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I’d been working at the Ink Shoppe since I was fifteen, just answering the phone and booking appointments. It wasn’t much, and I hadn’t really considered it work since all I did was pick up the phone when it rang. I’d only wanted was to be close to Maverick when he was in the shop or hang out with Mila when she used to work there. But once Mila started running Lyric’s place, I’d gone from being given a few twenties every week directly from Uncle Spider’s wallet, to getting an actual paycheck. All for doing stuff I didn’t mind doing just so I could be close to the man I loved.
It was a sweet gig. The only downside being that I had to hear those stupid skanks giggle and try to flirt with Maverick during their appointments.
I wouldn’t give it up for anything, though. I enjoyed it more than I knew I would working at Hannigans’. Not that my dad would actually let me work at the bar until I was older, but I didn’t ever want to work there. It was family-owned, and Dad always said one day I would get his share in it, but I didn’t want it. Between Kingston and Jack and my other cousins, I figured the place would be just fine without me. I would give them my share in the place when it came to me, because I planned on helping Mav run the Ink Shoppe just like Mila did with Lyric.
Although, Mila and I had been talking lately about starting up our own business, too. The building right beside Lyric’s place was for rent with the option to buy, and Mila had put the idea in my head of the two of us turning it into our own store, exclusively for women. We would sell everything from maternity clothes to intimate items. It was something my friend had been thinking about since she was pregnant.
Creswell Springs was a small town. Everyone had to drive over an hour away just to do some real shopping, which was a pain in the ass. Especially when a woman was pregnant and with few options to stop for a bathroom break on the hour-long drive to the nearest mall. And when that pregnant woman had been pregnant with twins bouncing on her bladder every five seconds, making her have to pee, it made the drive excruciatingly longer.
There were a few small boutiques in town, but none of them that catered to a woman’s every need.
But Mila didn’t want to explore the venture on her own. Between the two of us, we already had good experience running a business. Once I turned eighteen, I would have my trust fund that I could do anything I wanted with. Investing some of it in a place that was partially my own seemed like a hell of an idea to me.
And then I could focus on it instead of hearing some bitch in heat panting over my man who wouldn’t give her the time of day.
I quickly rescheduled Uncle Spider’s appointment for early the following week and then took care of the short list of things needing my attention before the shop officially opened for the day. Unless Mav or his dad had an early morning appointment, the Ink Shoppe didn’t open until five Tuesday through Friday. On Saturdays, we opened at noon and closed at eleven.
There were only a few more weeks left of school, but once it was out, things would slow down a little around the shop. The two men would still have appointments most days, but they wouldn’t be booked back-to-back like they were when the local college was in session.
Most days, I was the first one in the shop, unless one of the Masterson men had an earlier appointment. Which meant I had control over the music that was played. Luckily for them, I had good taste in music. But when I was mad at Maverick, I tended to torture him with the easy listening channel.
Grinning to myself, I switched the music over before starting on my homework. Ten minutes later, Maverick walked through the door. I didn’t need to look up to know he’d arrived. Some sixth sense always told me when he was in the same room. When his eyes landed on me, my body reacted instantly, and I immediately started craving him.
“Hey, beautiful,” he greeted, but I still didn’t look up from my work. “Fuck…” he muttered when he heard what was playing through the speaker system. “What did I do?”
I kept my face lowered, pretending to read so he wouldn’t see the amusement in my eyes. “What d
o you mean?”
“You’re pissed,” he grumbled, his shadow falling over the counter I was sitting at.
“Am I?” I turned the page, finding an answer to the study guide I didn’t have time to finish in class earlier. “Did you do something you shouldn’t?”
He was quiet for a long moment, and I knew he was trying to remember if he’d done something that could have caused me to be mad at him. “Help me out here, River. I’m coming up with nothing. I haven’t done shit since I saw you last night.”
“Ah babe, it’s cute that you think I don’t know exactly what you do every moment you’re not with me.” I finally lifted my head and winked at him. His eyes brightened at the sight of my smile, and his shoulders relaxed. “I’m just fucking with you, Mav.” Picking up the remote, I turned the music back to the usual rock station I kept it on.
He blew out a loud sigh. “Thank fuck,” he muttered. “So, we’re good?”
“Better than good.” I wanted to lean across the counter to kiss him, but Uncle Spider was in his office not thirty feet away, with the door open.
As if he were craving a kiss just as much as I was, Mav shot his gaze over my shoulder. His jaw flexed, but then he gave me that sweet smile of his that only I ever got to be the recipient of. “Just a few more days and then I can kiss you anytime I want,” he promised.
A mixture of excitement and trepidation clenched low in my gut. Once my dad knew about Maverick and me, everything would be okay. But him knowing about and actually accepting my relationship were two entirely different things. I wasn’t confident that Dad would be very understanding. I was his little princess, and he’d always said no man would ever be good enough for me in his eyes.
But in my eyes, there was no one better than Maverick.
“Love you,” I whispered.
His gray eyes filled with heat. “Love you, baby,” he whispered back before forcing himself to step away from the counter. “I have a little work still to do on the first client’s art. Let me know when they get here.”
“Sure thing, boss,” I said with a sassy little smirk that had his nostrils flaring. “Get to work, lazy.”
He turned his back on me, but I watched as he pulled his phone from his jeans pocket. As he walked away, a text popped up on my phone.
Mav: I’ll work you later, baby.
I pressed my legs together, fighting the throb that pulsed at just reading his words.
