Page 21 of Blame it on the Mistletoe
“The laundry room is at the back of the house. No windows,” she said, fiddling with the strings of her sweatshirt. “It was dark. I must have grabbed Pax’s pajama bottoms by mistake.”
Which would explain why they fit her like a second skin. Who knew Pikachu could be such a turn-on?
“What did you say?” This time when her eyes flashed to his, she looked frightened.
Faith didn’t seem like the kind of woman who cared what other people thought of her. But the panic she was trying so hard to hide tore him up a little. She did, however, care what people thought of her brother. So it didn’t sit well that he’d stirred up more drama in her already-complicated world.
“I mainly agreed with what the ladies were relaying,” he said gently. “It was a lot of them talking and me nodding andUh-huhing andYes, ma’aming. But I did make sure to mention that the Texas Ranger organization isn’t taking applications right now. It’s more of a ‘stand out in the crowd’ kind of position and that JT and Pax were invited to participate in a small internship this summer in Austin.”
“Thank you,” she said right as the sky let out a supersonic boom precisely as lightning cracked overhead, turning the neighborhood to momentary morning and Faith into a vibrating ball of panic.
Noah ducked closer into the doorway and Faith nearly leapt out of her Pikachu pajamas and pink hoodie. Her face flashed to frightened, her body dialed torun,and her stomach bottomed out. Her reaction hadn’t been solely from the storm’s sudden reappearance. Nope, a good portion of that fear had been caused by Noah’s rushing her. And that realization sent every one of his protective instincts into overdrive.
“Caught me off guard,” he said, honestly. He was used to Faith meeting him toe to toe, not flinching away. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, with an embarrassed laugh, but her head was shaking hard in opposition. And that wasn’t the only thing shaking. Her hands were clasped tightly together, yet trembling.
Another strike flashed and before the thunder made its presence known, Faith stepped onto the stoop and into his arms. She didn’t say a word, gave no heads-up, simply released a panicked sound that broke his heart, and wrapped her arms around him.
Shocked confusion didn’t accurately describe his reaction to what had transpired. One minute she wasI’m a feminist. What’s your superpower?and slamming doors in his face. The next she was burrowing into him as if he were the world’s largest Snuggie and she was in need of some serious cuddle time.
Problem was, cuddling wasn’t standard protocol in Interview and Interrogation, nor was it a skill the women he “dated” required. That left Noah in dangerous territory with nothing but big shoulders and sweet words at his disposal. He may have been born in Sweet, but that was the only sweet thing about him.
Now Faith was another story. Under that tough-girl shell, she was surprisingly sweet and soft. And she felt incredible in his arms, as if she was the perfect size for him, which was a little unnerving since she barely came up past his chest. Then there were her soft spots, pressing into all his hard spots in just the right way. As he ran his hands in soothing strokes down her back, he was acutely aware of how fragile she felt beneath his embrace.
After their run-ins, and the few glimpses of her around town,fragilewas the last word he’d ever use to describe her. She was always in a rush and usually looked adorably frazzled, but never fragile.
So when Faith clung tighter, a shuddery breath or two escaping as she nestled farther into his embrace, it became clear that cuddling was not a prelude to anything. It was the actual event.
Instead of palming her delicious backside, while threading the other hand through her silky hair—a classic play from his book that, when it came to women, had a ninety-nine percent chance of ending with both sets of clothes on the floor—he decidedthiswoman needed something gentler from him.
“You okay?” he asked, knowing that regardless of her answer, he wasn’t the guy for the job. Then a shiver ran through her—one he was sure had zip to do with the low temperature—and he accepted that he was the only guy around, so he had to figure things out. And quick.
“Faith,” he said, tipping her face up toward his and—
Pow.It was like a battering ram to the chest. Her eyes were moist, her face tense with repressed emotion, and she was working hard on what had to be the saddest smile in history.
Something bad had happened tonight. Something that left her looking like a broken angel.
Staring down into those sad brown pools did crazy things to him, like inspiring a serious internal monologue. It wasn’t exactly a “What would Cody do?” conversation, but it did involve hunting down whoever had caused this heartache and ending their life. That would come later, though, after she was back to slamming doors in men’s faces.
With a soft, “Whatever it is, I promise you we can fix it,” his hands continued a lulling motion up and down her back. Kind of the way he hugged his sister-in-law when she was upset, using gentle, soothing passes along the friend-zone of her spine. Only, he’d never had a problem keeping himself in check hugging Shelby—or any woman for that matter.
But with Faith in his arms, he felt as if he could finally stop running.
“I’m usually not a hugger,” she murmured into his chest, her voice whisper-thin and full of a vulnerable emotion he couldn’t quite pinpoint. “Or a liar.” She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with apology. “But those women can be so mean. When they asked about why Pax was in your car . . . I might have gone a little overboard.”
Again, she was slowly killing him. “You’re not the one who made up a fake internship.”
“You’re not mad?” Even as she said it, her grip loosened, as if she were expecting him to back away.
He laced his fingers behind her, letting her know he wasn’t going anywhere. “Why would I be mad?”
“Because I dragged you into my life drama. Not to mention, a lie that would be easy for Molly-Mae and her minions to ferret out.”
“A heads-up next time would be nice but, angel, that’s the sweetest lie I’ve ever been dragged into.”
Her hands played with the zipper of his jacket, her eyes looking everywhere but at his. “Full disclosure. I gave them your e-mail address and place of work.”
