Page 50 of A Lot Like Forever
Nate hugged her tighter, not about to push her away because of what he’d known she was about to say. He’d heard it all before and it wasn’t like she was trying to offend him.
“A silver spoon in his mouth?” he offered.
“Something like that,” she mumbled against his shirt. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it to be cruel.”
“I’ve heard it all before; don’t sweat it.” Nate ran his hand up and down her back. “But I’ll tell you, just like I’ve always told everybody else, that I might have been born into money, but it was never my right. I’ve worked hard for everything, and I will continue to have to work hard to keep our businesses profitable. Nothing in this life comes easy’ it’s just that some of us have more opportunities to seize than others, and some of us start with a leg up.”
She snuggled closer, her legs tucked up so that he was completely cradling her. “The last thing I meant to do was offend you after you’ve been so good to me.”
Nate chuckled. “I’m made from tough stuff, sugar. It’ll take more than one offhand comment to upset me. Now how about you get all this stuff back in the closet and I’ll go down and pour us a drink, make us some dinner.”
That got her attention. “You’re going to make dinner? Like in the kitchen?”
“You don’t need to sound so shocked. I’ve been a bachelor a long time.”
“A bachelor with a Mrs. T to look after you and keep the freezer stocked with delicious food for you to heat.”
He pushed her, making her laugh but catching her before she actually fell. “I’ll have you know I can grill a mean steak, and Chloe said she dropped some around and popped them in the fridge earlier today.”
Faith flicked him on the shoulder with her forefinger and stood over the bed looking down at her clothes. “So just steak and nothing else then?” she teased.
“Well, I season it pretty well.” He jumped up and undid a couple of buttons of his shirt, slapping her bare butt cheek as he passed on his way to the bathroom.
“What happened to getting the steak on the grill and my wine poured?”
“Geez, woman, this is why I don’t usually open my house up to the ladies. Enough with the questions!”
He walked into his closet and undressed, pulling on a pair of jeans and T-shirt. He hung up his trousers and took off his Rolex, putting it with the rest of his collection in his top drawer. When he sauntered back out he stopped and watched Faith. She was beautiful. Jaw-droppingly, goddamn beautiful, but it was like she still had no idea the effect she had on him. She’d taken her hair out now, the band around her wrist instead of her hair, and it fell forward over both shoulders. He watched as she reached for it, twisting it and pushing it away, top teeth pushed into her lower lip as she studied a jacket that she’d reached for.
He was in seriously dangerous territory with her. On the one hand, he was damn worried that she’d change her mind and end up like virtually every other woman he’d dated, telling him when things came to an end that she’d expected more, that she thought she’d be the one to change him, and probably hating him for it. And he did care for Faith, cared about her more than he’d ever cared about a woman who’d been in his bed before, but he wasn’t going to let himself love her. He couldn’t.
No matter how he felt for her, how selfishly he wanted her all to himself, he wasn’t going to pretend like he could offer her what she needed from a man. Faith needed to be loved and cared for unconditionally, needed a man who wasn’t so damaged that he had made it his life’s mission never to be vulnerable again or let anyone hurt him. He didn’t trust easily and he sure as hell didn’t want to be anyone’s husband, and Faith deserved her cake and all the trimmings.
“Dollar for your thoughts?” Faith’s soft, kind voice jolted him back to reality.
“I was just thinking how gorgeous you look in your underwear.” It wasn’t a lie—up until that moment it was all he’d been thinking about.
“How about I promise to show it to you again later if you get that steak on the grill?”
“I love the way you think,” he replied, grinning and waiting for her to pull a sweatshirt over her head and slip into her jeans, before hooking his arm around her neck and kissing her cheek. “I’ll help you put all that away later. Right now, I need to unwind over a cold drink with you.”
“Hard to believe I’ve been your concubine for over a week now,” she said, arm slipped around his waist as they went sideways through the door, then stayed stuck together like glue as they descended the stairs.
“Sure is.”
And no matter what he wanted to tell himself, what he wanted to pretend, he’d miss her like hell once she was gone. But he wasn’t interested in clipping the wings of any bird, let alone one who was just coming into her own like Faith was.
“Sam came by to see you today.”
Nate groaned. “Now I really need that drink.”
“He knows you’ve been avoiding him.” Faith leaned against the counter as he took out a beer and popped the top, taking a long gulp before setting it down and taking out the wine she liked. “He said it was time the two of you had a talk, man-to-man.”
“I’m not avoiding him,” Nate insisted.
“Yes, you are.”
He poured her wine, slid her the glass, then downed at least half of his beer. “I just don’t know what to say to him. I mean, ‘I’m making love to your sister, but she likes it’ probably isn’t what he wants to hear right now.”
