Inked Obsession (Montgomery Ink Fort Collins #2) - Carrie Ann Ryan

Chapter 1

Beckett

My mother once told me the sooner I learned to dance, the sooner I’d be able to whisk a woman around the dance floor. She’d said it with a wink and put her hands down on my shoulders to teach me how to two-step, waltz, and even to swing dance. She’d taught all of my brothers and sisters, and for some reason, that thought made me smile as I looked out onto the small dance floor at Riggs’.

It had been twenty years since Mom had first taught me to dance, and now all of her children were either out on that dance floor or staring at it like I was.

“Beckett Montgomery, what do you think you’re doing over here in the corner all by yourself? You don’t even have a drink in your hand.”

I looked down at the woman in front of me—I had to look down at most who weren’t family—and smiled. “Hey there, Sally.”

She smiled brightly, her long, strawberry-blond hair hanging over one shoulder. She wore a tight dress and leggings that made her look casual—and her usual gorgeous self.

“Hey there, yourself. Now, come out onto the dance floor with me. They’re about to play a new song.”

My brows rose. “It’s a song that’s worth dancing to, then?” I teased, though my heart wasn’t really in it. My heart wasn’t in much these days, but I did my best to mask that—no need to get everybody else down when I was usually a grumpy asshole. I didn’t need to add more grumpiness to that.

“You’re going to be on the floor with me, Beckett. It’ll totally be worth it. After all, you’re going to want to dance with me, aren’t you?” She winked as she said it then fluttered her eyelashes, and I smiled. Sally and I had gone out a few times over the past few years, but mostly just to scratch an itch. She had been married for a while, and then when the divorce hit, she came to me for a fling. I hadn’t minded. I’d needed to relieve some tension, and I hadn’t been in a serious relationship at the time. We liked each other. No strings, just fun, smiles, and scorching sex. Sally was a good person, and her ex had hurt her. My goal in life was not to hurt anyone like she had been hurt.

I held out my hand, and she slid hers into mine. I took her out to the dance floor. Anything to make Sally smile. While we may not love each other or be each other’s forever, I liked her. And that meant I would dance with her. Given the looks she was giving me, I might end up finishing what we’d started about a year prior before I was forced to leave.

I held back a growl at the thought, reminding myself why I’d had to leave. My father had pissed me off so much that night, and though things were better now—so much better than they had been before—it was still stressful. It had been the first time after our blowup at work that he had interfered with anything at the job. He had quickly apologized for it and truly looked remorseful, but it still stung.

I had spent years in my dad’s shadow, watching him try to pick and prod and take over everything we did at Montgomery Builders. It was hard not to be resentful of the choices he had made, and what I’d been forced to do because of him.

He was doing better again, but I’d had to leave Sally’s willing arms and her very soft bed to deal with the situation that my dad had raised. I could have sent my assistant Clay or even one of my brothers, but it was my job. I was the one in charge. After all, I was the lead contractor. It was my name on the line, just like any of the Montgomerys. So, I dealt with it.

“You are scowling, Beckett Montgomery. Why are you scowling while you’re holding me? I mean, you’ve got the moves, but they seem to be rote for you if you can focus on anything else but me while moving your feet around as we are.”

I quickly pushed thoughts of my father and work and anything else out of my mind, squeezed Sally’s hip, and then twirled her. She let out a giggle, and one of the guys whistled next to us. I moved a little quicker, Sally in my arms.

I will have