CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Whew. That had been close. If Tess hadn’t interrupted, he would have kissed Faith. Again. Ever since that first kiss at the coffee shop, Nick found himself thinking about her in ways he shouldn’t. Especially after his chat with Tess. The one where he promised he wanted nothing to do with Faith.
Although, in fairness, Tess should have known that making Faith taboo made her all the more desirable. Who doesn’t want something they can’t have? He wondered if there was a name for that. Like Murphy’s Law or the Pythagorean theorem? If not, there should be.
He followed Tess up the walkway and into the house. She pestered him for details as he recounted the confrontation with Jesse.
“And she hit him?” Tess said. “I don’t believe it.”
“Saw it with my own eyes. Popped him right in the nose.”
“Go, Faith.” Tess laughed. “Hey, you wanna come to the watch party? Max and Jenny are hosting at the lodge.”
“Sure. Why not?” He took a shower and retreated to his room—Faith’s room. Maybe being in here with her stuff was what was making him crazy. He’d have to see how he felt about her once he was back at his parents’ house after his surgery next week.
Before they left, he popped a pain pill. His leg had been killing him since the book thief shakedown, but he hadn’t wanted to take anything in front of Faith.
“I must be desperate for something to do,” Nick said from the passenger’s seat.
“I have to admit,” Tess said. “I’m surprised you agreed to come. Why did you?”
“Max called and begged me to. Said if I didn’t, he’d be the only guy there.”
“Ah, yes. Poor Max.”
Tess pulled into The Three Bears parking lot, and they got out. Faith’s pink Beetle wasn’t here yet. Not that he cared.
Nick hadn’t been to the inn since before he left over ten years ago. The thing was as old as the town and more or less falling apart.
Max greeted him. “Thanks for coming, man. I could use another Y chromosome around here.”
“You bet. So, you bought this place, huh? You have plans for it?”
“Oh, yeah,” Max said. “A total remodel is in the works, starting at the beginning of next year. We’ll do the lobby and common areas first, then start on the rooms.”
“You gonna have to close?”
“Hopefully not, but we’ll see. Things get pretty slow after the holidays anyway. Come on in. I figure you and I can just drink in the back and let the women do their thing.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Faith’s laugh caught his attention, and he glanced toward the door as she glided in.
“Sullivan turned into quite a looker, huh?” Max pointed his chin in Faith’s direction.
“Hadn’t noticed.” Nick looked away and shrugged.
“If you say so,” Max said, clearly doubting Nick’s sincerity.
The main lobby mimicked a log cabin—no actual logs, but a lot of wood. A giant fireplace at one end and a big screen TV at the other. Ancient leather couches and chairs formed multiple sitting areas. Coffee tables were piled with books, magazines, and board games. Everything was dated—the light fixtures, wallpaper, and pictures—but Nick could see the potential.
Max handed Nick a beer, and they settled into comfy chairs near the fireplace.
“I’ve got plans to carve out a chunk of the lobby for a proper bar,” Max said. “More seating, more TVs, and more drink options.”
“You plan to do the work yourself?”
“Nah. That would take too long. We’ll hire a crew to get it done as quickly as possible.”
At the other end of the room, all the women hushed, and the TV’s volume went up ten decibels.
“Guess it’s starting,” Max said.
“I’ve never seen Maddie’s show. What’s it about?”
“Better not say that too loud.” Max looked over his shoulder. “Small-town girl makes it big is a huge deal around here. Almost as big as when the girls won that state championship.”
“People still talkin’ about that?” Nick chuckled. “I was away at college for the actual game, but I remember teasing Tess over Christmas break about how everyone in town treated them like royalty.”
“Nothing’s changed. Eight years later, and to this day, all six of ’em still get the red carpet.”
Nick shook his head. “Crazy.”
“Anyway, Maddie’s show is called Chance of Rain , and she plays a hot, mean girl named Tiffany. It’s a sitcom about six twenty-somethings living in LA. It’s actually pretty funny.”
He and Max caught up quietly while the women sat glued to the TV. Every once in a while, they’d laugh, and Nick could tell when the commercials started because that was the only time they talked.
When it was over, Nick went to the restroom. As he was coming out, he came inches from plowing into Faith, who’d just exited the ladies’ room.
“Ooof,” she said, grabbing his arm to steady herself. “Almost got ya. Sorry.”
“My fault,” he said. “I’m still pretty clumsy with this cane.”
They stood in the empty hallway, staring at each other. He watched a mental debate play out in her pale blue eyes. And after an awkward silence, she finally spoke. “I probably shouldn’t say this. But I like you, Nick.”
This must be one of those times when she jumped without thinking. Tess had warned him she was prone to this. “Do you always just blurt out what you feel?”
She shrugged. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing, I suppose. But what am I supposed to do with that information?”
“I don’t know. Do you like me?”
He’d never met anyone so unabashedly candid. He did like her, but could he say that without it becoming a whole thing ? “Um…I mean…I guess.”
She came closer. Too close. His skin prickled. “Lying is bad karma, Nick. I know I’m an acquired taste, but I felt something when we kissed,” she whispered. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
Gulp. She had him there. Maybe one more kiss would prove whether the first time was a fluke. And as a man who always wanted to get to the truth, he should probably test his hypothesis.
“I—”
“There you are,” Tess said, rounding the corner. “Maddie’s on speaker and wants to say hi.”
“Just had to tinkle,” Faith said, “and ran into your brother.” She linked arms with Tess and turned toward the lobby. She glanced back over her shoulder and winked.
She was trouble. He knew she was trouble. But pretty, blonde trouble was his favorite type to get into.
The next day, he was sitting at the coffee shop when Faith walked in. She ordered and then came to say hello.
“This your new hangout?” she said.
“I just come for the free shows. See what dating disaster of yours I can witness today.”
“Ha. Ha,” she said, sliding uninvited into the seat across from him. “No show this morning.”
“Too bad. You’re better than reality TV.”
She waved a hand to dismiss that conversation and started a new one. “Hey, I wanted to ask you something.”
He stared and waited.
“I’ve done some poking around looking for my biological dad but haven’t been able to find anything on social media or by doing internet searches. Does the FBI have some super-secret database you could run his name through?”
“We do, but I can’t use it for personal business.”
“Oh, sure. Of course. Never mind.” She batted her eyelashes. “But maybe just this once?”
“You think you can flirt the information out of me?”
She smiled broadly, and damn if her wiles weren’t working.
“I’ll think about it,” he lied. He’d already run her dad’s name. And a public coffee shop was not the place to discuss the results.
Gary Jeffreys had actually been really easy to find. Mainly because he was on the FBI’s most wanted list and popped up straightaway when Nick ran him. He was down pretty far, not in the top ten or anything, but still, not the cream of society.
Mr. Jeffreys was a money man for the mafia and had been for years. He used multiple aliases—probably why Faith couldn’t find him—and Nick wanted to be one hundred percent certain he had the right guy before breaking the news to Faith. She’d taken enough hits lately. Finding out her biological father was a felon could wait.
“So, we gonna talk about last night?”
He assumed she meant the L-word bomb she’d dropped on him by the bathrooms. “You know Tess will kill us if we start something.”
“Who says Tess has to find out?” she said coyly.
“I’m not the one who tells her everything.”
“That’s true.” She frowned. “That’s me. I do that. Well, I’m just putting it out there. Do what you want with the information.”
And with that, she grabbed her coffee and left, taking all the air—including his breath—out of the room with her. Oh man, he was already in trouble.