by Soraya Lane
“Is there a specific piece that caught your eye, or would you like me to talk you through the catalogue?” she asked.
“How about we start by you telling me which pieces I should be making sure I don’t miss out on,” he said with a chuckle.
She smiled and touched her hand to his forearm for the barest second, careful to make him feel important without sending mixed messages. “It would be my pleasure. How about you start by telling me about the pieces you already own, and I’ll make sure you continue to build your collection in the most profitable fashion.”
“I’m in this for the long term, but I like traditional pieces. Brushstrokes of scenes that suit my library, nothing too modern.”
“Some pieces we buy to appreciate every day until we need to sell them; others we buy simply to store in a safe place in the knowledge that one day we’ll make a small fortune on them,” she said.
“How about we consider both then?” he asked, chuckling. “Just don’t dupe this old man into buying a lemon, okay?”
Faith got a kick out of knowing more about art than most people she met, and she’d fast learned that she loved nothing better than making a sale, either. Maybe it was Nate’s business acumen rubbing off on her, or maybe it was just the fact that she was enjoying working in the gallery. Either way, she was happy doing what she was doing, being part of the art world, and she couldn’t wait for the day that she worked with some of the best collections and pieces in the world. She was reaching for the sky now, and nothing was going to stop her, not even her broken heart.
Nate finally pulled the phone from his ear and took a moment to catch his breath. He was exhausted. What he wanted to do was get back to the ranch and just roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty. Do the kind of work that took his mind off everything and reminded him of who he was and what he’d come from. Instead he’d been working at a frantic pace for the past three weeks, and if he didn’t slow down he was going to drop.
He turned to check he’d locked his car and headed inside to the hospital. He’d just gotten off a plane from California, a trip long overdue to personally check on a number of their real estate investments there and secure a new property, as well as do a surprise visit to their property managers. Nate liked to turn up unannounced to gauge just how well things were running and whether he was being bullshitted just because he lived in a different state. There was no pulling the wool over his eyes, not now and not ever.
Nate stopped at a coffee machine and made himself one in a cheap polystyrene cup. He could have gotten a decent coffee if he’d wanted to wait, but he just needed a quick shot of caffeine and he was here to see his granddad, not sit around sipping lattes.
Nate went to down it, burned his mouth, and cursed. Damn coffee. Everything pissed him off these days, and a stupid fucking coffee that scalded his mouth was one of those things, even if he should have known better.
Nate continued to walk, knew the way so well he could have made it with his eyes closed. He paused as he always did outside his granddad’s door, said a prayer like he only ever did when he was about to see the man he knew was slipping away from him, then entered.
And saw he was sleeping. Nate checked he was covered, made sure he looked comfortable, then sat in the chair beside the bed. He sipped slowly at the rest of the coffee even though the roof of his mouth was scalded, settled back until he finished it, and reached for one of the spare blankets, tucking it around himself. Seeing his granddad sleep was only reminding him how tired he was himself—it was about time he just shut his eyes for a bit and turned his brain off.
Nate did exactly that, letting himself relax for once. Until he thought about Faith. His jaw hardened and he went back to thinking about the ranch, to the oil they’d found. This was why he’d turned into even more of a workaholic than usual. Trying to keep his goddamn mind off the woman who’d gotten under his skin.
“I was starting to think you were never going to wake up.”
Nate blinked and rubbed at his eyes, realizing where he was and why his neck hurt like hell. His back was stiff and even stretching didn’t give him any relief.
“How long have I been out?” he asked.
“It’s light outside, if that’s what you mean,” his granddad said with a chuckle.
“Oh hell,” Nate muttered, glancing at his watch and seeing that it was almost 7:00 am. He’d slept the night. “I came by to check in on you and then I was supposed to meet up with Chase.”
“He’ll think you had a good night out with a beautiful woman. I doubt he’s reported you missing yet.”
Nate grimaced. “Not likely.”
“The woman or the missing persons report?”
“The woman.”
“We never forget the first one,” his granddad said, leaning back deeper into his pillows. Nate jumped up to help him adjust his position, pouring him a fresh glass of water and holding the straw to his lips so he could sip. “There’s something about enjoying every woman that so much as looks in your direction, then finding the one.”
Nate laughed. “First of all, she’s not the one. If she was I wouldn’t be fucked off with the world; I’d be with her.” He grinned at his granddad. “And secondly, tell me who she was, this first one who got to you?”
“Your grandma, you fool.” He started to cough and Nate held the water for him again, ready to call for help if they needed it.
“Of course it was Grandma. Who the hell else could have tamed you? Or put up with you for that matter.”
He reached for his granddad’s hand and held it until his breathing was less raspy and the coughing had passed.
“She made me work for it, but damn, was she worth it.”
They sat in silence, Nate smiling as he thought about his grandparents. When his grandma had died, they’d all been hit hard. She’d been the true matriarch of the family, the glue that held everything together and made everything good with the world. She’d been elegant yet at the same time able to sit down with the ranch hands and throw back a glass of whiskey with the best of them; and she’d been the one to tuck the boys into bed after their dad had left and make them feel as loved as they had felt when their mom had been alive and holding them in her arms.
Nate had known too much loss in his lifetime, of those closest to him, and it was only about to get worse.
“Don’t be a fool if she’s the one, son. But if she isn’t, then forget her. Simple as that.”
Nate only wished it was that simple, because one part of him told him not to stop until he had her back in his arms and the other told him that everything had turned out for the best. Nothing had changed, nothing that could make things work between them long-term, so it was best to let sleeping dogs lie.
“Now tell me about that oil.”
Now that was something he was happy to talk about. “It’s better than we ever thought. I just wish you could be there to see that black gold spewing from the ground.”
Nate looked up when a nurse entered, let her go about her business and check the charts and dispense medication. He nodded when he was offered a spare plate of breakfast and coffee, offering his thanks, then turned back to his granddad.
“There’s something about oil that makes my pulse race,” he admitted, sitting back and grinning at the old man smiling straight back at him.
“It’s because you love the chase as much as I do, Nate. Being the one to make something big happen always gave me a kick.”
The chase. It was the one thing Nate wasn’t used to doing when it came to women, beyond a point, and it was what made him uneasy about what had happened with Faith. Maybe he’d given up too easily. Maybe he needed to chase her, kick himself up the ass and just do it, to hell with being shit scared about having a future with her.
Chapter 15
Nate was miserable. So miserable that the only thing he could think to do was drown himself in alcohol. He went to Joe’s, something he wouldn’t have done if Faith’s ex was still working there. It made one corner o
f his mouth turn up into a smile thinking how quick the guy had left town, something his investigators had advised Nate after a couple of weeks of not being able to find the guy locally, but then it only reminded him of Faith again and he was back to scowling. Now what he wanted was to get good and drunk, then head to his apartment to sleep for at least ten hours straight. He was so jet-lagged he was ready to be comatose. He’d promised himself after his last trip that he was gong to slow down, but it was easier to just keep going, given how messed up he was over Faith leaving.
“Turn that frown upside down, gorgeous.”
The overly sexy drawl made him look up and into a pair of heavy black lashes. Nate glanced down her body, liking her equally oversize breasts. Why the hell was he pretending to be a monk just because he couldn’t have Faith?
“Hey.” He pushed out his chair a bit, rocked back on the rear legs, then quit when he realized how unsteady he was. He needed to either slow down on the whiskey or switch back to beer.
“What’s your name?” she asked, dropping into the chair across from him and waving to someone else. He looked over his shoulder, saw another woman hurrying across to his table. He’d scowled so much all night that he’d as good as had a Go Away sign on his chair, but these two weren’t so easily put off.
“Nate,” he finally said. He should have asked them theirs, but he didn’t really give a damn.
“I’m Sally and this is Essie,” she announced, leaning in closer to him, her perfume surrounding him. “You having a good time?”
Do I look like I’m having a good time? He might be drunk, but he wasn’t a complete asshole, so he just smiled. “Yeah, sure.”
The woman she’d introduced as Essie reached for his hand, stroking hot-pink nails across his palm when she turned it over. “Feel like getting out of here and having double the fun?”
Nate’s head snapped back. They might be kinda trashy in a faked-tan, too-much-tits-on-display way, but they weren’t exactly hard on the eye. Both blond, Essie was tall and leggy, whereas her friend had a ton of curves. He retrieved his hand, grabbed his whiskey glass, and knocked the rest of it back.
“You wanna drink first or get out of here now?”
They looked at each other and giggled. “Let’s go, Mr. King.”
He grimaced. So they’d known exactly who he was. He’d had too much to drink, but he knew he hadn’t told them his last name. He never did announce it unless it was business or a different kind of company.
“Nate?” Sally purred, sidling up against him. “What’s wrong?”
Nate shook his head. “Nothing, sweetheart. Let’s go.”
He slid an arm around each girl, wondering why the hell he’d hadn’t just picked up a beautiful woman earlier.
“You gonna take us back to your ranch, sugar?” one of the women asked.
He dropped a kiss into blond hair that smelled like cigarettes and cheap perfume. He clamped his jaw, ground his teeth at the memory of Faith’s sweet, fresh-smelling shampoo.
“How about we go to yours?” he replied, not wanting to ruin the moment by thinking about what he didn’t have. And there was no way in hell these two or any other damn woman was going to be coming back to his ranch with him.
The woman pouted, but he wasn’t going to change his mind. He had rules for a reason, and look where breaking them had gotten him.
“I’m thinking a hotel room and champagne,” he said, laughing when his ass got grabbed. He slid his own hand down and caressed a perky butt.
“Nate?”
The soft, surprised voice made him stop dead. What the hell?
“Hey,” he managed, staring at the woman he hadn’t been able to get out of his head since the day she’d left his house. He went to extract his arms, but one of the women giggled and slid closer, trailing wet kisses along his jawline, then nipping at his ear.
“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 against his skin. “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, 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 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.
