Page 64 of Faith

Jensen watchedher through the kitchen window. She looked lost in thought, so he decided to ignore his need to be near her and just observe. Nicola had good instincts, so if she was worried about Michael, he needed to have him checked out. Jensen didn’t think Michael would do anything to hurt the family. Michael was worried about the family and that the Wulf’s were taking advantage of them. Only time would prove him wrong. He just needed to make sure that Michael didn’t do anything to jeopardize the deal, namely offending the Wulfs. Going to the press and complaining about outsiders coming in to take over a locally-owned business could really hurt the deal. His mother would not stand for it.

He wanted more than anything to go out to the lanai and coax Nicola back to his room. They had only made love twice the night before, and he definitely knew it wasn’t enough.

Would it ever be enough?

That thought slipped beneath his skin and made him itch. Even standing here, with Marta puttering around in the background, he was getting hard thinking about spanking Nicola again. She had responded so well. As soon as he realized he was thinking of doing just what he had been daydreaming about, he forced himself away from the window.

“Going to head back to the office if Nicola is looking for me. I have some lawyers to talk to.”

“Of course,” Marta said with a smile. He shoved his hands into his pockets, and after one last glance at Nicola enjoying the morning on the lanai, he turned and headed back to his office. The sooner he was finished with work, the sooner he could call it the end of the work day.

And then he could have Nicola all to himself once again.

chapterthirteen

Three days later, Nicola was having lunch with Jeff and Ben at a popular chain restaurant in the Aloha Tower Marketplace. It had gorgeous views of the water, and they, luckily, were seated outside. It provided a wonderfully cooling breeze.

Jeff was about the same age as she was, only a few months older. His blond hair was still as short as it had been during their skating days, but he had put on a few pounds. During everything, he could always make her laugh, and when everyone else tuned their backs on her, he had stood by her. He was the one friend from her skating days that she knew she could count on. Ben, his husband and business partner, was shorter, with dark hair and a lean, wiry body that spoke of his marathon training. If Jeff was loud and amusing, Ben was a calming influence.

Within moments of sitting down, she knew something was up. She’d had a bit of a scuffle with Jensen before leaving, because he hadn’t wanted her to go. In fact, he tried to order her not to go, she just laughed and walked out the door. He hadn’t been serious, it worried her anyway. He tended to get into trouble when he was left at loose ends, she couldn’t help it though. She had always drawn a definitive line between work and her personal time. Unfortunately, that was getting a little blurry thanks to their new connection.

“I should have never forgiven you after you left me out in the cold,” Jeff said.

“In the cold?” she asked with a laugh. “What the bloody hell are you talking about?”

Jeff shook his head. “There you go again.”

“What?”

He waited a second, then he offered her an evil grin. “Sounding like a Brit.”

“Bite your tongue, Jeffy. And how did I leave you in the cold?”

“When you were hired by Jensen Wulf. I could have turned him.”

Ben shook his head and smiled, saying nothing.

“Technically, his mother hired me first as his sober companion. Also, you would have never turned him. He has no interest whatsoever in men.”

“I disagree.”

“You would be wrong, but then that wouldn’t be the first time.”

He opened his mouth to argue with her, but his husband changed the subject.

“One thing I have always been interested in is the history of the Wulf family,” Ben said.

“How so?” she asked.

Ben waited as their waiter returned to the table with their entrees.

“I mean, it doesn’t sound very English or proper.”

She chuckled. “Well, they aren’tthatEnglish. The truth is, their proper last name was Wulfgang. They changed it after World War I.”

“Hmm, that is really interesting.”

“Right? A large number of people with even the hint of German in their name changed it, including the Windsors. Of course, the Wulfs no longer lay claim to their aristocratic name.”

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