Fated Read Free

anyone but Kate, isn’t that right, Nick?”
    “Jesus,” Nick muttered. “Is nothing private?”
    “In this town or between those two women?” Ethan asked, of Faith and her best friend.
    Nick managed a laugh, though he wasn’t thrilled to know he’d been their subject of conversation.
    “Get used to it,” Ethan said. He stepped up to his wife, slid his hand behind her neck and pulled her in for a long kiss.
    One that made Nick uncomfortable for witnessing it but had nothing to do with jealousy. At all. He meant it when he said any old feelings were long gone.
    Nick cleared his throat, and Ethan turned his head and glared. “You have some place to be,” Nick reminded Ethan just for the hell of annoying him.
    Ethan scowled, kissed Faith once more and started for the door. “You sure you have a ride home?”
    She nodded. “Kate’s picking me up after school and taking me home. I’ll see you tonight.” She placed a hand on his shoulder.
    While the newlyweds said their final good-byes and Faith walked Ethan out, Nick’s thoughts turned back to Kate and how to get the school teacher to take him more seriously.
    “I’m back,” Faith said, breaking into his thoughts, as she returned. “You and Ethan really need to learn to get along.”
    “We get along fine.” For two guys who’d never been friends. “Besides, we just like getting under each other’s skin. He knows I have no interest in you other than friendship.”
    “Men,” she muttered, sitting on the corner of her desk. “So it’s all fixed?” She gestured to the wall shelves.
    “Yes. Just keep the lighter items on that particular section, just in case,” he said of accessories she stocked for her customers. “Did anything break?”
    “Just one piece. I can absorb the loss . . . thanks to you giving me your whole new house to decorate!” Her voice rose in excitement. “I owe you so much. First renting me this space, then hiring me as a decorator. You’re a good friend, Nick.”
    He shook his head. “Who else would I hire? You know me as well as anyone.”
    “Well, if there’s anything I can do for you—”
    With her words, an idea settled in his brain. “If you mean that, you can put in a good word for me with Kate.”
    “You don’t think I have?” Faith asked.
    “And?”
    She sighed, pausing in thought. “Look,” she said at last. “Kate doesn’t think you’re serious, that you just see her as a challenge.”
    “And I think that’s a bullshit excuse,” Nick muttered.
    Faith grinned. “I agree.” He folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall. Suddenly a thought struck him. “There’s no one else, is there?” he asked.
    Faith shook her head. “Definitely not. If you want my opinion, you need to get Kate alone and see if you can’t get her to relax around you a little bit. Use that charm of yours.”
    Nick grinned. “I’m glad you think I’m charming, but what does Kate think?”
    Faith bit down on her lower lip, a sure sign she wasn’t comfortable with the conversation. “Without giving away too much, I know she’s interested but she has trust issues.”
    He nodded slowly, understanding what Faith was saying. Whatever Kate’s hang-ups, he’d help her through them, but he didn’t want to hear what they were from Faith anymore than she wanted to reveal her friend’s secrets.
    “Guess I need to step up my game.” Which meant Kate needed to understand he wasn’t giving up.
    “She won’t be able to resist you when you’re determined.” Faith grinned.
    Nick didn’t remind her that she’d been able to do that very thing. Kate wasn’t Faith and Nick was a hell of a lot more invested in the outcome. She’d grown on him to the point where he wanted to know her inside and out. And he refused to let her get away without seeing what could happen between them. He had high hopes for himself and Kate, and he wasn’t talking about a short-term fling.
    “Are you really willing to help me?”