Adoring Ink: A Montgomery Ink Novella

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  She just hoped Maya’s husbands, Jake and Border, weren’t there this time. Last time had been humiliating when she’d fallen right on her butt in front of them as they played with baby Noah.

  Her phone buzzed on her way out the door, and she stopped to look at the incoming text.

  Brody: Tomorrow still work for you?

  She bit into her lip as she answered. She might as well keep jumping in. She’d gotten this far. The whole point of him even asking her to do these things was because she’d needed a change. She couldn’t back out now.

  Holly: Yes. Are you going to tell me what we’re doing?

  Brody: It’s a surprise. But bring a swimsuit.

  Holly frowned. A swimsuit. Really? What on earth had she signed up for? And while they might have kissed—a lot—the night before, that didn’t mean she was ready for him to see her in her suit or for her to bare so much skin.

  Brody: I promise I don’t have any evil purposes in mind. You can wear a cover-up if you want.

  She let out a breath. She wanted adventure, right? A change? For things to be…more. So she should just jump right in and say yes.

  Holly: See you then.

  She paused before smiling like a cat who ate the cream. She could do this. She could flirt and be the vixen she knew she had inside, even if she covered it in a cardigan and masked it with a soft smile.

  Holly: And I might not bring a suit with me at all. What if I like to be…bare?

  Brody: I just groaned so loud that the guys in the garage think I’m jerking off under this car. Thanks for that. See you tomorrow, thrill seeker.

  Holly: Tomorrow.

  She tucked her phone back into her bag and got into her car to head to Maya’s. She could be making a huge mistake, but she might as well have fun while doing it.

  Right?

  “I’m going to die,” Maya panted. “Cake had better be worth it.”

  Holly would have answered the other woman, but she could barely breathe.

  “Left foot, right foot, slide. We’re ready for the lunge, squat progression. Luuuuunge, squat progression.”

  “I hate Shaun T.” Maya’s voice was more of a cough, but Holly understood. She hated the man and his perfect abs, too.

  When they got to another move where it was more of a stretch than a cardio workout, Holly sucked in air, knowing her lungs were trying to escape her chest. She could just picture the suckers holding on to her ribcage screaming at her, “Help! We’re being kidnapped!”

  Evil, evil lungs.

  “Why do we do this?” Holly asked. “We’re not even doing this on the right cycle. You’re supposed to work out to this pain-laden monstrosity like six days a week. Twice on Fridays!”

  Maya wobbled in her stretch and glared at the perfectly toned woman on the TV. Shaun T might be the one speaking, but he had four helpers—two of them gorgeous women jumping around in spandex. “Because we’re working our way up to that. The guys are already on the last cycle of this, you know. Border and Jake didn’t even need extra rows on their abs, and yet they’re all sexy and muscly, and they end up sweaty and high on endorphins after the workout.”

  Holly snorted. “So you’re using their workouts for your own kind of workout?”

  Maya grinned. “And let me tell you…we can last a whole lot longer than the twenty-five minutes it takes to do one of these.”

  Holly laughed so hard she tripped over her own feet and ended up on her butt. Again. “Graceful, thy name is Holly,” she mumbled.

  Maya laughed as well before plunking down on the floor. Thankfully, the workout was over, but Holly wasn’t sure she would be able to get up to cheer.

  “Maybe we should have started with a workout that’s a bit easier?” Maya asked before lying down on her back.

  “What would be the fun in that?” Holly wheezed. Somehow, she gained the strength to crawl her way to Maya’s side and lie down next to her. It was easier to speak when she didn’t have to do it over such a long distance. You know, like the two feet that had separated them before.

  “Is this one of the things on your list of thrills? I mean, while I love that you’re stepping out of the box and having fun with it—or at least plan to—I don’t know if my lungs and thighs can take it. Holy God, the man likes squats.”

  Holly rubbed her butt and winced. “I hate squats, but I want a backside like Autumn’s. It’s not fair that she has such a perfect butt.”

  “My brother’s wife is perfect in every way, and I hate her. I mean, I love her and would do anything for her, but she’s just so freaking gorgeous and perfectly taut, it’s annoying.”

  Holly glared over at Maya. “Excuse me, Mrs. All the Right Curves. Don’t talk to me about butts since you have a nice one and mine is flat as a pancake. I can’t even hold up jeans with my derriere. It’s my hips and tummy that do it for me.”

  “My butt is a product of all the cake I ate while pregnant with Noah.” Maya paused. “And damn it. I want cake.”

  Holly’s stomach grumbled. “If it’s that zucchini cake with all the fruit, that could be a post-workout snack.”

  Maya turned and narrowed her eyes. “So we’re just going to ignore the cream cheese frosting?”

  Holly nodded. “We do what we have to do in the name of cake.”

  Maya laughed and rolled herself up. “Ow. My abs hurt, and this wasn’t even the core workout. I’m going to die when we get to that one.”

  “I realize eating cake probably isn’t the best answer for that, but it is an answer.” Holly stood up on shaky legs and grabbed her water bottle. She chugged it down as they walked like baby deer on new legs to the kitchen. Maybe if she filled herself up with water, she wouldn’t eat that much cake. That never actually worked, but whatever. She wanted cake, and damn it, she was going to have some.

  As soon as the two of them sat down on the couch with their average-size slivers of cake, the door opened and in walked the men of Maya’s life.

  Border took one look at them in workout gear, a bit sweaty and gorging on cake, and shook his head. Noah, their eight-month-old, was asleep in his big arms, and Holly sighed at the sight. There was really nothing better than seeing a big, bearded man holding a child. And Maya had two.

  If Holly didn’t love Maya, she could really hate the bitch.

  Jake closed the door behind him and let out a laugh before checking to make sure Noah was still conked out. The kid usually slept through anything, and today was no different.

  “Cake?” Jake asked as he strolled over to his wife, kissing her hard and licking the frosting off her lips.

  Oddly enough, Holly didn’t feel even a tiny spark of jealousy. She was well and truly over Jake. Sure, she might want a man of her own, but Jake was not that man, and never had been.

  “Cake, I’ll have you know, can be healthy.” Holly pointed down at the remnants of hers on her plate. “This one had fiber, dairy, fruit, and vegetables. That’s four major food groups right there.”

  “Sugar…” Jake winked over at her.

  “Are you getting in between me and my cake?” Maya asked. “I mean, you don’t really want to get in between me and my cake, do you?”

  Jake held his hands up. “Damn right, I don’t.”

  “What did we say about cursing in front of Noah?” Border asked as he walked out of the back area where he must have put Noah in his bed for the rest of his nap. “We don’t want him to start saying ‘fuck’ in front of strangers. It’ll be cute the first time, but then people are going to think we’re degenerates.”

  Jake blinked over at him, and Holly held back a laugh. “Baby, we are degenerates. That’s why we have more fun.”

  “Stop cursing in front of the baby,” Maya ordered, pointing at all of them with her fork.

  Holly was the one to hold up her hands this time. “I don’t think I ever curse over here.”

  Jake nodded. “That’s probably right. You’re the good one.”

  Maya grinned. “Not for long. Isn’t that right, Ho
lly-Molly?”

  Holly narrowed her eyes. “What did I say about calling me that?”

  Jake rubbed his hand over Holly’s hair like a big brother would. “Aww, don’t be like that. It’s not our fault the as—buttheads at work couldn’t remember your name.”

  Holly had spent three years working with a bunch of people who constantly mixed up her name. She was pretty sure a few of them still weren’t sure what it was.

  And because she’d been a little shy and way too nice about it, she’d answered to both Holly and Molly for far longer than she should have.

  And, of course, Jake had blabbed about it because it was kind of funny, and her coworkers didn’t mean anything by it.

  Border slapped the back of Jake’s head. “Stop making fun of Holly.”

  Jake frowned. “I’m not.” He looked at her. “Right? I mean, I think it’s a cute name. If I’m being mean, tell me. Okay? I don’t want to hurt you.” A look crossed his face, and she held back a sigh.

  “You didn’t hurt me.” You never did. She kept that last part to herself, though. With a shrug, she set down her plate and stood up so she could walk around the back of the couch to give Jake a hug. “I’m just in a weird mood today. Ignore me.”

  He hugged her back, hard, and she stayed there a moment. Jake always gave the best hugs. She’d missed those when they broke up, but she hadn’t missed him as much as she should have. She wasn’t sure what that said about her other than the fact that she and Jake had been totally wrong for each other.

  When he pulled away, she leaned into the back of the couch and wrapped her arms around her stomach, annoyed with herself for letting her thoughts go in so many different directions.

  Border studied her as he normally did, silent with way too much knowing in his eyes. She knew him the least of the three, and yet, for some reason, she felt like he understood her the best. There was always something about the quiet ones, she guessed.

  “I hear you’re hanging out with Brody,” Jake said casually. Too casually. Darn, the man and his overprotectiveness. After he’d gotten together with Border and Maya, he’d somehow figured that he needed to be a big brother of sorts to Holly. A form of big brother that had seen her naked and done unspeakably hot things to her…but the overprotectiveness was out of control sometimes.

  “Yes. I am.”

  “How did the ride go?” Maya asked, and Holly turned toward the other woman. “What? I can’t help that you marched on over to where he and I were sitting and said yes to his proposal.”

  “He proposed?” Jake barked. “What the hell? You don’t even know him. Unless you’re keeping secrets. Are you keeping secrets?”

  Holly rubbed her temples and counted to ten. “First, no. He didn’t propose. Stop freaking out and use your brain. You’re smarter than this. At least, you were before. Maybe getting it on with two people all the time is wearing you down.”

  At that, Maya laughed hard.

  Border shook his head, his smile wide. “That could be it, you know. Maybe we’ve drained him.”

  Holly winced. “Gross. I don’t need to picture that.” She gave a mock shiver, and Jake rolled his eyes. “Anyway, as I was saying, no, he didn’t propose. Secondly, stop acting like a caveman when it comes to me. You’re not my brother—thank God. If I want to go out with a random guy, I will. I’m an adult.”

  Jake narrowed his eyes. “You’re an adult who happens to be my friend. So, yeah, I’m going to worry about you. We might not be together anymore, but I’m still going to watch out for you.”

  “And you’re saying Brody is someone I need to watch out for?” She wasn’t sure why that annoyed her. Brody had been sweet to her and hadn’t tried for anything more than a kiss. A kiss she was pretty sure she’d started. And after spending so much time with that vibrating motorcycle between her legs and her breasts pressed against his hard back, she was surprised she hadn’t jumped him.

  Holly might be sweet, but she wasn’t that sweet.

  “Brody is a good guy,” Border said in that deep voice of his. “Despite what Jake here is saying, Brody won’t hurt you intentionally. The man flirts with anyone with a pulse, mind you, but I think that’s more to put people at ease.”

  She frowned, not liking where this was going. Was Brody just flirting with her because she was available? That didn’t sound like what she wanted. Of course, she hadn’t wanted a man at all. Everything she was doing was because she wanted to be a little more daring, a little less of the sweet Holly everyone knew. Brody wanted to help with that for some reason, and she had already decided she was going to let him.

  So what if he would have done it for anyone?

  She wasn’t just anyone, she reminded herself. And as long as she knew that, she could go into this with her eyes wide open. She didn’t need a relationship with the man, didn’t need to sleep with him. She just needed to find more of herself.

  And if Brody wanted to help her, then she’d take that freely.

  “Hey,” Jake said as she lifted her chin. “You’re not just anyone,” he whispered, echoing her thoughts.

  “He’s right,” Border added. “You’re not. And though Brody flirts, he doesn’t actually date as much as people think.”

  Holly pulled away. “We’re not dating.”

  Maya frowned but nodded. “Okay, then. So you have nothing to worry about. But if you did date him, know that he’s not the player we made him sound like. He’s a good guy, who puts all of himself into helping others. I don’t know him as much as my brother, Alex, does, but what I do know, I like.” Maya bit her lip, looking nervous. “And I might have made him angry by the way. Brody, not Alex.”

  Holly sighed. “Why? What did you do?”

  Maya picked at a thread on the couch. “I might have told him to be careful with you.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “Because you’re our friend,” Jake answered for his wife. “Sorry. But that’s what we do. We meddle, and we’re overprotective, but it’s because we love you. We’re not going to stand in your way, but we’re going to be behind you.”

  To catch me if I fall, she thought.

  And she wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

  It seemed she wasn’t sure of anything anymore, but when she saw Brody next, she’d have her swimsuit on and find out what his plans were. This was all part of her frayed plan to discover new things about herself. She might as well keep at it.

  She wasn’t sure what would come with that. She didn’t know Brody’s intentions, but maybe, just maybe, that was part of her being daring.

  She would just have to wait and see.

  Again.

  Chapter Four

  There was just something about Holly Rose. Brody wasn’t sure what it was, but it made him want to take too many chances and help her in any way he could. He knew being with a woman like her probably wasn’t the smartest thing for him to do, but he didn’t care. She was the type that needed someone stable, despite the fact that she wanted to throw caution to the wind when it came to the activities he took her on. Just because he was helping her take more risks and do things on her bucket list, didn’t mean he had to get serious about her.

  Because Brody didn’t get serious with women.

  Ever.

  That only led to pain and heartache and expectations that would be dashed and left for dead. He’d seen what happened when people tried to stay together despite the world saying there was no use, and he refused to do that to another person. He refused to be that person.

  He rolled his neck as he pulled into Holly’s driveway behind her car. The small cottage-style house she owned was perfect for her. She was an elementary school teacher with a soft smile and softer cardigans, and the house shone brightly with that character. Even her fledgling flowerbeds in front of the place were lined up right but not too organized—it just looked as if someone with the right amount of care had planted them.

  She was totally out of his league.

  He was a plain mec
hanic with a high school education and the necessary certifications on top of that. He hadn’t been able to afford college when he’d finally ripped himself from the cankerous sore that was his family home, and it wasn’t like he’d been smart enough to get an academic scholarship or good enough at sports to try for an athletic one. He did the only thing he knew how to do in order to keep a roof over his head: he used his hands. He now worked at a decent shop that had good hours and benefits and had made friends along the way, but he still wasn’t the type of man Holly should be hanging around.

  That’s why what they did today might have to be their last outing. He wasn’t sure he was strong enough to hold back when it came to her, but he sure as hell wasn’t good enough for her either.

  She’d said she wanted to try new things and not be the same old Holly; well, he could at least help with that this afternoon. He’d taken her on her first bike ride, and she’d apparently loved it. Today, they’d take his truck up to a place he loved and somewhere he figured she hadn’t been before.

  It wasn’t anywhere dangerous, but it was something different for her.

  At least, he hoped.

  And if somehow this ended up not being the end of it all, he’d have to think harder about the next few times they met. Coming up with new and exciting things would be tricky until he got to know her better. He simply had to be careful not to get too close. That’s how unreasonable expectations occurred and left people hurt in the long run.

  He didn’t want to hurt Holly. That’s why he needed to keep his distance. So, of course, taking her to a place where she’d be in a swimsuit probably wasn’t the greatest idea. Hopefully, she’d wear a one-piece that covered so much of her he wouldn’t think bad thoughts. She tended to wear sweaters and the like, so hopefully her swimsuits would err on the side of caution.