Page 38 of Inked Persuasion

While marriage and a future beyond my work and family had never been on the table for me, I had never gone into a relationship, as it was, fully cognizant that I didn’t want anything more than what I had. I also hadn’t gone into said relationships knowing the other person felt the same. I wasn’t exactly sure how I was supposed to feel about that, but it almost seemed as if it took the pressure off. We could have fun tonight, I could lean in and soak up the evening, and so could Jacob.

Perhaps it would be a little stressful, maybe there would still be temptation and need and desire, but it wouldn’t be nerve-wracking, wondering if one of us wanted something the other couldn’t give. We had put all of our cards on the table, and now here we were, sitting together in a trendy little restaurant in Fort Collins—the epitome of farm-to-table—and I was starving.

“Oh, this is a tapas restaurant,” I said, flipping through the menu. “I’ve always wanted to come here. Beckett said it was great, same as Archer, but I just haven’t had the time. Or I haven’t dated much,” I added quickly, wincing. “Sorry, I was just telling myself I wasn’t nervous, but now I think I’m nervous.”

Jacob grinned at me and shook his head. “I was thinking that I wasn’t exactly sure how tonight would go because I didn’t know if I should be nervous. I like that we seem to be on the same page.”

“I can’t help it. It’s a little stressful.”

“I’m stressful?” he asked, teasing.

“Of course, you are. You know it. Don’t act like you don’t or aren’t.”

“Maybe,” he said on a laugh. “So, Beckett and Archer have been here? Not Benjamin?”

I shook my head. “I’m not sure Benjamin has ever been here, but he’s the quiet one out of all of us.”

“Really?” Jacob asked, and it sounded like he cared what was happening with my siblings and me.

“Benjamin is a little more soulful as if he knows who he needs to be, but he isn’t in the mood to tell anyone about it. Beckett, on the other hand, can be a little more growly, a bit louder. But when it comes to protecting each other, they sometimes switch roles as if they know that the other needs them to take their place for those few moments. Not physically, but at least who needs to be the rock and who needs to be the one who leans.”

“I always found it interesting when we were younger that you and Archer were twins, same as Beckett and Benjamin.”

I sighed and sipped my chilled white wine. “Yes, apparently, twins run in our family. There are many sets, and I think I saw triplets somewhere on my father’s line, too.”

“Triplet Montgomerys?”

“Yes, but not related to the Montgomerys you know down in Denver.”

His brows rose. “Wait, what?”

“My mother’s maiden name is Montgomery,” I said quickly. “She is the younger sister of the older generation of Montgomery guys that live in Denver. You know her brother, Harry.”

“Yeah, he went through some crap a few years ago, and I helped him with his will.” I shook my head. “Thank God the family didn’t need to utilize it then, but it was still scary.”

I pressed my lips together, swallowing a lump of emotion. “My cousins went through hell with that, but Uncle Harry’s doing just fine. My father is also a Montgomery, but from a line not related to the Montgomerys my mother is part of.”

“That would be awkward,” Jacob said dryly.

I snorted. “Tell me about it. I have cousins in pretty much every state it seems, and it gets a little complicated, so there’s not a huge family reunion, but it’s nice. I like knowing that wherever I go, I can find family. Even if we’ve never met or are fourth cousins twice removed or something like that.”

“My parents were only children, and then they only had Jonah and me. I don’t have any cousins, and I don’t think I have any aunts and uncles in the second generation either.”

“I didn’t mean to make you sad,” I said, reaching out to touch his hand.

“You’re not making me sad. I find it a little overwhelming, but it’s nice that you have so much family. My parents and I do okay, even though it’s just the three of us now.”

Unsaid was that one day soon, it might only be the two of them, but I wasn’t going to think on that. After all, anyone could have their last moments on this Earth taken from them at any given time. It would be wrong to focus on what we could lose in the next breath rather than focusing on what we had.

That was something I had to remind myself often and was something I would have to continue reminding myself while I was in Jacob’s presence.

“So, have you decided what you’d like for tonight?” our waiter said as he came back to the table.

I winced. “I’m sorry. I haven’t even looked.” I scrolled through the menu again. “I have no idea.”

“Are you allergic to anything?” Jacob asked, looking over the menu in front of me.

“No, but I’m not a huge fan of crab or shrimp.”

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