Page 32 of Fallen Ink

He reached up and tugged her close so he could capture her lips. Soon, they were both shattering together, their bodies sweat-slick and limp in each other’s arms afterwards. She’d wrung him out and had taken every drop of him. And while he knew he needed to move and clean her up, he couldn’t help but feel a small bit of wicked satisfaction that she was full-up with him.

He was a sick bastard.

He knew he needed to get ahold of those thoughts because he also knew this wasn’t permanent. They weren’t going to ruin their friendship, especially with thoughts like the ones he had.

He held her close, helping her descend from her high, and promised himself that come the morning, he’d get his head on straight. Because he couldn’t—wouldn’t—hurt her, no matter how much he liked her draped on top of him.

He couldn’t.

Chapter 11

Livvy slammed into Adrienne’s legs, and it took all her power not to fall on her butt thanks to her niece’s exuberance.

“You’re here!” Livvy screamed, jumping up and down while still holding onto Adrienne.

Adrienne couldn’t help but smile and reach down so she could lift the three-year-old into her arms. “Hey, baby girl. I am here.”

She kissed Livvy’s cheek and held her close. She was so in love with her niece and knew she would forever be grateful that Shep and Shea had decided to move up to Colorado Springs. While she knew her brother had done well down in New Orleans and that’s how he’d met Shea to begin with, having her family all in one area made everything so much better.

Livvy kissed her on her cheek then on her forehead and chin before wiggling down so she could run to another adult and lavish them with kisses and hugs, as well. She’d been shy at first when she first got to know the Montgomerys, but clearly, that wasn’t the case anymore.

“As Livvy announced, you made it,” Katherine Montgomery said as she walked up to Adrienne. Her mother was gorgeous and totally didn’t look her age. Since she’d had the same color hair as Adrienne for years before she started having to dye it thanks to the silver strands, Adrienne hoped she looked like her mother when she was her age.

Adrienne sank into her mother’s hug and sighed. “Yeah, I did. Mace and Ryan are holding down the shop so Shep and I could come and be Montgomerys for the afternoon instead of stressing.”

Her mother patted her cheek. “You wouldn’t be a Montgomery if you didn’t stress over something.”

Adrienne rolled her eyes before leaning into her mother’s hold. “I did learn from you and Dad, didn’t I?”

Her mom laughed before going to help Livvy with something on the other side of the room. The Montgomerys tried to have a family dinner at least once a month. With her brother coming back home, their dinners had been occurring more often than usual—something she enjoyed even if it was harder to hide some things from them when she needed to. And before the wedding, there had been a lot more get-togethers—for at least the women of the family. Roxie hadn’t wanted a huge wedding, but she’d had the small, intimate ceremony of her dreams. At least, that’s what Adrienne thought.

Roxie and Carter were off on one side of the room, deep in conversation. The couple went from smiling to frowning at one another often enough that Adrienne had no idea what they could be talking about. But she noticed the way Carter brushed a piece of hair from Roxie’s face and smiled down at her as if she were the only person in the world he ever wanted to look at or be with. He was so in love with her sister that Adrienne had to hold back tears when she looked at him as he gazed the way he did at Roxie. She really hoped the couple had decades of loving looks and time together. It was almost enough to make her wonder if she could find love for herself. Of course, she was afraid that she was well on her way to falling when she truly had no business doing so.

Thea stood with Shea, laughing about whatever was on their minds. For some reason, the two had hit it off immediately and become fast friends. Even though Thea already had a best friend in Molly, her sister had opened her arms for Shea without balking. For some reason, Adrienne had figured her sister-in-law would have become faster friends with Roxie since the two shared occupations. But in terms of personalities, Thea and Shea had much more in common than just the similar spellings of their names.

Her dad, William, and Shep manned the grill even as snow began to fall on the frigid afternoon. And while every single woman—minus Livvy—in the room knew how to grill, as well, her father had decided the deck was his domain. He had taught his daughters how to use the Char-Broil for when they had a grill at their own homes, but her dad was very particular about who he let touch his sacred, roaring flames. However, Adrienne had a feeling that Carter would be joining the man at the grill soon. Her father loved the other man like a son, and would probably open his arms to allow Carter near his precious baby grill.

After all, he had let Carter near his precious baby girl.

Adrienne snorted at her lame joke, and was really glad that Mace wasn’t around to see her face as she made that horrendous joke. Even in her head. Hell, she was glad he wasn’t there for many reasons, particularly so that everyone couldn’t see the way she watched him move. If Carter, Ryan, and Shae had been able to figure out even a little bit of what was going on between the two of them, her family would be able to figure it out in a quick minute. She had a feeling the only reason they hadn’t already, was because everyone was so focused on their own lives. They hadn’t taken a really good look at what she was doing outside of her shop. And for that, she was grateful.

She needed the time to figure out exactly what she wanted when it came to her best friend. And after the last time they had been together when she had fallen apart in his arms so quickly and so completely, she knew she could never go back to the woman she was before she had touched him.

He had touched part of her soul, branded her as his even if she knew it might never be permanent. Things had changed, and hiding what she was doing, what they were doing, now seemed wrong. She didn’t want to hide her relationship any longer. Because she was afraid that the more time passed where she did, the worse it would be for everyone once the truth came out. She also knew that it could look as if she were ashamed of what she felt for Mace. And that couldn’t be farther from the truth. She had a feeling she’d fallen for him long before the first time she’d felt his lips against hers. And that scared her more than anything. Because everything had changed, and if they tried to go back to what they were, she wasn’t sure she could find that place anymore. She wasn’t sure that place had ever truly existed.

“Is there a reason you’re standing here all alone with that sad look on your face?” Roxie leaned into her as she spoke, and Adrienne did her best to pull herself out of her thoughts. She couldn’t believe she had once again buried herself in her circular thoughts for so long that she didn’t notice when Carter had officially moved over to the grill station and her sister had come to stand beside her. For that matter, she wasn’t sure how long Roxie had been watching her.

“Sorry, just thinking about work,” she lied and immediately cursed herself for doing so.

“You’re going to do have to do a better job of lying than that if Mom asks you what’s up. And since we’re in the middle of the fray, I’ll let your lie pass. For now. How about we go get you a drink, because you’re empty-handed and standing against the wall with your mouth open like a blowfish.”

Adrienne pinched her sister’s arm, enjoying how she let out a tiny squeal but laughed. She hadn’t pinched that hard, and wouldn’t since they were family and loved each other, but sometimes her baby sister was a brat. A smart brat, but still a brat.

“Thanks, I could use a drink.” Or four, but who was counting.

She followed Roxie to the kitchen and went to the fridge to get herself something to drink. Her mom had already opened a bottle of white, so she poured herself a glass and topped off her sister’s. Instead of going back into the fray, the two of them leaned against the counters and talked like they had when they were younger and stealing snacks when their mother wasn’t looking. Of course, their mother had always known, just like she’d always known when they were making faces at each other behind her back. The old adage that mothers had eyes on the backs of their heads had never been truer than with Katherine Montgomery.

“Are you ready for tax season?” Adrienne asked. “As soon as the holidays hit, it’s going to start being your busiest time of the year.” Usually, during that time, Adrienne didn’t get to actually see her sister beyond a few frazzled dinners that their mother somehow made happen. Just the idea of doing taxes made her stomach roll, and her head pound. She wasn’t sure how both her sister-in-law and sister ended up with their jobs, but more power to them. Because of them, people like her didn’t have to look at all the numbers and start crying daily.

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