Page 3 of Restless Ink

Dimitri moved closer and lowered his head so he could whisper in her ear. She ignored the heat of his breath on her neck. Apparently, she was having an off night if she were even thinking about that at all.

“Your dress is on inside out underneath your coat, you have a broken heel, your hair looks tangled, and your bra is in your purse. Are you sure you’re okay? Did someone attack you? I’ll take you out of here right now and do whatever you need. Just let me help.”

Dear. God.

There had to be a better word than mortification for what slid through her right then. If there were a hole opening up anywhere around her, she’d freely jump into it. She’d forgotten about her damn bra and could now clearly remember the straps dangling from her purse. And because she’d been trying to keep the sheet over herself, she’d put on her dress incorrectly, and hadn’t noticed because she just wanted out of Roger’s place.

Could this night get any worse?

She shouldn’t even tempt the fates with that question. She just hoped they hadn’t heard her think it.

She wrapped her jacket tighter around her body, willing herself not to cry from sheer mortification.

Thea closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m fine, Dimitri. Embarrassed as hell, but I’m okay.” She cleared her throat. “I was on a date.”

Dimitri leaned back, eyes wide for an instant before he smiled. “Okay, then.”

“Not really okay since he was an asshole and I regret it, hence the ice cream. But I’ll be fine. He didn’t hurt me or anything. Just bruised my pride.”

“I can still beat him up for your pride.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure Shep would do that for me, too.”

“You tell your brother about your sex life?”

Thea winced and looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was around to overhear. Thankfully, at this time of night, they were alone. That was when she noticed the basket by Dimitri’s side full of meats and veggies. Not the typical bachelor fare since she knew he liked to cook and eat healthily. And considering the way he looked, that food did him well.

Okay, enough of that.

“That’s just wrong, but on that note, I’m going to get my ice cream, the full-fat kind because fuck this night, and head home. Thanks for checking on me, though, Dimitri. It was sweet.”

“Sweet.” Dimitri shook his head. “Thanks for that. You know guys hate that word.”

“Some guys do, but you don’t because you’re not a misogynist prick like some men who won’t be named. Anyway, ‘night, Dimitri.”

He gave her a look, but she waved like a lunatic and grabbed the first two pints of ice cream she saw once she opened the door. Thankfully, both had chocolate in them, so she was good. She left him standing there and felt a little bad about it, but things were awkward between them now thanks to Molly, and Thea was already feeling weird as hell with the whole dress, bra, and shoe thing.

As she limped to the self-checkout—since she’d be damned if she let some night clerk get a good look at her outfit—she prayed that no one else she knew walked into the store. It was enough that she apparently looked as if she’d been assaulted. Though it was nice to know there were good people out there like Dimitri, who actually cared enough to ask if she was okay.

That had to count for something.

By the time she had her ice cream in a bag, and she was limping out the sliding glass doors, her body hurt from walking in a broken heel, and she just wanted to get home. But, apparently, the fateshadheard her thoughts earlier, because when she got to her car, she let out a watery curse.

“Fuck this,” she whispered. “Fuck all of this.”

The front driver’s side tire was completely flat, and since she didn’t see any obvious slashes or holes, that meant it had to be a slow leak. She was exhausted, her ice cream was melting even though it was fucking cold outside, and all she wanted to do was go home. But, apparently, that wasn’t going to happen.

She had two options: change it herself since she knew how to do it and had before, or call her brother-in-law, Carter to come and help. He was a mechanic, and since he’d married her sister, Roxie, he had basically put himself on call for any Montgomery vehicle needs. She really didn’t want to bother him, though, since he and Roxie were working so many hours these days, so that meant, broken heel and all, she was going to have to change her damn tire herself.

This fucking night.

With a sigh, she opened her car door, tossed her purse and ice cream onto the passenger seat, and went to the trunk to open the back so she could get the spare and everything she’d need to change the tire. It wasn’t going to be easy in her dress, but she’d get it done.

“Tonight is just not your night, is it?”

She whirled around, tire iron in hand, then let out a shaky breath when she realized it was Dimitri standing behind her. She hadn’t even realized he was parked two spaces away since she hadn’t been looking for his car.

“You scared the crap out of me.” She put her hand to her chest and slowly lowered the tire iron.

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