I Knew You Were Trouble: A Texas Kings Novel (16 page)

“I’m used to running with Chase,” Nate confessed, holding out a hand to haul her up. She took it, grudgingly, but she still appreciated the hand up. “We’re pretty hard on each other, but we’ve been training together a while.”

“Yeah, and I’m the featherweight in comparison. I shouldn’t have tried to impress you.”

“Darlin’, you’ve already impressed me today. The fact that you kept up for that long like it wasn’t killing you?” He dropped a kiss to her forehead and she winced. “What, you don’t want me to kiss you anymore?”

She frowned. “No, I don’t want you to kiss me when I’m all sweaty and gross.”

“Maybe I like the taste of your sweat,” he teased, wrapping his arms around her and pushing his pelvis against her. “
Maybe
it turns me on.”

“I’m starting to think everything turns you on,” she grumbled, but it was hard to stay annoyed with him when he was looking at her like he was about to eat her. The wicked look in his eye almost made her forget all about her burning calves. “Maybe I shouldn’t have chosen such a sex maniac as my teacher.”

His laugh was almost as wicked as his smile, and his wink made her knees go weak again. She really needed to get a grip on the effect he was having on her.

“What fun would a sex teacher be if he
wasn’t
?”

She made a noncommittal sound in her throat and pushed back from him. “Come on; let’s get this run over with and then you can make me something to drink. Something cold and alcoholic that’ll start to numb me before the pain hits.”

“Deal.” He held up his hand for a high five, but she just stared at him. “Or not. Come on; let’s go slow.”

She forced her body into a slow jog beside him and winced. She shouldn’t have stopped. Taking the break had only made her body seize up, and she was ready to collapse for the rest of the day. If not the entire month.

*   *   *

Nate was lying on the sofa, stretched out in just a pair of jeans, his hair still wet from showering and a bottle of beer in his hand. He was waiting for Faith to join him, although he was starting to wonder if she’d gotten out of the shower and just fallen straight into bed.

He was about to haul himself up when she appeared, wet hair loose around her shoulders, wearing boxer shorts and a little blue tank. Nate cleared his throat and took another sip of beer, trying not to stare at the fact that she had no bra on and her nipples were hard enough to make them visible. Just the idea of her naked made him hard, a fact he was pleased hadn’t been the case until she’d landed on his doorstep. If Sam even knew the thoughts Nate was having about his sister, let alone what he’d done with her … He pushed those thoughts from his mind. Right now he was operating on a what-Sam-doesn’t-know-won’t-kill-him basis, which was only applicable given the fact that Faith had wanted to keep what was happening between them secret, just like he did.

“You still want to murder me?” he asked.

“Do you have another cold beer for me?” she asked back instead of answering him.

“Yep.” He motioned to the fridge. “Grab a bottle and come crash with me.”

She groaned and did as he’d suggested. “I want to kill you less now that I have beer.”

He grinned. “Says the girl who never drinks beer.”

“Yeah, I know. But I’m so hot still. And sore.” She stretched in front of him, arms reaching for the ceiling and her top riding up high, showing off her flat, tanned stomach.

“Come here,” he grumbled, sick of looking without touching.

“I’m not having sex with you,” she muttered, lying half on top of him, half on the sofa. “I’m dying here.”

“I like you for more than just sex, if you really want to know,” he said, stroking her lazily. She might be feeling annoyed-exhausted, but he loved the way working out made him feel. If his body wasn’t aching then he hadn’t run hard enough, and the fact that he was tired from sex
and
running was enough to keep a smile on his face. Besides, it didn’t take him long to recharge. Nate flexed his hand, wincing. The only thing that annoyed him was the fact that his hand hurt like hell when he moved it a certain way after having to deal with Faith’s ex. If it wasn’t pain-free by morning he’d be taking a trip past his doctor’s office to get it checked, but for now Nate was choosing to ignore it.

“Do you like me enough to talk business?” Faith asked.

He shifted his weight so he could look at her properly. “Are you secretly here to unearth secrets about me? Because I don’t give interviews, I don’t like journalists, and I sure as hell don’t like undercover anyones.”

“Nate, I…”

He laughed. “Sweetheart, I’m just kidding. Well, I’m not actually, all that was true, but I trust you.”

“I just, well, I want to be successful,” she admitted. “I want to make something of myself.”

“Well, you’re talking to the right person.”

She scoffed. “Either you’re making fun of me or your ego is stupidly big.”

Nate leaned closer so he could plant a kiss on her mouth. “Neither. What I meant is that I take success very seriously. Plenty of the businesspeople I deal with might call me an asshole because I’m tough when it comes to the deals I put together, but you’ll never hear me telling someone they can’t reach the goddamn sky if they make it their goal.”

She sighed. “So you wouldn’t laugh at me if I said I want to be the most successful female art consultant and trader in Texas?” Her voice was softer than usual, uncertainty clear in her tone.

“Faith, I don’t think you’re aiming high enough,” he said honestly, taking a sip of his beer and watching her do the same.

“Really?”

“There’s no reason you can’t be better than the best man, for starters, and don’t just limit yourself to Texas. Dream big, baby, and don’t let anyone stand in your way.”

That made her crack up. “Like Cooper-type douche bags, you mean?”

“Hey, he’s not going to be bothering you again anytime soon.” Nate smiled to himself, pleased that he’d dealt with the situation personally. He’d done what he had to do without going too American Psycho on the guy, and Nate genuinely doubted Faith would ever hear from him again. “Let’s just say that if he saw either of us again, he’d cross the street to avoid a confrontation.”

She smirked. “Can I ask what you did to him, or do I not want to know?”

Nate shrugged. “I didn’t kill him, but I did teach him a lesson.” He held up his bottle and clinked it against hers. “To your successful career.”

“One day,” she muttered. “Right now it’s just a dream.”

“Quit working at places like Joe’s and find a gallery to start out in,” Nate suggested. “Offer to work for free if they don’t have an opening; learn the ropes from the bottom up. I’m not knocking your degree, because you sure as hell need it and it’s incredible how hard you’ve studied, but if you want to impress people you need to show you have the practical skills, too.”

“There’s that little issue of money, Nate,” she said, moving away from him a little so she could lean against the back of the sofa and tuck her knees up. “I can’t work for free, finish off my post-grad, and work somewhere for money to pay my bills, too.”

“So stay living here for a while,” he said, like it was the most obvious answer in the world. He sipped his beer and kept his eyes on her at the same time, wondering why the hell he’d just said that. Two days ago, hell,
one
day ago he was cursing the fact that he’d let her stay at all, and now he was suggesting she stay longer?
Indefinitely?

Then again, one day ago they hadn’t been sleeping together, and having her around was a whole lot nicer than he’d expected. His house had always been so strictly off-limits to anyone other than family, which meant his fun with women had been confined to the apartment or hotel rooms. Seeing Faith curled up on his sofa and knowing she’d be crawling into his bed later on was kind of a turn-on.

“You mean that?” she finally asked.

“Yeah. Why the hell not?” Nate kicked his feet up and stretched out. “You keep the house tidy and cook a few meals for us, and in exchange you can live here for as long as you need.”

“But—”

“No buts,” he insisted. He’d made the decision and he was going to have to live with the consequences of dealing with Sam and any other shit that came his way. “Stay or don’t stay, the choice is yours. But if you want a shot at the career you’re dreaming about, take the opportunity and don’t look a gift horse in the mouth when he’s staring straight at you.”

“Thank you,” she whispered, setting her bottle down and pushing up on her knees so she could shuffle forward.

Nate put his bottle on the floor, less interested in drinking than the beautiful woman approaching him. Her hair was still damp and falling over her shoulders, which had had the enticing effect of wetting the thin material of her cotton tank. Faith’s mouth was slightly parted, her eyes on his as she moved even closer.

“I thought we weren’t having sex?” he joked, sitting up slightly and reaching for the hem of her top so he could lift it up and over her head.

Faith obliged. “It seems only fair that I thank you for your generous offer.”

He chuckled, hands covering her breasts, loving the fullness in his palms.

“So you’re going to be my mistress?” he asked, giving up her breasts so he could put his hands around her back and force her forward and back on top of him again.

“Yes,” she muttered. “Your mistress that still needs to be taught what she’s doing. There’s no point being successful if I’m still crap in bed.”

His laugh was muffled as her hair fell over his face. “Would you give up on the crap in bed business? You’re fucking incredible, and the only reason I’m putting up with you telling me I have to teach you is because I’m too damn selfish to say no.”

“What do you propose then?” she whispered, her lips moving against the side of his mouth as she talked.

“I propose,” he said, hands on her butt to lock her down hard against him, so she could feel just how interested he was, “that I show you how a man is supposed to look after a woman in bed. Then you’ll always have a good benchmark to measure other men against.”

She laughed, but he cursed the words he’d just said. He might not want to commit to anything long-term, but the idea of Faith ever being in another man’s bed made his head pound so hard it felt like it could explode.

*   *   *

“I’m scared of you even looking at me again,” Faith murmured, standing behind Nate as he sat on a chrome and leather stool at the kitchen counter. She dropped a kiss to his neck and wrapped her arms around him.

“Scared of what?” he quipped, closing the lid on his laptop and spinning around in his chair to face her.

“Your appetite,” she groaned

Nate kissed her, his lips soft against hers, but it was a slow, sensual kiss rather than the hot, hard lip crushes they’d shared less than an hour ago.

“Want to order in?” he asked.

“Who delivers all the way out here?” she asked, perching on his knee as he held her close with both of his arms around her.

“Plenty of places. I tip well to make it worth their while.”

“I’d rather stay in than go out,” she admitted.

“Me too. I thought it’d be nice to hang at home for a couple of days. It’s been a long few months for me.”

“You sure you’re not just staying home to avoid seeing my brother?” she asked, only half-teasing. “I like getting my own way, but I hate seeing the two of you fight like that.”

“Sam and I will be fine.” His voice sounded convincing, but she didn’t believe him, not for a second, that he was that confident. “Anyway, I was catching up on some work then, and I recalled a couple of contacts I have in the art world. Granddad has quite a collection, not my taste but incredibly valuable now, but we’d been talking to a few different gallery owners in recent years.”

Faith’s pulse picked up, her heart beating that little bit too fast. She’d been so unsure about telling Nate in case he didn’t think she was capable of fulfilling what she’d dreamed of for so long, but it was starting to seem like the best decision she’d ever made.

“Anyway, to cut a long story short, I’ve called in a few favors,” he said, dropping a kiss into her hair. “I’ve e-mailed two contacts, mentioned how capable and driven you are, and I’ve told them to reach out if they hear of anything or if they might need some assistance.”

“I don’t know what to say.” Aside from Sam, no one in her life had ever truly given a damn enough to want to help her out, and she’d sure as hell never had any handouts. So to know that Nate had dropped everything and tried to help her only hours after she’d confessed her career plans to him was amazing.

“Just say thank you,” he said. “And agree to Thai takeout.”

“I’d agree to eat fried worms right now.”

He laughed, a throaty, deep rumble that for some reason reminded her of the noise his Ferrari made. “Well, that would just be stupid. You have to realize that telling people what you want from life is the first way to make them take you seriously. And if people take you seriously, they’re more likely to recommend you.”

She hugged him again, hardly able to believe that not only was she shacked up in Nate’s house, but also she’d already had sex with him more times than she could count in twenty-four hours and now he was giving her business advice. It was a win-win situation if ever she’d been in one.

“You know, I think I’ll call in and collect dinner. You mind if I head in to see Granddad for a bit, check he’s okay? I’ll be back with dinner in less than ninety minutes; I promise.”

“Go for it,” she said, extracting herself from his lap and getting a glass so she could pour herself some water. “I’ve got a few phone calls to catch up on, might even have a quick chat with Sam.”

“Yeah, you break the ice before I have to jump into the water with him,” Nate muttered.

He stood, his plain grey T-shirt hugging his frame, faded jeans making him casual and sexy as hell. His worn boots were on but not laced up, he had more than a day’s worth of dark stubble, and his hair was messy, not to mention the dark shadow around his eye where Sam had punched him. Nate was so damn hot she didn’t even know what part of him to admire first.