I Knew You Were Trouble: A Texas Kings Novel (11 page)

“I haven’t seen him since,” she told them. “He tried calling a couple of times, then a few texts, but I’ve just ignored him completely.” The last one he’d sent had been him pissed that she hadn’t shown for a shift, as if she was just going to turn up for work and forget about the fact that he’d hit her. He was just lucky she hadn’t called the cops.

“You’re better off without him,” Anna said. “Asshole.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Faith muttered.

“Ladies.” The deep voice from behind them sent a familiar lick of anticipation through her, and she turned to make way for Nate to pass the girls their drinks. They both smiled and thanked him, and Faith had the sudden urge to stake her claim, make it clear that he was off-limits. Only when Nate turned and looked into her eyes, his gaze wicked as he winked at her, she realized she didn’t have to. He’d been polite and charming to them, but the only one he was paying real attention to was her, and it would have been impossible for her friends not to notice what was going on between them. Whatever the hell that might be.

“You’ve slept with him already, haven’t you?” Cara hissed when Nate excused himself and sat back down across from Sam.

Faith laughed. “No. He thinks of me like a little sister; nothing is going to happen.”

“I call bullshit,” Anna said, draining almost half of her drink. “You two are eyeing each other up like a kid looking at candy.”

Faith sipped her drink for something to do, wishing she didn’t feel so guilty. She did want Nate. Bad. Always had, always would. And there was no way she could hide it from her friends.

“Let’s just say that Nate has always been my fantasy guy,” she admitted, keeping her voice low. “It’s not something I ever thought I’d act on, and after Cooper?” She shrugged. “The idea of his hands on me is kind of scary.”

“You know who my fantasy guy is?” Cara asked.

Faith and Anna shook their heads.

“Johnny Depp. The difference is that he’ll never know I exist and yours is ready to rip your clothes off.”

They all laughed and Anna grabbed Cara’s hand. Faith was pleased she’d asked them out; she’d needed their company. “We’re going to dance. Just have fun with Nate, okay? Don’t worry about us. In fact, pretend like we’re not even here.”

“Thanks for the drinks!” Cara called over to Nate before the girls disappeared through the crowd.

Faith watched them go, quickly sipped most of her drink, and then turned back to the table. Sam had his head bent close to his girlfriend’s, listening to something she was saying, and Nate was staring at Faith.

“What happened to your friends?” he asked.

“They’re off dancing. Man hunting.”

The look on Nate’s face was priceless, the line of his mouth tightening. “Are you going to join them?”

She finished her drink and placed it down on the table. “No.”

“Good.” He knocked back the rest of his and slammed it down on the table. “I’ll get us all another round then.”

Sam got her attention as Nate disappeared again. He looked more mellow than he had before, but she guessed his girlfriend probably had to take credit for that.

“You okay?” he asked with big-brotherly concern.

“Fine. Great, in fact,” she said.

“Nate sorted out your ex yet?”

Faith prickled just at the mention of Cooper. “Not that I know of.” Maybe Nate had? The truth was, so long as Cooper never came near her again she didn’t really care.

“I’ll talk to him about it when he gets back.”

Nate was back before she knew it, her drink in front of her and his hand sliding down her back again. She’d come to crave his touch, the indent of his palm against any part of her enough to make her shudder. She wasn’t sure what it meant, but she liked it.

“Thank you,” she said, taking a welcome gulp of alcohol.

“You’re welcome.”

“Stop making eyes at my sister and slide me my beer,” her brother grumbled.

Faith saw the way Kelly touched his arm, smiling to herself as she gave him a look that said,
Enough
. Faith hadn’t seen her brother in a serious relationship before, and she liked that it was someone else keeping him in line for once. Fingers crossed he managed to hold on to her.

They chatted about nothing in particular, and Faith leaned across the table for a bit to talk with Kelly again, but Faith was so aware of Nate that she found it almost impossible to concentrate on what she was saying. His body was warm against hers when he shuffled closer, his mouth so tempting when he spoke to her, her eyes dropping to focus on the fullness of his lips every single time. The more she tried not to think about him like that, the more she wanted him.

“I’ll be back in a moment,” Faith said as she stood, carefully smoothing her hands over her skirt to make sure it was in place. She collected her purse and made her way through the crowd, heading in what she hoped was the right direction for the restroom. She needed a minute to gather her thoughts, to figure out what the hell she was doing.

Once she was in there she checked her reflection in a mirror, reapplied her lip gloss instead of splashing the cold water on her face that she was craving. After spending so long on her makeup she wasn’t about to ruin it. What she did do was let the cool water run over her wrists, cooling her body and calming her at the same time. Nate hadn’t even done anything, yet she was all twisted in knots over just the thought of what he could do to her.

Once she’d finished in the restroom she stepped out, was about to brave the crowd and head back to their table when a hand closed over hers, taking her by surprise.

“Faith.”

Her pulse ignited, first from the shock of a man grabbing her unexpectedly, then all over again when she realized it was Nate. Her heart was pounding, her initial reaction to shove his hand off and run. But he wasn’t Cooper. It was Nate. Nate wasn’t going to hurt her.

“I was just making my way back,” she said, trying to slow her breathing.

“Your brother’s up dancing. I was just coming to get you.”

She stood dead still, stared up at him, heart pounding so loudly she was certain it was about to beat right out of her chest.

“Nate…”

He stepped closer, released her wrist, his eyes fixed on hers.

Screw it
. Maybe it was the alcohol, the fact that they’d been dancing around whatever the hell it was going on between them since the moment she’d arrived at his place, or the fact that she’d harbored a secret fantasy for him since she was a teenager; whatever it was, she wasn’t going to just ignore it any longer.
Couldn’t.
It was Nate—she could trust him; she
needed
to trust him.

Faith pushed him back against the wall, her hands to his chest, his only protest a grunt as he let himself be moved. She stood on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to his lips, tentatively at first and then with more force, her hands on his shoulders before snaking up higher, fingers looping through his too-long hair, tugging him closer. She was no man’s victim, wasn’t going to let her ex ruin what she could have with another man.

Nate groaned; she heard the noise at the same time as his body tightened, his shoulders bunching like he was about to pull back, before giving in, his mouth suddenly crushing hers. His arms wrapped around her, holding her close, pulling her body forward and hard smacked into his. She relaxed, pushed any stupid thoughts away that told her to stop.

Because Faith couldn’t get enough of him; the taste of him, the feel of him, the … she moaned as his tongue found hers, his lips moving fast one moment, then slow the next, his hands skimming her back, settling just above her butt.

“We shouldn’t be doing this, Faith,” he murmured, his sinful dark eyes trained on hers.

“Don’t stop,” she whispered back, still on tiptoe, her mouth hovering over his.

“This is every kind of bad.” He plucked at her lips with his again. “So bad.”

“I want you to teach me, Nate. I need you to”—she kissed him back, her knees turning to liquid and making it almost impossible to stay upright—“show me what to do.” It was what she’d always wanted, Nate in her bed. And this was her chance to get what she’d been craving, to prove to herself that she was nobody’s victim. And to make sure no other man could ever insult her like Cooper had.

“Sugar, you know exactly what you’re doing.” His kisses were like fire across her skin, the most delicious, sensuous, burning-hot fire.

“I’m not talking about kissing, Nate,” she murmured, moaning as his tongue dipped into her mouth again, his lips so slow and careful one minute and rough the next.

“You…” He paused, his mouth hovering over hers, recognition shining in his eyes. “You want me to teach you
in the bedroom
?”

She nodded, refusing to be embarrassed, not wanting to back down now she’d finally said the words. “Yes.”

Nate’s groan wasn’t an answer, but she couldn’t mistake his desire, his arousal impossible not to notice pressed against her, his mouth no longer slow even for a moment, just rough and sexy as hell and making her want to strip her clothes off right then and there.

“Faith…,” he muttered, but his hands were tangled in her long hair, like his mouth couldn’t stay away from hers even for a second.

“What the fuck!”

Nate’s hands were still on her, but his mouth was gone, leaving her wondering what the hell had happened and who was—
Shit.
Her brother was barely a foot away from them, the disbelief on his face fast turning to all-out fury.

“You fucking asshole!” Sam roared, moving so fast that Faith jumped back, hard against the opposite wall in the narrow space leading to the restrooms where they’d been standing.

She heard herself scream as Sam launched at Nate, his fist connecting with the side of his face, Nate’s hands rising to stop him but Sam moving too fast. It was like she was at a train station, right on the tracks, a roaring noise so loud in her ears that she couldn’t hear anything, could just watch on helplessly as her brother swung at Nate again. It brought everything back, the terror she’d felt the night Cooper had hit her, and she wanted it to end now, wasn’t going to sit by and watch them fight.

“Sam, no!” she yelled, forcing herself to act, moving closer but not wanting to get in their way. The way they were acting right now, especially Sam, his rage was so absolute that she doubted he’d even see her if she tried to intervene.

But it looked like Nate wasn’t going to take any more punches. Faith wrapped her arms around herself, felt Kelly put a hand on her shoulder, yelling at Sam, too, but the fight was over. Her brother wasn’t small, but Nate was bigger. Suddenly he had his hand around Sam’s wrist, not letting him swing again, dodging his other fist as it came swinging, ending up grazing past Nate’s neck.

“Enough!” Nate commanded, his booming voice so loud it sent chills through her. “Enough, Sam!” Her brother had turned into a maniac, throwing his head forward and trying to head butt Nate now that he couldn’t successfully use his fists.

“Sam!” Faith demanded, moving closer now that the worst of the fight was over. “Just stop. Stop!”

He looked at her, the fury in his face simmering to a different kind of anger, one she thought looked more manageable than rage since it seemed to be filled with disappointment. She wasn’t used to disappointing anyone, least of all her brother, but she was pretty sure that’s what she was seeing right now.

“Don’t you ever fucking touch my sister again. You hear me?” Sam spat out the words, looking at Nate like he’d kill him with his bare hands if he had to. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

Nate stared at Sam. He hadn’t looked over at Faith, not once, but his words were for her.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied, her eyes fixed on him now instead of Sam.

“Leave her out of this, Nate. She’s not yours to protect and she never will be.”

Faith swallowed, hard, looking between the two men. She loved Sam; he’d been an amazing brother when they were kids and he still was. She was insanely proud of the career he’d made for himself and the man he’d become. But just because she loved him didn’t mean he could decide who she was allowed to kiss, or do anything else with. If she wanted to get into Nate’s bed, that was her choice, and no one, not even her brother, was going to stop her.

The two men were still staring at each other, like they could be fistfighting in a second without warning, but Nate was slowly backing away and putting some distance between them.

“She’s a grown woman, Sam,” Nate finally said. “And after what she’s been through I don’t think she needs to see us fighting.”

“She’s my fucking sister! My
little
sister.”

They were talking like she wasn’t even standing there, but from what Nate had told her this was a feud that had started when she was a teenager, something that had been simmering between them for some time. Sam had thought he’d stamped it out all those years ago, and now his worst nightmare had come true.

“Can we at least talk about this in private?” Nate asked, his voice still deep and calm as ever.

“What, you don’t want everyone knowing that you’re trying to get into my sister’s pants?” His laugh was cruel as he turned to her. “Because that’s all he wants from you, Faith. And once he’s had you, he’ll discard you. And who’ll be there to pick up the pieces then, huh?”

Silence stretched out between them, but Faith was at least starting to catch her breath, her heart no longer hammering like it had been. Her only concern was what Nate was about to say now, because if he told Sam the truth it might end up making the entire situation even worse.

“Don’t forget that Faith came to me, Sam. I never went looking for her, did I? I stayed the hell away, just like you asked me to.”

“So now it’s her fault? Now that she’s near you it’s her problem that you can’t keep your tongue out of her mouth?”

Faith felt like she was about to stop breathing, all the oxygen in the room gone, waiting for his answer. He’d turned what had just happened between her and Nate into something forbidden and it wasn’t.

“No. But I’d never make a woman do anything she didn’t want to do, and you’re still my friend, Sam. The best fucking friend I’ve ever had.” Nate ran his fingers through his hair, glancing at her for the first time, the look in his eyes one she couldn’t decipher. “I wouldn’t do anything to ruin our friendship, Sam.”