Page 44 of Possessive Ink

Lemon nods. “Of course. And thank you, Tori. I’m really excited to work for you.”

“Me too,” Tori says. “See you guys later.”

“I’ll walk you over to the store,” I tell my sister.

“I’ll be fine,” she says, waving me away.

“Of course you will be, because I’ll be walking you to the store,” I tell her, making sure she knows this isn’t optional.

“What about Lemon?” she asks.

“She can hang out with Felix until I get back.”

“Do you want to see my sketches?” Felix asks Lemon, shocking me again because he rarely shows anyone his work until it’s finished.

“I’d love that,” Lemon says softly.

As a group, we all leave the loft and head down the stairs. At the bottom, Tori hugs Lemon, then Felix again while I gather my girl into my arms and kiss her until she’s breathless and my dick is hard. Palming her ass, I squeeze her bare cheeks, then smirk at her outraged expression. “I won’t be long,” I tell her.

“Okay,” she says quietly, her cheeks pink.

Leaving Lemon feels harder than it should, but I dutifully follow my sister out of the warehouse and into the cool evening air. I grew up a little over an hour from here, so despite the gentle summer breeze that wafts my sister’s hair, I know in a few months the warm days will be replaced with icy mornings and freezing nights.

“Soooo,” Tori says, looking at me with an amused smirk.

“Soooo,” I mimic back.

“Oh, come on, Att. Lemon? I adore her, but seriously, what the hell is going on?”

“She’s mine,” I say simply, like that’s all the explanation that’s needed.

“Just like that?” she asks, her steps slowing to a stop as she turns to look at me.

“Just like that.” I shrug, because to me, it really is that simple.

“Atticus Hoffman, what the fuck has gotten into you? You can’t claim a woman you just met this morning and then shrug like it’s nothing.” Her ire flares, then evaporates in an instant as her expression morphs from annoyance to surprised understanding. “Holy fuck,” she exclaims.

“What?” I question.

“You got Barnetted.”

“I got what?” I snap, annoyed.

“You know about the Barnetts. Cody’s brothers, I told you about them—seven brothers met seven women. They all live together and have a million babies, like that old musical that Mom used to love, only real life.”

“Little Bit, I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“The Barnetts have this family legacy. They see a woman and fall in love…like instantaneously. It’s crazy. But after they were all loved up, it started happening to the smoke jumpers.”

“Are you saying that Nero saw you and fell in love right in that second?” I ask, raising a knowing eyebrow at her.

“No,” she scoffs. “No, his instant feeling for me was hate. But it was instant. He told me that he knew the first time we met that I made him feel some kind of way. He just didn’t understand what it was.”

“That’s not what happened with Lemon and me.”

“So what did happen?” she questions.

“She bumped into me in the grocery store. She was rushing and not looking where she was going, and she crashed right into me. Her basket went flying, and all the steak and protein shakes her asshole ex-boss had her buying went all over the place. She got down on her knees to pick it all up and…”