Page 17 of Seduced in Ink

It didn’t matter in the end, though. Because he had a feeling that if this whole fake fiancée thing didn’t work out, it would blow up in their faces. And he wasn’t sure what he would do.

He pushed those thoughts from his mind, set down his notebook, and went to the other side of his workshop. He had his blowpipe, and his furnace, and everything else set up. The installation had taken a huge chunk of his savings—at least at first. It had been worth it, though. Not having to rent a space or even leave this property to work was priceless. Because, sometimes, he got an idea in the middle of the night. With the workshop here, he could hype himself up on coffee and get to work.

Even if it was two o’clock in the morning.

Somehow, he’d been able to purchase the land and build the furnace and everything. Not many places would let him do that. But he had been lucky. He’d found a foreclosed building that needed a lot of work and a lot of care, but it had been the perfect price for him.

And, thanks to his career, he had been able to pay it all off. But he had been worried at first that he’d taken too big of a leap.

Now, he was able to work from home, create art, and figure out what pieces he’d like to sell off, which ones he wanted to give as gifts, and others that just ended up on the cutting room shelf.

He never put them on the floor unless they were too large. He had one eight-foot-tall piece that he had namedWheat, that he still wasn’t done with. He had a feeling if he wasn’t careful and didn’t find more inspiration for it, it would stay there forever, taunting him with his failure.

He sighed, looked around at what he needed to do, and shook his head. No art would get done today. He might as well work on his books, sketch some more, or call it a day and catch up on Netflix.

Because for now, work just wasn’t happening.

He headed back into his house and frowned.

He wanted Madison. That was the problem with all of this. He’d wanted her from the moment he saw her. Had fallen for that smile of hers, those curves, the way she laughed with him—and sometimesathim.

He had felt that maybe they could become partners in crime, given their large families. Well, not her family so much as the fact that she was now part of the Montgomerys through Lincoln.

And that counted.

Madison had always been hot as fuck in Aaron’s eyes, even if her mother was a bitch who did her best to degrade and put Madison down whenever she could. Aaron had always had the hots for Madison but had never acted on it. After all, she was off-limits. The fact that she and Lincoln were even allowing this charade at all told him that things were far more dire than he even realized. Or, they were just too surprised by everything, so somehow, this was all happening.

He didn’t know. But in the end, he would do his best to make sure that he didn’t fuck this up. Madison deserved happiness. Even if that wasn’t with him in the long run, he could still do his best to ensure that she didn’t get hurt right now.

He had no idea how to go about that, though. Because he had a feeling that even if he didn’t hurt her directly, her mother would somehow.

He couldn’t fathom how a woman could be so casually cruel, but there it was. And he was going to do his best to make sure that Madison never had to deal with that horror again.

His doorbell rang, and he frowned, thinking who could be at his house after dinner.

He looked down at his phone. No one had called him. He shrugged and made his way to the front door.

He opened it and should have figured who would be there.

Liam, Ethan, and Lincoln made their way inside, pushing past him without even saying a word.

So, this was it. Aaron was either going to get his ass beaten, or they would want details.

And from the glowers on the men’s faces, looks mixed with curiosity, he figured it might be a mix of both.

“Guys.”

“Hi there,” Ethan said, raising a single brow.

“Anything you’d like to tell us?” Liam asked, amusement in his expression. Amusement was good. Amusement meant that he might not get his ass kicked. Right?

“Yes, let’s talk,” Lincoln said.

Aaron met each of their gazes. “What do you want to know? We already talked at the show and earlier today.” He swallowed hard, a little nervous but also not wanting to get into it too much. After all, this was between him and Madison, and no one else.

Okay, so that was a complete lie, considering who was at his door. But he could tell himself that it was just him and Madison. And, in the end, it was just her. He’d do anything to keep from hurting her.

“Why don’t you tell us exactly what you were thinking?” Lincoln said, taking a seat on the couch. The others did the same, taking up positions on different furniture pieces. Aaron stood, feeling like he was on display. He probably deserved it.