Page 17 of Ink

“Well, she gets it second hand, so there’s that,” Charlie drawled. “I was wondering if we might be able to go to work with you today?” she asked. “Cynthia has been asking to see the baby, and well, I think it’s time for Bethany to see where you work.”They hadn’t discussed the possibility of her calling him “Dad” but a part of him secretly hoped that someday, they would, because he wanted to be her father more than anything.

“Sure, I’d love having my two favorite girls go to work with me today,” he said. He handed Charlie her coffee and took Bethany from her. “How about you enjoy your coffee, and I’ll get our girl dressed?” he asked.

“That would be wonderful. Then, we’ll leave for your shop?” she asked. Ink wondered why she seemed so eager to go to work with him today, but he wasn’t going to question it. He really did like the idea of the two of them hanging out with him all day. It was going to be nice to show Bethany off.

“Sure,” he agreed, “then, we can go to my shop.”

They got to his tattoo shop about ten minutes late. Bethany had decided to have a diaper blowout on the drive in and they had to pull over and change her. Ink just thanked his lucky stars that it was a warmer day and that they could crack a window to get rid of the smell. For such a little thing, Bethany sure did make some powerful smells.

Cynthia, of course, took the baby from Charlie as soon as they walked in. She didn’t miss a beat, telling Ink that he was late for his first appointment, nodding over to the corner where his client sat waiting for him.

“Yeah, I’ll take care of it,” he assured. “He’s a friend from down at the Road Reapers. I’m sure he’ll understand that babies poop. He has three kids himself.”

“While you work, do you mind if I go back to your office to feed Bethany and put her down for a nap?” Charlie asked.

“Of course, I don’t mind,” he said. “I’ll come find you when I’m finished, but it could be a while.”

She nodded and took the baby from Cynthia. “I promise you can have her back after her nap,” Charlie said. She headed back to his office and Ink wasn’t sure why he had a funny feeling inhis gut, but he did. Usually, when that happened, he knew to stay alert—he just never imagined that he’d have to do that with Charlie. Still, he’d keep an eye on her because something was off; he just needed to figure out what.

The tattoo for his buddy took longer than he thought it would. He was sure that he’d find both Charlie and Bethany taking a nap, but that wasn’t the case. As he walked back to his office, he found Bethany sound asleep. He also found something that he wasn’t expecting—Charlie going through his desk. From the look of the rest of his office, she had ransacked that too. The question was—what the hell was she looking for?

Ink wasn’t sure if he should be pissed or not about finding Charlie in his office, looking through his papers. He was going to go with pissed unless she had a good explanation for what she was doing.

“Do you want to explain what’s happening here?” he asked. She looked up from the desk drawer that she was rummaging through and gave a sheepish smile. Charlie was caught and she knew it.

“Um, I’m looking for a pen,” she lied.

He walked over to his desk, picked up a pen lying on a stack of papers, and handed it to her. “It was right on top,” he said.

“Oh,” she breathed, “I didn’t see it there.” She dropped the papers that she was holding back into the drawer and quickly shut it.

Charlie started for the door when he caught her arm, making her gasp. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m trying to figure out why you’re lying to me, Charlie,” he admitted.

“I’m not lying to you, Ink,” she insisted. “Thank you for finding me a pen, but I’m going to pack up Bethany’s stuff and we’re going home,” she insisted. “I’m sure that she’s getting hungry.”

“The baby is sleeping, and I’m sure that Cynthia can figure out how to give Bethany her bottle when she wakes up. How about you tell me what you were really looking for in my desk. You know that I’ll give you whatever I have, so why not just ask me?” he said.

“Because I can’t just come out and ask you what I want to ask you,” she insisted.

He crossed the room, standing in front of her, staring her down as if waiting for her to change her mind. “Why not just try me?” he asked. “I promise to give you an honest answer,” he assured. Charlie took a deep breath and let it out as though preparing herself for the absolute worst. It was all so dramatic; he worried that he had pushed her for something that she wasn’t willing to give yet.

“I overheard some of the women in the Road Reapers talking about you,” she almost whispered.

“Honey, the women that hang out at the bar are usually not worth listening to. They are barflies, trying to hook up with a biker. The only women around the bar that you should be talking to are the other Ol’ladies. They know better than to gossip about the bikers.”

“Um, they didn’t know that I had overheard them, so why would they lie?” she asked.

“Okay, what were they saying about me?” he asked. He really didn’t know many of the women at the bar—well, except Mace’s woman and he knew that she’d never gossip about him.

“They were saying that you’re loaded,” she breathed.

“Shit,” he grumbled. “How the fuck did they figure that out?” he asked. She looked up at him as though he had lost his ever-loving mind.

“Wait—it’s true?” she asked. “How could you never tell me?”

He shrugged, “It’s not really a big deal. My grandfather left me some money when he passed and that’s how I bought this place.”

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