Or rather her tattoo, or what he imagined had to be her tattoo. Granted he’d only gotten a glimpse when she’d bared a thin strip of her waist, but this was in the right place and it resembled the flowery vine.
The painting was of a nude woman’s profile. One hip was presented, arms covering her breasts, but the barest hint of one soft mound peeked tantalizingly from underneath her upper arm. And down her entire side was a colorful, flowery tattoo. It curved over her hip and disappeared between her legs.
It had to be on the inside of one thigh and now he was dying to know if this was an exact replica of her tattoo. The one he’d seen on her body. Jesus, but he was dying to know. Dying to trace the lines with his fingers and his tongue.
He stared at the painting, absorbing every detail. The art dealer had been a fool not to display this one. Had he even looked at it? It was erotic as hell and yet still tasteful.
Long blond hair flowed down her back, the ends lifted as if she was caught in a breeze. Her arms were hugged to her body, her fingertips splayed over the arm pressing down over her breast. Delicate. Utterly feminine. And so damn beautiful it made his balls ache.
Holy fuck but he was obsessed with a woman he’d only met in person one time. And this painting wasn’t helping a damn bit.
Tomorrow this was getting framed and it was going over his bed so he’d see it every time he entered his bedroom. Or, even better, he’d put it on the wall opposite his bed so it would be the first thing he saw when he woke up in the morning and the last thing he saw before he went to sleep at night.
Yeah, he wasn’t just obsessed. He was all sorts of fucked up over this woman. He had to get a grip.
Johnny was bringing her jewelry by the office day after tomorrow since the entire business would be shut down for Gabe’s wedding tomorrow. Ash then had to figure out how he was going to get it back to her. He could just mail it to her, but then he wouldn’t see her. And he definitely planned on seeing her again. Soon.
chapter four
Ash sat in his office the day after Gabe’s wedding and studied the small box containing the jewelry that Josie had pawned. He examined each piece before carefully returning it to the tissue so it wouldn’t get damaged.
It was quality. He wasn’t an expert but it looked vintage and real. Definitely not fake. It was worth far more than Josie had pawned it for, and the pawnbroker knew it, judging by the price it had cost Ash to get it back.
He didn’t like the desperation in that single act. Of pawning jewelry for a fast buck and taking far less than it was worth because she had no other choice. He was going to give that choice back to her. But other choices? Not so much. Not if he had anything to say about it.
It made him arrogant and demanding, but he knew himself to be both, so it didn’t bother him. It was who he was. He knew what he wanted, and he wanted Josie. Now he just had to put the ball in motion.
His intercom buzzed and he jerked his head up in irritation.
“Mr. McIntyre, your sister is here to see you,” Eleanor, his receptionist, said in a crisp voice that sounded pissed off.
But then it wasn’t a secret how Ash—and Gabe and Jace—felt about his family. Eleanor had been with them for years and it likely hadn’t pleased her to buzz him with this kind of information.
What the fuck was Brittany doing here? Had his mother resorted to having his sister do her dirty work for her? He could feel his blood pressure rise, even knowing he had to stop allowing them this kind of power over him.
“Send her in,” Ash said grimly.