Ink Enduring (Montgomery Ink #5)(25)

“What about both of us?”

Jake froze, and Border didn’t know what to say next.

“What about both of us, what?” a voice asked from the living room.

Border turned at the woman’s words, and Jake cursed. The woman was drop-dead gorgeous. Sexy curves and an even sexier glare. Her black hair reached past her shoulders, and her bangs were cut across her forehead. She had a piercing in her brow, and ink all over her arms. Those blue eyes looked just like Storm’s.

“Maya,” Jake said softly. “How much did you hear?”

Maya Montgomery. This was the woman who held Jake’s heart, at least part of it. And Border had never felt so damn lucky or scared in his life.

“I don’t know what I heard, so why don’t you two enlighten me?”

Border sighed when Jake stood silent, his face stony as he tried to figure out what to say. “I’m Border,” he said finally. “You must be Maya Montgomery.”

Maya met Border’s gaze, and they both let out a little breath. “Good to meet you. I guess.”

He couldn’t help the smile on his face at her words. “I guess it’s good to meet you, too.”

“What are you doing here, Maya?” Jake asked finally and then cursed again. “I mean, f*ck.” He moved toward her then, and brought her into a hug, surprising Border and, apparently, Maya as well.

She patted him on the back awkwardly and frowned around his shoulder at Border. “Hi, there,” she said softly. “What’s going on, Jake?”

He shook his head, and Border leaned into the counter as he watched the two’s dynamics.

“I’m f*cking everything up as usual,” Jake answered. “How are things with you?”

She blinked a couple of times before meeting Border’s gaze. “What is he talking about?”

Border shrugged. “He should be the one to talk about it with you.”

Maya turned to Jake expectedly.

Jake ran a hand over his face as he pulled back from Maya. “Border and I were just talking about what happened in the past.”

“You mean between you two and the fact that he left?” she asked, and it was then that Border knew Maya knew everything about him while he only knew some about her. Jake was a damn lucky man for having her in his life if she didn’t run away from what Border had done.

“That would be it,” Border replied. His phone buzzed, and he looked down at the incoming text. Alarm crawled up his spine, and he gritted his teeth. “I need to go.”

Jake frowned at him. “What do you mean? Don’t you think we need to talk?”

Border put his phone away and nodded. “I know we do, and we will when I get back, but it’s a work thing I can’t get out of.”

“What do you do for work?” Maya asked.

He met the woman’s eyes and felt a connection immediately. The type of connection he’d only felt with one other person in his life—Jake.

What the hell?

“I protect people,” he said finally. “And I need to go. But Maya, talk to him. Ask him what’s going on. You know my past with him. Ask him. And be open.” He didn’t know why he said that. But he did.

And with that, he picked up his keys off the counter and made his way to the couple. When he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Jake’s temple, the three of them froze.

He hadn’t meant to do it, but it had seemed as natural as breathing.

And then he surprised himself yet again when he did the same to Maya. “I’ll be back. Nice to meet you.”

He left them standing in the living room, staring at his back as he closed the door behind him. What the hell had he been thinking? What was he doing?

He wanted Jake. He’d always wanted him but had been too afraid to do anything about it. But he also wanted Maya to be with Jake because the damn woman made Jake happy. He had no idea what he would do next, or even if the choice was in his hands since he’d left the two of them alone.

Either way, something was going to change, something big, and he would have to put it aside so he could work on other things. Because someone needed him in order to stay alive, and there was no way he would lose another person because of his choices.

His heart ached at the thought of what he’d seen the last time he’d failed, and he pushed it away. He wouldn’t fail. He wouldn’t lose this one.

And he wouldn’t lose Jake. Not again.

And as for Maya? Well, he’d figure that out, as well.

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as he got in his truck. He held back a curse.

It felt like he was being watched, like someone had eyes on him. But he couldn’t afford to let on that he might be feeling that. Because if he did, Jake or Maya could get hurt. And that was the last thing he wanted.

He might not know what he wanted when it came to the man in that home and the woman at his side, but Border knew he had to push it away to deal with the concrete objectives that lay before him.

And the first thing he had to do was make sure that Jake—and Maya—were safe.

He started his truck and pulled out of the driveway, praying whoever might be watching him would follow. Border might not be able to stay at Jake’s anymore if this kept up.

Or Border was losing his damn mind and being overly paranoid. Either way, he had a job to do, and someone to take care of.