Love Restored (6 page)

“I just…I can’t…argh!” She sat down in her seat and folded her arms over her breasts, mumbling something about evil beards and assholes.

Well, he couldn’t really negate either of those things where he was concerned.

“I take it Austin gave you his other two tickets,” Blake said, her attention on the ice in front of her.

Graham nodded, then remembered she probably couldn’t see him since she was pointedly not looking at him. “Yeah, he gave them to Owen.”

“You two done yet?”  Owen asked then, leaning over Graham as he did so. “Hello again, Blake.” His younger brother smiled, and Graham barely resisted the urge to punch him since he was so close. Barely.

She turned then and glared at Graham before smiling at Owen, though he could see the slightly manic edge to it. “Hi, Owen. This is Derek. He works at the shop with us.” She tilted her head at her date and scowled. “Though I might kill him later, so Austin and Maya might be out another floater artist.”

Derek laughed but tilted his chin toward them. “Hey, nice to meet you. You’re Jake’s brothers right?”

They both nodded.

“Cool. I don’t get to stay in Denver much since I work most of the year up in Seattle, but I know Jake. You ready to see if the Avs can actually win this time?”

Graham winced as the people behind him mumbled their displeasure. “They’re gonna win, damn it. There isn’t another option. And watch your mouth, Seattle boy.”

Derek just grinned. “I’m an Avs fan at heart, Gallagher.”

Blake looked between them, a gleam in her eyes that he didn’t like. “Avs fans, are you? Hmm…”

Yeah, he really didn’t like the sound of that.

When the game started, and the Avs took the ice, Graham kept his attention on the players rather than the very sexy woman beside him. His team needed his head to be in the game and not on Blake’s curves. And, yes, he might be a little superstitious, but whatever.

At the face off, Toronto took possession of the puck, and Blake let out a little cheer—not loud enough for others to hear, but just those on either side of her.

Holy hell, had Austin sent a traitor into their midst? A freaking
Toronto
fan at a home game for the Avalanche? What the hell was that Montgomery thinking?

He growled at her as she quietly cheered the first Maple Leaf goal and met Derek’s eyes. Why the hell was the other man laughing? Couldn’t he see that Blake was cheering for the wrong team? She lived in freaking Denver for God’s sake, and considering that her family’s ancestral home was here, she had to be a native. And yet, she cheered for
Toronto
? It was as if she were trying to annoy him.

After the first period, he got up, his hands fisting at his sides. “I need another beer.”

Owen, who had been quiet the entire time since he was apparently answering emails on his phone, looked up. “Grab me a soda, will you? I need some caffeine, and since I’m driving us home, I’ll let you drink.” He winked toward Blake. “I think you’re going to need alcohol tonight.”

Graham grunted and stomped his way through the aisle and up the stairs so he could get a beer. Since everyone and their mother got up during intermission, he’d have to wait in line, but maybe that would help him cool off. He was just so freaking pissed that she would dare root for another team. And that made no sense. Why could she get under his skin so easily?

“Hey, Graham, wait up,” Derek said as he jogged up behind him. “I don’t know what you did to piss Blake off, but I should probably let you know she’d rooting for Toronto just to needle you.”

Graham turned. “Excuse me?”

He must have looked like he wanted to rip someone’s arm off because a few people moved back in the line and Derek held up his hands.

“She’s a diehard Avs fan. Even owns a signed Sakic jersey and keeps a spare she can wear during games. The signed one only comes out during the playoffs. It’s got to be killing her to root for the other team, and it must be because of you.”

That little witch. “How do you know it’s not because of you?” he asked, intrigued and pissed off all at the same time that she would do something like that.

“Because we’re friends, not close ones, but friends. This isn’t a date or anything, just to let you know. I think she’s single, but since my girlfriend up in Seattle would skin me if I even dared to look at Blake that way, I’m just fine as I am. Anyway, I thought you should know that she’s just trying to piss you off. Bro code and all that.”

Graham clenched his teeth. “Bro code.” He ordered his beer, Owen’s soda, and paid for Derek and Blake’s drinks since Derek had been so helpful.

“What are you going to do about Blake?” Derek asked as they made their way back to the entrance and showed their tickets.

“Don’t know yet.” And that was the problem. He never knew about anything where it came to this woman. She could intrigue him, turn him on, and piss him off all in the span of ten minutes. That had to be a record.

He handed Owen his drink and sat back down, studying Blake as he did so.

“What?” she asked, brows raised.

“Nothing,” he said softly. “Not yet anyway.”

She blinked and opened her mouth to say something, then froze as people started to chant, “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” around them.

Graham slowly looked up at the huge screen on top of the ice and cursed. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

Blake laughed. “No way. No fucking way.”

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

He was pretty sure Owen was yelling the loudest, and Graham was going to have to kick his brother’s ass when this was over.

“Fuck it,” Graham growled and gripped the back of Blake’s head and crushed his mouth to hers. They both froze a moment as cheers erupted around them before he sank deeper into the kiss. He didn’t open his mouth, wouldn’t let his tongue touch hers, but the moment of lips against lips left him breathless.

He pulled back, his eyes wide, Blake’s even wider.

“What the hell was that?” Blake gasped, her cheeks slashed with red.

“I…” He cleared his throat. “Just watch the game. And you can cheer for your precious Avs. Don’t hurt yourself going for Toronto.”

He turned away from her and gulped half his beer down in one go. He could feel Blake’s eyes on him before she turned away, and see her hands shaking out of the corner of his eye.

“Dude,” Owen whispered. “This is going to be fun.”

“Fuck you,” Graham growled and drank the last of his beer.

He didn’t know what had come over him, but that had to be the last of it. There was no way he was going to go there. If he were this unraveled and tense at the same time with just one kiss, with just one look, he wouldn’t make it if he had her in his arms. In his bed.

Blake wasn’t for him, and damn it, he didn’t want her to be.

The Kiss Cam could go straight to hell.

Blake looked at the needle in her hand and held back a smile. The two women beside her weren’t quite arguing, but they sure weren’t agreeing with one another either.

“I really think nipples would be the best thing,” the blonde one named Linda said smoothly.

“I was thinking more like the nose,” Natalie, the brunette answered back just as smoothly. She waved her hand toward Blake and the other person in the room. “And can you not say nipples like that around our daughter.”

Alisha, the daughter in question, smiled widely, the light brown of her skin shining under the harsh lights of the piercing room. “I know what nipples are, Mom, geez.” She rolled her eyes in a way that reminded Blake of Rowan. Apparently, thirteen-year-old girls had the same thing down as her ten-year-old.

Natalie sighed and ran her hand over her face. She looked much like her daughter Alisha, though while Alisha wore her hair natural, Natalie had hers in braids. Linda, also Alisha’s mother, had paler skin than Blake, and the three of them together were one gorgeous family.

Blake cleared her throat. “Okay, how about we pierce Alisha’s ears before we decide what we’re piercing on the two of you either today or the next time you come in, hmm?” She said it with a smile, and Alisha giggled.

“Yeah, let this be about me.” Her moms narrowed their eyes, their mouths twitching. “After all, this
is
my thirteenth birthday present, and I’m like the
only
girl in the entire school who hasn’t had her ears pierced yet. I mean, come on, you don’t want me to be picked on, do you?” She fluttered her eyelashes, and Blake did her best to keep a straight face.

“Butter wouldn’t melt in your mouth now, would it?” Linda asked dryly. “And Alisha, darling, you were the one who wanted to wait to get your ears pierced. We would have done it earlier.”

Alisha blushed. “Uh…”

“Yeah, uh…” Natalie said with a snort. “But you’re right, today is about you. We can discuss what parts of us we’ll pierce later.”

Blake couldn’t help it, she laughed. The other three women in the small room looked at her before joining in. “I’m sorry, I tried not to laugh, but you guys are adorable.” She shook her head and bumped her hip against Alisha’s, though the child sat on the table. “Anyway, I can do the ears quickly, and then we can discuss what you guys want.”

Linda smiled softly. “Thanks. I know we could have gone to the mall or some small place to get her ears done, but I’d rather someone who isn’t a few years older than Alisha do it. I mean, they must train those people with the little guns and all, but I want my baby to have the best.”

“Mom…” Alisha sighed the sigh of a thousand embarrassed teenagers, and Blake bit her lip to keep from smiling. She really liked this family.

“No problem,” Blake said once she could keep her face neutral yet calming. “Many of those places
do
have certified people, but I get the reason for coming here. I don’t let my friends get second piercings in their ears or anything without my help. I’m picky that way.”

After a few more minutes of discussion about Alisha, she went about getting the little girl’s ears ready. Since this would be her first time, and they weren’t going to gauge or anything, it would be a quick job.

“So,” Blake continued as she worked, “What’s the occasion for the piercings for the two of you? I know the ears for Alisha are for her birthday, but what about you guys?”

Linda and Natalie smiled at one another with so much love that Blake almost felt like a voyeur. The two women held hands and gave identical sighs.

“We had a commitment ceremony before Alisha was born,” Linda explained. “We exchanged rings then, and even though it wasn’t legal, we still considered ourselves married in every sense we could.”

Natalie hip bumped Linda with a grin. “And when it became possible, we had another ceremony and got married for real.” The two of them waved their fingers at Blake, their diamond rings glinting under the lights. “We updated our rings, and this time, Alisha got to be part of the wedding.”

Blake looked down at Alisha, who smiled brightly. “I was the best woman and maid of honor,” the little girl explained.

“And though we have all of that, we still want something that’s just for us,” Natalie added.

“So, for our anniversary, we want to get identical piercings since we got tattoos last time.” Linda laughed. “We, apparently, like marking time with fun things.”

Blake smiled while she quickly pierced Alisha’s ears. The little girl didn’t even gasp, and Blake was happy for it. She knew how to make it as painless as possible.

“All done,” she said softly. “I try to get new ink or a new piercing for special occasions, too,” she added.

“Can I see?” Alisha asked. “I mean my ears, not your tattoos that I can’t already see.”

Blake laughed and nodded. “Sure thing.”

By the time the three of them headed out, Alisha was glowing with her newly pierced years, and her mothers had decided on nipple rings when they came back. Blake couldn’t wait. She seriously loved that family and the way they interacted. It reminded her of herself and Rowan with their sarcasm and private jokes.

She cleaned up her station and stretched her back before going up to the front of the shop to see if there were any more appointments for her. She had a tablet she could have checked, as well, but she liked walking around since it gave her time to clear her head between one client and the next. 

Oddly enough, none of the Montgomerys were in the shop today since they had some family barbeque or something, so the place was relatively quiet. Autumn, their receptionist, was with one of the Montgomerys so she wasn’t there either. In fact, it was only Derek, her, and another floater named Brandon on the schedule today. Even the other two full-time non-Montgomerys were at the barbeque.

If she’d been working with them for longer than a minute, she might have felt slighted at the lack of invite, but she wasn’t their family, and she was just fine being alone. She rolled her neck and took a look at the schedule on the computer.

“Light day,” she commented under her breath.

“Yep,” Brandon said with a smile as he walked up to her. He really was one beautiful man. He’d mentioned once that he was half-Korean, half-Irish, and both of his parents had firmly stamped their presence on his features. Strong cheekbones, dark eyes, and full lips on a smooth face. He’d cut his hair recently because he wanted to impress some woman, so it lay around the top of his head in layered chunks. Part high-end model, part just rolled out of bed. She wasn’t sure she could ever get her hair to look like that, even if she tried.

“So verbose,” Blake teased, the sarcasm evident.

Brandon grinned, and if she’d been any other woman, her breath might have caught. Seriously, the man was freaking gorgeous.

“You’re not particularly verbose yourself,” Brandon said as he sidled up to her. “And yeah, it’s a light day since the rest of the crew is out and since Derek and I are floaters, we don’t get as many appointments.”

“I don’t know why,” Blake said. “You’re both freaking talented.”

Brandon winked while Derek snorted over his client’s arm. “Why, thank you, darling. And it’s not that we’re not talented, it’s that it’s not our job to be the pull for the shop. We’re here to fill in. I get to do my large pieces up in Portland and Seattle, while I come here to try to work on new things and be surprised with walk-ins. It keeps me fresh.”