Page 67 of Faith

“Oh.”

There was something in her tone that pulled his attention away from the picture.

“What?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

“No, you said oh, so that means something.”

She sighed. “You’re in love with her.”

Not a question, but a statement. “You know of our arrangement?”

She nodded. “I was probably the only person she told.”

“Of course you were. That woman holds onto secrets. Especially when talking about her past.”

“You’re talking about Oliver?”

He nodded.

The kettle whistled, and she hurried over to it. After filling a French press with coffee, she poured in the water. Then she grabbed him a mug.

“I can’t tell you anything, because it’s her story to tell. But, I think you should ask her about it.”

He wanted to, but he was also worried she would refuse to tell him. She was habitually secretive about that part of her life. If he asked now, and she said no, it would be like she was trying to hide something from him. As if he were just another man in a long line of men.

“You take your coffee black, right?” she asked.

“Yes.”

She handed him the mug. “She’d tell you.”

“She hasn’t in the past.”

“It’s different now.”

He shrugged as he sipped his coffee.

“Also, the fact that she is involved with you now, that makes a big difference.”

“How so?” he asked.

She sat down at the kitchen table and motioned toward the other seat. He sat and waited.

“Nicola tries to keep men at arm’s length. She might spend more than one night with them over a course of years?—”

“Don’t need to know that.”

She smiled. “So cute that you’re jealous. Those men, they weren’t important. Not to her.”

“You talk in riddles.”

Instead of taking offense, she laughed. He had spent time with Serenity through the years, but never one on one. As Nicola said, it was really hard to stay mad at her. When he had first met her, Jensen had expected the former child star to be more...well, Hollywood. Instead, she was warm and open, without the artifice so many people in show business never seem to shake.

“What I mean is that her time with each man was short. She might hook up again with them, but she never truly builds anything substantial past the sex with them.”

“That’s a good thing?” he asked, irritated that Nicola’s sex life sounded close to what he usually insisted on.

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