Executive Ink

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  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 were dying to ask how they knew each other but was holding back by only the barest of threads.

  Ashlynn cleared her throat, needing to get out of this situation quickly before she couldn’t look at herself in the morning. “Have fun at your lunch. I have a meeting.” She gave Jessica a nod before barely glancing at Jax—she wasn’t sure what she would do if she stared at him for too long.

  Jax just gave her a knowing smile before nodding. “Enjoy your day,” he whispered, and Ashlynn took off. She didn’t run toward the elevator, but it was damn close. She heard Jessica whisper quickly to her brother and had a feeling it was about her, so she kept her chin up and did her best to ignore it.

  Ashlynn would not see Jax again. There was just no way it could work, and she’d already told herself she didn’t have time for men. Today was just a coincidence. Nothing more.

  And if she kept telling herself that, she just might believe it.

  A few hours later, most of the rest of the company had gone home, and Ashlynn had just watched a spectacular sunset from her corner office. Of course, she’d merely glanced at it since she had around four hundred things left to do on her checklist, but she’d noticed it, which was far better than most days.

  Yes, she was a workaholic, but at least she was aware of it—something that couldn’t be said for most of her friends and coworkers.

  And though, yes, her mind was on work and finalizing the deal she’d made in Atlanta, that wasn’t the only thing she was thinking about. No, it was the other event that had happened in Georgia that occupied far more of her thoughts than was healthy.

  Jax.

  He lived in Denver.

  He’d been in her building that afternoon.

  His sister worked with her.

  And though she’d left him in the lobby without a look back, she had a feeling that wasn’t the end—no matter how much trouble doing anything more would be.

  With a sigh, she rubbed the back of her neck and frowned at the numbers in front of her. If they were starting to blur this early in her evening of work, she should probably go home and eat something so she could work some more. She’d been smart that morning since she hadn’t been able to sleep the night before—thanks to naked dreams of Jax and that beard of his—and had put some food in her Crock-Pot. When she got home, she’d have a perfect chicken, potato, and veggie medley waiting for her.

  At that thought, her stomach grumbled, and she saved her file before closing out her programs. Screw it. Between thoughts of food and Jax, she couldn’t focus.

  She might as well get one of those things since she wouldn’t be having Jax tonight.

  Or ever, she reminded herself. She wouldn’t be having Jax ever.

  “Knock, knock, princess.”

  Her head shot up so quickly she almost fell back in her chair. “Jax?” she breathed, then cleared her throat. “What are you doing here? How did you get into my office?” And why did she keep accusing him of things when he flustered her?

  Jax tilted his head, and his hair fell over her eyes. “It’s late, and there aren’t that many people in the building. Your assistant, Neil, let me in when I told him who I was.” He raised a brow. “The guy seemed to grin at the introduction before letting me back on his way out.”

  She was going to kill her assistant, well not really because he saved her life daily, but still. She’d deny him his favorite creamer or something. She hadn’t meant to blurt out what she’d done with Jax in Atlanta, but she could never hide things from Neil—not when it mattered. The man seemed to be a matchmaking fiend, and it would annoy her, except he was happy with not one, but two people—a man and a woman—in his triad. He had his happily ever after and wanted Ashlynn to have one, too.

  Only she didn’t have time for that.

  “Neil is fired,” she said simply and held back a laugh at Jax’s eye roll. His sister had done the same thing earlier, and she couldn’t help but think how alike they looked with that action.

  “Sure, Ash, sure.”

  She swallowed hard and finished packing up her purse to give herself something to do with her hands. “Why are you here, Jax?”

  He moved closer, and she held back a shiver as she looked down at his hands. Those hands had touched her, caressed her, had made her come with just a brush of calloused fingertips on her skin.

  And she still didn’t know his last name. Or his profession. She knew nothing about him, and yet here he was, in her office, in her hometown…and she didn’t know what came next.

  “I’m here because you are; because no matter what we said back in Atlanta, there was something between us. And I’ve got to think, an opportunity like this? Where we’re together again out of all the places we could be? We can’t let this chance pass us by.”

  She licked her lips, her breath shaky. “Why are you here, Jax?” she repeated. “What do you want from me?”

  He was closer now, so close she could feel the heat of him on her skin. He should have looked so out of place in her high-rise office, yet for some reason, he seemed like he belonged. She wasn’t sure what to think about that.

  “I want you,” he said simply. “I didn’t have enough of you that night, and I want more of you now. Anything you can give, Ash. Anything.”

  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 i
t 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 that 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.

  He smiled sleepily even as his eyes burned with desire. “Then you can have me.” His fingers trailed over her spine before resting on her butt to give it a squeeze. “You’re fucking beautiful, Ash. Inside and out.”

  She ducked her head, a blush heating her skin. “Jax.”

  He rolled them over once more and reached between them, sliding his fingers over her folds. “You’re wet for me.”

  “That seems to be a perpetual problem when I’m around you,” she teased, her breath going choppy when he circled her clit with his thumb.

  “That’s good to hear,” he growled before sliding down her body and pressing his mouth against her.

  She let out a gasp as he licked and sucked, using his fingers in unison with that tongue of his. And when he curved his fingers in just the right way, she came, her body shaking as she called out his name. Her eyes were still closed as she came down from her orgasm when he turned her over onto her belly, and she heard the sound of a condom wrapper.

  “I’m going to fuck you just like this, princess. With your legs close together and your ass sticking up just so. You ready for me?”

  In answer, she wiggled her hips, and he groaned before giving her a quick slap. “Jax.”

  “Ash,” he panted before slowly sliding into her. He stretched her just right, the angle just different enough that he went deeper than he had before and yet because her legs were squeezed together, she knew her inner walls were tightening even more.

  “Perfection,” he growled, his hand on her hip as he thrust in and out of her. “I could stay inside you forever.”

  Forever.

  That should have scared her since she’d only just met the man, but for some reason, she didn’t want to run away in fear. Forever was just a word, after all. They were only having fun. Then she came around him, and he shouted her name, and all thoughts of whatever they were, of what they could be, fled her mind in a rush of sweet ecstasy.

  Soon, she found herself wrapped around him, her body shaking against his. “Wow.”

  He chuckled against her temple. “Wow, indeed.” His hands ran over her body lazily, as if he couldn’t help but touch her. She liked it—maybe a little too much.

  She was about to say something when his phone beeped from the floor, and he cursed. “What is it?”

  He shook his head. “I know that tone. Give me a sec.” He kissed her hard before moving to get off the bed. He walked naked around the edge of the mattress and bent over to pick up his cell from where he’d dropped it. His brows furrowed as he read the screen, and she sat up, pulling the throw that had been on top of the bed over her body so she wouldn’t end up sitting there naked and confused.

  “What is it?” she asked, not sure what to feel, what to think. They’d just had sex again, and yet she knew it hadn’t been just sex—not when she’d started to feel something she probably shouldn’t. But she had no idea what he was feeling, and now she wasn’t sure she would get to find out.

  “I need to go,” he said gruffly as he stuffed his legs into his boxer briefs and then jeans. “I’m sorry, princess.”

  She could practically feel the icy exterior she wore like a shield slide over her at that moment. “I understand.”

  He cursed under his breath and walked to her, cupping her face with his hand before kissing her hard. “No, you don’t, and I’m sorry for that. I’m going to write my number on that whiteboard I saw on your fridge, but then I need to head out and deal with something. But I don’t want to end things. I’m not leaving for good. Got me, Ash?”
<
br />   “If you need to go, then go. It’s not like we’re serious.” She knew she was just saying these things because she was scared, but she still hated the words that came out of her mouth. “It’s no big deal.”

  He kissed her again, running his hand over her jaw. “Yeah, it is. And I’m sorry I have to leave. But I want to see you again.”

  “We’ll see,” she said honestly. Because she wasn’t sure. She’d told herself she didn’t have time for a man, and she didn’t. She’d had work that needed to be done when she came home but hadn’t done it because she was spending time with Jax. He had his own complications and life, and she wasn’t sure how she fit into it all. A relationship wasn’t a good idea, and if she were smart, she wouldn’t look at his phone number when he left, and she’d push Jax from her thoughts altogether.

  And though she was an intelligent woman, she wasn’t sure she could be smart in this.

  “Goodbye, Ash,” he whispered. “But not forever.”

  She pressed her lips together and nodded, confused and unsure about what to do. Jax sighed and picked up the rest of his things before leaving her in her bedroom, naked, sated, and alone.

  It didn’t make sense that she was so confused by this man. She barely knew him. The problem was, she liked the things she did know. A lot. The safe thing to do would be to stay away from Jax and any complications that came from a relationship with him.

  So why did Ashlynn want to dance with danger instead?

  Chapter 4

  Jax wanted to throw his phone at the wall and watch it shatter, but not only did he not have the money for that, he knew it wouldn’t solve anything. Sammy had been texting him threats since the night before when Jax was with Ashlynn and hadn’t stopped. He’d thought he left all that behind in Atlanta, but he should have known Sammy would never let go.

  Jax was well and truly fucked.

  Sammy was still in Atlanta, thankfully, but he was hurting for money and threatening to hurt Jessica if Jax didn’t come back to the shop and work. It didn’t make any fucking sense; there were other tattoo artists in the damn city, but no one was stupid enough to work for Sammy anymore, and that meant Jax’s old boss was in deep shit with the mob.