Hooked (Viking Bastards MC #1)(20)
“Cool,” he says, and I smile, relieved he didn’t laugh. I mean, he’s a big bad biker and an iris is a delicate, fragile flower, so I was half expecting it. “That’d look good on you. Classy,” he adds, which causes another warm glow to spread through me.
“No idea where I’d have it, though.” This might be only a hypothetical conversation, but it’s fun talking about it. I’ve never even mentioned my secret love of ink to my sister, not even after she got drunk one night and came home with a tramp stamp.
He tugs my hand free from his pocket. “There.” He rubs his thumb over the tender skin of my wrist and shivers race along my arm. I’d been thinking more along the lines of somewhere hidden from the world, aka my parents, such as…well, my butt, I guess.
There’s no way I’d ever have an iris tattooed on my ass.
I sigh, because it’s all academic anyway. But since it’ll never happen, I love the idea of having it on my inner wrist. “Yes. That’s perfect.” I look up at him and only one thought fills my head.
I don’t want this day to ever end.
…
The following morning, I stealthily untangle myself from Zach’s sprawling body and inch off his bed. It’s just gone six, and the last thing I want to do is leave, but my car is fixed and that was the deal. And I sure don’t want to find out first hand what Kat meant by “it didn’t end well” when the last woman Zach brought here overstayed her welcome.
He grabs my wrist in a move so fast it takes my breath away. “I didn’t mean to wake you,” I whisper, although I’ve no idea why I do, since he’s obviously awake now.
The sheet rides low on his hips, and it’s impossible to drag my hungry gaze away from his sculpted body. He’s become an addiction, and that can’t be a good thing.
“You working today?” His voice is deep and sexy and doesn’t help at all to convince me that I really need to leave right now.
I clear my throat and don’t miss the satisfied gleam in his eyes. He knows exactly how he affects me. Then again, I’m stark naked and my nipples are so erect they ache with need.
“No, I’m not.” For a second I debate going into any more detail, then decide what the heck. After Russell’s mini-rant on the phone yesterday, I’m not looking forward to avoiding him at work for goodness knows how long until his ego recovers from our breakup. “Actually, I’m going to resign. I don’t want to work in the same place as my ex.”
Something flashes in his eyes. “Good.” There’s an unmistakable stamp of possessiveness in his tone. “I don’t want you working anywhere near that prick anymore.”
I blink. Considering we’re not in a relationship it’s a weird thing to say, and even if we were officially dating, that kind of ultimatum isn’t something I’d put up with. After all, the final straw for me with Russell was when he tried to pull a similar display of machismo. “It’s hardly up to you who I work with, is it?”
He pulls me back onto the bed and looms over me. Upside down, with his hair falling over his face, he looks downright lethal. “What’s the problem, princess? You just said you were going to leave.”
That’s true. I frown up at him because, unlike Russell, Zach didn’t demand I give up something I love just because it suited his view of how things should be.
“I am.” Of course, being the heir apparent of Mulholland Hotels means my resignation from the L.A. position will simply entail a transfer to another location.
“Was he your boss?” Zach twirls a length of my hair around his finger. He seems to really like playing with my hair.
“No. I don’t have to leave because of anything like that.” The family connections between my parents and Russell’s go back decades, and we’re both being groomed to eventually become Executive Vice Presidents of the Mulholland International hotel chain. If I wanted to play really dirty, it wouldn’t be impossible to have Russell transferred from the central L.A. hotel to Milan or London, where he could continue his stratospheric rise through the ranks to Chief Financial Officer far away from me.
Except I have no great desire to remain in the family business, or to end up on the Executive Board, which has been my career path since I was eighteen, so I don’t really care where I’m based.
I let out an unintentional sigh. Even college and four years in the business hasn’t dimmed my passion for what I’d really like to do with my life.
“What’d you do?” There’s curiosity in his voice, and it’s funny, because I don’t remember the last time I was with someone who had no idea what I do. Just goes to show how narrow my social circle is.
“I’m in HR.” Well, to be precise, my trajectory is shooting for Chief Human Resources Officer, but it’s not anything I’m that enthused about.
“Should be easy enough to get another job.” He brushes the end of one of my curls across my nose, and the upside-down grin on his face is kind of adorable in a demonic way.
“Yes. That’s not the problem.” I push his hand away and go to sit up, but he holds me down as he swings himself across me and cradles my hips with his knees. I slide my hands over his chest because I’m all for having one last sexy session, but he pins my wrists above my head in one hand and braces his weight on his other fist on the bed beside my shoulder.