I Knew You Were Trouble: A Texas Kings Novel (25 page)

“You look like you’re having fun,” Faith said.

He groaned. The woman he’d found so appealing earlier took it as a sign he liked what she was doing and amped up her tongue exploration of his earlobe. Nate pushed her back. How the hell had he ended up bumping into Faith now, of all times?

“You working here again?” he asked.

“No.” When she shook her head it made the light catch her hair, dark tresses shining and silky. He remembered exactly what it was like having those strands wrapped around his fist, the softness of her hair as it shimmered down her back when she was sitting astride him, the tips brushing his hands as he held on to her hips. “The gallery is going great; I love working there. I’m just, ah, having a few drinks with friends tonight.”

Nate hadn’t even noticed who she was standing with, but he glanced sideways and realized her friends were hovering slightly behind her. He smiled and said hello, suddenly a whole lot more sober than he’d been earlier. Part of him wanted to flaunt the two women standing beside him, almost purring, they were so damn desperate to get him into bed, but the sensible side of his brain was telling him not to be an asshole and to fight harder for the one woman he wanted. Because he wanted her—if there was one thing he’d realized over the past month, it was that he wanted her more than anything he’d ever wanted before. He was just too damn proud to go chasing her when he still couldn’t figure out how he could have her without giving her what she needed.

“How about we get a drink?” he suggested, sucking back the stupid stuff he could easily have said to ruin everything that was left between them. “Just the two of us,” he said in a quieter voice, pleased that he hadn’t bumped into her on a date, because seeing a guy with her would have tipped him over the edge.

“Nate, I don’t know.…” Faith wrapped her arms around herself and it took every inch of his willpower not to grab her and wrap them around him, to just force her out of the door with him and back to his place.

“Nate!” Essie and Sally protested at the same time.

He ignored them, only focused on the beautifully intoxicating woman standing before him. Her full lips were slightly parted, all glossy and kissable.

“Come on, Faith.” Nate chuckled as he reached for her hand, but his smile died when she moved back just enough so he couldn’t reach her, like she was repulsed by him. “What are you scared of?”

Her eyes were swimming when she looked up at him. “You,” she said simply. “But it looks like you’re having plenty of fun without me. It’s better this way, Nate; we both know that.”

Nate stared at Faith. He’d never had a woman speak to him like that, her honesty as brutal as a knife to his skin. She was telling him to go, and goddamn it, but he wasn’t about to beg. His jaw hardened, body like stone as he gave her a cool stare.

“Have a great night, Faith. I’ll see you around.”

He slipped his arms around the women again, not feeling like doing anything with them any longer but childish enough to want to hurt Faith, to piss her off and show her that he was fine without her. Which he sure as hell hadn’t been.

“Where’re we going?”

Nate kept his hands planted on the women’s asses as they left, nodding to the doorman as they passed and exited the bar. Once they were outside, he turned to first his left, then his right, giving each of the women a kiss on the lips before pulling out his wallet. He’d made his point, but he’d lost all interest in screwing them.

“Here’s enough money for a taxi fare,” he said, putting some bills into each of their hands. “Sorry, ladies, but tonight’s not the night. Maybe next time.”

He should have just taken them to bed, had the night of his life with two women at the same time, but all he wanted now was more damn whiskey. Then his head smashed into a feather-filled pillow for the better part of a day. And if he even thought about Faith again, he was going to smash his fist into something, anything to get the visual of her beautiful dark-brown eyes staring at him like he was the one who’d gone and broken her goddamn heart, not the other way around.

He walked to his vehicle, checked it was locked, then waved to a taxi driver. He was a fool, but dammit, he was in love with her. For the first time in his life, he’d let down the shield he’d so stringently maintained. When his mom had died, he’d loved his grandma dearly, but not the same kind of fierce love he’d had for his mom, and he’d vowed as a boy never to let himself hurt like that ever again. It was why he’d never had serious relationships, why he was so determined to never have children of his own, because he didn’t want to hurt like that again. He’d been the oldest brother, the one who’d had to be strong and keep it all together. And now he’d gone and let Faith get too close, and for the first time he wanted a woman he couldn’t have.

He settled into the backseat of the cab, gave the driver instructions, and shut his eyes as he pushed his head back into the leather headrest. Faith fucking Mendes had screwed with his head, but he was in love with her, goddamn it, and as far as he could tell she had no damn idea.

*   *   *

“How are you feeling?”

Faith shrugged and planted her straw between her teeth, sucking hard. They were drinking vodka, lemon, and lime, and the cold drink was at least giving her a brain freeze. Although nothing could numb her enough into not thinking about Nate.

“I just can’t stop thinking about him being with…” She let her voice trail off, not sure what she was actually going to say. The idea of him having sex with either one of those women made her feel physically sick, but two of them at once? It shouldn’t have surprised her, but it did. “Anyway, I was the one who left, right? That means he can be with whoever he likes, because it’s none of my business.”

Her friends smiled and nodded, but she knew they weren’t sure what to say. One minute she was telling them she was happy being single, and the next she could hardly breathe, having come face-to-face with the man who’d scared the hell out of her by making her feel things she’d always sworn she wouldn’t. She wanted him, but she couldn’t let herself, couldn’t give that part of herself away. And with Nate there was no other way; she’d seen that firsthand. The way she felt around him meant it was all or nothing.

Cara and Saskia both kept sipping, and she did the same. Then the music started to thump and she knocked back the rest of her drink and pushed it across the bar. The one thing she could do was drink until she was just numb enough to forget and dance the hell out of the night.

“Let’s dance,” she announced, running her fingers through her hair.

Her friends laughed and shrugged, finishing theirs and joining her, hips swaying as they started dancing with her. A clean-cut blond came up to her, grabbed her around the waist, but she smiled politely and pushed him away, nodding toward Cara. She was the one who’d like to be picked up—Faith, on the one hand, had no intentions of even flirting with another guy tonight. What she wanted was to be on her own with friends, have fun without needing a man. Cara, on the other hand, launched straight into some raunchy dancing, which had Faith in hysterics.

The music kept thumping and she danced liked she’d never danced before.
And still the image of Nate with his arms around the blondes blasted her eyeballs.

Chapter 16

“WHAT the hell’s wrong with you?” Ryder asked as he caught up with Nate, his little girl riding on his shoulders and hanging on to him by his hair.

Nate wasn’t in the mood for talking, but he checked his attitude when Rose smiled down at him. When he glanced at Ryder he made a face.

“Shit. Your eyes look like all the blood from your head spilled into them.”

“Language around the little lady,” Nate growled, reaching out and linking fingers with Rose. She squeezed back before going back to holding on to her dad.

“So what happened last night?” Ryder asked.

“I just went to Joe’s for a few drinks.”

“And came home instead of going to the apartment with any…”—Ryder grinned and his eyebrows shot up—“
company
?”

Nate glowered at him. He wasn’t in the mood to talk shit. “I saw Faith.”

“Ah,” Ryder said, as if that was all the answer he needed. “Hence the bear with the thorn attitude.”

“You’re lucky you’ve got Rose with you,” Nate grumbled.

“Why? What the hell did I do?” Ryder asked, chuckling. “Faith’s the one who broke your heart.”

“She did not break my hurt, douche bag.”

“Hey, Nate, no swear-wing,” Rose said, one hand on her hip.

She at least made him laugh with her cute little lisp. “It’s not swearing to call your dad a douche bag, because he is one.”

Ryder punched him in the arm and he was only saved by the little person on his shoulders; otherwise Nate would have loved to smack him straight back and blow off some steam.

“The reason I can tease you is because I felt the same way with Chloe,” Ryder continued, hands on his daughter’s legs to hold her in place on his shoulders as he walked beside Nate. “When I thought I’d lost her, it was a pretty dark place.”

“How much do you remember about Mom?” Nate asked, voice gruff. “I mean, do you still remember how bad it hurt losing her, or were you too young?”

The smile fell from Ryder’s face like Nate had flicked a switch. “You think you’re the only one who doesn’t want to hurt like that again?”

Nate stopped walking, leaned on the fence they were passing, and stared out into the distance. “You honestly felt like that? I mean, before Chloe?”

“Man, I still feel like it,” Ryder admitted, taking Rose down and setting her on the wooden fence so she could be in between them. “I was damn scared of opening up to Chloe, and then when she told me she was pregnant? Hell, that was rough. I might have been younger than you, but I remember Mom and every emotion that came with losing her.”

“I can’t believe I’m getting love advice from my little brother.”

Ryder chuckled. “Yeah, but it’s the only advice you’ll ever need from me. You’ve always been the one there for us, from the day Mom died until now. You probably don’t have a clue how much we appreciate you, Nate, but you’re one hell of a big brother.”

He smiled, slinging his arm around little Rose and giving her a hug. “So what do you reckon I should do?” He hated being so honest about how he felt, but Ryder was his brother. If he couldn’t talk to him, who the hell could he talk to, and keeping it to himself was driving him crazy.

“Do you love her?” Ryder asked.

Nate hung his head, shut his eyes, and immediately saw Faith in his mind. He’d be lying if he didn’t say yes; every part of him screamed yes, except that little part of him that didn’t want to admit to any sign of weakness.

“Maybe,” he muttered.

“Don’t give me that crap; it’s a simple yes or no question.”

“Yes, goddamn it!” Nate cursed, turning to stare at his brother. “I love her. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

Ryder smiled, but his grin was genuine. He wasn’t kidding around. “Then we need to figure out what you’re going to do about that.”

“
We?
” Nate asked, eyebrows shooting up.

“Hey, I’m not leaving you alone to f–”—he paused, checked himself and grinned—“stuff this up.”

“When do I ever stuff up?” Nate demanded, already sick of being the one getting advice.

“Never,” Ryder told him, pushing his boot on top of the wooden rail and leaning farther forward. “Which is why I’m looking forward to actually being able to help you for once.”

Nate mimicked his brother’s stance, staring into the distance again. “I think I need to let her go. She’s young, she wants to travel and make a career for herself, and…”—he swallowed, hard—“she’s Sam’s sister, which means I shouldn’t have gone there in the first place. Besides, she walked out on me. I can’t exactly chase her when she’s made it clear that she’s done with me.”

Ryder made a grunting sound. “All excuses. You can travel with her, you can give her all the freedom she needs because you like having your own space anyway, and screw Sam. If you love her, you’re gonna treat her right, and what the hell more could someone want for his sister?” He sighed. “And let’s not forget that my gorgeous yet infuriating wife walked out on me, too. When she left I thought I’d never see her again, let alone get her back in my bed.”

Nate nodded. “You really think Sam would forgive me? Hell, I’ve avoided him like the plague since the day she left.”

“He just wants her to be happy, to know she’s gonna be looked after and protected even if he’s not around. That’s all.”

“Says the guy who has no idea what it’s like to have a sister.”

“Hey, I’ve got a daughter,” Ryder countered, moving closer to Rose. She slung her arm around his shoulders, cute as a button. “And anyway, you could always propose. Look at how well it worked out for me.”

“I’m not asking Faith to marry me.” Nate thought about it, about how he could do it, what she’d say. It wasn’t that he definitely didn’t want to marry her, she was the only woman he’d ever been with he could say that about, but he doubted it was what she wanted. If it was, though … He cleared his throat. “Nope, no way am I going to ask the woman who walked out on me to marry me. If I ever decide to be crazy enough to propose, I’d have to be damn sure that she was going to say yes.”

Rose clapped her hands together, giggling. “I wanna pretty dress for the wedding!”

Nate and Ryder both laughed, Rose managing to soothe Nate when for the first time in his life he didn’t know what the hell he was doing, what his plan was.

“I need to do something big, though, don’t I? I mean, if I can’t suck it up and forget she ever existed, I have to do something to get her attention. Show her that she was crazy to walk away from what we had, right?”

“Yeah, you do,” Ryder replied, lifting Rose down from the top rail of the wooden fence and placing her back on his shoulders. “If I were you, I’d take her somewhere in the plane.”

“I don’t want to impress her with money,” Nate disagreed, rolling his shoulders in a futile attempt to ease the tension in his neck. “It’s not the kind of thing she’d be won over with. You know how it is. I bet Chloe was the same.”