Page 6 of Faith

“I just thought I would check and make sure everything worked out and you’re there alive.”

“You probably already talked to Frank, so why is that a problem?”

His brother was responding when Nicola took the phone from him.

“Hello, Jakob. Don’t try to irritate your brother. He’s already irritated and then I’ll have to deal with him.”

She was silent for a moment or two. Jensen fought the need to grab the phone out of her hand. Lately, he’d been getting irritated how much she and Jakob talked on the phone. And in person. Every now and then, they sat next to each other at meals. That was getting really annoying.

He rolled his eyes. Good lord. He was starting to sound like a teenager with a crush on his teacher. He was actually jealous of his brother for no other reason than he was talking to Nic. There was no good reason for the two of them to talk. Jakob had a very small role at the company since he spent most of his time acting.

“I see. Well, if the Johnsons don’t want to meet with us?—”

Silence again as his brother talked.

“Oh, okay. I got it. They want to have a meeting next week on Maui. I’ll get everything set up. Just send me the particulars. Do you want to talk to Jensen again?”

His brother responded, which brought out a bubble of laughter from Nicola. “Okay.”

She clicked off his phone and handed it back to him. Then she started to walk away. He grabbed hold of her arm, which was a mistake. Touching her was always a mistake.

She glanced down at his hand, then back up to his face. “Yes?”

“Do you want to tell me what that was all about?”

“Meeting next week on Maui. Seems the Johnsons are going to try and play hardball. You can let go of me now.”

He didn’t realize until that moment that his hands were still on her.

“Sorry.” He waited one more second than was necessary and then released her arm.

“No worries. They want us on Maui next week. A meeting of the minds.”

Dammit. He understood it wasn’t easy to give up family land, but Wulf Industries wasn’t going to do anything with it. Well, anything else than the family had been doing. The pristine land was prime vacation land, and they had a hotel on it. Wulf Industries wanted to redo the entire resort, update it, and bring in more jobs for the locals. Still, the Johnsons had been dragging their feet for months after they had already agreed to negotiate a price with them. They were the only bidder who had been willing to keep the resort island friendly.

“So, we’re going over there next week?”

She shrugged as she started to walk away. “It would only be for overnight, so I guess we both don’t need to go.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. While he had enjoyed having her as a traveling companion in the past, his new attraction to her was getting out of hand. Being at a resort overnight…well, he did not want to test himself. Not right now.

“What will you do?”

“I might just lay out by the pool with Serenity and be a lazy tourist for a few days.”

He blinked at the anticipation he heard in her voice. “That doesn’t sound like you at all.”

She stopped walking and turned around to face him. “What do you mean by that?”

Now what did he do? She was staring at him with those ice blue eyes of hers, and she expected an answer from him. And in that one instant, he couldn’t think. Every bloody thought in his brain dissolved into visions of leaning forward and brushing his mouth over hers. She would be sweet, so sweet, with just the right amount of spice.

“I’m waiting,” she said in the tone that told him she wasn’t happy with him.

“Just that you never seem to settle down. I always thought taking a break for you was when you made lists.”

She snorted. “Do you remember what I did for my last vacation?”

“I know you went to Arizona with Serenity.”

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