Inked Persuasion (Montgomery Ink Fort Collins #1) - Carrie Ann Ryan Page 0,44

allowed one cup of coffee to every cup of water. It’s the only way I can function. Otherwise, I start getting jittery.”

Clay just stared at me.

“I’m fine, promise. You can ask the others.”

“It’s true,” Beckett said as he came in and stole the coffee from Clay. “And I know Paige gave this to you on her way to answer the phone, but this is mine now,” Beckett said.

“I cannot believe you just stole that,” I said, standing up from behind my desk.

“Of course, I stole the coffee from the kid. He’s my second. Therefore, it’s my coffee.”

“Clay is near our age,” I said, shaking my head. “He’s older than Paige.”

Clay cleared his throat. “I’m older than you, too,” Clay said, and my eyes widened.

“What?” I asked.

“I had to take a gap year, and then, with the kids, it took me five years to graduate. So, yes, I’m two years older than you.”

Beckett just blinked. “That means you’re only two years younger than me.”

“Yep. So, not a kid. In fact, I’ve raised three kids. Maybe I’ll take that coffee,” Clay said before Beckett took a drink, then grabbed the cup and took a sip himself.

I beamed. “Welcome to the family.”

Clay smiled and shook his head. “You know, Storm introduced me to your family and welcomed me, and it’s been crazy ever since.”

“No, Storm introduced you to his family. Now you’re with the real Montgomerys,” Dad said from behind him, and I winced, shooting a look at Clay, grateful my dad couldn’t see.

Clay gave me a tiny shake of the head, and I was glad to see he understood. I was honestly a little tired of the undercurrents when it came to my dad. And Clay didn’t need to deal with this.

“We have a meeting?” Dad asked.

“Yes, but we’re heading into the conference room for that,” Beckett said, his voice low. He was doing his best to sound professional because we were at work, but I knew he was also angry. Dad kept wanting us to go over every single minute detail, even though we had already done so many times, and it was taking time and effort we didn’t have.

I understood needing to be careful, wanting to be cautious, but it was even grating on my nerves, and I had more patience than Beckett did when it came to our father.

“I thought you liked to meet in offices, said it makes it a little warmer or whatever.”

I shook my head. “There’s a few of us today, and we’ll all be more comfortable around a table rather than standing around my desk.”

“Come on, Mr. Montgomery. I’ll make sure you get the best seat,” Clay said, and my dad shook his head.

“I know where the conference room is. I helped build the damn place, didn’t I?”

I sighed as my dad walked out, Clay behind him.

“I think Clay already needs a raise,” I said.

“I think we all need a drink,” Beckett grumbled.

“I wouldn’t say no to a drink,” I agreed.

Beckett narrowed his eyes as he looked at me. “I don’t know. You look a little tired. Maybe you had too much to drink last night.”

I blinked. “Excuse me?” I asked, keeping my voice light.

“Don’t excuse me. I heard from Paige that you went out last night with Jacob Queen.”

“You heard nothing of the sort,” I said quickly.

“No, he stole my phone to check the weather—or so he said—and saw my text telling you to have a good night. I’m sorry,” Paige said as she elbowed Beckett in the gut.

“I wasn’t stalking, but my baby sister is going out on a date with the man who said he hated her. No, not going to happen.”

I narrowed my eyes at him as I poked him in the chest with my finger. “First off, no, we’re not doing this. You don’t get to go all big brother on me. Second off, we’re at work. We’re not going to do this now. And if you make a scene in front of Dad, I will never forgive you. We’re all dealing with enough right now. You know that. I cannot deal with his anger over his precious baby girl dating someone.”

“So you are dating someone,” he mumbled, and I narrowed my eyes. He held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. Not here. But I reserve the right to hound you later, just like you hound me.”

I shrugged. “Okay, fine. It’s only right that we’re even, I guess.” Not that I’d let him come at me again. I’d place