Hidden Ink (Montgomery Ink #4.5)(14)

Sloane quit breathing. Just quit breathing, his mind going in a thousand directions yet not moving at all.

“Cancer,” he breathed. “Breast cancer.”

Jesus. He still couldn’t breathe.

“Yep. The big C. I’m cancer free now, by the way. I didn’t say that before. I’m actually surprised I said as much as I did. I mean, I practiced saying it in the mirror, but as I haven’t told anyone in years, it was hard. Different. You know?”

She kept rambling, and he took two steps toward her, gripped her upper arms, and crushed his mouth to hers. Emotion poured through him and his body shook. She gasped into his mouth before kissing him back.

When he pulled away, he rested his forehead on hers and let out a shuddered breath. “I almost lost you before I met you. I don’t know what I’d have done if I’d never had you in my life, Hailey.”

Her hands went to his stomach, just resting there. He relaxed at her touch, even as his belly leapt at the feel of her hands on him.

“Sloane.”

He moved to cup her face and used his thumb to brush away the single tear that had fallen. “Fuck, Hailey. I knew you were hiding something, but I had no idea it was this. You had cancer and didn’t tell anybody.” He thought about what he knew of her past and frowned. “Wait, how old were you? Did you have anyone?”

She shook her head between his hands, and he let her go but did his best to keep his touch on her.

“I was twenty when I was diagnosed. It took two weeks from the results to my surgery. Since I was Stage 1B, I had a great chance, but they wanted to work fast before it spread to other parts of my body. The tumor was small, thank God, but it was just at the edge of being large enough where they’d been worried. I opted for them to take off both breasts rather than just the right one.” Her hand went up to her chest and he looked down, his mind still whirling.

“But you were alone. Weren’t you?”

She nodded. “You know my dad left when I was a kid, and my mom died when I was eighteen. I wasn’t able to afford college full-time, so I was taking night classes while working at a bakery. I thank that place every day for what they gave me. Not only did they teach me how to do what I love now, but the job gave me benefits so I could afford the treatments.”

She continued, and he kept silent, not knowing what to say. What was there to say when the woman he loved had almost died and he hadn’t known?

“I went through chemo and radiation, but both treatments were relatively short because it hadn’t spread. I was lucky. I know that sounds weird to say since it was cancer, but I was lucky.”

“Hails.”

She gave him a sad smile. “It took six surgeries for them to reconstruct my chest. I’m not the same. Not even a little bit, but I’m me.”

He ran a hand down her arm and gripped her hand. She squeezed it. Hard. “You’re beautiful, Hailey. Inside and out. I’ve always known that. But that you have the strength you do, the courage you have after all of that? I am in awe of you.”

She pressed her lips together and her eyes filled with tears.

“Shit. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

She shook her head and smiled. “It’s a good cry. I wasn’t sure what you would say. You’re a man of few words, after all.”

She was not the first person to say that. “I speak when it’s important. And you’re important.”

Far too important for him. Hell, he was dirt, tainted compared to her. And he was so f*cking big. He could break her with one careless move. How could he ever think he was good enough for her? At the same time, he knew if he walked away right then, he’d not only regret it forever, but she’d think it was because of her.

She wrung her hands together and bit her lip.

“What is it?”

“I’ve wanted to tell you for a long while. Not because it was a huge weight on me, even though it was, but more so because…” She let out a breath. “I don’t have nipples anymore. I mean, they took them away when they did the first surgery. I will never have the kind of sensation I once had. It’s impossible. But I’ve always wanted to do…something.”

He froze. Austin and Maya had done a few nipple tattoos at the shop where they made the ink almost realistic. It was hard, but a tattoo that Sloane knew took courage beyond what others thought. All of those at Montgomery Ink had tattooed over and through scars in their line of work. Hell, it was how Austin had met his wife, Sierra.

But he wasn’t sure he could deal with Maya or Austin doing Hailey’s ink. He knew he had no right to be possessive, but he wanted to be the one to help her…if that was what she wanted.

“I don’t want nipple tattoos. I just don’t think they’re for me. But I do want something. I’ve been toying with the idea of art across my chest for a while. I’ve just needed the courage to tell my story and then do something about it.”

He took a deep breath. “I think you have far more courage than you give yourself credit for.”

She smiled at him, breaking his heart all over again. “I’ve always thought…” She stopped, frowned. “I’ve always thought I should have you do it. I don’t know why. I mean, I know we’ve wanted each other, we’ve said so tonight. But this is different. I always thought you could help me. But I’ve been scared.”