Page 46 of Restless Ink

Everyone looked at her, wide-eyed. “Seriously?” Landon asked, standing between Ryan and Abby. She didn’t know him all that well, but he was part of the family now since the Montgomerys tended to adopt friends.

“What?” she asked, her smile real this time. “It was once, I was tired, something was mislabeled. I was young, what can I say?”

“It takes all kinds,” Shea said, shaking her head. “No one ate it, right?”

“No, I caught it in time. What about yours?”

Shea looked over at her husband and smiled wide. “What do you say, baby?”

Shep winced. “I didn’t want to make her feel bad. It was…interesting.”

“True love,” Ryan said after they all stopped laughing. “It makes you do interesting things.”

Thea wondered if Ryan had ever been in love and realized that she didn’t know much about him. She didn’t know much about many of the people in her sibling’s lives. She’d spent so much time working on her business, and was about to put even more into it, that she’d lost sight of others. She leaned into Dimitri’s side as the others talked, with the two older kids running around them, laughing. Abby’s daughter had fallen asleep soon after Dimitri had held her since it was past her nap time. Thea took in all of it, realizing that if the loan paperwork went through, she would have to put more effort into finding a balance between work and life. She’d thought she was doing pretty well, but now that she looked around, she knew that she hadn’t done as good of a job as she could have.

The fact that she was here with a man, someone she cared about who she could easily see herself falling for was a step in the right direction.

She just hoped she didn’t ruin it all once things got busy again. She didn’t know how she’d juggle everything, but she’d try.

She had to.

Chapter 18

By the time dinner was over and they headed back to Thea’s house, she had a headache but wasn’t down for the count yet.

“You did so well with them.”

Dimitri grinned at her as he set down his keys next to hers. She tried not to get a weird feeling about that, how well his things looked next to hers, but she couldn’t help thinking about what would come next—and not just for that night.

“Really?” he asked. “Because I was sweating there for a few minutes when your dad sipped his wine and stared at me over the glass. He didn’t ask what my intentions were with you, but he was damn close with the whole plans and school thing.”

Thea winced. “Sorry about that. At least you had an answer.”

They both went to her couch, taking seats next to each other so they were touching but still able to speak to one another easily.

“An answer I’m not that happy with. The whole administration there is changing, and it’s making it hard for me to work without showing my ink. You know?”

She traced her fingers down the dark trees on his forearm. She’d always loved that ink, and it was a shame that he had to hide it during the day when he hadn’t had to before.

“Maybe things will change.”

“I’m not quitting. The kids need me and, frankly, I need them.” He cupped her face. “And I don’t want to move to a different school district. If I did, well, I’d have to move away from those I care about.”

She swallowed hard. “Like Captain.”

He smiled softly. “If I left, I’d take him with me. If I had to go, though, I wouldn’t be able to take you with me. Your life is here. Your family. Your work. You’ve put your heart into it, your life, and I can’t take that away from you.”

Her heart raced. “I can’t be the only reason you’re staying, Dimitri. I can’t handle that pressure.”

His thumb traced her cheek. “I’d never do that to you. That’s my roundabout way of telling you that you’re important to me and that I care about you. That I want to keep doing what we’re doing and seeing who we can be together.” He leaned forward and kissed her lips so softly that it was barely a whisper. “You’re important to me, Thea. You’re…you’re so much.”

Her heart clutched at the words, and not because he hadn’t said the three most wanted to hear. Neither of them was ready for that kind of declaration yet. The one he’d just made, however, was precisely what she needed, what she’d never thought she could have. Not with him, anyway. It had always been a dream, a far-fetched idea when it came to finding someone she could care about. And then Dimitri had shown up out of nowhere, even though he’d always been there, and her world shifted off its axis.

She leaned forward and kissed him harder, wanting him, needing him, craving him. “I want you in my life, too. This was a big step tonight, and I think you surprised them. You surprised me.”

“Oh, yeah?” He bit her lower lip, and she shivered.

“Yeah.”