I Knew You Were Trouble: A Texas Kings Novel by Soraya Lane Read Free Book Online

“Speaking of work…?” Sam asked.
    Faith chuckled. “I’m Nate’s new housekeeper. For the meantime, anyway.”
    “You’re kidding me?” Sam groaned, shaking his head.
    It took all of Nate’s willpower not to snigger at the disgusted look on Sam’s face, but he kept his expression impassive. “Come on; I’ll walk you out.”
    They left Faith in the kitchen, and Nate headed for the door. “I’m sorry you had to find out like this, but nothing’s going on.”
    Sam blocked the entrance, arms crossed over his chest. “You so much as lay one fucking finger on her and you’ll be the one I go to jail for.”
    “There’s nothing going on,” Nate repeated. “She’s your little sister; I get it. But she has a point about you not being good at controlling yourself when it comes to her.”
    “Seriously, Nate. Don’t even…” Sam turned and opened the door. “Just forget that she’s even a woman, okay? Just forget it.”
    Nate watched him go, braced against the doorjamb. Forget Faith was a woman? That was like telling an addict to forget they’d ever tasted their drug of choice. He loved women, and Faith? Hell, she was like Viagra wrapped up in extrashiny packaging, and he could no more pretend she wasn’t what she was than a lion would forget its prey.
    But he could stop himself from acting on his thoughts. He needed to keep practicing that little thing called self-control that his grandfather kept drilling into him. If he was going to prove that he could singlehandedly step in and run the King empire, this was a good way to start, by proving to himself that he was able to control every single facet of his life. Starting now. Not to mention the fact that he needed to think more about protecting Faith. He had no idea how she was feeling after what that asshole had done.
    “Hey, what do you say to a night out?” Nate called out to Sam as he was about to get into his Chevy.
    “When?” Sam had his hand up to shield his face from the sun, leaning against the vehicle.
    “Tomorrow night. We can all head out, have a few drinks, catch up. I’ve been away so much lately we haven’t had time to hang out.”
    Sam looked a whole lot more relaxed than he had a few minutes earlier. The lure of a big night out had always been enough to put a smile on his face, and Nate needed a chance to let off some steam, too.
    “You’re on. Meet at The Den? Usual time?”
    Nate gave him a wave. “See you there. And bring that gorgeous girl of yours.” He would have preferred to go to Joe’s and rough up Faith’s ex, who managed the place, but the last thing Nate needed was Sam with him when he confronted the asshole.
    Now Nate had a heap of work to get through, starting now. And the faster he got out of the house and into his office, the better.
    *   *   *
    Faith was tidying up the breakfast dishes and keeping an ear out for Nate. When she finally heard the front door slam shut she let out the breath she’d been holding and wandered out to look for him. She had some apologizing to do, and she needed to do it now. So much for growing up and not needing anyone to help her—she’d just had her brother and Nate arguing because of her, and it hadn’t been fair to either of them. Just because she was a muddle of thoughts and feelings didn’t mean she could just expect Nate to come to her rescue and come between her and her brother.
    She stepped into the hall and caught Nate about to walk up the stairs.
    “Nate?”
    He stopped, turning when she spoke. His expression was warm, but he also looked … She couldn’t put her finger on it but there was something different about the way he was watching her. Maybe he was feeling guilty about flirting with her, about having her to stay when he’d told her all along how annoyed Sam would be about the whole thing.
    “I’m sorry about what just happened. I should have called Sam and told him I was here. I should have trusted that he wouldn’t act out, but to be honest I’m