1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Nine

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  Age was just a number.

  It was the heart and experience of a person that made things work.

  Hailey didn’t have her soul mate, didn’t have that person who would help her find the better Hailey. She only had herself and her drive to keep going. That had to count for something. And she would not be jealous of Callie.

  Just because Callie had met the man she was meant to be with and the man actually felt the same way about it didn’t mean that Hailey wouldn’t.

  Of course, Hailey felt like she had already met that man, but that was neither here nor there. That man didn’t want her so it was all water under the bridge anyway. What mattered at the moment was Callie and her tears, not whatever the hell was going on in Hailey’s head.

  Hailey pushed thoughts of sexy tattooed men who didn’t want her out of her mind and went around the counter to put her arms around Callie.

  “Honey, what’s wrong?”

  “I’m happy,” Callie hiccupped. “Oh, God. I’m only in my first trimester and the hormones are getting me. How is that possible? I thought the tears and mood swings came in the third trimester and then right after the baby came.”

  Hailey kissed the top of Callie’s dark hair and sighed. “I think it depends on the person. I’ve never been pregnant before so I don’t know. You can ask Sierra or Meghan, though.” Sierra was Austin’s wife and Meghan was his sister. The two women were also part of Hailey’s and Callie’s inner circle. “They’ve been through all of this before. Meghan twice in fact. And who knows, with the way she and Luc are trying, she could get pregnant any day now and only be a couple months behind you.”

  “That would be nice,” Callie said as she sniffed. The other woman wiped her face with the extra napkins Hailey had handed her and sighed. “This is crazy. I came in here because I love you and because, hello, coffee, and now I’m all weepy.”

  “Welcome to being pregnant.” Hailey may not have firsthand experience with pregnancy, but the treatments she’d had in the past caused similar hormonal fluctuations. One minute she’d be happy, smiling away, the next, sobbing uncontrollably before moving on to a rage she’d never felt before. The drugs might technically be out of her system, but if she wasn’t careful, sometimes, she still went through those mood swings.

  Hailey had kept her previous diagnosis and past hidden, so she couldn’t tell Callie any of that. She didn’t know why she hadn’t spoken of it before. Well, she knew a little bit. Once someone said the word cancer, she would be stuck with the label for the rest of her life.

  She wouldn’t be Hailey, the woman with the platinum-blonde bob and red lips.

  She wouldn’t be Hailey, café owner and businesswoman.

  She wouldn’t be Hailey, the woman with secrets who had a connection to the sexy man next door, which no one spoke of but everyone knew existed.

  She would become Hailey, breast cancer survivor.

  Hailey, not whole.

  Hailey, not fully a woman.

  She mentally slapped herself. It had been how long, and she was still feeling this way? It had been years since the surgeries, the treatments. She was cancer free. Enough time had passed that she was cancer free, not just in remission.

  Hailey wasn’t the same woman she was before, but in all honesty, who was the same person they were at age twenty?

  She needed to push that aside and worry about Callie right then. One day soon, she would tell the girls about her cancer. She hadn’t known them when she was sick, but keeping secrets like this wore on her. Plus, she wanted to make sure the girls were taking care of themselves. She’d been young when she was diagnosed, way too young for that type of illness, and yet she’d had to go through everything that came with it. She didn’t want her friends to face the same things she had.

  No one deserved that.

  “I’m happy,” Callie said again, this time her eyes clear of tears. “And Morgan is going to freak when he finds out that I cried today. Because even if you don’t say anything. He’ll know. He’s just that good.”

  Hailey kissed her friend’s cheek and let out a laugh. “It’s because he loves you.”

  Oh, to be loved like that. Unconditionally. To know that someone could see deep inside and know every emotion, and take the time—and care enough—to cradle that feeling…

  Hailey was indeed jealous, but it didn’t matter. Callie deserved all of that and more.

  All of her friends did.

  “He does love me, doesn’t he?” Callie said with a smile. “Okay, now that I’ve gotten coffee out of you and cried on your shoulder, I’m going back to the shop to work like I said I would.” She let out a sigh. “Another reason I’m in here early is that Morgan had a super early appointment. The call was with someone in another time zone. I hate being at home alone. So thank you for being you and letting me ramble. The guys and Maya should be into the shop a bit later. I’ll send them over since those brownies look to die for.”

  Hailey grinned. “They are absolutely amazing. I taste-tested one this morning. For business purposes, of course.”

  “How you keep your curves looking like a fifties pinup and taste all of your sweets is beyond me.”

  Hailey snorted. “It takes a lot of yoga and running to keep me in the shape I am, thank you very much. And you’re like the size of one of my legs, so shut up.”

  Callie rolled her eyes then bounced toward Montgomery Ink. Hailey loved the fact that there was a door between the two shops. When Hailey had first opened her shop four years ago, she’d been intimidated by the very broody, bearded, tattooed men next door. And then there was Maya.

  The tattoo artist and middle Montgomery girl was a force to be reckoned with—all ink, piercings, and attitude. So, of course, Hailey became friends with her right away. Contrary to her feelings about being next door to people she hadn’t quite understood at first, she fell in love with their connections, attitudes, and sense of family. They were loud when they wanted to be, quiet and respectful at other times. They partied when they felt like it and threw small gatherings other times. They weren’t rough and tough to the point where she ever felt scared to be around them. Others might be assholes and judge the Montgomerys on their ink—and yes, their kink—but Hailey had found her soulmates. Her family.

  She didn’t have a family of her own so it was nice to be adopted into theirs, welcomed into their open arms. Though the door between the shops had been there before she bought the place, the Montgomerys hadn’t used it with the prior owner— a prim and proper older woman who had no time for tattoos and ruffians.

  Seriously. Her words.

  Now the door was never locked, and the Montgomerys and their crew could come in and out of Taboo when they wanted food and caffeine. Hailey went over there often, as well, with trays of goodies and sometimes empty-handed just to see the beautiful artwork.

  She was still a blank canvas, but knew she eventually wanted ink of her own.

  One day she would be brave enough to ask for it.

  It wasn’t the ink she was afraid of, wasn’t the needles. God knew she’d seen enough of those in her life thanks to chemo, radiation, and the countless tests and treatments.

  No, it was the person she wanted to do her ink.

  While Maya, Austin, and Callie would bend over backward to help her with her tattoo and the nerves that came with it, she didn’t want them to do it. She had someone else in mind.

  Someone she was afraid to talk to for fear of what would spill out.

  Someone who didn’t care for her as she cared for him.

  Hailey’s phone buzzed and she sighed. Today was a day for melancholy thoughts, apparently. She turned off the timer on her phone then went to the front of the café to flip the sign to Open while unlocking the door. Two of her morning regulars, men in business suits, who had the courtesy to get off their phones before they walked into the shop, smiled at her.

  “Good morning, gentlemen,” she said with a smile. “Your usuals?”

  “You know it,” one s
aid.

  “Of course,” the other one added in.

  She smiled widely then went back to her counter to get their drinks and pastries. Soon her help would be there to work the register so she wouldn’t be alone. The crisp morning air had filtered in with the brief opening and closing of the door, and as she worked quickly, she knew today would be a good day.

  Any day she could do what she loved would be a better day than the last.

  By the time Corrine came in and took over the front station, Hailey was already buzzing with the adrenaline of a morning rush. There was nothing like earning a living doing something she loved. The brownies were a hit, and the first batch she’d set out was soon gone. Normally, she would have saved them for the afternoon crowd so customers would eat her bagels and other morning delights, but she didn’t have the heart to hide them in the back. Nor did she have the will.

  She’d have eaten the whole batch and gained all that weight Callie had joked about. Lying on the kitchen floor in a sugar coma wasn’t the best way to run a bakery.

  The morning passed by quickly, and soon, Hailey found herself in a slight lull. After talking to Corrine, she made a tray of pastries and to-go cups of coffee—each one individualized for someone special. She wasn’t sure exactly who was working today over at Montgomery Ink, but she knew at least the main people would be there, and she was familiar with their drink of choice. Even if she made extra, nothing would go to waste. Austin and Maya would make sure of that.

  Hailey made her way through the door and held back a sigh at the sound of needles buzzing and the deep voices of those speaking. She loved Montgomery Ink. It was part of her home.

  “Caffeine! I want to have your babies. Can I have your babies, sexy momma?” Maya asked as she cradled her coffee and cheese pastry.

  Hailey snorted. “Are you talking to me or the coffee?”

  Maya blinked up at her, the ring in her brow glittering under the lights. “Yes.”

  Hailey just shook her head and handed off a drink to Austin, who bussed a kiss on her cheek. His beard tickled her, and once again, she wanted to bow down at Sierra’s feet in jealousy. Seriously, the man was hot. All the Montgomerys were.

  Soon she found herself with only one drink on her tray along with a single cherry and cream cheese pastry.

  His favorite.

  Behind Maya’s work area sat another station.

  Sloane Gordon’s.

  All six-foot-four, two hundred something pounds of muscle covered in ink, his light brown skin accented perfectly by the designs. The man was sex. All sex. Sloane had shaved his head years ago. She was convinced he kept it shaved just to turn her on. He kept his beard trimmed, but that and the bald head apparently jump-started a new kink in her.

  Who knew?

  He was a decade older than Hailey, and though he didn’t speak of it, she knew he’d been through war, battle, and heartbreak.

  And she loved him.

  Only he didn’t see her. He never took a step toward her. He also looked as if he were ready to growl at her presence most of the time.

  Much like he did now.

  “Thought you’d forgotten me,” he said, his voice low and gruff.

  She shook her head then raised her chin. “No, I have yours here.” After she had handed him his drink and pastry, careful not to brush her fingers along his, she glanced down at his client, who was in the middle of getting his back done.

  While Sloane looked dangerous and battle worn, this guy looked gentler, but not soft in the slightest. His hair was longer on top and flopped down over his forehead and into his eyes, but the sides had been clipped short. He had a short beard and a smile that looked as if it came easily. His green eyes sparkled, and Hailey could only smile back.

  “Hello there,” he drawled.

  Oh, my. A southern accent—just a hint of drawl but not too much. If she hadn’t been in the presence of the one man her body and soul had chosen for her, she might have gone weak in the knees at the sound of it.

  “Hi,” she said back, well aware that Sloane was staring daggers at her.

  “What’s your name?” the stranger asked. “I’m Brody.”

  “Hi, Brody. I’m Hailey. I own Taboo next door.”

  His smile widened, showing a bit of dimple. “I’ve walked by there a few times, but now I know I need to go inside.”

  She shook her head on a laugh. “I see. You scent my baked goods and now you’ll come inside.”

  “It wasn’t your baked goods that made me want to step inside.”

  What was she doing? Flirting with another man in front of Sloane like this? And why did she care? He wasn’t hers. He never would be. She would never have Sloane Gordon in her life beyond a few curt words and grunts of thanks. She was young, healthy, and alive. She should be able to flirt whenever she wanted.

  Determined not to look at Sloane, or notice how quiet it had gotten within Montgomery Ink, she tilted her head and put her hand on her hip.

  “Really?” she asked.

  “Really. How about I come over after I get this done and have a bit of sugar to keep me going?”

  She laughed, throwing her head back. “Oh, honey, that was a terrible line, but you are welcome to come over. I’ll give you a bit of…sugar.” She winked then turned toward the door, adding a little sway to her hips as she left.

  She might not be able to have the man she wanted, but she could still be free.

  She wasn’t the same woman she’d been before the cancer destroyed her body and soul, but she was still Hailey Monroe.

  Strong.

  Alive.

  And annoyingly single.

  Maybe it was time to do something about that. Sloane or no Sloane.

  Chapter Two

  Sloane Gordon forced his foot off the pedal and carefully, oh-so-carefully, set the tattoo gun on his counter. Permanently maiming the little fucker in his chair was bad for business. Plus, he didn’t feel like going to jail for harming the shit. Sloane already looked like someone who had spent a few years behind bars—even if he hadn’t. He didn’t need to perpetuate the image.

  But the man in front of him was this close to getting his ass kicked.

  Who the fuck wore their hair like that? This kid looked like he was in a boy band and should be bouncing around on stage as teenage girls screamed his name. Sure, Brody looked to be around Hailey’s age and was a little bigger in muscle than the kids who sang about lost loves and being theirs forever, but it was the principle of the matter.

  No man should hit on a woman while she was working. Especially not when said woman was Hailey Monroe.

  Sloane’s Hailey.

  Only she wasn’t his. Contrary to popular belief, he’d never been with Hailey—though he’d thought about it. Often. He’d never held her in his arms, never cupped her cheek and felt the softness of her skin—because damn it, it would be soft. It just looked it. Soft and warm and perfect.

  Hailey Monroe wasn’t Sloane’s, and he needed to get control of himself.

  The two of them had a connection from the very first time they saw each other, but he’d never claimed her. Not that she was his to claim and all, but he’d stayed back. He knew she wasn’t for him, or rather, he wasn’t for her. So he’d done the best thing possible and stayed away.

  That didn’t mean he was okay with some new guy with too much product in his hair hitting on her. Of course, Sloane hadn’t missed the way Hailey had flirted right back. She’d even moved her hips just enough while walking away to let them all know she was aware of being watched.

  What the hell was up with that?

  In the few years they’d been circling each other yet never moving closer, he hadn’t once seen her go on a date, hadn’t seen her flirt with another man beyond a wink or two. Those winks, he knew, were just her personality. But he wanted them all.

  He was a selfish bastard and he didn’t want her flirting with Brody. He didn’t want to see her with another man period, especially not one she’d flirted with rig
ht in front of him.

  What kind of man did that make Sloane?

  He wanted her, but he couldn’t be with her so he wouldn’t let others be with her either.

  He wasn’t sure he liked that man, but hell, he couldn’t stop himself. He could say he’d always been this way, but that would be a lie. He’d never reacted this way to another man around Hailey. But she’d never flirted back either. Sure, Griffin had joked about things with Hailey and she’d smiled in the past, but Griffin would never have crossed the line. Now he was with Autumn and no longer a concern when it came to Hailey.

  There was an unwritten rule that Hailey was his, and he needed to figure out what he was going to do about it. He knew he didn’t have the right to do anything about it, but that didn’t stop him from dreaming, from wondering.

  He looked up from his hands and into Austin Montgomery’s eyes. His boss raised a brow and looked worried. Sloane couldn’t blame the other man. He wasn’t quite sure what he was going to do. It wasn’t Brody’s fault that he’d stepped into something even Sloane didn’t understand. That didn’t mean Sloane was going to make it easy on the kid.

  Sloane and Hailey had a dance of sorts that had been going on since day one. They’d get slightly closer, but then one or the other would back away. They’d talk about everything and nothing at the same time. She always left him the best cookies and made sure he was fed and taken care of no matter what. He always made sure she was safe, never letting her walk to her car out in the back parking lot alone. At social functions where they were together in a large group, they usually sat next to or near one another. They never touched, but they made sure they were always in the vicinity of each other.

  The others knew that there was something between him and Hailey. Hell, the guys and Maya razzed him about it more often than not. It wasn’t that Sloane was never going to make a move; it was that he wanted to make sure it was the right time for that move.