Hidden Ink (Montgomery Ink #4.5)(9)

“Why did Brody tell me to ‘take it up with Sloane’ when he said he wasn’t interested in me?” she continued.

He swallowed hard, the short burst of relief that she hadn’t seen the truth of him quickly replaced with the damning feeling he’d messed up.

“He wasn’t good enough for you,” he said simply.

Her eyes narrowed, her cheeks pinking with color. He loved the way her face carried emotion. Most of the time she kept her smile on, as if she had to be happy and bubbly for her clients, adding “sugars” to her drawl when she felt like it. But sometimes he saw beneath that, saw the woman he wanted in his life but knew he couldn’t have.

“Fuck you, Sloane.”

His brows rose. Hailey didn’t normally curse at him.

“Don’t look at me like that, you *. In fact, don’t look at me at all. Who do you think you are? Who the hell do you think you are, Sloane? I thought you were my friend, but maybe I was wrong. What kind of man steps in and tells another to back off? It wasn’t your place, that’s for sure. I smiled at one man. That’s it. I said I’d be over at my shop when he was through with his ink. That’s it. And yet, that somehow triggered your alpha complex and you had to scare him away. How dare you say he’s not good enough for me? You don’t know him. And, apparently, you sure as hell don’t know me.”

Tears filled her eyes and she blinked them back quickly, raising her chin.

Damn it. He was an ass. A prick. A loser. A douche.

“Why did you do it?” she asked, her voice low. “You’ve stayed away from me for years. We’ve been friends but never got too close. Why did you change the rules?”

She’d changed them first by flirting with a man in front of him, but he didn’t bring that up. He’d already hurt her, hurt himself in the process.

He needed to man up, he knew it, but he also knew he really wasn’t good enough for her—wasn’t what she needed.

“I’ll take you out,” he said, surprising himself.

Her jaw dropped. “What?”

“Go out to dinner with me.” What the hell was he doing? He’d pushed Brody away because he thought the guy wasn’t good enough for her—or so he told himself—but that didn’t mean Sloane was good enough for her. In fact, he knew he wasn’t.

“You told Brody to go away because you wanted to go out with me?” she asked, her voice rising.

“You said I changed the rules, so let’s change them more. Go out with me.”

She blinked rapidly then nodded. “Fine.”

Not the best response, but he’d screwed the asking up royally. He couldn’t blame her. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“Tonight? You want to go out tonight?”

“You have a problem with that?” Could he be more of an ass?

“You know what? I don’t know anymore, Sloane. I have no idea what’s going on, but fine. I’ll see you at seven.” She let out a breath, closed her eyes for a beat, and then met his gaze. “I hope we figure out what we’re doing before it’s too late.” She whispered the last part before walking out of the office, leaving him alone.

He hoped for their sake they figured it out as well. Because he’d just crashed through the wall they’d carefully erected between the two of them, and now they’d have to deal with the consequences.

And while his mind whirled and he tried to figure out what the next step would be, that small part of him that always held out hope, the part he knew he buried deep daily, pulsated.

He was going out with Hailey.

Finally.

And he was going to mess it all up. Again. It was what he did. He just prayed he didn’t break Hailey in the process.





Chapter Three



Hailey had lost her damn mind. That was the only explanation for why she was standing in front of her mirror in her robe with her hands wringing in front of her. It all seemed like a dream, but from the way her heart beat in her chest, she knew it was real.

Far too real.

One minute she’d been making coffee, trying to figure out how she’d get out of drinks or whatever with Brody, and the next she was standing in Sloane’s office saying yes to a date. With him.

It didn’t make sense.

The moment she’d stepped back into her café, she’d known she made a mistake flirting with Brody. While she’d wanted to stand up and take a step in a direction that didn’t include her waiting for a man who would never truly want her, she hadn’t meant to take a leap that fast. It wasn’t that Brody wasn’t attractive. And he’d been sweet to her. It was more that he wasn’t for her. And while, at the time, she’d thought Sloane would never be for her either, she knew she didn’t want Brody like that. It had been a lapse in judgment and one she would have had to fix right away.

Only Brody had shown up all apologetic smiles, saying he wouldn’t be staying. While she should have felt hurt that he would back out so quickly, she could only feel relief. He seemed like a nice guy—with perhaps a dangerous edge—but she didn’t want him the way she should. Even for a cup of coffee with a bit of flirtation. She’d smiled back and said she understood—though she hadn’t truly understood his quick change of mind, even if she’d been relieved. When she’d asked him if there was anything wrong, he’d told her to ask Sloane about it, and she’d had to clutch the sides of the counter, hard.