He seemed taken aback by that. “Because of your tattoos? You know this for sure?”
“Yes, because I’d done the ‘honest’ thing and let my ink show during the interview process. I’m not ashamed of my tattoos. But it’s obviously a red flag for some companies.”
“That’s a little archaic. Tats are everywhere.”
“Not a big hiring point for an office worker who’s just starting out in corporate America. You know that LI has a dress code, right?”
He shrugged. “I never thought about it.”
“Exactly. You don’t have to. I do.” I touched his forearm and was momentarily sidetracked by the sinewy muscles beneath the skin-warmed cotton. “Please don’t tell my supervisor.” Or, worse, Attila.
“I wouldn’t do that.” Once again he dragged his fingers over the swirls of ink on my arm. “How you choose to express yourself in your off time . . . has no effect on how well you do your job when you’re on the clock.”
Relief swept through me. “Thank you.”
Then his intense blue eyes snared me. “Tell me another place you’re inked.”
“Even if it’s X-rated?”
“Especially if it’s X-rated,” he shot back in a husky tone.
This man was so sexy. Without even trying.
Or maybe he was trying. Maybe I was just that hard up for a man that I’d consider flirting with my boss.
Technically, he’s not your boss. He’s “a” boss. And there aren’t “no fraternization” rules at Lund Industries—the company is too big.
Justification much?
“Lennox?”
My belly tightened at the way he murmured my name. I looked away from where those surprisingly rough fingertips stroked my arm, then into his eyes. “What?”
“You were going to reveal another tattoo?”
“You’ll have to get closer for this one.”
Brady’s eyes gleamed and a half smirk kicked up one corner of his mouth. He scooted in and slid his arm along the back of the booth. His hard thigh connected with the outside of my leg. His breath drifted over the ball of my shoulder. “Ready.”
I wasn’t ready. His nearness was doing crazy things to me. My hands shook when I angled my neck, giving him a close-up of the birds that started between my shoulder blades. The tiny birds followed the arc of my spine, up my neck and ended at my hairline.
More of his hot breath drifted over my bare skin and gooseflesh rippled down my back.
“The detail is incredible,” he said, way too close to my skin. “Do you mind if I touch it?”
Please touch it first with your mouth, then with your tongue, and then sink your teeth into the curve where my shoulder meets my neck. And then start all over again.
I managed, “Uh, no.”
I wasn’t expecting the tender sweep of his thumb over each individual bird and I bit back a moan. It’d been so long since I’d been touched in any manner, let alone touched with this sort of . . . awe.
When he kept lightly caressing my skin, I must’ve held my breath, because he whispered, “Breathe.”
I forced in a lungful of smoky air. “You’re very thorough.”
“You shouldn’t be surprised,” he said offhandedly as he continued to stroke and torment me. “Do you mind that I’m so fascinated by your ink?”
“No. Half the time I forget the tats are even there.”
“I’d remind you every day,” he said softly.
“What?” I had to have misheard him.
“This bird at the top. It doesn’t look like a blackbird.”
“It’s a starling.”
Brady swept his thumb across it. “There’s symbolism here that I’m not getting, isn’t there?”
“Yes.”
“Will you tell me about it?”
“Maybe someday.”
He was so close his soft chuckle vibrated against my skin. “Fair enough.”
I had to have imagined a whisper-light brush of his full lips across the base of my neck. But my body reacted anyway.
“Thank you for showing me.”
“You’re welcome.” I let my hair fall down across my back and faced forward. Brady was right there, inches away. “What?”
“You are so goddamned gorgeous, Lennox.”
Goddamned gorgeous. Two words I never imagined would be directed at me. From Brady Lund. I swallowed, trying to do something about the sudden dryness in my mouth.
“Would you let me take you out?”
“Out? Like on a date?”
“No, take you out and shoot you.” He laughed when my eyes widened. “Yes, I meant take you out on a date.”
“Why me?”
He touched my cheek. “I’d planned to ask you out before Jenna interrupted us.”