Page 1 of Hidden Ink

Chapter One

Hailey Monroe bit into her lip, closed her eyes, and moaned. Loudly. Dear gods and goddesses that was…heavenly. Earth shattering. World changing. Orgasm inducing.

That was the best damn cream cheese turtle brownie she’d ever baked in her life.

She may have baked pies, cakes, tortes, cookies, muffins, biscotti, and other kinds of decadence in her past. But right now, with this beautiful, mouthwatering cream cheese turtle brownie in hand, she knew she’d never achieve such greatness again.

At that depressing thought, she ate the last of her treat and frowned.

Seriously? The pinnacle of her success in life, the greatness she had hoped to achieve lay in a brownie.

A brownie sent from heaven, mind you, but a brownie nonetheless.

She quickly wiped up any spare crumbs then went to the sink to wash her hands. It was kind of upsetting that in her twenty-seven years of living, this baking achievement was it for her. Most people would think finding a cure for the common cold¸ painting something that reaffirmed beauty and life for others, or building homes for the unfortunate would be something that made a pinnacle a pinnacle. Instead, Hailey had dessert. This divine brownie.

It probably didn’t help her thoughts that she kept calling the damn thing heaven-sent and divine. It was just a baked good, one that crumbled when roughly handled, like the rest of them. It would be consumed wholly and forgotten in the next moment, never to be heard from again.

At least Hailey herself was stronger than that. Some days.

She cracked her knuckles, wincing at the pain in her joints—a wonderful side effect of all the drugs and treatments she’d poured into her system over the years—and rolled her neck. Today was a new day, a new adventure. It was the same mantra she repeated to herself every morning.

Hailey owned and operated Taboo, a café and bakery in the middle of downtown Denver. She had prime placement right off the 16th Street Mall and the business district. During prime hours, she had men and women in suits and neatly pressed clothes, begging for coffee and leaving with something sweet and delicious. No one could rightly say no to Hailey and her baked goods if she were really trying.

Her shop catered to more than just those in a hurry on their way to a meeting or working on a very important case. Families came in on late afternoons or on non-school days with children in tow. Her hot cocoa and cookies went quickly when school holidays met cold Denver weather days.

People in all shapes and sizes ventured into her shop, and she loved it. There was never a dull moment. Even when the place was only filled with a customer or two, they were hers. After thinking she’d never see the middle of her twenties, she was now looking at the back end of those years and owned her own business besides. She was a caretaker, a businesswoman, a baker…a survivor.

She pressed her lips together at the last word.

A survivor.

If she kept telling herself that, kept letting the news and random websites tell her more of the same, then one day she might believe it. However, she hated that word and everything that came with it. She’d fought and won, but at what cost?

Hailey shook her head. There was no time for those kinds of thoughts this early February morning. Today, she had to make sure she was at least competing with the chain coffee shops around her—the Mega Starbucks two blocks over on each side of Taboo. Seriously, Denver had a Starbucks on every other corner, and where there wasn’t a Starbucks, there was a Caribou Coffee or something else of the like. It wasn’t as if she’d ever make as much money as them, but she did well. Her goal wasn’t to become a millionaire or turn her small shop into a chain—she just wanted to live.

That’s all she ever wanted to do.

So she’d compete in her own little way and make sure her shop looked ready for the next holiday. Valentine’s Day. It was almost here. Actually, the clock calendar had just changed to February at midnight. Her decorated cookies and cupcakes would have hearts and pink all over them, and that morning, she’d put out her best festive Valentine’s Day decorations. It wasn’t overboard or cheesy, but just enough pink to remind her of happiness and love—not the pink that became an overbearing reminder in October.

Hell. Twice in one morning. She needed to stop being depressed about the past and look to her future with the same wide-eyed wonder she had as a teenager. Her aching bones and muscles could use the happiness.

Hailey rolled her shoulders back and finished up her morning prep. She’d been at it since four thirty that morning. Baker’s hours were evil, but she didn’t have to wake up as early as others, she knew. Her store opened at six a.m., and it was almost that time now. She had two people who worked for her, but Hailey was the one who did the baking and most of the cooking. The others worked the register and served while they were here. They also helped build the sandwiches or paninis—depending on the special on any given day—and heated the soups. Hailey made sure there was never a dull moment in Taboo.

The door between her shop and the one next door opened, and she pressed a hand to her stomach.

“I smelled coffee,” Callie said as she walked in, her red-streaked black hair looking shiny that morning. In fact, the woman herself glowed. Her ink stood out on pale brown skin, and she smiled as if she had the best news in the world.

Considering Callie was six weeks pregnant, Hailey supposed she did.

“You scared the crap out of me,” Hailey said with a laugh and rubbed her stomach again. She remembered the time when she used to rub the space over her heart if she was nervous or freaked out, but that was a long time ago.

Callie winced and bit into her dark ruby lip. “Sorry about that. I got to Montgomery Ink early to work on a sketch and needed coffee.”

Hailey frowned and went to the coffee pot that she’d turned on only a few moments before. “I’m only giving you decaf. I don’t want your very sexy, silver fox of a husband getting all growly with me. While you might like it when he gets growly with you because you get a spanking and orgasm out of it, I do not.”

Callie pouted. “Fine. Decaf. Maybe I can trick my body into thinking it’s real so I can pep up.”

Hailey raised a brow as Callie bounced from foot to foot. “Honey, if you’re any more pepped, you’ll pep the heck out of Maya and Austin when they get into the shop.”