I Knew You Were Trouble: A Texas Kings Novel (7 page)

The woman had followed her, her daughter on her feet now and tottering off unsteadily. “No, I’ll catch him later. I was going to ask him over for dinner, but now that he’s got you I guess he won’t be so desperate for a home-cooked meal. Don’t tell him I said it, but he’s been a lost soul without Mrs. T looking after him!”

Faith smiled as the child climbed up onto the sofa. “Your daughter is beautiful.” Faith hated that she was bristling over the thought that the child could be Nate’s.

“She loves her uncle Nate’s house, that’s for sure.” The woman smiled. “Sorry, where are my manners? I’m Chloe.” She held out her hand.

Faith took it, relief hitting her like a train head-on.
Nate was the girl’s uncle?
“Faith,” she said. “So you must be…”

“Ryder’s wife,” she said, going over to unsuccessfully grab the little girl. “And this is Rose.”

“Poor girl, having an uncle like Nate to keep all the boys away when she’s older.” Faith smiled. “I can just see him with his brothers, all lined up on the porch with shotguns.”

Chloe laughed. “Maybe, but right now she has both her uncles wrapped around her little finger, and her daddy, too. She’s lucky to be the only girl.”

“Can I get you a drink?” Faith was suddenly a whole lot more relaxed.

“You having a coffee?”

“I’ve just had one, but if it means I don’t have to clean for a bit longer then I’ll have another.” Faith was already starting to warm toward Chloe, especially now she knew she was Nate’s sister-in-law and not her competition.

She turned to put on the kettle again, pulling another coffee mug down.

“Do you work at Joe’s sometimes?” Chloe asked.

Faith grimaced. “Yeah. Well, I used to. Have I served you there?”

Chloe shook her head, a smile bracketing her mouth, eyes suddenly dancing like she was about to burst out laughing. “Not really, no. But I’ve just put two and two together. You’re Sam’s sister, right? Ryder pointed you out to me a couple of times.”

“Guilty as charged.” She raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“I just can’t believe you’re in Nate’s house when he’s usually so…” Chloe shook her head. “It’s none of my business. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Faith looked up, coffee forgotten. “Say it, what you were about to tell me. What is it?”

Chloe sighed and rescued Rose from the sofa where she was flapping her hands wanting to get down. “It’s just that he’s always kind of twisted in knots over you. Chase and Ryder like having him on about it.”

Now it was Faith laughing. “Nate all twisted up over me? Don’t be silly. I think you have the wrong girl.”

“I’m not,” Chloe said, leaning in to retrieve her coffee and grinning at her like they were co-conspirators. “And I shouldn’t have said anything; he’d kill me if he found out. But it’s true. The big, indestructible Nate King all in a knot over you. We all laugh about one night when we were out and he caught sight of you. Talk about rustling his feathers.”

Faith flushed; she could feel the heat hit her cheeks, and wished that she could believe what she was being told. “I don’t believe you for a second.”

They sat in silence for a moment, both blowing on their hot coffee and taking little sips while Rose kept herself entertained pottering around the living room that adjoined the kitchen. She’d pulled out some toys that Nate had obviously stashed away for her.

“So what’s it like living in paradise every day?” Faith asked.

“Here?” Chloe smiled. “I guess it
is
paradise. I thought I’d be practicing as an attorney and spending most of my time in the city, but then Rose came along and there’s no way I could leave her. Not yet.”

Faith loved the way Chloe looked at her daughter, had always wished she’d had a mom who gazed at her so adoringly. “When did you graduate?”

“About a year before she was born,” Chloe told her. “So I worked in Dallas until I was about ready to pop. Nate’s been great in involving me in some work for the family, though, so I’ve still been able to keep my head in the game. Long may it continue.” She laughed. “And before that, I worked at Joe’s, and that’s where I met my husband. It must have been before you started.”

“I’ve only been working there over summer vacation,” Faith said.

Faith grinned as Rose came toddling over, arms outstretched and looping around her mom’s neck when she gathered her up and lifted her to sit on her hip.

“And that’s my cue to go. She’s probably ready for her nap,” Chloe said. “Thanks for the coffee.”

“My pleasure.” She was still stuck on the fact that Chloe had some crazy idea that Nate liked her. “Maybe I’ll see you again soon.”

“Yeah, if Nate doesn’t flip out having you in his house before I come past next.”

Faith couldn’t help grinning. “So you’d find it even more amusing if you knew I was living here for a bit?”

Chloe clamped her hand over her mouth, making an indecipherable noise. “You’re kidding me? Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“’Fraid not.”

“Now that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all day. Wait till Ryder hears.”

Faith leaned on the doorjamb until Chloe had disappeared from sight, staring out into the bright sunshine bathing over the surrounding fields. So maybe she wasn’t imagining the spark between her and Nate. She didn’t believe Chloe for a second that Nate was twisted in knots over her; hell, he could have
any
woman he wanted, so why the hell would he be all hot under the collar for her? But it was a nice thought, to think that he felt a simmer of something.

She shut the heavy front door and laughed to herself as she went back into the kitchen to tidy up.
Nate into her?
She’d seen the way he looked at her sometimes, the heat in his gaze, but there was a difference between that and what his sister-in-law had said.

Faith felt a pang of desire, a hum through her body, but stamped the flame out. Could she let him touch her? Was she ready to have a man’s hands on her after … She gulped. She’d crushed on Nate all her life,
trusted
him with her life, but it was just too soon to go there.

“Faith!”

She groaned, standing dead still, hoping her brother wouldn’t notice her. He must have seen Chloe leaving and spotted Faith. Given the fact that she’d never even managed to evade him with her expert hiding when they were kids, hiding in plain view and hoping she was a statue probably wasn’t going to work.

“Faith!” he called out again, banging on the front door this time before pushing it open.
Damn!
If only she’d thought to turn the lock. “Faith?”

She turned, forcing herself to smile. Sam was her big brother, and he’d always been great, if just a little too overprotective. She couldn’t exactly ignore him.

“Hey.”

“Didn’t you hear me calling you?” he asked.

“I was just coming to the door,” she lied.

“Huh.” He kicked off his boots and folded his arms across his chest, his eyes narrowing as he gave her a look that spelled lecture. “We need to talk.”

“Come on then,” she muttered. “I’ll make us coffee.” By nightfall she’d be bouncing off the walls with the amount of caffeine she’d consumed.

“Nate coming back anytime soon?”

“Not sure; I don’t exactly have his schedule on me,” she said dryly.

“We’re talking about Nate King; you know that, right?” Sam grumbled. “You haven’t thought this through; he’s—”

“What?” she asked, spinning around to face Sam, planting her hands palms down on the counter. “Your best friend? The guy who always looked out for you when things were shit at home? The very same guy who’s always treated me with respect and never,
ever
tried anything inappropriate with me?” She sighed. “We’re talking about the same guy, right? Because that’s the guy whose house I’m crashing in, Sam. I’m here working for him; that’s it.” She didn’t point out that it was Nate who’d always kept him from doing anything stupid, like hauling him out of fights before things went too far.

“You think he’s so damn respectable, you wouldn’t know the half of it,” Sam scoffed. “Let’s pack your things up and you can come stay with me.”

“No.” She placed her hands on her hips, not about to be bossed around by her older brother. “I’m not a child, Sam; you can’t just snap your fingers and tell me what to do.”

“Nate’s…”

“What?” she demanded.

“He’s a womanizer. He’s used to getting whatever and whoever he wants.”

Faith laughed. “Oh, and suddenly you’re Mother Teresa just because you’ve been in a relationship for a couple of months? Cry me a different song, Sam. You’ve got a history of leaving women high and dry just like Nate has, so don’t go trying to make out like he’s the bad guy and you’re not.”

“I’m your brother, goddamn it, and I want to keep you away from him.” Sam stalked around and poured his own cup of coffee, his face like thunder. “Is it so bad that I care about you?”

Faith sighed, shoulders falling as she looked into her brother’s eyes. She nudged him with her arm as she scooped a spoon of sugar and dropped it into his cup. “I love that you care about me, Sam; I do. But I need to stand on my own two feet.”

He grunted and slung an arm around her. “Running into the arms of Nate is not standing on your own two feet, sweetheart.”

Faith tried not to bristle, knew that Sam was trying to look out for her. “How many times do I have to tell you that I’m here working? It’s a hell of a lot better than the bar. And let’s not start on how well you deal with guys doing wrong by me.” She laughed. “Not that any of them have been deserving of being roughed up before now.”

Her brother made a growling noise and she pushed away from him and jumped up onto the counter, staring down into eyes the exact same shade of brown as hers.

“So there’s nothing going on between you?” he asked, sipping his coffee, then grimacing at the heat. “I didn’t walk in on anything this morning when I showed up?”

“For the last time,
no,
” she insisted, hoping her cheeks didn’t flush. A couple of months ago, hell,
a week
ago she’d have stripped her gorgeous boss down to nothing at the first opportunity. But that was before. Nate had flirted with her, but he hadn’t so much as touched her inappropriately since she’d arrived. “I needed somewhere to stay; he needed a housekeeper. It was a win-win situation for both of us.”

Sam leaned forward, arms on the counter across from her. “Just be careful around him, okay?”

“You’ve already warned him off me, Sam,” she said, wondering if she was pushing it by admitting what she knew. “I know he wasn’t allowed to come near me when I was a teenager, that I was the one girl he wasn’t allowed to try his luck with, and he seems pretty sure that the rules of not coming near me are still in place.”

“It was for your own good,” Sam muttered, but he didn’t meet her gaze, was obviously embarrassed at being caught out. “And it still is.”

“Well, now I’m all grown-up, Sam, and I can look out for myself. You don’t need to tell me who I can and can’t be with.” The way he was acting he was almost pushing her toward Nate.

“Like you did with Cooper? After what that asshole did to you—”

“Nate would never lay a hand on a woman,” she said, interrupting him. “Don’t you ever compare him to Cooper.”

Sam shook his head, coffee cup braced in one hand. “He won’t break your bones, Faith, but he will break your heart. I know he will, and seeing you like that would hurt me more than seeing you with a bruise on your stomach. It’d kill me, because that kind of pain doesn’t just disappear in a week like an ugly bruise that fades to nothing.”

Faith’s belly flipped, both from the reference to the blow she’d taken the day before and from just thinking about Nate, about the power he could have over her, how hard she could fall for him if she let herself. But she wasn’t going to. Getting into his bed was one thing, but she would never let him close enough to break her heart.

“I’ll be fine, Sam. I promise.”

“And you’re sure you don’t want to stay with me?”

“Three’s a crowd,” she told him, jumping down and pressing a fleeting kiss to his cheek as she took his cup from him, put it in the sink, and then grabbed his hand, hauling him down the hall. “Now it’s time for you to go. I have work to do, and I’m guessing you do, too.”

“Just be careful.”

Faith laughed and pushed him out the door once he had his boots back on. “You say that like I’m about to go on an African safari without any protection from the wild animals.”

He groaned. “That’s exactly what you’re doing.”

She just shoved him and then shut the door behind him. Sam was wrong; she wasn’t in danger of Nate or any other man breaking her heart.

She was going to finish her master’s degree, work hard over vacation to save money, and then make her own way in the world. Carve out a career from what she loved. Now was the time to let her hair down, have fun while she planned out her future. If her sexy rancher boss wanted some no-strings-attached fun, one day she might consider it. But not just yet.

Chapter 5

NATE stepped inside and resisted the urge to call out, “Honey, I’m home!” Instead he chuckled to himself and walked down the hall, pausing only to drop his workbag to the floor. It was weird how much he was looking forward to seeing her, given how desperate he’d been to get out of the house and put some distance between them earlier in the day.

“Something smells incredible.”

Faith appeared, barefoot and dressed in skintight jeans and a loose blouse. He sucked in a breath when his eyes traveled up, the blouse unbuttoned just low enough for him to see too much of her breasts. Ordinarily he would have appreciated it, but with Faith it was the last thing he needed, to be distracted by her gorgeous body.

“I went shopping,” she said. “The fridge is full and I have my secret tomato sauce just about ready.” Faith smiled as she spun back around to what she was stirring in a big pan. “I’m hoping you like spaghetti and meatballs.”

Nate shrugged out of his jacket and threw it down over a chair. He could get used to this way too easily, and he wasn’t just thinking about the cooking. Seeing Faith all barefoot and cute in his kitchen was kind of a turn-on.