Page 27 of A Lot Like Forever
“Stay close,” he murmured in her ear, sending a ripple of goose pimples down her back.
Faith took her chance to do exactly that, her body skimming his as she pressed a little closer to him. Everything about him was overtly masculine: his cologne, the hardness of his body, the sheer size of him. And she wished--
“Hey, little sister.” A firm hand closed over her shoulder and she quickly let go of Nate, feeling lost and vulnerable the moment she broke the connection between them.
She turned and found herself face-to-face with her brother, and given the look he was giving her, she was certain he’d noticed her holding hands with Nate.
“Hey, Sam,” she replied, leaning forward to press a kiss to his cheek.
Nate must have turned at that exact moment, as the smile on Sam’s face hovered straight into a frown.
“Nate.”
“Hey, Sam.”
Faith tried not to laugh; the expression on Nate’s face was hilarious. Her brother and her boss, staring at each other like two male lions about to fight for leadership rights of the pride. Ordinarily it wouldn’t have been so funny, except for the fact that she was used to them being the best of friends. She didn’t ever remember them having a falling-out through her entire childhood.
“You guys remember Kelly?”
Faith smiled at her brother’s girlfriend, calling out a hello. Nate stepped forward to kiss Kelly’s cheek, making Sam look even more annoyed, until Nate suggested they grab a drink, which seemed to settle him.
Nate’s hand slid across Faith’s back as he indicated for her to walk ahead of him and she felt a familiar shiver run the length of her spine at his touch.
“What do you want?” he said the words, so close to her ear she thought his lips were about to brush her skin.
You.The word was on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it. No matter how brave she was feeling around him, she wasn’t going to say it. Not yet. Not until she knew whether she could go through with it or not.
“How about cocktails?” she replied, glancing at him as she spoke.
“Martini? Mojito?” He laughed and dipped his head close to hers again. “Cosmopolitan?”
Faith laughed straight back. “Mojito. How about you?”
“Whiskey, sweetheart. It’s always my poison of choice.”
He was seriously too cool for school, and she would have told him exactly that except she didn’t want to sound like a silly girl for saying it. She was twenty-eight, but for some reason she still felt young beside Nate. He wasn’t that much older than her, thirty-two maybe, but everything about him had always made him seem so experienced, so worldly.
They ordered, her brother insisting on paying for her drink instead of letting Nate cover the bill, and then they headed off to find somewhere to sit. She kept glancing around, looking for her girlfriends, and just as she started chatting to Kelly two of her friends appeared.
“Hey!” She smiled and hugged Anna and Cara, trying not to laugh as they both glanced at Nate. “You know Sam, and this is his girlfriend, Kelly. And Nate, a friend of my brother’s.”
Anna boldly shook Nate’s hand and said hello, Cara waved, and within moments he was on his feet and heading to the bar to buy them drinks. Faith couldn’t help watching him as he strode through the crowd of people.
“So let me get this straight, you’re working for this guy?” Anna asked.
Faith turned back to the girls. “Yes.” She’d never mentioned Nate to them before, never needed to. She hadn’t mentioned Nate toanyone.“I’m just doing some housekeeping for him, cooking and stuff.”
“Hmmm, what type of stuff?” Cara asked, winking and making them all laugh. Faith might not have said anything about him before, but that wasn’t fooling her friends; they knew her too well. Besides, they knew her ambitions went further, that it wasn’t like her to want to cook and clean. They all talked about moving away, making it in New York, working in beautiful art galleries or for big auction houses.
“Nothing like what you’re thinking.” She reached for her cocktail and took a sip, loving the tangy taste. “Not that I haven’t thought about it.”
Anna touched Faith’s arm, leaned in close like someone might hear them despite the loud music. “How are you feeling, after Cooper? I can’t believe the asshole actually hurt you. Sure had us all fooled by his nice-guy routine.”
She’d told her friends the truth about what had happened when she’d invited them out, and the truth was she could have turned to them if she’d needed to, could have stayed on their sofa in the little apartment they shared. But after Cooper she’d needed to feel safe, like he couldn’t get close to her again even if he’d wanted to, and going to Nate had seemed like the right thing to do, especially when she hadn’t wanted to involve her brother.
“I haven’t seen him since,” she told them. “He tried calling a couple of times, then a few texts, but I’ve just ignored him completely.” The last one he’d sent had been him pissed that she hadn’t shown for a shift, as if she was just going to turn up for work and forget about the fact that he’d hit her. He was just lucky she hadn’t called the cops.
“You’re better off without him,” Anna said. “Asshole.”
