CHAPTER 3

PENELOPE

“Please, call me Penelope. Tell me, how do you know this part of town so well?” I ask him as I see the hungry look in his eyes.

This is a client. This is a client. Lord help me, but this is a client.

“I own City Ink three blocks away. I know everything nearby,” he responds as I feel my eyebrow arch on its own and we start walking to the lobby. That explains all the ink that covers his arms and likely other parts of his body. Other parts of his body… oh my. I wish that I could ask to see every single one of them.

This is a client.

“I see. That is quite different from your dad’s business, isn’t it?” I ask as Tanner shrugs.

“I’m good at drawing. I became addicted to ink early on and gave it a go. I’m lucky with the shop.” Though his voice is casual as we stop along the wall, out of the way of others, I know that nothing else is casual between us. There is a sexual tension that you could cut with a knife and the look in his eyes promises me only the best sin that life should offer. “We could talk more about the campaign.”

“That seems to be all worked out now, apart from the calls I have to make,” I assure him as he leans closer to me.

“Make them, Penelope, and have lunch with me.” His voice is begging me to break my rules as I suck my lower lip into my mouth. I never see clients outside of business meetings or events, and this particular job has no event other than photo shoots or commercials. I didn’t need to meet him for lunch though the wet piece of lace between my legs tells me otherwise.

“I can’t. I am… busy. I’ll be in touch about the ads though.” Tanner’s responding gaze is challenging. I think over my answer and know that it’s the best one. “Have a wonderful day, Mr. Lincoln.”

“That’s my father. I’m Tanner.” He slips his hand into the pocket of his jeans and pulls out a wallet, from which he removes a business card. “Call me anytime. I can give you a great tattoo, take you to lunch, or anything else you might need.” Tanner gives me that card, moving a little closer before pushing back from the wall as I look down. It is for his shop but this card includes his cell phone number.

“Do you give this out to everyone?” I ask him, raising my eyes to meet his amused gaze.

“No. Those are reserved for special people.” He pushes back further as the voices of Marshall and Norm trail down to us, licking his lower lip. “See you later.”

Tanner walks to the elevator, and I watch the way his body moves. He is in excellent shape and his ass begs to be touched, preferably as he’s deep inside of me.

Oh, God. I’m losing my mind.

I glance over to see Marshall coming my way and hide the card with my hand. He respects me because I follow the rules and do the right thing. I could not mess that up with this campaign.

“That went well,” I tell him as Marshall smiles at me.

“I think that the son has a thing for you, Pen. Watch out for that unless you think it might help with the campaign.” Marshall winks playfully at me, more than likely assuming that I hadn’t noticed. I managed to balance work and my previous relationship before this and now that I am single I throw everything into this job. He has no cause to worry and I won’t give him one.

“Hardly. He’s just one of those kinds of guys,” I assure him as I look across the building. “I’ll go make some calls and see what we can get set up.”

“Lunch at one. I want to celebrate,” Marshall tells me as I nod with a smile. I look at Clara for a moment, seeing the seething look that she is shooting me as I smugly smile. I could give her the card that Tanner gave me, but no. I might need it if the devil on my shoulder takes over.

I turn to go to my office, closing the door as I breathe in deeply. My entire body is on fire just from spending an hour tops with Tanner.

How is that possible?

I work with men for ads all the time and never feel like I do right now. I remind myself again that he is a client as I walk to the desk and find the telephone numbers I need to set up a photo shoot and a commercial. We use the same people all the time so I manage to get a few time slots for the commercial in a couple of weeks, so we can put together a solid idea of just what we are going to do with Norm and Tanner.

I’m friends with the photographer, Mollie, and call her next. I go over the plan and she asks who the model is. I say his name and she starts laughing.

“I know Tanner Lincoln. I get ink done there all the time. You know what? I am going tonight and you should come along. We can discuss ideas together while Trinity is working on my tattoo. He’s there every night.” I blush at the idea of seeing Tanner tonight, so close to today. Seeing him in his element would probably be so much worse than here in this building.

“I don’t know, Mollie. I can just call his father and see what he wants to do.”

“You are passing up the chance to see Tanner in person? Come on. He’s gorgeous, right?” Her voice sounds incredulous as I close my eyes. “I know you think so, Penelope. Come with me. Talk to him. Get a tattoo, for fuck’s sake. Shake things up a bit.” Mollie has been trying to get me to loosen up for as long as I have known her.

“A tattoo? No!” I protest as she laughs at the other end.

“Come with me while I get mine. Talk about ideas and I’ll add my two cents, then we go get dinner and a drink. You can write that off for work since it is with your photographer, right?” Mollie teases me as I imagine Tanner’s intoxicating blue eyes in my mind.

“What time is your appointment?” I ask her after a long sigh.

“Eight. You know where it is?” Mollie asks me as I run a hand through my hair.

“Yes.” We end the call with a promise to meet at the shop and I rest my head in my hands.

What am I getting myself into?

I email Norm and give him the times for the commercial, including Marshall in the exchange. I plan to tell Marshall about my meeting with Mollie later, skipping the part about going to City Ink. Technically, there was nothing wrong with going there but I like the idea of it being a secret, at least for now. I spend a little while jotting down ideas on my computer as well as to kill time before lunch with Marshall since Mollie will be the one to determine the details on the photo shoot.

Once I finish with the notes, I check in on my other projects and the teams I have working on them with me. I trust my people implicitly and work closely with them, promising to stop by after lunch to talk to them. I spend the better part of my day with my teams in the afternoon after meetings with Marshall and today is no exception. I need to think about work, not Tanner.