Page 32 of Faith

He could feel heat creep up from his neck into his face. Maybe in the darkened car, she would never notice. He had no such luck. After applying her lipstick, she closed it and tossed it back in her purse. Then, she looked at him.

“Jensen, are you blushing?”

“No,” he said as he felt his face grow hotter.

“Oh, my. How interesting, but don’t worry, they won’t hit on you. They both have their hands full.”

He said nothing about that, because he knew it was the truth. It was the fact that she’d heard the two men talk about him that embarrassed him. Worse, he wondered if she shared their opinion.

Knowing those were dangerous thoughts, he decided to steer the conversation to something more neutral.

“Anything new on the Jules front?”

A look of disgust spread over her face. “It seems Gregor has been peddling a story that she was cheating on him. Saying she’s some kind of nymphomaniac.”

Anger rose so fast it almost choked him. “Where?”

“Nowhere yet,” she answered. “I’ve quashed it all and talked to David. It seems that Gregor is making a play for a higher position in the minister’s cabinet. Breaking off an engagement makes him look bad, or so he says. Don’t worry. I’ll make him regret even trying to peddle that crap.”

He smiled at her. “That is one thing I love about you.”

“What?”

“Your mercenary heart.”

She snorted as she looked out the window. “This is nothing compared to skating. Besides, he did the one thing that will lead to his destruction.”

“And that is?”

She turned away from the window to look at him. Her gaze steady and there was no humor in her expression.

“You mess with someone I love, Iwillruin you.”

She said it with no malice or anger. Just as fact.

“I would expect nothing less.”

She offered him a small smile, then turned to look out the window again.

He felt free to study her then. These moments didn’t happen very often. Nic kept herself busy most days, but in the few times he saw her like this, she seemed so solitary. It was something he could understand. He might have the support of his family, but they would never understand what hell he had been through. In that, he always felt the two of them shared a kinship. Leaving skating had been hard on Nicola. She never talked about it, at least not to him or in his presence. She shouldered her pain and never let it show. But he knew it was there. The fact that she never let anyone see it was awe-inspiring. And sexy. A strong woman who could submit…

Dammit. He had to quit thinking of her in that way. She was not a sub, and she would never submit to him. And, besides that, he could never give her up as his assistant. He wasn’t sure he could run the business without her by his side.

He had failed his family once, and he would never do it again.

chaptersix

Nicola sighed with relief as they walked through the door, arriving just a few minutes shy of seven thanks to the traffic. Oahu was a small island, but it always seemed to take forever to get anywhere. For a girl who grew up in a small town in Colorado, she never thought she would enjoy big cities. Still, the last few years she had grown to appreciate the vibe of the crowds.

Jensen opened the door and waited for her to walk in. She spotted her friends in the back, seated at one of the long tables. Serenity was waving her hands around like a goofball, making it hard to miss them.

“Does she think we don’t see her?”

She chuckled. “She’s excited to see me.”

“Just you?”

“I know it’s hard for younotto be the center of attention, but yes, me.”

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