Page 8 of Executive Ink

She swallowed hard and tried to get her emotions under control. “You didn’t know who I was when you saw me on the street,” she whispered. “Didn’t know I’d be here today.”

He kissed her softly, just a brush of lips. “I want to get to know you, Ash. Let me take you out to dinner, let me see who the real Ash is. You can see who I am, too.”

She shook her head. “I…”

“Ash…don’t say no. I’ll listen if you do, but I don’t want you to say no.”

“I meant to say no because I don’t want to go out. I have food in my Crock-Pot at home.” She winced at that, and he grinned.

“My executive cooking in a Crock-Pot? That’s perfect. Just tells me you know your time is valuable. So…is there enough for two?”

She let out a soft laugh. “Yeah, Jax, there should be enough food for you. I have no idea what I’m doing, but I just hope it’s the right thing.”

He kissed her. “I hope it’s right, too, because it feels right. But if we’re wrong? Then we’ll be wrong together. Okay?”

She leaned forward and ran her hand through his beard. “Okay.”

* * *

“So,do you like working at Montgomery Ink?” she asked as they did dishes together. It was weird having a man in her space and sharing chores with him, but not as weird as it could have been if it were anyone other than Jax. For some reason, he just fit. That probably should have worried her more than it did, but at the moment, she’d just go with the flow—something she didn’t normally do.

Jax leaned against the front of the sink and nodded. “It’s a good fit, I think. I like my co-workers and the clients. Sure, there are still some people who come in and annoy me, but that’s any job.”

Ashlynn nodded. “Tell me about it.”

“And you like being a CFO? I don’t know your business day in and out, but I know enough to understand you’re a big deal.” He winked. “A sexy big deal, but I’ll refrain from saying that in front of others if you want.”

She laughed then, wondering how she could be so at ease with someone she barely knew. Yes, she knew Jax intimately, but she was only starting to know the man beneath the ink—and she liked him.

“I love my job,” she answered once she stopped laughing, though she still had a smile on her face. “I work too hard, and I know that I should scale back and delegate, but I love what I do so much that it’s sometimes hard.”

“If you hated it, it would be another matter, no? Working at a place you hate drains you, makes you regret the decisions you make, even if they were the only ones you could.”

There was something in his voice that made her pause, and she set her towel down on the counter. “Jax?”

He shook his head. “I worked for some bad people in Atlanta. Didn’t mean to, but my old boss was a crook who had the worst kinds of connections. Once I could get out, though, I did. I was a stupid kid who needed a job and had to stay because I thought I owed him.” He turned to her then, and they stood face to face. “I was an idiot, but I’m not now. I work with great people and love my job. I’m staying in Denver long-term and don’t plan on going back to any place that treats me like shit or to people who think they own me.” He shrugged, and she knew there was more to his story.

“You can tell me more if you want,” she said softly. “You’re a good man, Jax. You saved my life when you could have just stood back and protected yours. Plus, any man who makes sure his partner comes at least twice before he does is a good guy in my book.” She winked as she said it, and Jax chuckled.

“Any man who doesn’t make his partner come like that isn’t a man I want to know.” He reached forward and brushed his knuckle along her jaw. “I’m glad we found each other again, Ash.”

She swallowed hard, forcing herself not to move into his touch. “Me, too.”

“Now I can leave after I kiss you if you want, and we can take this slow. But, Ash? I want to taste you again. And if you want me, I’ll make sure you come at least twice before I sink into you again.”

She chuckled with him and let herself lean closer. “I don’t want you to leave. I don’t know what we’re doing, but I don’t want it to end.”

He brushed his lips over hers, his beard softly scratching her chin in the best way possible—hell, she could get used to that. “Let me take you to the bedroom, princess.”

She knew she was probably making a mistake, but she did the only thing she could at that moment. She went up on her tiptoes since she’d taken off her heels when they walked in and kissed him hard in answer.

He groaned and hoisted her, rucking up her skirt around her thighs so she could wrap her legs around his waist. She knew she’d probably torn a seam, but damn if she cared right then. She’d have thought being with him in her home would be different, that it wouldn’t feel quite the same as when she’d been playing with fire and the unknown in Atlanta.

She would have been wrong.

Since the layout of her place wasn’t that hard to figure out, Jax found her bedroom in no time. He sucked on her neck as he lowered her to the bed, her body arching into him, craving him. Somehow, they’d twisted so she was on her back and they kept their mouths on each other even as they stripped off their clothes, leaving them naked and twined together, his rigid cock pressed hard against her belly.

“I need you,” she panted. She’d never needed anyone before, but right then, she had to have Jax inside her, over her, with her.

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