She smirks at me as she takes her cup. “Well, now that I’ve got what I came for, I should get back. That painting isn’t going to finish itself,” she announces, standing abruptly. “You two enjoy your coffee.”
With a not-so-subtle wink, she grabs her cup and heads for the door.
Feeling more awkward by the second, I pick at my food while Jax sips his coffee, watching me over the rim with those freaking intense brown eyes of his.
“What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?” he asks, setting his cup down. “You look like you’re ready to jump out of your skin.”
My heart hammers against my ribs. I’ve been thinking about this for weeks, but now that I’m here in the moment, my mouth has gone completely dry.
Maybe I should just forget about the whole thing? Nope. I can do this.
Taking a deep breath, I decide to have a little fun to help ease my nerves. See what kind of reaction I can get out of him.
Maintaining eye contact, I lean in, lowering my voice into a sultry whisper. “I want you to pierce my nipples.”
The way Jax’s eyes widen is almost comical. His sharp inhale causes his coffee to go down the wrong pipe and he coughs violently, face turning red.
“You…”Cough.“…want me to...”Hack.“…what?” he finally sputters out, voice hoarse.
“Isaid…” I repeat, unable to keep the grin off my face as I watch him struggle to compose himself. “…I want you to pierce my nipples.”
The change in his expression is immediate and electrifying as the playfulness in the air between us evaporates, replaced by something much more intense.
His eyes darken, pupils dilating as his gaze drops to my chest for a beat before snapping up to my mouth, scoping out its target like a sniper going in for the kill.
“When?” he asks, dropping his voice an octave.
I shrug, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible despite the butterflies rioting in my stomach. “Soon. I don’t want to lose my nerve.”
He nods slowly, keeping his gaze locked with mine. “Come over to Skin & Ink after work. We’ll do it after we close. Just you and me.”
The way he says “just you and me” sends a glorious shiver down my spine.
“Okay.” The word comes out all breathy, and I have to clear my throat.
Jax takes another sip of his coffee, trying and failing to hide the twitch of his lips. “Any particular reason you want to do this?” he asks, his casual tone laced with heated curiosity.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” I admit. “Heard it... enhances sensitivity.”
His lips quirk up at the corners. “It does. For most people anyway.” He leans in close, mirroring my earlier position. “Are you sure you want me to do it though? Lizzy could?—”
“No,” I interrupt. My cheeks heat up. “I mean, I want you to do it. Lizzy said you’re better at it than she is.”
“Did she now?” he murmurs.
“Yup,” I state, popping the ‘p’.
He leans back in his chair, assessing me for a moment before he stands, giving me a slow, shit-eating grin. “Okay, then. I’ll see you...” He boops me on the nose. “...at six.”
thirty-eight
My dick is so fucking hard rightnow, I can barely walk the twenty feet it takes to get back to work in one piece. The fact that Sasha asked me to pierce her nipples scrambled my brain so fucking bad, I actually booped her on the nose.
Booped. On the nose. Like she was some sort of cute little puppy.
Fuck’s sake.
I spend the next several hours going through the motions, trying to focus on my clients instead of the mental image plaguing my brain of Sasha’s perfect tits and how fucking awesome they’re going to look pierced.
