to see you. What are you doing here?”

“Here as in Denver? I live here. Here as in this building? My little sister is an intern, and I’m taking her to lunch.” He frowned at her. “Small world,” he whispered.

She swallowed hard, remembering the way the heat of his whispered words felt against her skin. She couldn’t let him do this to her, not here. Not now. Maybe not ever. He was supposed to be her one-night stand. Then something he’d said clicked.

“Your sister works here? She’s an intern?” Ashlynn tried to remember every face that was hired, but they’d just gone through a few new interns, and she hadn’t met everyone yet. Not all the new hires worked under her, but many did, and if one was related to Jax…well, it might not be the best idea to keep talking with him.

Jax’s smile went soft as he spoke of his sister. “Yeah, just started a couple of weeks ago. We’re proud.”

“We?” she blurted and could have slapped herself.

Jax snorted. “Our mom. And me. Jessica’s a bit younger than I am, so I feel like I helped raise her, even though she pretty much did most things on her own. She’s a go-getter that way.”

Ashlynn tried to keep her brain on the conversation, but she kept flashing back to her night with Jax. It had been the single most impulsive thing she’d ever done in her life, and now he was here, right in front of her, as if fate were taunting her decisions.

“Jax?”

Ashlynn turned to see a young brunette with a cautious smile walk up to them. She wore a nice suit with a skirt and sensible heels that still had a bit of fashion to them. Her hair was up in a cute bun at the base of her neck, and Ashlynn didn’t see a hint of ink or piercings anywhere except her small hoop earrings. If it weren’t for the eyes, Ashlynn wouldn’t have known that Jessica and Jax were siblings, but the eyes spoke volumes.

She turned as Jax smiled widely at his sister. “There you are, runt,” he said with that typical big brother attitude as he held out his arms.

Jessica glanced at Ashlynn before rolling her eyes and going in for a hug. Jax kissed his little sister’s forehead, giving her a tight squeeze before he pulled back and shook his head.

“You grew up.”

Jessica sighed. “You saw me four days ago.” She turned and held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Jessica Reagan.”

Ashlynn took the younger woman’s hand and gave it a quick shake. “Nice to meet you. I’m Ashlynn Kelly. I don’t think we’ve met, correct?”

Jessica shook her head. “No, I’m in another department, but I’ve seen you on my floor. I think you were out of town at a conference this past week when introductions were made.”

That made sense, and Ashlynn nodded. Of course, she’d met Jax while at that conference and then had sweaty, filthy sex with the man, so things were just a tad more complicated than the other woman knew.

Jessica looked between Jax and Ashlynn with a weird look on her face, as if she was dying to ask how they knew each other but was holding back by only the barest of threads.

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