Chapter 2

Leo

I stood back as my client looked in the mirror, a small smile slowly creeping over her face before it turned into a wide grin.

“I can’t believe it. It doesn’t feel real.” Her voice went a bit breathy as if she’d forgotten I was there and could only stare at the new art on her skin.

“You were a trooper. Barely winced. I can see why you don’t think it feels real.”

She stared at the new art under her breasts, transfixed. She’d wanted a tattoo to showcase her assets— her words—because her mother had recently gotten a bilateral mastectomy, and she wanted to do something for her mom.

I didn’t know what it felt like to have a mother with breast cancer, but I’d met the woman and knew she was damn strong. She had to be to fight the battle she was currently in.

The delicate lace that went in loops under my client’s breasts looked damn impressive if I did say so myself—some of my best work.

We went over the aftercare as her mother wept softly, kissing her daughter’s cheeks. My client kissed the top of her mom’s bald head before they both laughed and burst into tears again, hugging each other.

I smiled, hugged them when they reached out for me, and even shed a tear myself. I didn’t think I was that emotional, but it had been a big day.

“I have the gene, just like Mom, so I know the tattoos might be the only thing left after I make a hard decision someday. So, thank you for making this day perfect for both of us.” She rose on tiptoe, kissed my cheek, then waved as she left, leaving me staring with wide eyes.

“Well, that even choked me up,” Nick said dryly, though I knew he wasn’t lying. The emotions were clear on his face.

I snorted, clearing my throat. “Pretty much, man. I can’t believe she didn’t wince or make a sound during the whole process. But as soon as she saw her mom, she broke out in tears.”

Nick met my gaze, then shrugged. “Makes sense she would. Are you done for the day?”

I looked at my phone and nodded. “Yeah. I said I would meet Caroline in the park. She’s wrangling all the kids on her own today and bringing cold fried chicken as a bribe—not that I need one for family.”

“Cold fried chicken sounds pretty good,” a familiar voice said. Sebastian Montgomery walked in with a bundle strapped to his chest.

The kid was no longer a kid. He was now a single father to the cutest baby girl ever.

Lake pushed past me before I could say anything and plucked her cousin from Sebastian’s arms. “I need some baby time. Thank you.” She winked at Nick, who just shook his head.

“Take your time with that. We’re good being cousins and uncles and aunts right now.”

“Whatever you say.” As the younger Montgomery cleared his throat, she murmured sweet nothings to Sebastian’s daughter.

“Thanks for watching her this afternoon, guys. I have things to do. And, well, Marley’s parents… You know.” He went ashen at the mention of his late wife.

We all stood frozen as awkwardness and pain settled in.

I didn’t know Sebastian that well. Only knew that, technically, he was my boss, even though he wasn’t even twenty yet. He owned the company—or at least had a small stake in it. The plan was that he would buy more into it one day. I didn’t know if that would happen now since he was a teenage dad and a widower to boot. The kid had been through hell and back and hadn’t even been able to truly live yet. I didn’t know how he was functioning. But with the size and heart of his family, I figured he would at least be all right in terms of babysitting and someone to lean on.

Nick leaned forward. “We don’t mind. Lake and I already have the car seat set up in her SUV.”

“Okay, good. Thank you. I’ll just get a few of her things and head out.”

Sebastian nodded at us and then strode past, his gaze lowered and shoulders hunched.

“Jesus,” Nick whispered.

I nodded tightly. “Yeah. But he’s out there. Functioning. At least, it looks like it. So, I guess we let him.”

Nick met my gaze. “You’re right. Go see your sister. Hug her hard for us.”

“Yeah, I think I will.”

I said goodbye and nodded at Tristan as he entered to work the evening shift. The other man was texting at full speed as he walked and nearly ran into me, so I didn’t say anything to him on my way out.

Montgomery Ink Legacy was busy, and most of us had a waiting list, though we did some walk-ins depending on availability. I was lucky I had found my place with the Montgomerys after bouncing from shop to shop since I was seventeen.

When I was younger, my dream had been to work for Austin Montgomery in downtown Denver. But, in the end, working for Austin’s son, Leif, a guy slightly older than me, made more sense. We were all growing in our fields together and figuring out our places.

I was close to my family. And since the Montgomerys put family before everything, I counted that as a win.

I hopped in my truck and drove toward the park. Finding a space was difficult, especially during lunchtime when people came from all over just to relax on the bright sunny day. Still, I finally found one and got out, practically running to where I heard my youngest niece babbling to Caroline.

My sister sat on the blanket, the sun shining on her blond hair as she laughed at something her youngest, Beverly, whispered to her. Her other three daughters—Lane, Willow, and Ashlyn—ran around her, all in sight, playing politely and giggling.

It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.

The fact that my sister sat with her hand over her belly, pregnant with twin boys, made my head spin.

“There she is!” I said, holding up my arms.

“Uncle Leo!” the four girls squealed at the same time.

All of them, between the ages of three and ten, ran to me. I went to my knees to gather them up in my arms, and then we rolled around on the grass as my sister admonished me for the dirt. I ignored her but heard the humor in her voice.

She didn’t care at all. We wouldn’t be in the park if she cared about grass stains .

“If you get them nauseated with all that rolling, you’re cleaning it up,” Caroline teased.

“We’ll be good. Won’t get sick!” Ashlyn screamed in my ear. I winced and then stood, Beverly over my shoulder, Willow and Ashlyn on my legs, and Lane standing beside me, prim and proper.

“Okay, troop, let’s see what help your mom needs.”

“You’re late, so everything is ready to go. We just need to open the containers because I didn’t want bugs in everything.”

“I can smell that chicken, and I can’t wait much longer.” My stomach rumbled, and the girls grinned.

“Uncle Leo’s stomach is growling,” Beverly said pointedly.

“Your Uncle Leo could probably eat an entire chicken on his own. That’s why I brought double what I normally would have.”

I winced at the cost of that. “I’m sorry, Caroline. You should have let me bring something. I would have.”

She waved me off. “You have for the past three picnics in the park. It was our turn. If Alejandro were here to help out, he’d probably eat more than you. But somebody needed to work today. And it wasn’t going to be us.” She winked as she said it, and the love she felt for her husband was clearly etched on her face.

I liked my brother-in-law—loved him, even. He was a great man who adored my sister to no end. And he was a fantastic father. I didn’t know how the two of them handled four kids…soon to be six. But they seemed to do it with ease.

And my favorite part?

I got to be Uncle Leo.

The best title I could ever have.

I sat on the blankets, the girls scrambling over me as they fought a little about who would sit where. My sister moved us around as if she had done it a thousand times. And, honestly, she had. She organized everybody in her life and fit them where she needed them. I usually just followed what she said because she generally had the right idea.

“Chicken!” Willow exclaimed as she clapped, and then we all gorged on potato salad, macaroni salad, fruit salad, veggies with dip, cold fried chicken, cornbread, and cookies.

I was pretty sure we had enough to feed an army, and considering my nieces, we were one. “That was good. Did you make it?”

My sister gave me a look and then threw her head back and laughed.

“You know I didn’t make this. I can do most things, but I cannot fry chicken.”

“I thought Mom taught you the paper bag method.”

“Oh, I can do that part. It’s the frying part. It always freaks me out, and I don’t like so much oil around the kids. I bought our lunch from the grocery store. Sue me.”

“Hey, it was worth your time to buy it rather than make it. I’m just grateful you shared it with me.” I leaned forward and kissed the top of her head.

“You’re a good brother sometimes.”

“Only sometimes?”

She smiled at me. “So, since I’m here baking these two,”—she rubbed her belly—“and my other four are frolicking in the daisies in front of us, I have a question for you.”

Foreboding slid up my spine. It was never a good thing when Caroline had questions.

“What?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“When are you going to settle down, dear brother? Don’t you think it’s time? I see you with the girls. They love you. They’re amazing with you. I only want to make sure you’re happy.”

I looked at her and shook my head, a sad smile playing on my lips. “You know I have fun. I’ll find it when I find it.”

My sister rolled her eyes. “You’re a player. You never lead women on, but you don’t stay with anyone for longer than a night.”

I shrugged. “I’m not ready.”

“Ready for what? Happiness? You don’t need to sleep with every woman in Denver to find your person.”

I groaned. “It’s not every woman.”

“Close enough.”

I sighed. “I’ve watched two of my best friends fall in love recently. And I watched another lose someone he loves.”

Caroline’s face fell. “That poor boy. And now he’s a father? I can’t believe he lost Marley. I can’t believe women can still die in childbirth with all our advances in medicine.” Tears filled my sister’s eyes, and she put both hands over her belly. “It scares me to death. I had four beautiful pregnancies that, yes, had few complications. But twins now? At my age? It’s scary.”

I cursed myself for bringing up Marley. I should not be mentioning a friend who’d died in childbirth to my pregnant sister. There were rules, yet here I was, being an idiot. “I’m sorry. Though before I put my foot in my mouth again, don’t say ‘ at my age. ’ You’re thirty.”

“That’s nearly a geriatric pregnancy. But I understand what you mean. The girls make me feel young and old all at the same time. And, yes, I worry about these babies. Worry that I’m not enough or am doing too much or not enough. That’s what happens when you’re a parent. But I guess all of that was to say I want you to have the same worries.” She laughed, wiping away some tears.

“It would be nice to find the perfect person one day. To have what you have, or what Leif and Nick have with their women. But let’s be honest, you’re doing enough settling down for the both of us.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Excuse me. What do you mean by that?”

“I’m currently looking at my four nieces, and you’re pregnant with two of my nephews. I think that’s enough settling down .”

Caroline rolled her eyes. “Jerk. You deserve to be happy.”

“You’re saying I’m not happy?”

She shook her head. “I’m not saying you have to be married with kids, a picket fence, and all that crap to be happy. But I know you. I know you want to get married and have children because you told me. I’m not projecting on you. Those are your goals and dreams. So, yes, I want you to be happy.”

“Just let me be for a minute.” I leaned forward, kissed her head again, and smiled.

“Leo!”

I turned, that familiar voice echoing in my ears with alarm. I scrambled to my feet as Caroline called her daughters toward her.

Luke ran to me full-out, his eyes wide, but he had a smile on his face.

I looked around, scanning the faces of the adults to see if I recognized anybody. But Luke seemed to be alone. What the hell was Brooke’s kid doing here by himself?

I smiled at him, trying not to look worried before I crouched and swung Luke into my arms. He giggled and wrapped his arms around my shoulder.

“Hi, Leo. How are you?”

“I’m okay. How are you, buddy?”

“I am happy!” He looked over my shoulder. “Hi, Leo’s family. Hi, Leo’s friends. Hi!”

“Hi!” all four of my nieces called at once.

Luke tried to scramble down, but I held him tight .

“Luke? Where’s your mom?” I asked, keeping my voice calm.

“At work, silly.”

I opened my mouth to say more before a shout that made my blood run cold reached my ears.

“Luke!” May yelled as she ran full tilt toward us, a broken shoe in one hand.

She saw me holding her charge, and her eyes widened. For a minute, terror filled her gaze before anger took its place. I didn’t think she recognized me. The hand on her shoe tightened, and then she blinked as if it finally clicked who I was.

She calmed instantly, her shoulders dropping slightly. Then she limped toward us, her hair wild and her face smoothed of emotion.

“Luke. You know better than to run off like that.”

I heard my sister get up, my nieces swirling around her like a flock of birds.

“Luke, buddy, did you run away from May?” I asked, just now remembering that May was his nanny. I knew that. There was a reason May was off-limits.

Because she was Leif’s damn nanny. That meant I wasn’t supposed to think dirty thoughts about her beyond a simple daydream I might’ve had once or twice—or four times.

Yet with her standing here, a Valkyrie with a broken shoe and wild eyes, I had to remind myself that she was off-limits.

“I saw you. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Luke curled in on himself, and I held back a curse. I set the kid on the ground because I had a feeling May wanted to hold him, to clutch him close. But she also didn’t want to rip him from my arms and scare the boy more.

“Luke, you know you’re not supposed to run away from me like that. You scared me. We have one rule. And that is to trust each other. And you nearly broke that rule.”

I held back a wince, knowing she was saying the right things. But if I were that kid? I’d be ducking behind someone, feeling like I had broken the faith of the best woman out there.

“I’m sorry. I just saw Leo, and my brain got scr-amb-led.”

He sounded out the word as if he had heard the phrase before but didn’t quite know what it meant.

From the twitch on May’s lips, she agreed with me.

“Okay, Luke. But I’m going to have to tell your mom and Leif that you ran away from me. Because we don’t keep secrets. You’re not in trouble right now because you ran to someone you know. Someone who isn’t a stranger. But let’s not have this happen again, okay?”

“I promise,” Luke said as he held up his pinky. May smiled as she linked her little finger with his. Then they kissed their thumbs, and I smiled at the fact that these two seemed to have a secret handshake.

“Sorry for almost yelling at you,” May said as she looked up at me. “Leo, right?”

I swallowed hard, trying not to look down at her curves. Or the sweat slowly trickling between her breasts. I did not need to notice that. This was Luke’s nanny. She was not for me.

Even though I couldn’t help but want more.

What was wrong with me?

“I’m so sorry for all of this. I knelt to try to fix my shoes since the strap broke, and, well, you know what happened next.”

I looked at the shoe in her hand, then at the one still on her foot, and nodded. “I think I can fix that. At least to get you home…”

May’s eyes widened. “What? You can?”

“Oh, yes. My brother is pretty handy,” Caroline said as she came to my side.

I completely forgot that my family was watching, and now I needed to duck because I was sure my sister would not let this go. Whatever this was.

“Your brother.” May looked between us, then down at the kids, her eyes wide. “Oh. Brother.”

Had May thought this was my family? My kids? I had hit on her at the tattoo shop. What kind of man did she think I was?

“I’m Caroline. These are my daughters.” My sister introduced her kids, who all started talking to Luke at once. Luke giggled.

“Fast friends,” I mumbled.

“Seems like,” May answered.

“Anyway, if you hand over that shoe, I’ll see what I can do.”

As if in a daze, she gave me the shoe. I knelt at her feet, working the paperclip I randomly had in my pocket into the tie of the sandal so she could wrap it around her ankle like the other.

The heat of her skin against my calloused fingers did something to me, and I swallowed hard. Such delicate ankles, such soft skin.

There was seriously something wrong with me. I did not have a foot or ankle fetish. But right here and now? I had to question why I didn’t.

I looked up at her, aware I was kneeling at her feet and putting on her shoe as if she were Cinderella or something.

She stared at me, her mouth parting. I swallowed hard.

Dammit.

She was off-limits. She was not Cinderella.

And I was damn well not Prince Charming.