Page 20 of Mating of Convenience
I shot him a smile. I still wished I could ink him myself, but at least I’d been able to give him a little bit of hope, if nothing else.
And who knew? Maybe by the time Laurence had enough money to splurge on a tattoo, I’d be back in business and able to take him on.
How likely was that to happen, though?
Not very.
Besides, I had a family to save from homelessness before I could daydream about tattooing anyone.
* * *
That day after work,I passed by that same empty storefront again where I’d met Nathan a few days before. I couldn’t help but stop and size it up with my eyes. All it needed was a little paint, the right furnishings, some cool flash in the window and it would make the perfect tattoo studio.
If people wanted to get tattoos in Oceanport. And if I had the money for such a project. If I did…I wouldn’t only be giving people awesome ink, I could also help people like Laurence. I could make a real difference in someone’s life, rather than fucking up as a counselor and probably doing more harm than good. I wasn’t meant for an office job. I was meant to create. My fingers itched just thinking about picking up a tattoo gun again.
But even if I could somehow access my grandmonster’s wealth, there were other things I needed to be doing with that money before I could give in to selfish desires. I shouldn’t stick around in Oceanport either. I had to clear my father’s debts and get out. There had to be some way I could do that.
Nathan’s words came back to me. What if I paid someone to marry me? Just on paper. That would still fulfill my grandma’s requirements, right?
Had I really sunk to that level, though?
I wasn’t sure.
Nathan said the only thing that kept me from doing it was fear. Like I had some sort of marriage-phobia.
That was ridiculous, though. I wasn’t scared of anything. I was just being reasonable. I shouldn’t have to get married just because I was an omega, and nobody could make me.
Mind made up, I turned to leave, when suddenly I was ripped out of my thoughts by the sound of a barking dog. Or rather, several barking dogs. Confused, I turned to see Nathan with an army of dogs in tow. What was he doing walking five dogs? He couldn’t own all of those, could he? He’d always been a little obsessed with his pets but this was a bit much, even for him.
“Nathan!” I called, waving.
His eyes snapped to me and then they widened in surprise as he crossed the street to greet me. Running ahead of him and pulling on his leash was Michel. The one dog out of the bunch that I recognized. “Hey, buddy,” I said, leaning down to scratch the black Labrador behind his ear. “Did you miss me?”
Michel gave a short bark in response and looked up at me expectantly. He wasn’t a young dog anymore, but it was nice to see he still acted like one.
“I think he missed me,” I said, looking up at Nathan. “It’s too bad I don’t have any treats.”
“Give him this.” Nathan fished a small dog biscuit out of his pocket and handed it to me. “I always carry treats.”
“Of course you do. I figure with five dogs, you gotta.” I eyed the fur bundles in front of me, some taller, some smaller, but all super fluffy and cute and begging to be petted.
But still, five dogs?
I seriously hoped Nathan hadn’t resorted to getting four more dogs just to replace me after I left.
“These aren’t all mine, you know?”
I breathed a sigh of relief at those words. Maybe a little too audibly, because Nathan looked at me funny.
“You didn’t really think that, did you? Oh God, you totally did. What would I do with five dogs?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes people get lonely and they do weird things! Sometimesyoudo weird things!” I tried to defend myself even as I fed the treat to a very enthusiastic Michel--which only resulted in all the other dogs standing at attention and wagging their tails at me.
“I didn’t miss youthatmuch,” Nathan insisted, rooting around in his pockets, probably looking for more treats. “I do this for a living now.”
“You walk dogs for a living?” Oops, that probably came out more dismissive than I’d meant. It was just... my friend had always had such high goals that it was sad to see him reduced to a small town’s dedicated dog-walker.
Nathan flushed. “It’s not a bad job. I still get to work with animals, right?”
