Page 70 of Embraced in Ink
“Whatever.”
She knew this Colin wouldn’t always be here. He was still happy and smiley and helpful when he was getting what he wanted.
She was aware of that and knew that because she couldn’t completely cut him out of her professional life, she could be civil. And just because he annoyed her sometimes and was a bit of a dick at other times, didn’t mean that she had to grit her teeth every second of every day.
This version of Colin was easy to get along with, and as they worked for a few hours on the piece, something he didn’t even need to do, she hoped this version of him was here to stay, even though she knew that wouldn’t happen.
The music flowed through her on their final practice, and she skimmed over a part that always tripped her up, and then she was there, living in the moment, just breathing through the music. At the final notes, she set her cello down as well as the bow and stood up, clapping. “Fuck, yeah. That’s how you do it.”
Colin stood up with her, picked her up by the hips, and slung her around.
She pushed at him, rolling her eyes. “I told you, you could do it. Now, who’s the best teacher?”
“That would be me,” she said, laughing. “Seriously, though, thank you. I needed to get out of my head, and playing with someone else really helped.”
Just like when she played with Marcus, even though he said that he wasn’t good enough, he was. She loved playing with him, and it helped work out any kinks she had. Plus, she loved being next to him. She couldn’t wait for him to come over later so she could tell him that to his face.
“You’re amazing.” And then Colin’s hand was on her face, and his lips were on hers.
It took her a moment to realize what the fuck was happening. She was on a high from playing and hadn’t even realized that Colin’s lips were on hers or that it wasn’t Marcus.
She felt oily, but she didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, didn’t want to make him angry, or worse. So, she pushed him away and laughed.
“Stop it,” she said.
“Yeah, let’s not do that,” a voice said from the door. She turned, noticing for the first time that they weren’t alone. And like before, when he’d been in the doorway, and Colin’s hands were on her, he looked pissed.
“Marcus,” she whispered.
She had a feeling it wasn’t going to be easy to explain this time.
It might not be her fault, but it looked like she had hurt him. And she couldn’t fix that.
Chapter 17
Marcus did his best not to believe his first impression. He honest to God knew that Bristol wouldn’t cheat on him.
This had Colin and his fucking asshole face all over it.
But the fact that Colin’s hands were still on Bristol’s face, and her lips were all swollen and shit meant that it was tough for him not to want to murder someone just then.
What did he know? He was only the fiancé that she didn’t fucking love. Bristol pushed Colin off her, and Marcus fisted his hands at his sides. He wasn’t a violent man, and he wasn’t going to turn into one.
“Marcus, I didn’t realize it was so late. We have our date tonight.”
“Seems like,” he said, his voice neutral.
“Hello there,” Colin said, that fucking British accent annoying Marcus to no end. It was like the other man laid it on thick when he was trying to needle him. And that was probably true. Colin was a fucking asshole.
“Colin came by, and I was working, having trouble with that song I talked about. And then we worked together on it, but I finally got it. Finally. That’s great, right?”
Marcus nodded. “Sounds great.”
Colin leaned forward, his eyes bright. “And I guess we got caught up in the moment. You know, music does that. I mean, that’s what happens when two artists get together. Sometimes, the music just overwhelms us.”
“Colin,” Bristol snapped. “The music may have gotten into you, but not me. You ever do that again, I’m going to knee you in the dick.”
Marcus watched Colin’s eyes narrow into daggers, but thankfully, the asshole simply shrugged and put on that fake smile of his. “Sorry about that, love. I guess I did get into the mood.”