It reminded her that she couldn’t assume anything about either of these men. “What do you do?” she asked.
“As in work? I own tattoo studios, two of them.”
She felt that he was almost daring her to snub his profession. “Then you’re an entrepreneur, too,” she said.
He studied her face. “Guess I am,” he said. Then his expression softened. He was as good-looking as Phoenix, only in a dark, scowling way.
“Takes a lot to run your own business. How big’s your staff?”
He assessed her. “I’ve got a couple of artists in each place.”
“Much competition?”
“My locations are good. My guys are the best. Not much to worry about.”
Three sentences in a row. She nodded. Progress.
“He’s really proud of his work for the military,” she offered, thinking that he’d trusted her, bringing her here to meet Tammy.
“He was up for some award.”
“He didn’t win.” She recalled the conversation between Phoenix and Dex and felt that two months of her spirits could be buoyed by that one evening alone.
“Oh, were you there?”
“Yeah. I saw that the work was in honor of your dad. I’m sorry for your loss.”
Caleb’s face shadowed, surprising her that his scowl could grow any deeper. “Thanks.”
Around the corner of the makeshift finish line, Phoenix came into sight. Dark hair damp. He looked strong, pumping his legs and angling into the spot for the bikes. He hopped off and swerved towards his brother and Orchid, his grin widening at the sight of the couple. “You found each other.” He slowed just long enough to high-five Caleb and offer Orchid a fist bump.
“You didn’t drown,” Orchid shouted.
“There’s still time to keel over,” he tossed over his shoulder with a grin. His back receded as he passed other runners.
Orchid’s mouth split wide like a fool when she sensed Caleb observing her.
“You have it bad, huh?” he observed.
“What? Uh, no. He’s my mentor. We’re just working together.”
“On what?”
“His pro bono ad campaign.”
“On a Saturday?”
“We’re meeting the talent.”
Was it that obvious, even for someone who’d seen them together for mere seconds?
Tammy flew by. “Go Tammy!” Orchid cheered and she waved.
Caleb walked towards the finish line and Orchid kept pace with his long strides. Phoenix had mentioned that he wanted to beat two hours, which meant they had less than twenty minutes left.
“When he said he was bringing someone, at first I thought he might be getting back together with Tish,” he grunted, as they sauntered past spectators.
An alarm sounded in her head. “Tish?”
