I Knew You Were Trouble: A Texas Kings Novel (8 page)

“I thought you were part Latino,” he joked, raising an eyebrow as he crossed the room and made for the fridge. He needed a beer—it had been a long day—and he also needed something to distract him from Faith.

“Just because I’m Latino doesn’t mean I can’t cook Italian,” she joked back, glancing at him over her shoulder. “I took an Italian cooking course a while back, when I decided that I actually had to get my ass into gear and learn how to create a few culinary masterpieces.”

He grinned. “Well, now that you’ve told me it’s a culinary masterpiece…”

Faith laughed at him without looking and it annoyed him. He’d anticipated the flash of her eyes, the warmth in her gaze, and he craved it.

“My Mexican is good, tacos and comfort food, but this was me expanding my skills,” she continued. “I can’t say my father appreciated it.…”

“But I will,” he said gruffly, feeling protective over her.

“I bet Mrs. T cooked amazing food for you all the time.”

Nate grunted.
Yeah, but she never looked like that when she was doing it
. “She always had something waiting for me.”

“Come try this.”

He took a long, deep pull of beer, not answering straightaway. Was she trying to seduce him or did she actually have no damn idea? He stifled a groan. He was going with no damn idea.

“I…,” he started to protest.

“
Please,
” she said, holding up the wooden spoon and grinning at him. “I need you to tell me if it’s any good.”

Nate met her gaze, stared straight into eyes that he couldn’t decide if they were innocent or the complete opposite. He hauled himself up, leaving his beer and walking toward her. Faith held out the spoon, her eyes widening as he leaned closer and opened his mouth, letting her feed him. The sauce was incredible, full of flavor, but it was the light in her gaze and the wide smile she gave him that nearly took his breath away.

“It’s amazing.”

“Really?”

Nate knew he should have taken a step back, should have put some distance between them, but he was like a magnet drawn to metal. He’d resisted her for so long, stayed away from her, not let himself even think about touching her like he’d wanted to, and now … He reached out and brushed a strand of hair from her face, knowing he shouldn’t have, but the urge to touch her was suddenly unbearable.

When she jumped at his touch, pushed back like she was scared, he backed off fast.

“Yes, really,” he finally responded, giving her some more space. “It’s great.”

She didn’t say anything, the spoon still hovering. “Well, ah, good.”

He watched as she took a big breath and moved back closer to him.

Nate closed his hand over her wrist, slowly lowering the spoon and placing it on the bench. Faith was staring at his hand, looking up under hooded lashes when he tightened his hold, only just enough for her to notice. He could see she was breathing hard, but he had no idea whether she wanted him to back off or the complete opposite.

“Are you trying to seduce me?” he asked, his voice barely a gruff whisper.

He watched her swallow, noticed her cheeks turn a soft, tempting shade of pink. He’d never actually seen her blush before, and he liked it.

“No,” she croaked, shaking her head.

“I’ve never had a woman try to seduce me in my own kitchen before,” he told her, releasing her wrist and turning it over in his palm until her hand was facing up so he could trail his fingers across her soft skin. Her hand was trembling. “So, accidental or not, you’re doing a damn fine job of it.”

Faith made a noise that was hard to decipher. “I don’t think I’m even capable of
seducing
anyone, let alone you. Especially not right now.”

“After what happened?” He felt like shit. “That was seriously insensitive of me, pushing you like that. I’m sorry.”

She slowly took her hand away from his. “I’m not exactly a
seductress
when it comes to men, Nate. And yeah, what happened has me kind of shaky still. I don’t feel like me again yet, if that even makes sense.”

“I get it.” He stared into her eyes. “I’ll let you come to me next time.”

Her smile was sweet as pie.

“You know, you’re even more tempting because you actually have no goddamn idea,” he said as he took another step back. She definitely didn’t know the effect she had on him. “Any other woman, I’d think this was all just a clever plan, but you?” Nate chuckled. “I actually think Sam’s been so good at keeping most of the male population away from you that he’s actually stopped you from realizing the power you have over men.”

Faith laughed. First it was a shy giggle; then she was actually laughing. “I thought you were being serious for a moment.”

She turned her back on him and went back to stirring her sauce, like nothing had happened between them, like she hadn’t managed to tease him and tempt him with her damn Italian sauce.

“Do you want a glass of wine?”

Faith looked up. “I’d love one. A pinot would be great with this dish.”

Nate raised an eyebrow. “And just like that you’re running my household,” he said dryly.

Faith paused, like she was unsure what to say. “Is that why you’re so scared to have a woman in your house, Nate? Because you don’t like the idea of losing control?”

He didn’t even bother answering, just went through to the wine cellar and pulled out a bottle, stopping to check the label before returning to the kitchen. He uncorked it and decanted it before pulling out two oversize wineglasses.

“If we’re going to drink a red, we may as well make it a good one,” Nate told Faith. “If I’d known I would have got you to put it out to get to room temperature a few hours ago.”

Faith nodded and checked the spaghetti, bumping shoulders with him when she turned to drain the water off. “How about you put the wine on the table? I’ll have dinner served up in a few minutes.”

Things were strained between them, suddenly strange, and Nate didn’t like it. One moment they’d been easy; the next it was … He cleared his throat, refusing to feel uncomfortable in his own home. He was never
uncomfortable,
never not in control, especially when it came to the opposite sex. So they’d had a moment. So what? Nothing was going to happen, especially not after hearing how shaken up she still was. He’d been so busy thinking about how to deal with her ex, Nate hadn’t thought about how rough she must be feeling still.

“Anything interesting happen today?” he asked, settling down at the table and stretching his legs out as he tried to make easy conversation. He glanced at a book she had open and reached for it. “Or were you too busy tidying up this pigsty?”

“It was hardly a pigsty.”

Nate flicked through a few pages. The artwork was interesting, but it wasn’t his area of expertise. “You’ve been studying?” he asked.

“No. It’s a new book on contemporary artists. I was just doing some reading for pleasure.”

He watched as Faith tipped spaghetti into an oversize white serving bowl as he undid the top button of his shirt and then the one below. He wore a shirt every day and a suit sometimes, relentless about his appearance given the types of clients he was dealing with and wanting to make sure they realized how seriously he took his role. But even the fact that his closet was full of Dolce & Gabbana and HUGO BOSS didn’t mean he liked wearing fancy clothes when he could be in jeans and a tee at home.

“You do realize the whole brainy-student thing is kind of sexy, right?” Nate laughed as he said it, wishing he’d just kept it to himself.

Faith glanced at him and raised an eyebrow before spooning the meatballs and sauce on top of the spaghetti. “I’m not that brainy, but thanks.” She smiled and shook her head, like he’d embarrassed her. “I met your sister-in-law,” she said, changing the subject on him.

He leaned back, beer in hand. “Yeah? Which one?”

“Ryder’s wife.”

Nate grinned. “Ah, so you met the lovely Chloe.”

“Yes,” Faith said as she lifted the big bowl and walked toward him. Nate went to jump up, but she just smiled and shook her head, carrying the bowl and placing it down in the center of the table. She’d already set their place mats, and when she sat across from him he leaned forward and poured her wine, doing the same for himself now that he’d finished his beer.

“And what did Chloe want?” he asked, smiling as Faith served up one plate and then passed it to him. “Bet she was all twenty questions trying to figure out what you were doing here.”

“She was just coming by to see you,” Faith told him.

“During the day? I don’t think so.” He chuckled and waited for her to finish serving herself so he could start. Now that the food was in front of him he was starving. “She knew damn well there was a woman here and she wanted to come be all nosey. I’d put money on it, and that’s saying a lot where Chloe’s concerned.”

Come to think of it, Chloe had given him some serious shit about Faith when they’d been drinking at Joe’s one night. Heaven help him if she figured it out; she’d give him hell.
If she hadn’t already.

“Well, she seemed lovely, anyway. Once I realized she wasn’t your girlfriend, that is.”

Nate paused with his fork midair, about to twirl his first mouthful of spaghetti. “I don’t have a girlfriend. You think I’d have you here if I did?”

Faith frowned. “What difference would it make?”

Nate fought the urge to laugh at the innocent expression on her face, but he couldn’t help his mouth kicking up into a grin. “If I had a girlfriend, hypothetical of course, there’s no way she’d let me have a woman like you working for me in my home, let alone staying.” He reached over to touch her hand, meaning to pat her but instead ending up tracing his fingers over the back of her hand, wishing to hell he hadn’t touched her soft skin again. “Sweetheart, you’re way too beautiful for another woman to ever trust you with her man. Believe me.”

Faith stared at his hand for a moment before retracting hers, twirling spaghetti covered with sauce around her fork, and taking a bite. Nate watched her, transfixed by the way she ate, the tiny bit of sauce on her lower lip. He cleared his throat and looked at his own dinner, suddenly more hungry for a certain woman than food.

“Sam came by.”

“Again?” Nate had his mouth full now, the tomato sauce like an explosion on his taste buds. “Damn, this is seriously good.” When she said she’d learned how to cook he hadn’t exactly been imagining something this incredible.

“He wanted to warn me off you one last time.” Now it was Faith with her mouth kicked up into a curve and he had to resist the urge to wipe the smile straight off her face.
With his lips
.

Brotherly,
he reminded himself. He was supposed to be brotherly with her.

“And what did you tell your big bad brother?” Nate asked her.

“Something along the lines of the fact I can look after myself,” she muttered. “Although given my recent track record that didn’t go down so well. But still, I gave it to him straight.”

“I went to school with a guy, was friends with him for years,” Nate said, pausing to take another forkful of spaghetti and meatball and finishing it before continuing. “Anyway, he had a bit of a temper, and one day after we lost a baseball game I came around a corner and caught him kicking the shit out of a dog.”

Faith’s cheeks lost all color. “You’re serious?”

“Deadly.” He grimaced. Just because he didn’t mind talking with his fists when he needed to didn’t mean he’d ever hurt an animal.
Or a woman for that matter.
“The point is, I’d known him since we were in junior high, and I’d never realized he was capable of doing something like that. He was kicking this poor defenseless dog and she didn’t have a shot of getting away from him, let alone defending herself.”

Faith had set her fork down now, was dabbing at the corners of her mouth with her napkin. Nate was thinking he should have waited to share this story until after they’d finished eating, especially given how pale she was suddenly looking. It had probably brought everything about the other night back to her.

“So what happened?” she asked.

Nate hoped she’d like the ending. “I was with Chase, and it just so happens that neither of us likes to see an animal get hurt. Let’s just say it wasn’t long before that guy was the one howling in pain and promising never to lay a hand on a dog again.”

She sighed and picked up her fork again, absently pushing food around on her plate. “You’re telling me this because you want me to know you’re going to beat the crap out of Cooper?”

“No, Faith, I’m telling you because we all make bad judgment calls sometimes.” He took a sip of wine, the red smooth as he swallowed it. “Do you remember that old dog Molly we used to have here? You probably saw her when you visited with Sam years ago. She always came out to greet anyone who arrived.”

Faith’s eyebrows pulled together. “I think so.”

“Well, that was her. We scooped her up that day, found she had a couple of pups in the alley with her that she’d been trying to keep concealed, and took her home with us. Chase found new homes for the puppies once they were bigger, and she lived out her days here. We couldn’t have loved that old girl more if we’d tried.”

Faith took another mouthful, eyes suddenly bright again. “You come off as this tough guy, Nate, like you wouldn’t give a damn about anything other than yourself or your family, but it’s not who you are, is it? I’ve always seen past that bravado.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Oh really.”

“Yes, really,” she replied. “You wouldn’t harm any animal and you couldn’t say no to me when I turned up on your doorstep. You might frighten the crap out of grown men, but you don’t scare me.”

“Well, I should,” he grumbled, placing his fork down so he could lean closer to her. “I
should
scare you, Faith.”

“I’m not scared of you, Nathaniel King,” she insisted, but her voice was wavering, no longer as strong and full of confidence as she had been a second ago. He didn’t want to scare her, but he didn’t want her thinking she was safe with him. Not from everything.

“When Sam said you were the lamb in the wolf’s den, he wasn’t lying.” Nate held her gaze, didn’t take his eyes off her for a second, never giving her a moment to break their connection, showing her why. “You shouldn’t be here with me, Faith. You might not be scared of me, but it doesn’t mean that you’re safe with me.”