Love and Tattoos (3 page)

“
I can give as good as I get. I can also give as much as you think you can take.”

Annie smiled. “
I understand.”

“
Good.”

“
Okay,” she said, easing out his hold. It was almost painful and her body temperature dropped instantly. “Since you claim to know me, you start.”

Brax settled himself on the corner of Joe
’s desk and planted his feet flat on the floor. “Let’s ease you into this. How about coffee? You take it light to medium roast now, even flavored. You used to drink dark roast, the darker the better. You still prefer it, only you’re stuck in your more recent habits of falling in line.”

“
Oh come on. I don’t see how that’s relevant. Tastes change.”

“
Not your taste in coffee. Maybe other people’s tastes in it change, but not you. You turned up your nose at anything but dark roast. Wouldn’t touch it. Remember that one year in college? Joe brought you a new coffee pot and enough high octane coffee to keep the entire dorm buzzing. You didn’t change until you got out of college.”

“
Tastes change,” she insisted. “Besides, I’m not the only coffee drinker here. Your argument is invalid and weak. You lose this round.”

“
Beth drinks nothing but cherry soda.” Brax held up his hand and ticked names off on his fingers. “Greg and I drink those energy drinks you think are disgusting and taste like cough syrup. Joe only drinks water. Amber drinks espresso without fail. So honey, you’re the reason there is any kind of coffee in this place. You prefer dark roast with half and half. No sugar.”

It really wasn
’t worth continuing. He had her dead to rights on this one. “Fine. I’ll give you coffee. I did conform. I didn’t want to, but I did want to fit in. Honestly though, light and medium are just gross. It’s like drinking watery coffee. When I found someone had stocked the cabinet with what I like, I was so happy.”

“
You can buy it for yourself, you know? No one cares. No one in your life, before or after that ad agency, who really gives a crap about you, would care what kind of coffee you had.”

“
I know. I just… I was thrilled to have the opportunity at my job. I wanted them to like me. I didn’t want to make mistakes or do anything that would get me looked at oddly. And I know it’s seems strange to alter my choice in coffee to fit into an office, but…” She wasn’t sure how to explain it. “I couldn’t bring coffee in. Our client wasn’t a local company and if the agency was anything, it was loyal to the companies that signed with us. The coffee client provided our office with as much coffee as we wanted. The majority of people who drank coffee, drank medium, so that’s what was stocked.”

“
And you couldn’t ask for dark?”

“
I was new. I didn’t want to rock the boat or do something wrong by asking. Crazy, huh?”

“
No. I get it. You don’t have to worry about that anymore. I buy you dark roast coffee because I know you like it.”

“
Thank you.”

Brax inclined his head. “
So, I won that one, right?”

“
Yes. You know what and how I like my coffee. I’m not even sure Joe knows how I take it.”

“
I also know you use different cups. On rainy days, you use the black cup. On bright, sunny days, you use the yellow one. On your birthday, you use the pink one.”

“
That doesn’t mean it’s a habit.”

“
I bet it is. Now, since I won, I need your shirt, please.”

“
Shouldn’t it be shoes?”

“
You’re wearing flip flops. Those don’t count, and neither does stalling. Your shirt, please.”

Brax held his hand out
and Annie stood rooted to the spot, staring at his palm. That hand had touched her, held her with tenderness, with strength, and was patiently waiting for her to turn over the shirt off her back.

She
’d agreed to this. She could do it. More importantly, she wanted to do it.

With unsteady fingers, Annie gripped the hem of her shirt, took a fortifying breath, and lifted
it off over her head before she had time to talk herself out of it completely. Brax grunted, low in his throat, took the garment from her, and set it behind him on the desk, out of her reach.

The air in the room chilled her skin
, but Brax’s laser stare warmed her. He hadn’t blinked yet. He hadn’t moved again either. He simply sat on the edge of the desk, his gaze glued to her upper body.

Annie smiled because something about
being able to render him speechless, motionless gave her confidence to continue their little game. “My turn,” she said.

Brax
’s lips lifted slightly at the corners and he met her gaze. “Bring it, little girl.” The challenge gave his voice a tough, unyielding edge and the sneer she leveled at him was playful in its intent.

“
You have almost a hundred tattoos,” she remarked.

Brax clucked his tongue in admonishment and he crossed his arms over his chest. The skull tats winked at her.
“This isn’t about me,” he reminded her.

“
I’m right though, yes?”

“
You are.”

“
So, I know close to how many you have, but do you know for certain how many I have?”

“
Two.”

It was her turn to cluck her tongue in disappointment.
This was kind of fun, but she didn’t have to let him know that. “Oh you poor, misinformed man. That’s going to cost you your pants.”

“
Huh?” He shook his head in disagreement. “No. I’m not wrong. You have an art palette on your right shoulder blade and there’s a swirl behind your right ear.”

“
Still…” Her casual shrug was unapologetic. “You’re wrong. I have three.”

He glared for a long moment and
his squint told her he wasn’t sure she was being honest. “Okay,” he said, decision made. “I’ll bite. What’s the third?”

“
Words. Above and below the palette. It says “Got Art?” in a pink ombre color scheme.”

“
Now wait a minute.” The emphatic shake of his head had Annie laughing. “That could be considered part of the previous tattoo.”

“
But it wasn’t part of it. The palette was done before my senior year in college. The words were a graduation gift.”

“
I remember the pages and pages of palette designs you went through before drawing what you wanted. Who added the rest?

“
Joe,” they said in unison.

“
You had to know it would be him. He’d kill me if I let anyone else near me with a tattoo gun. You were out of town on a case or something and I was home to move the rest of my stuff. Some of my sorority sisters came to help and as payment, Joe gave everyone a small tattoo of their choosing.”

“
Yeah, I was bummed that I missed the moving party. Show me.”

“
Pants first, please.”

She squirmed, both inside and out, under his u
nblinking perusal “Okay.” He stood and moved casually, deliberately, popping the button on his pants. He dropped the zipper, the metal teeth catching and releasing. The room fell silent, but Annie kept her gaze averted.

This little
back and forth thing between them was nerve wracking as much as it was intriguing. She’d already stripped a piece of her attire off for him, but him taking his pants off for her…? She had to pinch her wrist to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

And he
’d caught on.

“
Eyes on me, Annie.” She obeyed immediately but only made it as far as his lips, or was she looking at his chin? His neck? “Lower,” he growled. “You know you want to.”

Truth was,
she did want to. There was no use hiding it.

She lowered her lashes and
zeroed in on his cock, pressing against the boxer briefs he still wore. His cargos slid to the floor with a gentle push from his thumbs and then he was standing before her in underwear and a t-shirt.

It wasn
’t until he kicked the pants away that she blinked, but where he had grunted when he’d seen her without a shirt, she couldn’t make a sound when seeing him with very little covering his lower body.

She
’d always wanted him. Their earlier kiss had been their first. This half naked, or half clothed thing, depending on how one looked at it, was a first, as well.

How many other firsts would there be before dawn and how many other firsts would she want after the sun came up?

“You have to show me.” His words broke into her thoughts and she turned. She sucked in her breath when his fingers slid her bra strap over her shoulder, and then returned to dance over the tattoo. She let that same breath out in a rush when his lips feathered kisses along her skin. “Nice,” he whispered, seconds before he traced the edges of the ink with his tongue. “I like it.”

He pulled her into the vee of his thighs with an arm around her waist and she considered melting on into the black and white tiled floor. Moist air from his mouth made her lose all presence of mind. There was only him and her and every fantasy
she’d ever had about him… “Next?”

“
Wha —” She was still lost inside her head, lost in the feel of him at her back that she didn’t comprehend what he was asking.

“
Next question,” he said softly, gently urging her away from him.

Annie shook herself and face
d him again. How could he look so composed when she felt ready to fly apart at the seams? Arousal flooded every cell in her body making her blood run hot and were it not for the desire in his eyes, the pulse beating rapidly in his throat, she’d swear he was unaffected.

She paced out of the office and back again several times until she had her need under control.
“Okay. Do you know my favorite sandwich?”

“
A Cuban. Annie,” he chastised. “You’ve got to come up with something that’s at least a little difficult.”

“
How do I like it?” The words were out of her mouth before she realized exactly how they would sound. Judging from the grin on Brax’s face, the sexual phrasing wasn’t lost on him.

“
With roast pork, baked ham. And spicy pickles, not dill. Oh, real Cuban bread, too.”

He was right. Again.
“Damn. You’ve apparently known me too long.”

“
That’s the whole point of this. When was the last time you had a good Cuban sandwich?”

“
I don’t know. Years. If you eat anything other than a Philly in Philadelphia, you’re committing a mortal sin.”

“
Is it true there’s a debate among some about which cheese to use?” His lips quivered and she matched his smile.

“
I guess. I was in a shop one time where there was a debate between the customers and the employees. Someone new to town had come in asking.”

“
Have you been brainwashed?”

Annie laughed though the humor in it was lacking.
“No. I was the new kid, you know? The people in the art department were doing what I wanted to do. They were successful. I wanted to be or at least thought I had to be like them. It was the same when I wanted in the sorority.”

“
But what did you have to give up in the process?”

“
A lot. Nothing. I don’t know.” Exasperated, she threw up her hands and turned away, walking out. Several minutes later, she returned. “I thought it was important to emulate those I worked with, imitate their best behavior, do as well if not better than they did so I could get where they were.”

“
Hmmm. In some respects, that makes sense. In others, you were falling in line and not being you and yet, you’re the one who was hired.”

Shit. He was right. “
Fine.”

“
Good. Give me your jeans.”

“
This really is all too easy so far,” she grumbled. “At least it is for you.”

“
Yes.” It was all he said for a moment. Then, “Jeans. Now.”

“
It’s been unfair too.”

“
Of course it has,” he placated, followed by a motion with his hand “Stop stalling.”

Annie sighed but flipped the snap on her jeans. She thought briefly about
refusing or arguing, but she refused to give him the satisfaction. She had a feeling that’s exactly what it would be if she fought against the ground rules he’d laid out. Especially since she’d agreed to them.

A thrill of hunger raced through her as she noticed his gaze fixed on her fingers.
Butterflies were going crazy in her stomach and her fingers trembled, but maybe she could drag this part of stripping out and give him a little taste of his own medicine. It would serve him right for putting her through the embarrassment and the lust she had to not only admit to herself, but to him too.