Blake let out a breath and rolled her shoulders back. Time to push those thoughts out of her mind, if only for the day, and get back to work. She couldn’t keep a roof over her daughter’s head if she spent the whole day crying in the back room.
When she walked out of her small piercing room, Derek gave her a long look before going back to work on his client’s sleeve. The problem with making new friends was that they started to feel like they knew you and understood the emotions you wore. She couldn’t tell them about her past, though; it wouldn’t be safe for Rowan. And she couldn’t talk about Graham’s words either because they weren’t hers to share. And while Maya might know the facts, Blake had a feeling Graham had been more open with her than others regarding how it felt to not have his daughter in his life anymore.
So rather than share what she felt, she hid it behind the ice that was her shield and tried to go back to work. She had two piercing clients coming in shortly, and of course, she’d take on any walk-ins with small projects if they came in. As it was a weekend and Rowan was with Mrs. Gonzales for the day before going to a birthday party sleepover, Blake needed to work her ass off to keep her mind on not so important things rather than the ones that could hurt.
When she made it to the front to check out the schedule, the bell above the door rang and she looked up.
Her heart sped up, and she licked her suddenly dry lips.
“Hey,” Graham said as he strolled in behind Maya. “I figured you’d be working today but I wasn’t sure.”
She smiled despite the emotions and thoughts warring inside her. “I didn’t know you were coming in today, or I would have mentioned it.” Not sure what to do with her hands, she gripped the edge of the counter and stayed on the other side of it. She didn’t do relationships and wasn’t sure what exactly was going on between her and Graham. And feelings like this where she felt so out of her skin were just a few of the many reasons why.
He grinned at her intently before leaning over the counter and running his thumb along her jaw. It took everything inside of her not to lean into that touch. When he lowered his head and brushed his lips over hers, she made a little sound that caused Graham to growl.
“Later,” he whispered as he pulled back.
“Later?” she asked, her voice annoyingly breathy.
“How come you don’t say hello to me like that?” Derek asked from his chair, a shit-eating grin on his face.
“Because I’ll castrate you,” Graham growled, though Blake wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not.
To make things clear, Blake sauntered around the counter and moved toward Derek. “Honey, you couldn’t handle me if I said hello to you like that.” She flicked her hair over her shoulder and turned back to Graham, but not before she saw Derek put both hands over his heart and do that cartoon motion where it looked like it was beating.
Graham grinned at her before sliding her hair behind her ear. “Nice.”
“I try,” she drawled. “Anyway, what are you doing here?”
“He’s here for me,” Maya said from behind them. Blake turned to the other woman, who had a hand on her hip, and a curious expression on her face. “And while you might want to go let off some steam with your boyfriend here in the back, we have health codes for a reason.”
“There’s an office,” Derek pointed out. “That should work.”
Graham gripped Blake’s hip, and she forced herself to roll her eyes and not climb him like a freaking tree.
“I’m surprised you said ‘let off some steam,’” Blake said instead. “No cursing?”
Maya flushed and put her hand on her still flat stomach. “The guys and I are going to try not cursing like crazy with the baby coming and all.”
Every single person in the room started laughing—including the clients, who Blake was pretty sure hadn’t known Maya for too long.
“I hate all of you,” Maya growled. “Now, Gallagher, get in the da—chair so I can touch up that shoulder of yours.”
“Nice with the whole not cursing thing,” Derek teased.
“You’re fired,” Maya spat.
“No, I’m not,” Derek sing-songed before going back to work.
Blake sighed before standing straight. She hadn’t noticed that she’d leaned back on Graham’s very hard chest and even harder cock when she’d been listening to Maya. Damn traitorous body of hers.
“You’re getting ink touched up?” Blake asked as she turned to face Graham again.
“Yeah,” Graham said softly, his eyes on hers. “I worked this morning on the site, but since Murphy needs to gripe about a few things, I asked Maya to fit me in if she could. You want to get something to eat once you’re off?”
Though just the mention of the site he worked on threw cold water over her, she felt her head nod in answer. “Okay,” she said since she’d already nodded. “I could eat.”
“Good.” He kissed her again, and Blake did her best to not throw her arms around him.