Inked Persuasion (Montgomery Ink Fort Collins #1) - Carrie Ann Ryan Page 0,50

jokingly fought for the check, with Colton stealing the thunder from us in the end, having taken care of it even before we walked in.

“Sorry, I told you before, I’m handling this. Why do you think I needed to make sure I talked to the hostess before we sat down?” he teased.

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to get it next time,” Annabelle said on a laugh and froze ever so slightly in my arms.

I didn’t even think Paige had noticed it, her eyes were so full of love and whatever other emotions filled her as she looked at Colton. But I had noticed that she had accidentally offered us up for another date.

Us, as if we were a real couple and not just keeping it free and easy. We needed to take a step back, figure things out. Or maybe I just needed to get my head out of my ass and walk away.

“Okay, you guys go enjoy your second dessert of the evening,” Paige teased, and Annabelle laughed, her cheeks turning a pretty pink.

“You’re terrible, and I love you.” She kissed her sister’s cheek and then hugged Colton. “It’s nice to truly meet you and get to know you. And remember what I talked about earlier. I will hurt you,” she said, even though she was laughing. I didn’t think it was actually too much of a joke.

“You Montgomerys are vicious,” Colton said and then met my gaze. “Don’t you feel that? Are you ever afraid they’re just going to attack you en masse if you screw up?”

I swallowed hard, doing my best not to look at Paige or Annabelle. “I think Annabelle and I know what we’re doing.”

Annabelle stiffened next to me once again, and I looked over reluctantly as Paige gave me an odd look before blinking it away. “Okay, really, have a good night. We are going to have a good night of our own,” Paige said, laughing as Colton picked her up in the parking lot and carried her like a princess off to their car.

“I would pick you up and carry you, but I’m super full,” I teased.

“Oh, good, because I’m not really into the whole white knight routine.”

Yet she was still watching them, a wistful look on her face. I gave a dramatic sigh, reached down, and picked her up. She let out a yelp and grabbed me around the neck hard enough that I nearly choked.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to pick me up.”

“You think I’m going to allow another man to outmatch me? Hell, he may know food and have connections, but I can act just as chivalrous.”

“Okay, whatever you say, Jacob Queen,” she teased and then leaned her head against my chest as I carried her to my car.

Hell, I was thinking too deeply. I needed to stop. This was wrong. I shouldn’t want this. Shouldn’t want her. But I wasn’t going to stop. I couldn’t. We got into the car and made our way to the house. Annabelle immediately pulled out her phone, frowning.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, taking the ramp to the highway.

“Just looking at emails. One of the permits might not be coming through. Crap.”

“Is that going to be a problem?” I asked, checking my rearview mirror.

“It’s fine, happens all the time. Beckett’s the one who needs to worry about it, same with Paige. However, we’re all on the email loop, including Dad, so now I’m dealing with a hundred different threads. It’s fine. It’s just annoying.” She put her phone down, closed her eyes, and groaned as she leaned against the headrest. “I’m exhausted and full, but tonight was a good night.” She paused for a beat. “I’m sorry Paige was a little bit pushy. Colton, too. But I can’t apologize for him because I don’t really know him all that well.”

“They weren’t pushy.” I paused. “They weren’t that pushy.”

Annabelle snorted. “They want everyone to be as in love and happy as they are. I don’t think they realize that people can have other types of relationships.”

She said the words very carefully, as if she were afraid that I would say something hurtful. Or maybe I just heard things that weren’t there.

I was as jumpy as she was.

“So, are they really in love? Big L and all that?”

Annabelle shrugged, and I glanced over as she looked at her hands. “I’m not sure. We haven’t talked about it. We do have a girls’ evening scheduled, not that we allow ourselves to do that often these