Love Restored (Gallagher Brothers #1)(6)

She’d learned the hard way before what happened when she was too open, too fast. Money spoke, and people betrayed with the drop of a hat, leaving Blake the one in pain, bleeding on the floor.

She shook off the memories and worries that had no place in this particular shop and rolled her shoulders.

“So, she wants an outline of a butterfly, not the whole thing filled in?” Blake asked, changing the subject. From the look in Maya’s eyes, she hadn’t done a very good job being subtle about it, but there was nothing she could do now.

“Just the outline,” Maya answered. “From where she wants it and the size she indicated with her hand, I think that’s the right idea anyway. But ask her just in case.”

Blake rolled her eyes. “No, I was planning to drag her over here by her hair and tattoo something without even speaking to her. Because that’s how I roll.”

“At least, you fit the part of a tattoo artist and piercer now,” Maya said dryly while looking Blake up and down. “You want to tell me why you showed up yesterday in that banker outfit before you changed in the back? I mean, really, I never would have pegged you for a suit and heel kind of girl. Well, maybe the heels, but the suit? Not so much.”

Blake stiffened. She hadn’t realized Maya had seen her when she’d hurried back into the shop after leaving the estate. Because she’d been running late in the first place, she hadn’t had time to stop anywhere and change into her normal attire before work. As it was, she’d been ten minutes late, and had almost missed a piercing appointment. That was so not like her, but it wasn’t as if that morning had been normal.

She’d worn the suit to fit in, not because she’d wanted to. It had taken entirely too long for her to find the old jacket and skirt she kept in the back of her closet. Thankfully, she hadn’t gained that much weight since she’d worn it last. It had been a decade or so, but the curves she wore now had only made the skirt ride up a bit indecently.

She could clearly remember the way Graham’s gaze had traveled up her legs and settled on her thighs. Even though she’d been angry as hell with him, she’d still pictured her legs wrapped around his neck as he got her off. And then she’d imagined him turning her around, gripping her hips as he pushed the material up so he could pound into her hard from behind.

Hell, she wasn’t that woman anymore. Hadn’t been for the decade she’d hidden that suit in the back of her closet.

She’d only worn the damn thing because showing up in low-cut jeans and a tank that ordered the observer to kiss her ink suggestively probably wasn’t the greatest idea. Though she wanted nothing to do with the estate and the Gallagher brothers, she’d be damned if she embarrassed herself by showing up as she was, rather than with the veneer in place that had helped her hide for all these years.

Of course, with one look at Graham, she was pretty sure those layers—as well as the suit—would be stripped away if she weren’t careful.

She wished the will had let her choose the company to work on the estate. She knew the Montgomerys, and though they would have been able to find out some of her past, she trusted those in that branch of the family company to keep their lips shut.

Of course, now that she thought about it, maybe working with the Gallaghers would be better. They didn’t know her at all and didn’t have any connection to her. They wouldn’t be blabbing her business and the past she’d rather keep hidden to the others in her life. It wasn’t easy keeping secrets from those in the shop, though. They tended to notice everything.

She’d thought when she hurried into the shop after leaving the estate that she’d hidden her suit well enough for no one to see her. And since no one had mentioned it the entire day she’d worked, she figured she’d gotten off scot-free.

Apparently, she’d been wrong.

Maya Montgomery knew everything, and sometimes, even before it happened.

And that was one scary thought.

“You didn’t like my legs in that suit?” Blake asked, batting her eyelashes. “I mean, I thought they looked hot as hell. But if you have issues with it, maybe I should reconsider the banker suit I’m planning to wear tomorrow.”

“You’re an idiot,” Maya grumbled. “Why won’t you tell me?”

“Because, despite popular opinion, you don’t actually need to know everything going on in everyone’s lives at all times.”

Maya snorted. “That’s only going to make me more curious.”

That would be a problem if Blake planned to go back to the estate. But since she’d signed the paperwork, she’d done her duty. Now, the rest was up to the lawyers.

“Have at it, but sometimes, a suit is just a suit.”

Maya narrowed her eyes.

Blake blinked innocently back.

Maya flipped her off, and Blake did it right back with a smile. When Maya laughed and strolled back to her station, Blake was still smiling. She might be the new one in the shop, but she could feel the edges of the home she could have if she stayed long enough. These could be her people, and for some reason, that scared Blake more than she’d thought it would.

Once again, she shook off thoughts she’d rather not have and made her way to the younger girl standing at the front of the shop, browsing some of the stenciled designs hanging in pretty frames on the walls.

“Hey, I’m Blake. I hear you want a butterfly tattoo?”