Page 16 of Time To Learn

“You’re right, of course.”

“Good.” She looks down at Ailith and reaches a hand out to her. “Come, girl, let’s go for aride.”

“Yay!” Ailith’s happy voice sends a tingle of happiness through my tummy, and I pluck the cheque from Mum’s fingers.

“I’ll head into town, get this in our bank account,” I tell her and lean down to kiss Ailith on her nose. “Be good,” I murmur, and she rolls her eyes at me. As I straighten my back, I wipe some loose strands of hair away from my face. “I’ll do a bit of shopping for dinner as well.” I turn to Mum. “Anything in particular you fancy?”

She shrugs as Ailith starts to drag her back to the stables.

“Surprise us!” she grinsback.

“Right.”

Quickly, I head back to the house to wash my hands. I don’t bother changing my clothes, though, and after I’ve grabbed my handbag and the keys to my Beetle, I head into Glasgow.

* * *

Kristian

“What’s gotyou in such a bad mood?” Alex, my friend—and boss–asks me when we open the tattoo shop atnoon.

Grimacing, I run a hand through my messyhair.

“Just got a headache, that’sall.”

“Whoa. Again?” He squints his eyes at me as he bites his lip, tugging at the bottom one. “Been partying again, havewe?”

Gritting my teeth, I ignore him as I walk behind the counter and pick up our calendar. I check the appointments we’ve got lined up for today, a bit disappointed that we only have a few, and the first one isn’t for an hour. I don’t need to hear another lecture from his lips—he’s as bad as me. I keep ignoring him when he places his arms on the counter in front ofme.

“Look, Kristian, it’s not my place to say anything, but…”

“Then why are you even talking right now?” I interrupt him. I toss the calendar on the table and move away fromhim.

“Careful,” he calls out to me. I pause at the sound of his annoyed voice. The jovial look on his bearded face is gone, and the hint of steel in his brown eyes warns me not to push him toofar.

“I’m still your boss, and the last thing I need is a young, raucous fucker in my shop, who’s so hung-over, he’ll end up pissing off a client by messing up a design.”

I turn around and stalk right up to him, anger seething in my veins.

“I’ll never bodge a job, and you know it. I can handleit.”

He crosses his arms over his chest, mirroring my stance. “Okay, then. But don’t push me, Kristian. You gotit?”

I nod curtly and step away fromhim.

Alex relaxes his stance and clears his throat.

“Why don’t we order lunch and take it easy until your client comes in, yeah?”

I acknowledge his offer of a truce and force my lips into a smile.

“Sounds good. Kebab or pizza?”

He rubs his hands, looking at the ceiling in thought. I suppress a sigh. Alex is even worse than a woman when it concerns picking what kind of takeaway to get. I should’ve known better than to askhim.

“Kebab, I think,” he finally answers.

“Fine. I’ll phone our order through, and you pick it up. Deal?”