“You okay?” he mouths silently.
I shake my head in an emphaticno. Without a word he moves closer, hovering close enough that I can feel his body heat without quite touching him.
Is he trying to… comfort me? What’s happening here?
“Give me just a second,” I tell Matt, then mute him.
“Did you know the window and door were still going to be there?” I ask, peeking around Declan to where Sean still hovers by the door. “The ones connecting our shops?” I can’t help the accusation in my tone. Because how is this allmyfault, anyway?
“We did,” Sean confirms.
Before I can respond, Declan’s hand gently closes around my elbow. His eyes are fixed on where my hand is still buried in my hair, my fingers clutching at my neck.
“Can you stop that?” he demands. He tugs on my arm and I ignore the way my belly swoops at the contact.
“Why?” I ask, bewildered by this giant, tattooed man and the way he’s glaring at my arm like it personally offended him.
“You’re stressed,” he says simply.
“Okay…”
“It’s makingmestressed.”
I… have nothing to say to that. He tugs at my arm again and I let him, this time releasing my hair so he can tuck my arm back down at my side. Apparently satisfied, he crosses his arms again and meets my eyes.
“You were saying?” he prompts.
“I don’t understand what’s going on,” I tell them, panic creeping back into my voice. Sean walks over to stand beside Declan, his face laced with concern now.
“Matt called us sometime in early May, I think, about changing up the plans a bit. He said you two were brainstorming ways to cut costs and he came up with some ideas, but it affected us, too, because of that wall.” He gestures to the offending wall behind him. “He wanted to make sure we were okay with it staying as is before presenting you with that option.”
“And you were okay with it?” I ask, incredulous.
Sean shrugs. “Didn’t really matter to us either way, to be honest. You’re the one who has to watch people get tattooed and pierced all day.”
“Okay, but I didn’tknowI’d be watching people getting tattooed and pierced all day. I just…” I take a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. Panic isn’t going to help the situation. “I don’t know what happened. I guess I approved the changes without realizing everything they entailed.”
“Hello?” Matt’s voice calls faintly from the phone in my hand. “Elsie?”
“Shit,” I mutter. I unmute Matt and put him on speaker phone.
“Sorry, Matt. I’m here with Declan and Sean.”
“Hey, guys,” Matt says.
“Hey,” both men respond.
“I’m sorry, Elsie. I don’t really know what to say.” Matt sounds flustered. “I swear we went over the new plans and you gave me the go ahead. I’d never pull one over on you like that.”
“It’s okay,” I assure him, even if it feels decidedlynotokay right now. “The place looks absolutely amazing. I’m in awe of your work.We just… got our wires crossed, I guess. I wasn’t expecting the, uh, front-row seat to the tattoo studio.”
Sean chuckles. “Just wait until someone comes in to get their nipples pierced.”
The sound that comes out of me can only be described as a strangled choke. I can’t be helping customers while people’snipplesare being pierced.
“I’m kidding,” Sean says hurriedly. “We usually go in a back room for that. I swear.”
I force a laugh that fools no one, judging by the sympathy on Sean’s face and the… is that concern on Declan’s face?
