Page 14 of Love Me

“Please. We starting any new projects this year?”

Over the last two years, Reid has completed my floral sleeve and a large piece that curves from the very top of my thigh, flows around my hip, and comes up my side to cup under my breast. He’s so talented, and I wear them with pride. Even if my mother died when she saw my sleeve for the first time. It was worth it. It’s not like being covered in tattoos is out of character for me. My hair has been vibrant colors foryears.

“Possibly! It’s always tempting and such a stress reliever.”

“You’re an enigma, not many people get tattooed and enjoy the pain part.”

“It’s not that I enjoy it.” I pause to think for a second. “Well, maybe I do, but it’s more like an endorphin release. Maybe I should look into acupuncture.”

I hand Reid his drink and he looks at me with soulful, sincere eyes. Not with pity, but concern for a friend.

“If you ever need to talk, I’m just up the road. And if you need an excuse to vent, just book an appointment and we’ll think of something.”

“You’re a gem, Reid. Now, get outta my shop and get back to work!”

He laughs as he walks out of the door and more customers squeeze in. I glance at the clock and count down the hours until I can go pick up my little girl and spend the afternoon with her. As much as I love being at Bean Haven, I’m craving being surrounded by her little ray of sunshine.

CHAPTER 5

liam

Unlucky for me,our annual Hayes brothers snowboarding trip to Mount Baker was this week. There was no way I was going to tell Hannah the shit news and leave her to pick up the pieces by herself. I couldn’t come up with a decent enough excuse to skip the trip, so I set myself a deadline to tell her the day we came back.

Lucky for me, Sawyer couldn’t stand to be away from Ivy for longer than forty-eight hours, so we got back to Aspen Ridge much quicker than our typical three full days. Dallas was also itching to get back here, but I’ve had too much on my mind to get to the bottom ofthat. Too bad for him, it all came crashing down on us not long after we got to work after driving straight through from Mount Baker.Literally.

Turns out brother dearest is sleeping with the event coordinator of our distillery, whom he “hates.” Blaire was hired last fall and has brought so much visibility to us that we’re feeling the pressure to keep up with our rapid growth on the property, even through the harsh winter months. After the mess my brothers and I just walked into, and seeing how pissed Sawyer is about it, Ifeel the need to check on his ass. He’d do the same for any of us—after rubbing our faces in it a bit.

Finding Dallas in the hallway coming from Sawyer’s office, which I’m sure was a fun time considering the bomb he just set off, Dallas nods his head at me to follow him into his down the hall.

“She alright?” I ask as I shut the door behind me to give us some privacy, worried about how our newest employee is feeling now that we’ve discovered their relationship.

“Mortified, but she’s the strongest woman I’ve ever met,” he says, seemingly okay despite the circumstances. But that’s just Dallas. He owns his shit and moves on.

“Well, shit, that’s sayin’ something considering the last six months.”

Life has been fucking nuts around here. What the fuck could be next?

“How’s Han, everything okay?”

Running my hand nervously through my hair, I start to pace the length of his office. I came here to check in on him, and typical Dallas, he wants to make sure that I’m doing okay.

“Still trying to process how I’m going to break it to her that her boyfriend-slash-ex-boyfriend-slash-baby daddy is a cheating piece of shit with a live-in girlfriend and another baby on the way. Oh, and he’s most definitely not going to marry you, so plan on losing your family’s business that you love so much.”

“Shit. Yeah. So, advice?”

“Please.”

“I wouldn’t say it like that.”

“Well, no shit, Sherlock. Thanks for helping.”

Dickhead.

“Like I said before, you know Hannah better than anyone in the world, and you literally were the first personto see Charlie when she delivered her on the kitchen floor. No one knows how better to help them through this than you do.”

“Shit sucks, man,” I admit, feeling helpless as fuck. I just want to fix this. I would do anything to make life easier for her.

“Trust me, I get it. Just be there. It’s all you can do. Give her a safe space and shoulder to lean on, something you’ve been doing for twenty years already.”

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