GARNER

I leaned back and wiped the blood away from my client’s chest. He was a regular, and we were wrapping up his third session for a bad ass tat to represent his time as a firefighter.

I’d done some awesome work before, but I was damn proud of this piece.

Might even enter it into an upcoming contest I’d heard about.

“All done for today, man.” I set my tattoo gun down on the tray and reached for the plastic wrap. “You know what to do. Keep it clean and moisturized for the next few days.”

I’d just started placing the plastic wrap over his new ink when the door to my room flew open.

“Garner, there you are! I’ve been looking all over for you.” Olivia stood in the doorway, her chest heaving like she’d just run a fucking marathon.

I jumped off my stool and rushed over to her. “Hey, baby girl. Everything okay?”

She bit down on her lip and nodded. “We need to talk.”

“Can you give me five, or do you need me now?” Either way, I’d be there for her.

There were few people in my life I’d drop everything for, but Olivia Vale was at the top of the list. We’d grown up right next door to each other in Silver Springs.

When I moved to Mustang Mountain to start working in Priest’s tattoo shop, I’d convinced her to come with me.

We’d even shared a tiny apartment together for the first few months until she got a job as a clerk at town hall.

Fuck, those were the best months of my life.

“Go ahead and finish.” She lifted her hand in an awkward wave. “Hi, Cullen. Sorry to interrupt.”

“No worries. Did you see what your man Garner just did?” Cullen glanced down at his fresh ink.

My gut twisted at the words “your man.” As far as everyone knew, Olivia and I were just friends. Even though we did everything together—well, almost everything—we’d never crossed the line from friendship to more. And it wasn’t because I didn’t want to.

Olivia stepped into the room and looked over my shoulder. “That’s awesome. Garner does absolutely amazing work, doesn’t he?”

I thought it was pretty dope, but hearing the pride in her voice made my chest puff out.

“He sure as hell does. The guys on the crew are going to be knocking down your door once they see it,” Cullen said.

“They know where to find me.” I finished applying the wrap to his chest while I tried to ignore how it felt to have Olivia standing directly behind me.

She was close enough I caught a whiff of her new perfume…

the one that smelled like smoked sandalwood and sun-kissed skin. Just a trace of it drove me wild.

Cullen pulled his shirt on and got up out of my chair.

Olivia reached over and ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. “When are you going to come by and see me? Your hair’s getting so long I can almost braid it.”

My heart shriveled as Cullen let out an easy laugh. I had to look away. She had a side gig cutting hair at The Best Little Hair House for fuck’s sake. It shouldn’t matter to me if she was trying to drum up business. But seeing her put her hands on another man shredded me. Always had.

“I’ll be by soon,” Cullen said. “Thanks, Garner. Want me to wait for you up front?”

I grunted out a “yeah” while I peeled off my gloves. Olivia dropped down onto the chair Cullen vacated and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Be back in just a minute,” I told her. With her waiting on me, I had extra incentive to get Cullen out the door as quickly as possible. He scheduled his next appointment, and I marked it down on my calendar. A few seconds later, I was on my way back to her.

“You know you can’t just barge in on me when I’m with a client,” I said, closing the door behind me.

She jumped out of the chair and pulled something from her back pocket. My attention shifted to her thick hips. I’d lost count of how many times I’d fantasized about grabbing hold of her with both hands and easing those sweet hips up and down while she hovered over me.

“Garner? Do you see what I see?” She jabbed at a piece of paper, pulling me out of my X-rated daydream.

I focused on an image of a helicopter. “See what?”

“The logo. I knew I’d seen it before. The logo on the helicopter that rescued Orville is the same as that super pricey resort in Whitefish.” She held out another piece of paper with the Aspen Crest Lodge logo on it. “Why would a resort send a helicopter to rescue Orville?”

“Because it was the right thing to do?” I shook my head. She’d been going on and on about the helicopter for days.

“It can’t be just that. I looked into the resort, and it’s a dead end. Owned by a company that’s owned by another company. I think it might tie into that developer that’s been wreaking havoc on the whole town.” She put a hand on her hip and stared at me.

“You’ve been listening to way too many true crime podcasts, baby girl.” Satisfied her emergency was nothing more than another one of her conspiracy theories, I got to work cleaning up.

But Olivia wouldn’t let it go at that. She grabbed hold of my arm. “What if Ruby and Orville are working with the developer?”

She’d truly gone off the deep end with that one. I put my finger to her lips. “Shh. That’s ridiculous.”

She batted my hand away. “I don’t want to believe it either, but what if it’s true?”

“It can’t be. Ruby and Orville have been up to their ears in helping people around town. She’s the one who lined up financing for Levi’s construction company and the bookstore, and?—”

“And where do you think she got that kind of cash?” Olivia interrupted. “She could be putting on a front while trying to tear things apart on the backend.”

I wouldn’t believe anything bad about Ruby or Orville. They’d welcomed me with open arms when I’d moved to Mustang Mountain. “What would they have to gain from selling out the town?”

“Money? Land? I don’t know. It could be anything.” Olivia’s shoulders sagged. “A lot of people do dumb things for good reasons. You ought to know that better than anyone.”

The reference to my folks hit below the gut, but I wasn’t about to take the time to unpack that at the moment. “I think you’re seeing connections that aren’t there. How about we grab dinner from the cafe and take it back to my place for a movie?”

“I need to get to the bottom of this. That’s the only way I’ll have any peace of mind.” She looked up at me, her brown eyes wide with concern. “Will you help me?”

“Damn, Liv. You really can’t let this go?” I’d seen her get fixated on things before. She was tenacious as hell.

“Please, Garner?”

Fuck. It was the “please” that did it. That and the way she looked at me like I was her personal hero.

“Fine. What do you need me to do?”

She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth for a long beat, like she was nervous to tell me what hare-brained scheme she had up her sleeve this time.

“Just tell me.” I knew it would be whacked, but I was ready. I’d do anything for her, and she sure as hell knew it.

“Spend the weekend at the resort with me?”

That couldn’t be it. Not with the way her brows lifted and she waited for my answer like she was holding her breath. “That’s it?”

“Yeah. I already booked a room. There’s just one other little thing.”

I sensed her one other little thing wouldn’t be little at all. It was bad enough I’d have to spend a whole weekend sharing a room with her and trying to keep my hands to myself. “What is it?”

She took in a deep breath, then let the words out in a rushing exhale. “The resort’s hosting a retreat this weekend. The only way in is to participate. It’s not a big deal. We just have to pretend like we’re married.”

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