Page 15 of Mine

Her breath slipped out in a frustrated huff. “Do you just go around calling strangers a good girl?”

“Not typically,” I admitted.

“Tell me your name.”

“Ask me nicely.”

“Tell meyour name.” Her tone was nicer, but it still wasn’t a question.

Her disobedience stoked the fires of dominance within me. Despite my best judgement, I shoved her against the wall, my cock now fully hard and nestling between her perfect ass cheeks.God, this dress. I wanted to rip it off. “I told you to fucking ask me. You don’t take directions well, do you?”

“Not at all.”

“Pepper? Where’d you go?”

A familiar voice echoed close by and I stepped away, turning to adjust my raging cock so it wouldn’t be blatantly obvious. I spun right as Tommy rounded the corner, the guy who had been headhunting me from the label. He was like a bloodhound.

Tommy grinned when he saw us. “Oh, hey. You guys met.”

“He was just about to introduce himself officially,” Pepper said.

She changed her demeanor so quickly, like flipping a switch. Her cheeks were flushed red, but her gaze was ice. Completely different from the woman I’d just been grinding my cock against.

“Oh. Okay, well. This is Simon. Otherwise, known as?—”

“Salt,” I said, holding out my hand. “You can call me Salt. Nice to meet you,Pepper.”

The corner of her mouth tugged as she held out her hand. I shook it, noting the way her gaze dropped to the tattoos winding up my arm. My right hand had a flower with an eye at the center, more blooms climbing upward. I liked flowers—my favorite tattoo artist did too—so we’d gotten a little carried away with the ink.

I didn’t like the way she looked at them, though. Her gaze moved back to my face. To my mask. “Do you always wear that?” she asked.

I smiled and reached up, unclasping it and pulling it away. Her eyes widened slightly.

“See,” Tommy said excitedly. “I told you, Pepper. I fucking told you.”

“You did,” she said, sounding unimpressed.

“Pepper is the CEO of Rosethorn Records.”

Oh.Oh shit.

Welp, there went any sort of career I might have had with that label.

I’d just been grinding my cock against the woman who could have been my boss.

But also, of courseshewas a suit. Of course the stranger who had stained my existence for the last twenty-four hours was someone I shouldn’t want.

She had that look about her, too. Like she was the boss, used to being the one in control.

Except when she was between a wall and my body.

Pepper offered a dry smile. “Tommy is right, thatiswho I am.”

Rosethorn. I’d heard about Rosethorn. It was one of the most coveted labels in the industry. It was small but powerful, having represented some of the largest artists who had hit the scene in the last decade.

“Didn’t Rosethorn start with your husband?” I asked casually.

Her smile turned sharp, her eyes narrowing. Tommy interjected before she could speak.

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