Written in Ink (Montgomery Ink #4)(18)

Oh, good. This was going to end well. Now she had to be in the same room as a shirtless Griffin while the buzz of the needle filled her ears and made her even more turned on when it came to the bane of her existence Montgomery.

Autumn turned her attention back to the computer and did her best to make it a little more organized. Austin and Maya were totally methodical and ran one hell of a business that had a waiting list three years long for larger pieces and custom works of art. But the running joke of their lack of receptionist couldn’t make things easy. Back when Callie had been Austin’s apprentice and not a full-time artist, the younger woman was able to help out more, but now that word of Callie’s own talent was spreading, she didn’t have that kind of time. Autumn helped where she could and refused payment. Mostly because getting paid led to more paperwork, and the less paper trail, the better. So far, she hadn’t had to file anything with Griffin, but she knew it was coming. She hated lying, but honestly, she had no idea what else to do. If things got sticky, she’d run like she always did.

Though this time, she knew running would hurt more than all the other times she’d done it.

Damn those Montgomerys.

She took a deep breath then turned toward Maya’s station, just about swallowing her tongue as she did.

Griffin sat facing the back of the chair, his thick thighs spread so he could straddle the damn thing. He had his arms folded in front of his face, though he didn’t lean on them. Instead, he turned his head to look over his shoulder at Maya as they talked about placement or whatever.

Autumn would not have an orgasm from the sight of him alone. She would not.

She pressed her thighs together and cursed the day Griffin Montgomery had been born.

She wasn’t sure what Maya would be doing to Griffin’s shoulder and back that day, and she wasn’t sure she had the energy to stay there and watch. She had to keep whatever…this was to herself. There was no use lusting after a man she worked for—a man she’d eventually leave when it became too dangerous to stay.

Instead of lusting, she went back to the computer and cleaned up what she could. It didn’t take that much time, and soon she found herself standing and rolling back on her heels, knowing she had to leave. She’d come to the shop to vent or at least calm down. But now that the source of her troubles was not only in the same damn room as her, but shirtless with just the right amount of chest hair to make her want to pet him until they were both begging, she knew she had to leave.

“Hey, Autumn, come over here right quick,” Austin called out.

She closed her eyes and counted to five. “Sure thing.”

She did her best not to look at Maya’s station and act casual. She had a feeling she was failing miserably. What the hell was wrong with her? She blamed hormones. Maybe she just needed to get laid and all of this would go away. Of course, with that thought, she could only imagine Griffin standing behind her, flipping her skirt over her hips as he bent her over his thinking chair and f*cked her from behind.

Damn that Montgomery.

Damn them all.

“What’s up?” See? That was normal.

Austin tilted his head, studying her face. “My client wasn’t on-call but still had to go into work.”

She frowned.

“Firefighter.”

Her brows rose. “Is everything okay?”

Austin shook his head. “Not sure. Hopefully, his gear won’t f*ck up his ink, but fighting a fire is more important than anything I can do with his skin. Anyway, I have an hour now that’s free. Sierra isn’t across the street at her shop, or I’d just head there and see my wife. What do you think about sitting here and letting me work on that piece on your side?”

“What the hell? I though I was the one who got her next?” Maya yelled from her station.

Autumn held back a grin. She loved the way these two always fought over family but not usually clients. She warmed from the inside. Maybe she was getting closer…

Damn it. That wasn’t good. She needed to leave town soon.

But before she did, she could at least get new ink.

“Sounds good to me,” she said softly.

“Good. This’ll repay you for helping us out so much since you won’t take our money.”

“But…but I can pay.” She might not have endless funds, but she could pay for what she needed.

Austin narrowed his eyes. “Don’t argue. Now sit down and roll up your shirt and tuck it under your bra. Let’s get to work.”

She opened her mouth to argue anyway, and the bearded, broody man in front of her raised a brow. Okay, then.

She did as she was told; aware that someone was staring at her. While one part of her might have wanted it to be heat coming from Griffin’s gaze, she had a feeling attraction had nothing to do with it. When she ended up straddling the chair and facing Maya’s station at a diagonal angle, she wanted to scowl.

Of course, she had to face Griffin and his sexy side and arms while she had her shirt tucked up. Why would the gods allow anything else?

Griffin met her gaze and quirked a grin. “Not what you expected your afternoon to look like, huh?”

She clenched her jaw. “Not exactly.” She sucked in a breath as Austin touched her with the needle for the first time. It always hurt like hell at first, then went to a happy buzz that sent shocks of pleasure mixed with pain straight down to her toes. Griffin smiled at her then, that same look in his gaze.