Page 30 of Ever After Between the Lines (Montgomery Ink Legacy)

He pressed a kiss to my temple, and then headed out as we had planned. We might work in the same building, but we had different hours. And he needed to head home to pick up a few things anyway.

I knew I would be sitting in Nick’s chair for a while, so I made sure I wore a comfortable outfit for work.

I was the admin for Montgomery Security, but I was also on my feet often.

While I helped with scheduling and being the face for customers when Noah wasn’t, I also had to go to certain client sites with the team.

Sometimes they needed an extra set of eyes, or somebody to work with the person who needed security.

My job had turned into a jack-of-all-trades, and I loved it.

I loved constantly being in motion, even when sometimes it was just my mind.

So I put on flowing linen pants and a cute top, and boots that somehow still worked with the outfit. I could wear jeans if I wanted, most of the team did, but I was in the mood to feel a little more flowy. And my arms would be free for whenever I was ready for my tattoo appointment.

The perks of working where I did was that I got discounts at the coffee shop, the art house, and the tattoo shop. Not a huge discount because we wanted to make sure people made their money, but enough that it didn’t hurt my bank account if I wanted one of the best tattoo artists in the country.

Part of me knew I should have waited for Sawyer to do my piece, but he could do the next one. The fact that he was thinking about the future made me smile. Because he was thinking we would be near one another at that point.

Or perhaps I was the one overthinking .

I pushed all thoughts of that from my mind however and told myself that I just needed to focus on work.

Not on the fact that I had a feeling that Sawyer didn’t love me.

It had been all fun and games when we had been hiding, and now we were out in the open, and things felt different.

I stopped by Latte on the Rocks to pick up the coffee order for the team and smiled at Raven.

Raven was married to Sebastian who also worked at the tattoo shop next door.

The fact that most of the people that worked in these buildings were either Montgomerys or dating or married to one should probably worry me.

But in reality, it just meant that people cared for each other, and they actually got along.

That wasn’t the case with most businesses.

We were all professional, and yet I knew that if I needed help, every single one of these people would drop what they were doing to help me.

Just like I would do the same for them. I might not be dating a Montgomery, but I was part of the family. Warmth spread through me at that thought before I looked over at Sawyer’s face.

“It sounds like a full house today,” Raven said as she handed over the two containers of drink orders as well as a bakery order.

I rolled my eyes. “We have a group meeting before our big install. And I know there’s a few other things going on that they’re going to need caffeine for. Thank you so much for getting it out ahead of time.”

“It’s what we do. Do want some help?”

“No, I’ve got it. You have thick handles on your bakery bags, so they don’t dig into the skin.”

Raven grinned. “That was a huge issue we had with our first bags. We had needed to go cheaper at first, even though it was still good quality, but they dug into our palms too much.”

“I appreciate it.”

But before I could pick up the bags in question, a familiar voice stopped me. “I’m here anyway. So you are going to have to deal with my help.”

I turned as Gus moved toward me, and a bright smile slid over my face.

“I thought you were coming in late this morning?” I asked.

I looked up at the clock and was grateful that I hadn’t been too late despite my extracurricular activities with Sawyer that morning.

I just wasn’t as early as I usually liked.

“Things worked out with the sitter quite well. Thankfully Jennifer and I will both be there. I saw you coming in here and I know we have a full house so therefore you probably would have your hands full. So I’m here to help.”

“You’re the best, Gus,” Raven said as she beamed up at him.

Sawyer’s brother just shrugged. “I’m really excited about whatever’s in that big bag, so it’s a purely selfish thing.”

I snorted and let him help me gather the immense order as we headed out the door and toward our offices.

It wasn’t that long of walk, and I was grateful that the café shared the same building. Although with the delicious baked goods and the scent that always permeated the air, sometimes it wasn’t the best thing in the world.

“So, how’s Sawyer?” Gus asked.

I rolled my eyes. “You are not even going to try for subtle, are you?”

Noah opened the door for us as we walked inside, and Gus just chuckled.

“Of course not. But I haven’t seen my brother recently because he’s been a little busy with someone else.”

“Jealous, are you?” Jennifer asked her husband as she took the bags from my hands. “You smell delicious. I’m so glad that Greer and Raven moved in.”

“The best decision the Montgomerys ever made was allowing my place to pop up,” Ford said as he moved forward as well.

Noah, Ford, Daisy, Kane, and Kingston were all of the Montgomerys who owned the business. Aria had also been part of it, but had been bought out so she could pursue her photography business.

Hugh, Gus, Jennifer, as well as ten other contract workers, all worked full-time. And I was the admin that had to organize them somehow.

I loved it.

“We are very spoiled,” Daisy said with a grin. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek, and her husband just rolled his eyes.

“You say that but then our daughter always expects the same baked goods that we have. She’s going to end up with a cavity.”

“That’s when you have them brush their teeth. It’s called parenting,” Noah said, and I laughed as Hugh grumbled something, and everybody sat down with their baked goods and copies, and we began our first meeting of the day.

“Kate, can you come out to the Henderson property?” Ford asked.

I looked at my tablet and schedule and nodded. “In three days’ time, right?”

“Yes. It’s going to be a lot more complicated than what I really wanted but we’re going to need someone there to placate him. And since Noah can’t be there, I need you to do it.”

I snorted. “So I get to be the one in harm’s way of his attitude?”

“Hell no. If he’s an asshole to you, we don’t take the job,” Ford said precisely.

I nodded. “That’s good to know.”

“We don’t need to take a job that treats us like shit.

We have a waiting list as it is,” Daisy said with a shrug.

“The client wants us to go over everything twice, so he touches every step. Which might be fine in some cases, but instead, it feels as if he doesn’t trust us.

And everything takes three times as long.

It makes me feel like a jerk for getting annoyed, to be honest.”

“I don’t mind at all. Plus I get to learn more.”

“Thinking of getting your license?” Jennifer asked.

I shook my head. “No thank you. I like the paperwork part much more.”

“That’s like music to my ears,” Noah said with a laugh.

I joined in as the rest of the team made fun of him, and I sat back in my chair, taking as many notes as I could.

I loved this job. I wasn’t treated like a second level person just because I wasn’t out in the field often.

I wasn’t in charge of high-risk situations, and I didn’t do installs and I wasn’t a bodyguard.

By the time we were done with our meeting, I was ready to start the day, so I answered a few phone calls and got down to work.

Lunch passed quickly. I ate my salad at my desk, the amount of chipotle ranch dressing on it was probably illegal, and was surprised when my alarm went off.

“Yeah, it’s tattoo time,” Daisy said, clapping her hands. “If you’re still over there when we’re working, come on over to see it. If not, I’ll stop by on our way out. I can’t wait to see the art. Nick is so good.”

“And yet Nick has never done a tattoo for you,” he said dryly.

Daisy rolled her eyes. “Do you know how many tattoo artists are in my family? I have to get to all of them for at least two rounds before I can get to a non-family member. It’s a process.”

“Is there a list I should know about?” I asked, honestly curious.

“Yes actually. We each have it written down, at least for our own ink. I’m pretty sure Leif has one for every single person in the family. I don’t even want to think about it.” She gave a mock shudder, and I laughed.

“I’m going to go drop off a few things in my car, and then head over. I can’t wait.”

“Actually I need to head out to pick up something I left in the car too. I’ll walk with you,” Gus said.

I frowned at him. “Is there a reason you’re walking with me? I thought we had enough security cameras in the parking lot.” There had been a few issues recently, issues that still gave me nightmares. And I hadn’t even been the one shot at.

“Nothing like that. I just figured since you were going out, I would go with you. And maybe stop by to annoy my brother.”

That made me smile. “That always sounds like a plan.”

We walked to the parking lot and parted ways while I dropped off my things and picked up a bag. And then we made our way back to the shop.

I frowned for a moment as two people walked around back, both of them talking in low tones.

Gus cursed under his breath, but I couldn’t pay attention to him. Not when I realized one of the people was Sawyer.

“Kate,” Gus began, his voice low.

But I ignored him.

Instead I just watched as the woman in front of Sawyer reached up and cupped his face. And Sawyer didn’t move back.

Instead he lowered his head, his hands at his sides, as the two of them stood there in that moment, my heart shattering into a million pieces.

But before I could do anything, before Gus could explain his brother’s actions, I took a step back and must have made a sound.

Because Sawyer’s head shot up, and his gaze met mine.

And I did the one thing that I could do in this moment, when I knew I had been far more wrong than I ever thought possible.

I ran.