Inked Memories (Montgomery Ink Book 8)

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  “Oh, I know, believe me.”

  “Wes, darling? Are you coming back to finish what we started.”

  Wes could have cursed. Instead, he looked over his shoulder and glared at Sophia. What the fuck was going on?

  Jillian was so quiet for a moment, he was afraid she’d hung up.

  “Jilli?”

  “Oh…uh…I guess you’re busy. I’ll let you go.” She disconnected the call before he could tell her what was going on—not that he actually knew what was going on. He stuffed his phone back into his pocket so he could glare at Sophia.

  “Okay, Sophia. I don’t know what that was, but you wanted to talk? Let’s talk.”

  He hoped he wasn’t making a mistake by letting her have her say because, honestly, he had no idea what he was doing. Jillian wasn’t his, and they had nothing going on except for a kiss that they’d both denied ever happened.

  Sophia, on the other hand, was a woman he had a history with. If she were here for her recovery like she said, he owed it to their past to hear her out.

  And even as he thought that, he knew he was once again probably making a mistake, but he couldn’t help himself. Mistakes were clearly his forte these days. As always.

  Chapter Six

  Jillian had spent a week working so hard on the warehouse project that she hadn’t been able to focus on anything else but her job and her aching muscles. That was the only way she’d been able to keep going after making yet another fool of herself by calling Wes last weekend. Yes, she’d actually needed help with work, but the aching twinge that had occurred when she heard the other woman’s voice just annoyed her.

  Wes Montgomery wasn’t hers. None of the Montgomerys were, and that was how she liked it.

  In fact, she had a date tonight with a nice man. A second date—something she hadn’t had in far too long. So those annoying feelings she’d had in a moment of weakness for a certain Montgomery could go take a flying leap off the top of the warehouse.

  Clark was sweet, if a little too sweet, and seemed like a wonderful man. She’d told Storm the truth: that she wanted to find her own happily ever after. Going out with men on dates was part of that plan. So far, she’d been on four different first dates, but none of them had stuck. The first ones were a little too…boring for her, and there hadn’t been a lick of chemistry. Clark at least had a small spark that could maybe one day turn into the inferno she felt with—

  Nope. Not thinking about him.

  Ever.

  “You doing okay over here?” Storm asked as he walked up to her.

  She nodded and put the rest of her equipment away, knowing it was the end of the workday and the week. The Montgomerys gave their workers weekends off most projects, and for that, many of the crew were grateful. Jillian just liked it because that meant she got to spend more time with her dad.

  “Yep, almost done cleaning up. How about you? Were you sitting on your throne most of the day?” She smiled at that, and Storm gave her the finger.

  She and Everly had gone out and bought a camping chair that was surprisingly comfortable, good for Storm’s back, and easy to get in and out of—something that rarely happened in chairs that could be folded up quickly. It had also come with a folding table that had a nice cup holder and a place for a lamp, and now Storm had his portable office that no one would dare mess with him about. Well, no one other than Jillian and Wes’s family. The rest of the crew wouldn’t dare snicker because they’d heard about how badly Storm had been hurt and knew he was lucky to be alive, let alone walking.

  As for Jillian, well, if she didn’t joke about it, then the bile that constantly coated her tongue would make another appearance, and she’d sob right into the man’s flannel.

  “My throne was quite comfy, and Wes even took a photo of me sitting in it to send to Everly.” He shook his head, a smile playing on his lips. “You guys worry about me too much.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “No, we don’t, actually. We worry about you just enough, and maybe not enough in some cases.”

  “If that’s how you feel,” he hedged. “But, Jillian? I’m not going to fuck up my recovery. I have two boys, a dog, and a woman I love waiting for me to be able to dance and play with them without wincing. I’m not going to lose that because I’m trying to act macho in front of the guys or something.”

  If he’d been any other man, the idea that he could so freely profess his love for another woman in front of her might have hurt, but this was Storm. She could never be jealous of what he and Everly shared. Sure, she could be jealous that she didn’t have it, but never of the fact that she didn’t have Storm himself. The two of them had never loved each other the right way, and the fact that they could be close now proved that. He was one of her best friends, maybe her best friend, and she wouldn’t allow anything to jeopardize that.

  Including getting hung up on his twin.

  “I trust you, but I’ll still mother hen you. It’s in my nature.”

  Storm nodded, his gaze on hers. “How’s your dad?” he asked softly.

  She swallowed hard. “Pretty much the same since you asked the last time. Thanks for coming over and watching the game with him, by the way. He really enjoyed it even if he probably didn’t say so.”

  Storm smiled. “He said so, actually. Next time, he wants me to bring the boys. Everly’s fine with it if you are.”

  She couldn’t help but grin. “Yeah? If you think James and Nathan would enjoy themselves, go for it. He always loved kids, and I think he kind of wishes he’d had more than just me, you know?”

  Storm squeezed her shoulder before taking a step back. They were always careful about how they acted around one another on the job site. It was one thing to remain as close friends as they were with people who understood them, it was another to do so where it could hurt her reputation even more on the jobsite.

  “Your dad had enough on his plate with you, I’d say.”

  She rolled her eyes and bent over to finish cleaning up. “Go home to your babies, Storm. I’m almost done here.”

  He frowned and looked around at the emptying building. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”

  Men.

  “I’m not alone, and probably won’t be the last one here. I’m safe enough with the security you have going on at the gate.” It was a precaution they had at each site after-hours and sometimes during the day, as well. It was just plain smart with so many dangerous and expensive materials going in and out every day.

  “I’ve become a mother hen just like you.”

  “Become?” She shook her head with a laugh. “Storm, honey, you’ve always been a mother hen. Now go before I text Everly that you lifted something you shouldn’t have.”

  He held up his hands in mock surrender and walked out of the room backwards, his eyes dancing with laughter.

  Jillian lifted her large case and headed back to the open main floor area to make sure she’d picked up all her things. With the scope of this project, she had the potential to run herself ragged if she weren’t careful. Thankfully, the company planned to hire another plumber to work with her so she’d be able to delegate.

  An odd sound came from the back corner, and she frowned. And though the light was fading and she knew if she weren’t careful she’d end up in a horror movie of her own, she set her bag down and made her way toward the sound. There were still some people working who nodded at her as she walked past. She returned the gesture as she went to where she’d heard the screech of metal.

  “Hello?” she called out. Okay, so now she was literally living a horror movie.

  “Jilli?”

  She took a step forward at the sound of Wes’s voice and frowned as the sound of screeching metal echoed again, this time a lot closer.

  “Don’t—too late,” Wes growled.

  Her pulse raced, and she turned behind her to see the doors of the service elevator snap shut behind her.

  “Well, fuck,” Wes snapped and pulled her closer to him. Her hand instinctively went
to the hard planes of his chest to steady herself, and she looked up at him, confused.

  “What the hell, Montgomery? What do you think you’re doing?” She tried to pull away, and his hands on her hips tightened for a moment before he let her go.

  “You okay?”

  “I have no idea? What on earth are you doing here, and what happened? Why were you holding me like that?”

  There wasn’t much light in the service elevator since they hadn’t updated it yet and she could barely see him in front of her, but she did catch the slight blush to his cheeks when he answered.

  “I got locked in here, and my phone doesn’t work thanks to the metal of doom surrounding me. I finally got the door open enough for me to get out, and then you walked right in and I couldn’t let you get locked in, as well. So I followed you, intending to pull you out. But then the damn doors shut again.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s like a horror comedy of errors. It’s a little ridiculous.”

  She blinked, not expecting that answer, and turned away from him to study the steel doors blocking their exit. Of course, that only made her think of the fact that there didn’t seem to be an escape route, and they were now in a steel coffin, which was sucking up all the oxygen. Not to mention that the little light they had wasn’t enough for them to study the mechanics of the damn thing. And, of course, she’d left her flashlight and her phone in the bag she’d left outside of the elevator. But if Wes’s phone hadn’t worked before so he could call someone for help, hers probably wouldn’t have either.

  No one would be able to hear them scream.

  “Take a deep breath,” Wes said softly, his arms around her again, keeping her in the present rather than the spiral of doom she knew she was cascading down. “There’s an air hatch on top, so we can breathe all the oxygen we want. It also happens to have a metal plate in the center that makes it hard for people to hear us, but we can get fresh air in here. Just breathe, Jilli. You’re doing fine.”

  Between his words and his arms around her, she could feel herself calming down a bit, and now she was embarrassed. She wasn’t claustrophobic usually, but the memory of the metal doors snapping shut with such alacrity had made her panic slightly.

  “Why do you call me Jilli?” she asked instead.

  “I have no earthly idea.” He chuckled roughly. The heat of his breath along her neck sent shivers down her spine, and she pulled away from him. They were in an odd situation with adrenaline going in too many awkward directions. There was no way she would do something stupid like enjoy being in his arms.

  “We’re only one floor up since the basement has access to this elevator, too. We should be fine, but let’s try to get out of here nonetheless. Okay?” Wes said, his voice calm.

  “Fine by me.” She cleared her throat, ignoring the way Wes’s gaze traveled over her. She hoped it was because he was checking for injuries, but from the heated way he stared, she had a feeling it wasn’t that at all. “How did you get the doors open before? And, wait, I thought we had this checked out. Didn’t we?”

  He cursed under his breath. “Sheer determination and luck got the damn thing open before so we’re going to have to try that again. And as for getting it checked out? Yeah, our inspectors did a full workup on it. Nothing like this registered for them. Everything was up to code, if a bit old. No idea what went wrong, but this is a lawsuit ready to happen.” He gave her a look, and she narrowed her eyes.

  “I’m not going to sue you, Montgomery. And once we get out of here, we’ll just make sure no one gets on it again until someone can see what happened.” She swallowed hard, sounding braver than she felt. Apparently, getting locked in a steel cage with Wes Montgomery was enough to make any woman edgy.

  The elevator shook for a moment, and Jillian froze, her heart racing.

  “We’re fine,” Wes said softly, though she wasn’t sure if he’d spoken for her benefit or for his own just then.

  She swallowed hard and took a deep breath once the elevator had been still for at least sixty seconds. “Um…let’s get out of here.”

  Wes reached for her and tugged her close, their bodies pressed against one another as she tried to control her breathing.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, confused by why he’d pulled her to him. She licked her lips, annoyed with herself for feeling any kind of attraction to him. It had to be the adrenaline of being stuck in a broken service elevator with him. Nothing else made sense.

  “I…uh…” He let her go, shaking his head. “I was just making sure you weren’t too close to the doors in case they opened again.”

  Okay, now that didn’t make any sense, but she let him keep up with that lie since she didn’t want to know what he was really thinking. Everything was already confusing enough without adding whatever was going on with them into the mix.

  “Let’s get to it, then,” she said roughly, stepping away from him.

  He frowned at her for a moment before getting to work on the doors. With the two of them pulling, they managed to at least get it open a couple of inches. However, there was no way she would be putting her hand or anything else through and risk losing it.

  “Hey!” Wes called out. “Anyone still here?” He kept pulling on the door, and she did the same. His phone still didn’t have any service, and she was just about to get worried when the doors snapped open.

  She turned and met Wes’s gaze before gripping his hand and running out of the elevator at full speed. Chest heaving, she went to sit next to her bag and let her head fall between her raised knees.

  “Well…” She swallowed hard. “I wasn’t expecting a panic attack.”

  Wes knelt in front of her, phone in hand. He didn’t reach out and touch her, and for that, she was grateful. She wasn’t sure she could handle that…now or ever.

  “Do you need me to call someone?” He held out a bottle of water, and she took it from him, nodding her thanks.

  “I’ll be fine. It’s not really a panic attack. I just needed to catch my breath since I still don’t know what the hell just happened.”

  He sighed. “That seems to happen to us more often than not these days.”

  She looked up into his eyes and glared. They weren’t supposed to mention what had happened before, and she’d been doing just fine living that way. “Anyway, I need to head out.” She cleared her throat. “I have a date. With Clark.” A second date, in fact, and she never had those.

  Wes’s eyes widened, and he stood from his crouched position, taking a step back. “Ah, well, I’ll stay here and mark off the area before I call our engineer.” He paused. “Have fun tonight.”

  She stood up and patted the dust off her pants. “Thanks. And, well, yay for not dying in an elevator shaft, am I right?”

  He snorted and shook his head. “You’re right about that. You going to be okay driving home?”

  “I’ll be fine. I just got a little overwhelmed for a second once the brevity of the situation hit me, but no worries. Are you going to be okay here alone?”

  Wes shrugged. “I’m here alone all the time. I’m usually the first one on, last one off. It’s sort of my thing.”

  Jillian couldn’t help but smile at that. “You’re more obsessive than I am about your job, and that’s saying something. Anyway, I’m glad you’re okay. I’ll see you next week.”

  With that, she turned on her heel and did her best not to run out of the building.

  Again.

  Chapter Seven

  Wes gripped the steering wheel and tried to figure out just what the hell he was doing. Maybe getting stuck in the elevator just over an hour ago had stolen some of the oxygen from his brain cells and now he was making one poor decision after another.

  After he’d watched Jillian drive away from the jobsite, confident that she would be okay—at least for the evening—he’d done what he said and called their engineer then blocked off the area in case any of his crew showed up before he did in the morning. Knowing his hours, it wasn’t a high probabilit
y, but there was always a chance. Then he’d sent off an email to everyone letting the crew and the Montgomery Inc. staff know what had happened but leaving out mention of Jillian.

  He honestly didn’t know why he’d left her out since if it had been anyone else, he probably would have been specific, but he hadn’t wanted to bring her into it in case some of the crew was like that recently fired idiot, Jeff. In a general memo, he hadn’t needed to name names, but people would have started to gossip about who could have been trapped in the elevator. So, Wes had just put himself in the thing since he had been stuck alone at first. He just failed to mention that he’d trapped himself a second time with Jillian.

  And that was just one more reason he needed to stay away from her because now, he was lying by omission in memos because he was afraid of what might happen if people started gossiping. And there would be gossip if they knew. In his opinion, construction sites were as bad as knitting circles when it came to gossip.

  That should have been the end of his evening other than a cold beer and mindless television. But, of course, he made another mistake right after. As soon as he sent the memo from his tablet and headed to his truck, Sophia had called, wanting to see him. If he’d been in any other mood or hadn’t just been stuck in a confined place with a woman he didn’t want to want, one who clearly felt the same way about him, he might not have said yes.

  Yet, here he was, in his truck, dressed in nice pants and a shirt after taking the quickest shower of his life and idling in a restaurant parking lot instead of doing something else he should be doing.

  Wes looked up at the building in front of him and turned off his engine so he wouldn’t waste gas. He’d been to this place a few times before with his family and once on a date with someone that hadn’t led to anything serious, but that was it. It was a small French restaurant near downtown Denver but just outside it enough that it actually had parking. There was a valet service since the place edged on fancy, but he’d chosen to park in the back and ponder his life choices.