Page 15 of Love Restored

If she’d been working with them for longer than a minute, she might have felt slighted at the lack of invite, but she wasn’t their family, and she was just fine being alone. She rolled her neck and took a look at the schedule on the computer.

“Light day,” she commented under her breath.

“Yep,” Brandon said with a smile as he walked up to her. He really was one beautiful man. He’d mentioned once that he was half-Korean, half-Irish, and both of his parents had firmly stamped their presence on his features. Strong cheekbones, dark eyes, and full lips on a smooth face. He’d cut his hair recently because he wanted to impress some woman, so it lay around the top of his head in layered chunks. Part high-end model, part just rolled out of bed. She wasn’t sure she could ever get her hair to look like that, even if she tried.

“So verbose,” Blake teased, the sarcasm evident.

Brandon grinned, and if she’d been any other woman, her breath might have caught. Seriously, the man was freaking gorgeous.

“You’re not particularly verbose yourself,” Brandon said as he sidled up to her. “And yeah, it’s a light day since the rest of the crew is out and since Derek and I are floaters, we don’t get as many appointments.”

“I don’t know why,” Blake said. “You’re both freaking talented.”

Brandon winked while Derek snorted over his client’s arm. “Why, thank you, darling. And it’s not that we’re not talented, it’s that it’s not our job to be the pull for the shop. We’re here to fill in. I get to do my large pieces up in Portland and Seattle, while I come here to try to work on new things and be surprised with walk-ins. It keeps me fresh.”

“If you say so.” She put her hand on Brandon’s chest and pushed him back so she could get out from behind the counter. He moved easily away, not crowding her in the slightest. That’s what she liked about these guys—none of them ever made her feel uncomfortable. They didn’t treat her like the little woman or someone they could bang in the back because she was there. They respected her and actually talked to her like a human being. She’d worked in places where she had to fight off unwanted attention daily, and had even broken a few fingers on her way out the door. She never wanted to be put in that position again.

And yeah, things could have been different if she’d gone into the family business and stayed with the people who had raised her to be nothing more than a pawn, but she hadn’t, so she’d learned to be who she needed to be. Montgomery Ink would allow her to find another part of herself because while she would never fully relax, she could at least breathe somewhat easier around those she worked with and just…create. Just…be.

She hadn’t been able to do either in a long time. But Rowan needed her to be strong, to be whole, and Blake would do anything to make that happen.

“Do you want to take the next walk-in?” Brandon asked as he went back to his station and picked up a sketchbook. “I just finished a small ankle piece while you were in the back, and Derek here is working, as you can see.”

Derek looked up from his piece and blinked. “Yeah, Blake, take the next one. And while you’re at it, why don’t you tell Brandon here about the hockey game.”

Blake stiffened before she realized it and forced herself to relax. No, she would not think about Graham’s lips or the forceful way he’d taken control of the kiss, of her. Damn it, she hadn’t wanted that, hadn’t wanted him. And if she kept telling herself that, then one day she might just believe it.

“Oooh,” Brandon crooned with a wicked gleam in his eyes. “Oh, really? A hockey game? And what happened at the hockey game?” He put his fingers to his temple. “Oh, wait! I know. Did you make out with Mr. Tall, Bearded, and Broody on the Kiss Cam? Because, darling, if I wasn’t already seeing a woman, I’d jump him. Just saying. I’m an equal opportunist.”

Putting aside the fact that now she had very, very dirty images of Graham and Brandon in her head, she rubbed a hand down her face. “I didn’t make out with him. And how the hell did you find out?”

“You’re viral, baby.” He held out his phone, and Blake could actually feel the blood leaving her face.

“What? No. That can’t be true.” She scrambled up and snatched the cell from him. He’d opened Facebook to a saved link that showed a Kiss Me Beardy video. “They named it?”

“Of course, they did,” Derek said dryly. “They make everything viral now. Like that alligator that’s the size of a truck down in Florida walking on a golf course that they put to the Jurassic Park theme. That sucker was huge. And yeah, you and Graham making out like that all sweaty and panting on the Kiss Cam made the news. Don’t worry, since you don’t have social media, it won’t bother you, but the shop already has a few hits on Twitter, and I bet Graham’s company page does, too.”

She shook her head, her hands shaking. “I know we can’t take it down, but damn it. I didn’t want this to happen. That freaking Kiss Cam can go straight to hell.”

“You looked like you liked the kiss, Blake,” Brandon said softly. “Didn’t you? Do I need to kick Graham’s ass for you? He’s bigger than me, but I can probably get him if I take him out at the knees.”

“I’d help you, bro,” Derek added.

“Me, too,” the client said from the chair.

She looked at him and blinked, her eyes burning. “Uh…thank you?”

“Name’s Brody,” the man said, a slight drawl to his voice. “And don’t mention it.”

She swallowed hard and tried to catch her breath. Just because a little kiss had gone viral, didn’t mean it would affect any issues she had already. It was just a kiss. A kiss that had apparently gone around the world. But that was fine. She didn’t do anything wrong.

No one could take Rowan from her because a man had kissed her.

She kept repeating that to herself until her heart finally stopped racing. When she looked up, all three men had worried expressions on their faces and their hands out as if they wanted to touch her but were afraid to spook her.

Great, she’d acted like a freak once again because she couldn’t control everything…anything.

“He didn’t hurt me or anything,” Blake said lamely. “Everyone was chanting at us to kiss, so we did. No harm, no foul. And soon, someone else will be the next shareable video, and no one will remember this.”

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