Page 83 of Beneath Your Beautiful

“I hired her in June,” I said. “She’s a bartender.”

“A bartender?”

As if on cue, my cell phone rang. “Hey, baby,” I answered, without thinking.

“Hey baby right back at you.”

“Everything okay?”

“Just taking a water break. Someone told me I need to stay hydrated.”

“Someone’s giving you good advice.”

“I always take it too.”

I chuckled. “No you don’t.”

She laughed. “Usually.”

“How many visitors since I last saw you?” Friends were always stopping by to hang out with her—Hailey, Ava, Chris, Brody, Zeke…even her favorite barista delivered coffee. Not to mention Jared and the other tattoo artists popping out for a chat.

“Not so many. I’m almost done.”

“Call me when you finish. I’ll pick you up.”

“Okay,” she said. “Gotta go. Jared’s here to inspect the damage.”

“Not the damage. The masterpiece.”

“I stand corrected.”

“See you soon,” I said.

“Can’t wait.”

When I cut the call, Connor smirked at me. “Holy shit. I can’t believe what I just heard. Killian Vincent, the walking one-night stand, has agirlfriend?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Don’t say that shit in front of her.”

“Whoa. You’re serious about this girl. Is she an MMA fan?”

“No.”

“She’s a bartender. And an artist,” he guessed. “Eden?”

“Don’t fuck this up for me, Connor.”

“You act like I don’t want you to be happy.”

“Why would I think that? Your disappearing acts? The money you stole from me? The lies and the drugs? You have a gift, Connor. You had a scholarship to art school. And you had Ava. You hadeverything. But you threw it all away.”

“I told you. I’m getting my shit together. And I’m going to pay back every cent I owe you.”

I didn’t give a shit about the money. I needed answers. “What were you doing in Miami?”

“Working at a tattoo parlor.”

This wasn’t adding up. Why did he go to Miami when he had a job here? A job he loved. “Why didn’t you call me?”