Flame and Ink: An Anthology (Happy Ever After #1)(18)

Colleen, his date to the Montgomery family barbeque and engagement party, leaned into him and batted her false eyelashes. He had no idea why she wore them. He thought she looked decent without them. But whatever—it was her body to fake up any way she wanted to. He’d been seeing Colleen off and on for a few months, more often in the past month since he’d called her up, hoping to get his mind off a certain long-legged brunette he shouldn’t be thinking about in the first place.

The woman in question hadn’t shown up to the party yet, and Decker was grateful. Hard to ignore her and keep her off his mind if she kept popping up everywhere he went. Though that wasn’t really fair considering she was part of his family.

More like he was part of hers.

He was an honorary Montgomery, and she was the little sister.

Totally not for him.

“Decker? Baby?”

He blinked and looked down at Colleen. Not the woman who haunted his dreams and kept him up late at night. Jesus, he was a bad man. A very, very bad man. Sure, he was keeping it casual with Colleen—something she’d put on the table to begin with—but he shouldn’t be thinking about a woman with long legs he couldn’t have when he was here with someone else.

That wasn’t the kind of guy he wanted to be.

“Colleen?” he answered back, keeping his voice low. He didn’t normally bring dates to the Montgomery family gatherings, and as such, he didn’t want everyone to hear everything he said. They were all nosy in the we-are-family-and-we-can-be-nosy-if-want-to sort of way, and he’d learned to deal with it. He hadn’t planned on bringing her at all, but when she’d called to ask him to dinner, he’d mentioned he had plans, and she’d sort of invited herself along. It hadn’t bothered him too much then, but now he felt kind of like an awkward ass about it. Since this was the first time he’d brought Colleen to any type of function with the Montgomerys, he’d been prepared to have the family question the two of them until they pecked them to death.

So far, that hadn’t happened, and frankly, that was more telling about what the others in his life thought of the relationship. Their politeness and lack of prodding meant they didn’t see a future. Considering Colleen hadn’t wanted a future to begin with when it came to her and Decker, that was just fine with him. He didn’t see himself marrying the woman anyway. They were friends. Sort of.

“You’re thinking too hard.” She rubbed the little spot between his eyebrows, and he frowned. She wasn’t usually so touchy-feely or attentive. Weird.

He pulled back, uncomfortable with the display of affection—or whatever it was—in front of the family that had taken him in so long ago.

“Just tired. Hauling a total of a half-ton of porcelain up and down stairs all day makes for a long workday. We also punched out our other project the day before. So I’m ready for a nap. Or another beer.”

She wrinkled her nose, probably at the mention of his work. Another reason he’d never get too serious with her. She hated the fact he was a blue-collar worker and not some suit-wearing businessman who could keep her in diamonds and silks. She worked her butt off at her job and wore the expensive clothes that came with her world. That wasn’t something he wanted in the long run. He worked for Montgomery Inc., the construction arm of the family businesses. He was the project manager right under Wes and Storm, the Montgomery twins who had taken over the family business when their parents, Harry and Marie, retired.

Wes was the OCD planner of the company and got his hands dirty daily with the bump and grind that came with being one of the top privately owned construction companies in Denver. Storm was the lead architect and a genius when it came to finding the right flow for a refurbished building or how to start from scratch with a piece of land that could be used carefully.

Decker had started out as a teenager working under Harry doing every kind of grunt work he could get his hands on. He’d gone to college only because the Montgomery twins had, as had his best friend, Griffin—another Montgomery—and because the state had helped him out. He wouldn’t have been able to afford it otherwise. He’d gone to the local university, busted his ass for his degree, then went right back to working for the family that had raised him when his own blood family had failed.

He ground his teeth.

Best not think about the others right then. Not if he wanted to stay civil—he looked down at the beer in his hand—and sober.

“Must you talk about those matters with me?” Colleen asked, breaking through his thoughts.

He shrugged. He honestly didn’t know why he’d brought her that evening other than because he was in a rut, and he hadn’t thought to say no. They liked each other well enough, but they weren’t in love. He hadn’t slept with her in months either. Despite the fact that his balls were so blue from lack of sex—his right hand could only do so much—he hadn’t wanted to sleep with one woman when his mind was on the other. Sure, he’d been trying to date to get those thoughts out of his head, but he wasn’t about to use another woman fully like that.

“I work with everything that goes in a house or building,” Decker said, his voice low. He had a deep, growly voice according to the-woman-who-shall-not-be-named, and when he got annoyed or emotional, his voice just got deeper.

Colleen didn’t care for it.

“Yes, dear, but you don’t have to talk about it.” She raised her chin and looked out at the yard. He’d helped with the initial landscaping years ago when he was trying to find his place within the business. He’d been better at digging the holes and lifting bags of mulch, rather than doing the actual planning. Marie was the brains behind that. She’d told them what to do, and he and her boys had hopped to it.