Page 7 of Axel

I watch him scribble something on the back of a business card. “If you change your mind, this is where you can find me.”

“I won’t change my mind.”

“Kesley?” he says as I turn to leave.

“Yeah?”

“When I saidanything, I meant it.”

4

AXEL

It’spossible I’ve lost my fucking mind. Why else would I have volunteered to help Kelsey with research for a goddamn romance novel? Leeann would laugh herself stupid if she caught wind of this.

I should be keeping my head down and focusing on ways to bring more clients intoGet Inked. But my notebook is sitting on my kitchen counter, mocking me, no new ideas since this morning scrawled across its pages.

Kelsey turned me down.

So why the hell do I keep staring at my phone, willing her name to show up on the screen? Every time I tap the screen, I swear I see the minutes ticking by too quickly. Each one a minute closer to her boarding that plane to Hawaii and never looking back. I shouldn’t be this hung up on a woman I barely know.

Yet, something tugs hard at me. Warning me that it’s imperative I convince her to stay.

I pace the house, hating how sterile it feels. Something that never bothered me before meeting the vibrant Kelsey Mathers. Other than the few pieces of my artwork I’ve framed, the wallsare bare. The gray color pallet seemed soothing when I first picked it out. But I can hear Leeann’s voice in my head, insisting I need some pops of color. For once, I wish I’d listened to my cousin.

Not that it fucking matters. Kesley will never see the inside of my house, no matter how badly I’d love to see her tangled in my sheets. She made it clear she doesn’t sleep with her research subjects.

My dick twitches at the thought.I’mher research subject.

Pounding at my door stops me mid-pace.

I expect it to be Leeann, possibly with a bottle of Fireball if dropping Keigh off with his dad went south. Or a bottle of Moscato if she’s in a particularly creative mood. Maybe we can brainstorm some ways to generate more business and get my mind the fuck off the romance author.

But it’s not Leeann.

It’s the curvy beauty in the flesh: Kelsey Mathers.

I prop a shoulder against my door frame, a smug smile forming. I’d hoped she’d come to me—that’s why I’d given her my numberandmy address—but I didn’t think it’d be this soon. If ever. “Did you reconsider my offer?”

“What?”

Shit, maybe I misread this. I straighten, clearing my throat. “Isn’t that why you’re here?”

My gaze sweeps over her curves. She’s wearing the same blush pink tank and leggings from earlier today. My eyes are tempted to the low v-cut of her blouse, which is why I don’t notice the giant rainbow stain of color on the bottom right until she points to it.

“Thishappened. Your tattoo ink stained my favorite shirt!”

It’s as though a bucket of ice water has been dropped right over my head. “You took the plastic wrap off, didn’t you?” I grumble, aggravation instantly growing that she didn’t followmy instructions. Instructions she’d fucking written down as research notes.

“I wanted to show Hope?—”

“You were supposed to leave that on until morning.”

“Oh. Oops.”

“All those damn notes andthat’sthe one you didn’t write down?” I shake my head, frustration welling up inside me. Maybe it’s better she’s moving. Because all I want to do is clean up her tattoo, then push her up against the wall to bury my cock inside her and teach her a lesson. A fucking lesson neither one of us will ever forget as I claim her for my own. God, I’m a feral animal. “Did you ruin your shirt on purpose?”

She stares at me like I’m an idiot. “You think I’d ruin my favorite shirt on purpose?”

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