Page 14 of Marked for Obsession

Facing the desk were two slightly angled, black leather chairs. Against the wall to her left was a matching couch, a black coffee table, and two end tables. The ensemble finishing off the seating area’s sleek look.

Poppy spun in a slow circle, expecting to see the man in charge standing somewhere in the room. But she and the bouncer were the only two there.

“I-I’m confused.” She looked back at the man still standing behind her…and the door he’d just snicked closed. “I thought you said Mr. Monroe was here.”

“He is.”

An uneasy feeling gave birth to a heavy sensation settling deep in Poppy’s stomach. Realizing she was all but trapped inside the private office, and a very large, very muscular man was blocking its only exit, she began to second-guess her decision to follow him in here so willingly.

The bouncer moved toward her slowly, his steps almost cautious in nature. Her heartrate spiked, her breathing becoming shallow with every inch he closed between them.

Poppy backed up a step, her left hand reflexively raising to halt his movements. “W-what are you—”

The tattooed man froze, his dark eyes blinking with a furrow of his brow. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He moved cautiously, giving himself a wide berth around where she stood. “You’re safe with me.”

I’m not so sure.

Following his movements, Poppy watched as he made his way across the room to the massive desk. With a confident air about him, she remained silent as he rolled the leather chair back before settling himself into it with ease.

She frowned. Drawing in a breath, her lips parted, their intent todemandhe take her to his boss. But Poppy stopped herself when the overly confident SOB lifted his legs and plopped his booted feet on top of the expensive piece of furniture as if he had every right to do so.

With his legs crossed at his ankles and his hands linked behind his head, the frustrating man stared back at her with a slow-spreading grin.

“Enough!” Her angered voice seemed to echo off the pristine walls. Stepping forward, Poppy forced the issue once and for all. “Either you take me to Mr. Monroe, orI’mtaking my business elsewhere.”

Where that may be, she had no idea. But at this point, anything was better than getting the runaround by an arrogant, too-sexy-for-his-own-good asshole who thought he could—

“You’re pretty feisty when you’re angry.” His grin turned into a crooked smirk. “I like feisty.”

Gah!Not bothering to hide the low growl bubbling up from the base of her throat, Poppy spun around and marched for the door. She’d made it three full stomps when she heard…

“Relax, Kitten.”

The sound of the chair rolling on its castors had her facing him once more. “Excuse me? Did you seriously just call mekitten?

God, she was so sick of men wasting her time. First the cop she’d been forced to deal with down at the precinct and now this asshole.

I’m. So. Done.

“I don’t know what kind of game you’re trying to pull here,” she told him. “But it’s not one I’m willing to play.” Daggers shot in his direction from her narrowed gaze. “As far as I’m concerned, you and your boss can kiss my—”

“Oh, I’d love to kiss anything you’d let me,” he interrupted as he closed in on her. “And I plan on doing just that. But unfortunately for us both, that part will have to wait until after our business relationship has come to an end. I have a strict policy, you see. I never fuck my clients.”

Poppy’s lower body tingled from the unwanted images bursting through her stunned mind…

Her naked form lying beneath his. Her fingertips tracing each and every marking that had been permanently inked into his tanned skin. Her lips pressing against the many ridges and dips his defined physique created.

Damn it, Poppy. Focus!

Barely resisting the urge to physically shake those thoughts free, she stumbled over her words in fantastic fashion.

“Wha…uh…w-who said anything about…that isnotwhat I’m here for! And what do you mean,yourclients?”

Stopping a few feet away, the cocky bastard held his smile steady as he offered her his right hand. “We haven’t been properly introduced. Jax Monroe, at your service.”

“You know, at this point, I don’t really carewhatyour name is. I just want to—” Poppy cut her snappy comeback short as her brain finally caught up to what he’d just said. Looking down at the outstretched hand, she lifted her wary gaze back up to his, her face twisting into a deep scowl as she crossed her arms tightly at her chest. “Do I look that stupid to you?”

Lowering his hand back to his side, the frustrating man moved even closer. A shiver ran the length of Poppy’s spine as he began listing the exact emotions she was feeling with each new step.

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