“I know.” She swallowed. “I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused you.”
Her shame was reflected back at her in her dad’s eyes. “I might have judged you too harshly,” he admitted. “I mean, when Mikey was your age, I bailed him out of jail on a weekly basis.”
“Really?” she said in surprise.
“Oh yeah. I’m surprised the kid didn’t turn out to be a criminal. But I wanted better for you, princess. We both know you get your stubbornness from your mom, but your wild side…that came from me, and I tried to hammer it outta you. I didn’t want you to end up like me, I guess.”
“I’d be proud to end up like you,” she said fiercely. “You’re smart and successful and you raised great kids and had an amazing marriage. What more could I want?”
“I was a punk before I met your mother,” he said gruffly.
“But you grew up.” She paused. “I’ve grown up, too. I promise, I’m going to make you proud.”
“I already am proud.” He ruffled her hair, and his indulgent smile warmed Brett’s heart. “I love you, princess.”
“Love you, too, Daddy.” The excitement returned, making her bounce on the balls of her feet. “So what now? When do we start?”
“Tomorrow, nine a.m. I want you at the new site with me. The grand opening is in a month, so we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. Tomorrow we’re talking to the contractors, and I want to meet with a few artists, too.” A frown suddenly marred his lips. “You should know—Mathis stopped by with a résumé yesterday.”
Brett froze.
Troy? He’d applied for a job at the new shop?
“Are you serious?” she exclaimed.
“Don’t worry, I made it clear there’s no chance in hell I’d let him work for us. But I’m not thrilled that he’s back in the picture, princess.”
“He’s not. I swear. He stopped by a couple weeks ago when Rob and I were closing up, and I told him exactly where I stand. I have zero interest in seeing him ever again. I’m with AJ now.”
And she wasn’t even lying. Figure that one out.
Brett still couldn’t wrap her head around the notion that she and AJ were officially dating now—and that she wasn’t freaked out about it.
She hadn’t wanted a relationship. A clear head and a new lifestyle were all she’d been interested in, at least before AJ Walsh had snuck through her defenses and made her reconsider.
When she was with him, she felt…centered. Not like in her past relationships, when she’d been wholly consumed, too caught up in them to notice the chaos she was causing and the mistakes she was making
It was different with AJ. When she’d cooked him dinner the other night, he’d actually thanked her. And when she’d canceled their plans yesterday because she had to work on a design for a client, he hadn’t tried coercing her into blowing off work for him. He’d just accepted that she was busy and wished her luck on finishing the sketch, which was something Troy never would have done in a million years.
She didn’t know why she’d found a balance with AJ that she hadn’t found with anyone else, but she sure as hell wasn’t complaining.
“Anyway,” her dad said, “I need to take off now. Gotta pop over to Mikey’s shop and help him out. One of his artists called in sick.” He tweaked a strand of her hair. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Nine o’clock sharp.”
“I’ll be there.”
The second her father was gone, Brett let out a whoop and broke out in a happy dance. If anyone had peeked behind her curtain, they would have laughed their asses off, but she didn’t care how silly she looked. She was going to run her own tattoo parlor. She’d done it, damn it.
She hurried to the counter and grabbed her phone, needing to share her excitement with someone. “The shop’s mine!” she blurted out the moment AJ answered the phone.
“Well, damn!” His deep voice slid into her ear and brought a rush of warmth to her heart. “That’s great news, baby. See, I told you there was nothing to worry about.”
Brett rested her hip against the counter. “I’m so relieved,” she confessed. “But I’m kind of nervous, too. My dad and I are hiring artists tomorrow. I have no clue how to interview people!”
“It’s easy,” he assured her. “I do it all the time when I’m hiring bar staff. I can give you some tips if you want. Questions you should ask, that sorta thing.”
A wave of gratitude swelled in her stomach. “You’d really do that?”
“Absolutely. But first, I have to take you out to celebrate.” Hesitation rippled over the line. “I know we were planning to go for dinner later, but can you meet up earlier? I’m having drinks with my partners and their girlfriends at the club tonight, just a private friend hangout. If you want to come by, we can celebrate with the guys for a bit, and then have dinner and celebrate some more.”
He wanted her to hang out with his friends? Whoa. He really was serious about this dating thing.
The invitation was slightly unnerving, though. AJ’s friends were used to seeing him with “wholesome” girls, and Brett wasn’t sure what they’d think of her. What if they hated her?
At the same time, she was curious to meet them. Not just because AJ talked about Reed and Gage all the time, but also because she was dying for more glimpses into his life. For weeks he’d been compartmentalizing—their fling in one corner, the rest of his life in the other. And she’d been cool with that. No point in getting attached when things were just temporary.
Now that they were dating for real, all bets were off.
“Sure, that sounds like fun,” she answered. “I’m actually done at six today. I only have two clients, and Rob’s new apprentice is handling the walk-ins so I don’t have to stick around. What time should I come?”
“Seven thirtyish okay? We can do drinks for an hour or so, then catch a late dinner?”
“Awesome. I’ll see you later then.”
“Brett?” he said before she could hang up. “I’m proud of you.”
Brett was touched beyond words as she set down her phone. Two people had told her they were proud of her today. It’d been a long time since she’d heard those words once, let alone twice.
The rest of her day flew by. Whether from giddiness or excitement, she didn’t know, but it felt like seven thirty rolled around in minutes rather than hours.
She’d stopped by her place to shower and change, and as she approached the club through the staff door in the back, a strange prickle of nervousness poked at her. She’d worn a strapless black dress, her trademark leather boots, and a shock of red lipstick, but suddenly she felt overdressed. Or maybe underdressed. Hell, she had no idea what AJ’s friends would be wearing. She didn’t know what to expect from them, either. She remembered Reed from high school, but they’d never exchanged a single word back then, and who knew what this Gage guy was like. And AJ’s ex-girlfriend. Crap. She’d be there, too.
Brett swallowed to bring moisture to her dry mouth and ran a shaky hand through her hair. Okay. Enough. She was not the kind of woman who worried about what other people thought of her.