"And in case you're worried about him, don't be," Hailey put in. "He's a good guy, and not one of those creeps who is good at pretending to be good." She paused. "But if you're serious about finding something new and fun, Brody might be the perfect guy for that."
Holly stared at her friends, confused and a little worried. When she'd talked about adventure and being different if only for a moment, she hadn't been thinking of a man.
But for some reason, she couldn't get Brody out of her head.
And that could be dangerous.
Chapter Two
Brody Deacon strolled into Montgomery Ink and couldn't help but smile. The buzzing sounds of the machines and artists at work soothed him. He'd been in one of the chairs in this room countless times before for all of his ink, and he knew he'd be in them again soon. Each person tattooed differently, and while some clients wanted the same artist to do every tattoo on them, Brody was a little different.
He liked the way the people in this room had created his artwork as a team. They each had their own strengths and weaknesses and made sure he got the best of the best. It helped that the crew at Montgomery Ink was some of the most talented artists in the country.
The owners, Austin and Maya, were sought out around the world and had waiting lists years long. He was damn lucky he'd been able to get work done at all.
Today, however, he wasn't there for a tattoo. He'd taken his day off to help out the crew since they'd given him so much of themselves while laying the ink on his skin.
"You're here," Maya called out. "It's about damn time."
He rolled his eyes and leaned down to kiss her cheek. She glared at him, but he saw her mouth twitch. "I think your new slogan should be 'It's about damn time' since I hear you say it so often."
She flipped him off. The other artists in the room-Austin, Callie, Derek, Brandon, Blake, and Sloane-laughed.
"He's got you pegged," Austin said with a grin.
"Just watch yourself, Brody," Callie warned, her smile wide. "She packs a punch."
"I'd stand up to her, but she'd probably hit me," Blake put in. "And then Graham would get all angry if I showed up with a black eye."
Maya flipped them all off using both hands before laughing. Being smart, Derek, Brandon, and Sloane remained silent. When Maya went on a tear, it was best to proceed as you would if you met a bear in the woods. Look nonthreatening and act like you weren't there before slowly backing away.
Or were you supposed to look big and powerful against a bear?
Maybe play dead?
Hell, he didn't remember anymore and made a mental note to check that out later.
Maya snapped her fingers in front of his face, and he blinked, his mind coming back to the present and not the long, winding journey it had just gone down. "You there, Brody?"
"I'm here, darling. Just tell me where you want me."
"One day, Jake and Border are going to kick your ass," Austin said, his arms folded over his large chest. The man was big, bearded, and had once been more growly than not. Thankfully, marriage and kids had calmed him down some. Some.
"Maya's husbands could probably take me, honestly," Brody joked. Maya had married not one, but two big, bearded men, and Brody figured it took both of them to handle her. Not that she needed handling since she was a strong, confident woman and all that. Great. Now he sounded like a sexist prick when he hadn't meant to. Albeit in his own head.
Hell, his mind kept going down weird paths. Maybe he'd had too much coffee.
Or maybe he was a little rattled from meeting the sweet blonde next door not once, but twice that day.
"They could," Maya said cheerily. "But then again, so could I. Anyway, Alex sent over some of the photos he took of you and your ink at the gym. I figured we could go through them and see what else we need before we make it a book. Alex would be here, but he and Tabby had a weekend getaway planned."
Alex was Maya and Austin's younger brother and a photographer. He was also Brody's friend and workout partner at their gym. Since there were eight Montgomerys locally, and about a thousand others around the state, he figured it wasn't all that uncommon to become friends with one of them.
"Sounds good to me." He followed Maya to the front of the shop waiting area after she'd picked up her laptop.
"I thought we'd sit here rather than in the small office. I have a slight break between clients, and these leather couches are comfy."
He smiled and took a seat next to her. "Want me to load them up?"
She glared but handed over her laptop. "This is in no way an admission to any failure on my part when it comes to computers."
"Sure, honey, whatever you say," Derek crooned. Apparently, the other man wasn't going to pretend Maya was a bear in the wild, after all.
Maya flipped the other man off without looking at him and glared at Brody. "Have anything to say?"
"Not a word." He quickly booted up the computer, and thankfully, she'd left the window open so he didn't have to search her email or anything.
The two of them went over the photos together, and he couldn't help but admire Alex's work. Yeah, it was weird as hell to look at photos of his own body over and over again, but the work that had been put into his ink, as well as the photos themselves, were flat out amazing.
"You guys are good," he murmured.
"The best."
Not shy, that Maya. And he wouldn't know what to do with her if she were.
Though there was a shy woman he wanted to know more. And since, apparently, Holly knew the Montgomery crew, he might as well ask about her. "So, what do you know about Holly?"
Maya froze. "Holly? My friend, and Jake's ex?"
Well, shit. That's how he knew the name. Jake had once dated Holly before he'd fallen in love with Border and Maya. This could get tricky.
"Never mind," he said quickly, but Maya glared.
"Brody."
"It's nothing, Maya." And it would be nothing because a guy didn't fuck with exes. Ever.
"She's single," Maya put in. "And sweet. And caring. And Jake doesn't hold a torch for her if that's what you're worried about."
He was the one to glare now. "It's fine, Maya."
"Sure," she agreed. "And that's why Holly is walking this way right now."
His eyes widened, and he turned quickly in his chair, none of his usual smoothness in evidence. "Hey," he croaked and stood up so he was facing her.
Holly smiled at him and gave Maya a small wave. "Is the bike thing still on the table?"
Surprised and knowing the entire room was watching him, he nodded slowly. "Yeah. If you want."
She rolled her shoulders, looking like she was preparing herself. Hell, he liked her spine that was for sure. "Well, I'd like to. You know. Ride your bike. If you still want to."
He grinned then, aware Maya was right behind him, probably staring daggers … or smiling like a cat with a canary. He honestly wasn't sure which.
"I think I can do that. Tonight okay with you?"
She let out a breath. "Okay." She shook herself. "Yes. And thank you. I think … I think this is going to be fun."
"Darling, this is going to be more than fun." They exchanged numbers with a promise for him to call her later. Then Holly waved at everyone before scurrying back to the café.
Brody looked down at her number on his phone and let out a breath. He'd just told himself he wasn't going to do this but, apparently, he didn't have the strength to actually hold himself to that.
Derek strolled up to stand in front of him as Maya studied his profile. "You okay?" his friend asked.
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"
Maya just gave him a look.
Brody stuck his phone in his pocket and glared at the lot of them, annoyed now. "What? I'm not going to hurt her. Hell. She said she wanted to go on a ride and I'm going to give it to her." He groaned as Maya's glare intensified. "Not that way, damn it. I'm not a fucking asshole. I don't hurt women."
"Good, because Jake will hurt you if you hurt her," Derek put in.
Brody cursed. "I thought you said he was over her," he told Maya.
Maya raised her chin. "Of course, he is. But she's his friend. She's my friend. So don't fuck with her."
"I don't fuck with women," he growled. "You know what? I think I'm done for the day. I don't know what gave you guys the impression that I'm some kind of abuser who goes through women like candy, but whatever. I'm not a bad guy."
He just didn't date seriously and didn't stay with one woman for long. But everyone knew that going in, and no one walked away hurt. It was best that way, damn it. The only way he knew how.
"We didn't say you were," Derek put in. "But Holly's nice."
And he wasn't? Well, fuck all of them. Without another word, Brody stalked out of the shop, annoyed with himself for even getting in this situation. He'd fucked up once in the shop by asking out Hailey. But honestly, he'd done that only to make Sloane aware that others were looking at the sexy baker next door. Sloane and Hailey were married, and Sloane didn't threaten to beat him down daily anymore.
But now, he was apparently fucking up again by getting in a sticky situation he wasn't sure about.