“I’ve known Ariel was it for me from the moment I met her. I called in a favor and ordered the ring after she left my shop yesterday. They dropped it off this morning.”
Knox studied me for a long minute, his face unreadable. Then he tossed the box back and lifted one corner of his mouth, which I assumed was his version of a smile. “You’re lucky I’ve known you for years and Griffith stepped in to convince me that you weren’t having a fling with Ariel,” he informed me in a gruff tone. “I’ll give you a chance to make her happy, but”—he stepped closer, and this time I actually felt a fucking shiver run through me at the deadly warning in his eyes—“if you hurt my sister, I will take one of these tattoo guns to your balls before I cut them the fuck off. Is that clear?”
I held up my hands in a gesture of surrender. “Understood.”
Knox grunted before pivoting and walking to the door. His hand was on the knob when he glanced back at me over his shoulder. “I better see that ring on her finger before I hear about her being pregnant.”
“You’re pushing it with your demands, Dawson,” I sneered. “Just take the win, knowing that I love her and am going to marry her.”
He grumbled something unintelligible before storming, albeit quietly, from my office and out of the shop.
I stuffed the ring box in my pocket and sat at my desk to attempt to do some paperwork before my next client arrived. It was somewhat of a relief to have that confrontation done and over with. I would never have guessed that facing Knox would be a piece of cake compared to a protective older sister.
9 Ariel
I was still riding high from the orgasm Maddox had given me hours later when I delivered the second wedding cake to the chapel. It was one of my best creations yet—each of the four tiers were different flavors; chocolate with toasted marshmallow filling on the bottom, lemon and lavender buttermilk filled with lemon on the second, mocha paired with rum custard on the third, and vanilla with a sweet rose cream on top. Each layer was frosted with white buttercream, and I’d decorated it with buttercream hydrangeas flowing over the top tier and circling the bottom two that were a perfect match for the flowers in the bride’s bouquet. The beauty of what I’d created only added to my happiness.
It’d turned out to be an excellent day for me. I’d gotten further along in my reception prep for tomorrow than I’d expected. And since I didn’t need to worry about moving my stuff into Maddox’s place like I’d thought I’d need to do, I was looking forward to being able to spend my evening relaxing with him instead of packing up a bunch of boxes. Especially with everything he’d said he had planned for us.
More orgasms for me, a blowjob for him, and another round of sex, but in a bed this time, sounded like the perfect night to me. I might not have had any experience before him, but I had a feeling that I’d be able to drive Maddox past the edge of his control when I got my mouth on him. Just the thought of it had my lips curving up in feminine satisfaction.
“Well, don’t you just look like the cat that ate the canary?” Aurora teased when she caught sight of my smile. “I thought I’d find you all frazzled and out of sorts since Belle dragged you with her to the tattoo parlor on your only day off this week, but here you are grinning like a loon.”
I couldn’t help but think that the saying was kind of fitting considering what I’d been thinking about when she walked in—and also in reverse since Maddox had eaten my pussy plenty of times already. It made a deep blush fill my cheeks. In an attempt to hide my expression from my nosy, older sister, I turned my head and pretended to inspect one of my signature buttercream frosting flowers on the top tier of the cake. I should’ve known it wouldn’t do any good, though. Aurora was too perceptive to fall for tricks like that.
“Hey, what’s going on? I joke around with you all of the time without getting a reaction like this out of you.” Wrapping her hand around my upper arm, she tugged until I faced her again. Her eyes narrowed as she asked, “Wait a second. Are you being all weird because you got a tattoo too or something like that? Fess up, little sis. You know you can’t hide stuff from me for long.”
“Um. Well,” I stammered, my cheeks heating even more as I thought about the ink on my shoulder and what it meant. I highly doubted that my big sister would appreciate the fact that in less than twenty-four hours Maddox had literally marked me as his, popped my cherry, and moved me in with him. Aurora tended to be a worrier, and her favorite people to fuss over were her siblings. I figured that I should probably wait to show her the tattoo until after she’d met Maddox and given him her stamp of approval. But she was right about not being able to keep anything from her for long, so I didn’t hesitate to tell her about Maddox. “It’s just that I’m smiling because I met a guy and he’s amazing.”
Aurora’s eyes widened in surprise. “You met someone? When?”
“Yesterday,” I admitted, my grin growing wider.
“Yesterday?” she echoed, her brow furrowing. “When did you even have the chance to meet a guy? I thought you were busy hanging out with Belle all day.”
“Yeah, that’s how I met Maddox. He does all of Griffith’s tattoos and was supposed to do Belle’s,” I explained.
Her jaw dropped. “The guy who put that goofy grin on your face is a tattoo artist?”
“Uh huh,” I answered dreamily, thinking
