Page 25 of Ever After Between the Lines (Montgomery Ink Legacy)

Chapter One

KATE

Snow crunched underneath my boots as I made my way down the path. Tiny flakes of snow fell from the sky, as well as from the tall trees above, and I paused for a moment, lifting my face up to the breeze.

It wasn’t too cold, even with the snow. Perhaps it mostly had to do with the two jackets I wore. Not to mention my fleece lined leggings. Even with the slight chill, the world had sung to me in this moment like one of those Disney princesses. It was a good day.

The sun shone brightly through the trees, and I stuck out my tongue to catch a few flakes.

“You do realize how much pollution is in the snow that you’re currently trying to eat, right?” a deep voice said from behind me, and I froze for an instant, my shoulders tightening, my hands fisting at my sides.

I knew that voice. I heard it daily at work. While we didn’t technically work together, we were in the same building. My bosses, the Montgomerys, owned the entire building.

I was the admin for Montgomery security, which wasn’t nearly the work some people thought. No, it was my job to keep the dozen or so full-time employees of Montgomery security on their toes. And frankly, to help keep them safe while they did their job keeping their charges safe.

The voice behind me belong to the newest tattoo artist from Montgomery Ink Legacy.

And every time I heard that voice, my emotions scattered into a thousand different directions. And most of the time I had no idea why.

“I’m not sure I asked you about anything,” I said after a moment, not bothering to turn around.

“Wow. I was just trying to be helpful.”

I turned to look at the bearded man with dark hair that nearly went to his shoulders at this point. He’d let it grow the past year since I had known him and was turning into quite the mountain man.

He had broad shoulders, a thick chest made of pure muscle, and thighs that filled out those jeans perfectly.

I did my best not to notice those thighs. I pulled my gaze back up and looked into his gray eyes and swallowed hard.

“I’ll deal with the pollution to have my happy winter moment, thank you.”

A smile slid over his lips that did something to me and I refused to look at them…for too long. “Enjoy your time pretending you’re in a winter movie with hot cocoa waiting on you and everything.”

“There might actually be cocoa waiting for us, you know.” I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly chilled.

“When our friends said the wedding was going to be in Cherry Creek, I expected the real Cherry Creek. You know, the one in the city. Not where I nearly had to get off the roads trying to get up into the mountains.”

Concern covered his features as he stepped forward. “I told you we could have driven up together. Are you okay? Did something happen?”

And right then and there was why Sawyer always confused me.

I worked with his brother Gus daily. Gus was just as growly, and fiercely protective over his wife, Jennifer.

He also always made sure that I had candy, nuts, or some form of cheese product on my desk.

I liked snacks and was constantly on the move, so I needed the extra energy the way my metabolism worked.

Gus made me laugh, and I felt like I had found a new big brother.

Sawyer did nothing of the kind. We constantly butted heads, and while I knew Sawyer was one of the most brilliant people I’d ever met in my life, sometimes it felt as if he was trying to lord his intelligence over me.

I knew that was on me. I had a complex when it came to smart men.

Even those who only thought they were smart.

The problem was Sawyer was brilliant. I was good at what I did and excelled at patterns and keeping a place like Montgomery Security on track.

But my dyslexia made some things a chore. And sometimes it felt like I wasn’t good enough. Like I didn’t deserve to be there. And here Sawyer was, effortlessly brilliant and always right. Even if he didn’t mean to be.

Like the fact that he had offered to drive us both up to this wedding between our mutual friends. I had gone to college with the bride, and Sawyer knew the groom from his previous job in the academic world.

Going from an actual nuclear physicist to a tattoo artist was quite the journey, but as I had seen Sawyer’s work, his arc deserved to be showcased.

And his brain couldn’t help but fire at a thousand percent.

“I’m fine.” I winced. “Okay, I’m fine now. It was a little harrowing at the corner of that pass, but the ice wasn’t too bad.”

Sawyer moved forward, gripping my arms. “Are you seriously okay? Damn it. I should have insisted we drive together.”

I shook my head. “If you had insisted, I would’ve rather walked.”

Sawyer rolled his eyes. “Well, at least we’re both in agreement you’re stubborn as hell.”

I pushed at him so he would let me go and gestured toward the main lodge.

While this place was also called Cherry Creek, it wasn’t the high end shopping area with condos.

No, this place was all about luxury in a scenic setting.

It was your typical mountain lodge with a large lobby to the fireplace and comfortable overstuffed seating.

And apparently all the rooms on the first floor had private hot tubs.

My room had not been ready yet when I checked in, as I had wanted to get there early knowing that driving was going to be an issue for me, so the person manning the front desk, Cameron, was storing my luggage.

Since Sawyer was also out on a walk without his belongings, I assumed the same had happened for him.

“Why don’t we just head inside and see if our rooms are ready?” I asked.

“I don’t know why you’re being so grumpy with me.” He knew exactly why I was grumpy with him. But I didn’t want to think about that right then.

“Sawyer. It’s going to be a long wedding if you’re going to be like this.”

His eyes danced, as he gestured us toward the small bridge that hovered over the frozen creek.

“What is it?” I asked, holding back a laugh.

“It’s our thing.”

I looked down at the bridge, then up at him, my heart racing. “How is standing on a bridge our thing?”

He leaned forward and brushed my hair behind my ear, making me realize my hat was starting to fall off. “I kissed you for the first time on the bridge in Estes Park. Do remember that?” he asked.

I swallowed hard, my hands once again fisting at my sides.

Because I wasn’t stressed that he was here. Wasn’t tense that I would have to be near him all weekend. No, I stiffened and did my best not to reach out because it was all I could do not to reach out to him.

Because in the year since we had met, I was slowly falling in love with Sawyer. The dorky, yet brooding, annoying, yet selfless man who was so talented at everything he did it sometimes annoyed the hell out of me.

And it was our secret.

“Nobody knows the two of us in real life, you know. At least not here. We can be whoever we need to be.”

I finally unclenched my fists and did the one thing I had wanted to do since I had heard that deep growl of a voice. I put my hands on his chest before lifting to my tiptoes.

“That’s more like it.” He pressed his lips to mine, and I was once again lost. He tasted of the hot chocolate I knew he had scored from the lodge before he had taken this walk. And I slid my tongue against his, relishing in everything about him.

Secretly dating the tattoo artist next door for months wasn’t easy.

Especially when your bosses were in security and secrets for a living.

But for once, I wanted something to just be for myself.

So when Sawyer had kissed me for the first time, and then teased that it should be just between us, I had agreed.

I slid my arms up around his neck, pulling him closer to me.

His hands moved to my backside, squeezing as he pulled me against him.

Even through my multiple layers, I could feel the heat of him, the strength.

It was so hard not to want him in public, but I liked having this one piece of myself that was just for me.

Because while I love the Montgomerys and all of our friends, everybody was constantly in each other’s business.

I had grown up as the little rich girl in a small town where everybody followed each and every step I took.

They knew what I wore and too often, they would comment if my favorite milkshake of choice would change.

And every single busybody mother would want to know exactly who I had a crush on and who I was dating.

If I rode too quickly on my bicycle, or went too fast over a speed bump when I had been able to drive, the entire town knew.

And they judged. There were no secrets at all. No privacy.

Even though I didn’t live there, they still put my happenings in the town newsletter. Because the town was too small for a whole paper, but it was still a gossip column, complete with new sightings, bear issues, sales at the general store, and Kate’s Mistakes.

It didn’t matter that I lived in one of the largest cities in the United States now, they still dug into my personal life.

When I had broken up with my longtime boyfriend before working at Montgomery Security, it had been breaking news.

My mother and sisters encouraged it. Because the more I was seen about, the more they were.

They relished in the limelight, and I wanted to hide.

As it was, it was hard enough to make sure that so-called helpful former neighbors didn’t accidentally hurt my business.

Because the Montgomerys were in charge of secrets, and my past was the exact opposite.

Sawyer been my secret surprise and was perfect on multiple levels.

Even though a small part of me wanted to shout it to the world.

He pulled away after moments, both of our breaths coming in pants. “We should head inside.” His voice was low, full of promise. I nearly pressed my thighs together at the vibrations alone.

“Yes, our rooms should be ready soon.”