Page 18 of Possessive Ink

“Wait, the steak,” I blurt, glancing at the groceries on the back seat.

“Fuck him. We’re keeping it,” Atticus says, pulling away from the curb without glancing back toward Wes.

No matter how much I blink, the tears that started at the resort keep slipping from my eyes, making Atticus get more and more tense in the seat beside me.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, my voice thick.

“What the fuck for?”

“I know you don’t like crying.”

“I don’t have a problem with people crying. What’s pissing me off is that you’re upset over that fucking asshole,” he growls.

“I loved that job,” I gasp.

“You loved running unreasonable errands for someone who treated you badly?” he rasps.

“No. I’m the resort receptionist. I’m supposed to greet guests, handle check-in, and arrange classes, treatments, and special requests. I love talking to the guests and being a part of celebrating their birthdays and anniversaries.”

“But that’s not the job that you were doing,” Atticus reminds me.

“I know,” I admit, fresh tears falling from my eyes.

“He was taking advantage of you,” Atticus says, his voice dropping to a soft rasp.

“I know,” I agree, wiping more tears from my cheeks with the back of my hand.

“Working for Tori will be better. Plus you’ll have a chance to eat all the cake.”

“I can’t believe he ate my cake,” I moan, fresh tears spilling quickly from my eyes.

“What cake was it?” Atticus growls.

“I can’t remember what it was called, but it looked like chocolate heaven, and I was going to have it for my lunch.”

“Cake for lunch isn’t a real meal.”

I part my lips to tell him that cake is so a meal, but his expression stops me. Lifting one hand from the steering wheel, he taps at the screen in the dash, and a moment later the sound of ringing bursts from the speakers.

A female voice answers. “Big bro.”

“What cake did Lemon buy this morning?”

“Err…” She pauses, then says, “I think she had a croquant.”

“Does that look like chocolate heaven?” he asks.

Tori giggles. “Yeah, I guess it does.”

“Do you have any left?”

“Let me check,” she says. “Yeah, there’s one. I didn’t expect them to sell so well.”

“Put it in a box. I’m coming to pick it up,” Atticus says gruffly.

“Okay. Any particular reason?” Tori asks, sounding amused.

“Lemon’s asshole ex-boss ate the one she bought herself this morning.”