He fished in his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and thrust it toward her. "Give me your number. I'll pick you up at seven, if that's okay."

She took the piece of paper then slid off the table, bumping against him when her feet hit the floor. He didn't back away, and for a moment she stood there, her breasts brushing against his chest. Part of her wanted to kiss him again. Hell, she wanted to throw him down on the table and have her wicked way with him, but he was going to have to work for it this time.

She sidestepped him and walked over to where a pen lay on the counter. With a hasty scribble, she wrote down her number, then walked back over to hand it to him.

"No changing your mind," he said.

It was probably meant to be a threat or an order, but it came out more as a request, a fact she found endearing. It was interesting to see this man at a disadvantage, unsure of himself.

"You be there at seven and I'll be ready," she said.

He looked like he wanted to kiss her again. He even swayed slightly in her direction. Then as if deciding against it, he turned and stalked out the way he'd come in. At the door he paused and turned around.

"I'll see you tonight."

She smiled and nodded.

As soon as he disappeared, she balled up her fist, raised her arm and pumped her elbow down in a victory exclamation.

Score one for her. Finally.

This whole owning her sexuality, going for what she wanted thing wasn't a bad idea after all. If she hadn't gone after Nathan, no matter how disastrous it had been, she wouldn't have gotten fed up and gone to Damon, which had resulted in a mind-blowing sexual fantasy come true. Now she had fantastic sex on one hand and Nathan Tucker finally coming to heel on the other.

Not bad for a day's work. Not bad at all.

Faith skulked down the aisles of the drugstore like a teenage girl after a pregnancy scare. Chastising herself for remotely caring if anyone saw her buying a damn pregnancy test, she snagged the first one she saw and turned it over to read the back.

Then she realized she'd picked up an ovulation predictor kit. With a sigh, she bent down and focused on the boxes. Her head wasn't screwed on right today. She kept remembering how Gray had looked when he'd stalked into her office.

Surely a guy who'd lost interest wouldn't look so . . . hurt. Angry. Yes, he'd been angry too, but those blue eyes she loved so much had also yielded worry and pain.

What a mess she'd made. Calling off the wedding had been an impulsive action brought on by the desire to react. A reaction to her panic and stupid hysteria. She'd love to blame it on pregnancy hormones but that would mean she was pregnant, and she didn't really need that right now.

No, she was just stupid and now she'd probably ruined everything with Gray.

She snagged the box that promised the earliest results and headed for the cashier. Thank goodness she was only minutes away from Julie's. She could use Julie's bathroom and then cry on her shoulder if necessary.

When she entered Julie's salon, Julie met her at the door and herded her back to the massage room.

"Got it?" Julie asked.

Faith held up the bag and sighed. "I'm being ridiculous, but I appreciate you letting me."

Julie smiled. "What are friends for? If they won't let you be irrational twits, who will?"

For a moment, Faith sat there, the bag crumpled in her sweaty hand. Then she looked up at Julie and shook her head. "I'm being a coward. I might as well get this over with."

"Take your time, honey. I've got no appointments."

Suddenly remembering that when she'd left Nathan had been here and now he was gone, Faith yanked her gaze back up to Julie.

"What happened with Nathan anyway? Did you toss him out?"

Julie grinned. "No, he asked me to dinner and I accepted."

"Come on, is that all?" Faith sputtered. "Details. I know I'm missing some details."

"Okay, so he kissed me senseless then asked me to dinner."

"And you said . . . ?"

"Yes, of course."

Faith sighed in relief. She loved Nathan to pieces, and as clueless as he was, he still deserved a chance.

She almost swallowed her tongue as she realized that she was hoping for Nathan what she was unwilling to grant Gray—a chance to explain himself.

Hysterical ninny. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"I need to get out of here," she mumbled as she stood. "I should be home, talking to Gray."

"I agree."

Faith whirled around to see Gray standing in the doorway staring at her and Julie, those blue eyes burning. She clutched the brown bag to her chest and stood there trembling, all her courage deserting her in a wimpy rush.

Gray took a step forward, then another, until he stood just a foot away, so close she could almost feel him touching her.

"What's going on, baby?" he asked in a soft, worried voice.

Her grip was so tight on the bag that her fingers were bloodless, pale tips. He reached out and carefully tugged it away from her. Oh no . . .

He unrolled the top and peered into it, going completely still. She couldn't even see him breathe. Then he looked back up at her. Only the betraying shake of the bag told her its affect on him.

"Don't you think we should go home and do this together?"

Her chin trembled, and she fought back tears. He was precisely right. This was something they should be doing together, facing it together.

Silently, he reached for her hand, palm up, just waiting for her to take it. Closing her eyes, she extended her arm, allowing her palm to slide over his.

As he pulled her forward, she turned to Julie. "Thanks, Julie. I'll see you later, okay?"

Julie smiled. "Take care, hon. And let me know, okay?"

Faith nodded and allowed Gray to lead her outside to his truck.

"My car," she protested when he opened the passenger door.

"We can get it later. Right now I want you with me."

He paused briefly to run his fingers down the side of her cheek, pushing aside the hair gathered there.

"Get in, Faith. There's something I want to show you before we go home."

Chapter 11

Realizing there wasn't much time for her to get home and get ready for her date, Julie left on the heels of Faith and Gray. It had certainly been an interesting day. The only thing that would make it more interesting would be if Serena showed up because she was dumping Damon or had finally accepted his proposal.

Relationships were quite simply a giant pain in the ass. Too much drama. They were laden with misunderstanding. No one ever communicated worth a shit as evidenced by Faith's departure from the common sense she usually possessed.

Good sex should be the ultimate goal. Anything else was just icing, and, well, too much sugar was never a good thing.

Julie drove to her apartment, tapping her nails on her steering wheel the entire way. This was the time where she was probably supposed to be bemoaning the fact that all her friends were in relationships and happy as clams and here she was, still single. She was supposed to be envious and lacking, right?

Only, at the moment she felt fortunate to be financially secure, to not be an emotional wreck and, God forbid, have a pregnancy scare. Not that she didn't think Faith would be a terrific mother and adjust to the situation in record time, but the idea still sent a shudder down Julie's spine.

Maybe one day? But not anytime soon. No, she had no desire to settle down and breed a bunch of peeing, puking, burping, crying little munchkins.

It was six by the time she parked in her spot. Not that it took her eons to get ready, but she wanted to look damn good tonight. After all the entire point was to let Nathan Tucker know what he was missing.

What demon possessed her, she wasn't sure. As she let herself into her apartment and headed for the bathroom, she reflected on the idea that she was probably being more than a little vindictive.

Was it hurt pride? No, she didn't think that was it. Nathan was hardly the first man to ever be oblivious to her signals. She'd always adopted a fuck-it attitude when it came to men. So why was she so uptight over Nathan Tucker?

Because you want him more than you’ve wanted other men.

And there it was. The truth hurt but it was still there in black and white. For whatever reason, she wanted Nathan more than she'd ever wanted another man, and the fact that he hadn't wanted her in the beginning did sting.

A cool shower helped to clear her head and sooth her savaged nerves. It really did irritate her that Nathan affected her so much. She was normally cool and confident, but he'd managed to turn her into a raving, desperate lunatic.

Most women her size probably wouldn't wear tight, form-fitting jeans, but she didn't have any compunction about displaying her body. To be honest, she'd tried skinnier and leaner, and it just didn't look good on her.

Once, after breaking up with a dickhead who snidely told her she could stand to lose a few pounds, she'd gotten serious about losing weight. She'd dropped thirty pounds, but it just hadn't worked for her. She liked herself the way she was, and she was pissed as hell that she'd let a man change the way she looked at herself, even if it had been a temporary thing.

After that, she'd forgotten all about ideal sizes, had rounded out and added back her ample curves, and quite frankly she liked herself a lot better, and she had her self-respect back.

Her mother wasn't perfect by a long shot, but what she had given Julie from the time she was a child was a strong sense of self. Not a day went by that she hadn't told Julie how beautiful she was, how smart. She'd imbued her daughter with the belief she could do anything, be anything. She'd grown up believing that. She still did.

She needed to call her mom and check in. Make sure she didn't need anything. Lord knows her brother wasn't going to step up. As much as it galled her to have any contact with the moron her mother had married, she couldn't very well turn her back on her mom.

Besides, there was always the outside chance that her mother might actually surprise her and leave the jerk.

Chuckling over the absurdity of that notion, she finished dressing, applied light makeup and brushed out her hair until it fell softly over her shoulders.

The only area she paid special attention to was her lips. She applied rich red lipstick because she wanted Nathan to look at those lips and remember them around his cock.

She cracked a grin and then checked to make sure she didn't have lipstick on her teeth. Satisfied with her appearance, she went in search of her shoes. With ten minutes to spare, she went back into the living room to wait for Nathan to arrive.

Oddly she wasn't nervous. Excitement hummed through her veins. Finally she was going to be on a real date with him. After months of cat and mouse, of hinting and endless flirtation, the man had gained a clue. It didn't speak well of a lengthy relationship if she had to beat him over the head with a baseball bat every time she wanted his attention.

When her doorbell rang five minutes early, she had to stop herself from bolting to the door. Chiding herself for being way too damn eager, she took her time going to let him in.

She opened the door to see him filling up the entrance, his hands shoved nervously in his pockets.

"You shouldn't just answer the door without checking to see who's outside," he said with a frown. "What if I had been some rapist or serial killer?"

She let her hand rest on the edge of the door and cocked her hip to the side as she studied just how damn good he looked in his Carhartt jeans. They molded to all the right spots, cupping him as lovingly as she would have, given the opportunity. And the simple T-shirt he wore shouldn't have been anything special, but it spread tightly across his chest, outlining in perfect detail every ripple and bulge of his muscles.

Damn it, why couldn't he be mediocre? Or passably handsome? Why couldn't he be one of these guys who only had his personality going for him? Why did he have to be the total package for her?

"Are you listening to me, Julie?"

She blinked. "Huh?"

"I said you shouldn't be answering the door without knowing for sure who's on the other side. It's dangerous."

"Oh, well, I knew it was you. Who else would it be?" she asked lightly.

"That's not the point. From now on, check before you open the door, okay? They should have peepholes on these doors."

"You're off the clock, Nathan," she said as she gestured him inside.

He flashed a quick grin as he stepped inside the small foyer. He filled up the entire entryway, and suddenly she felt pretty small beside him.

"Just let me get my purse and we can head out," she said.

He nodded and stood waiting while she ducked back into the living room. Seconds later she returned.

"You ready?"

"Sure, let's do it."

He motioned her ahead of him and they walked out the door. She turned back to lock it, and he waited on the sidewalk until she rejoined him. Then he walked her to his truck and opened the passenger door for her.

It was a long damn way up and she eyed the seat skeptically. Even the "oh shit" handle was out of reach.

To her surprise, Nathan put his hands around her waist and lifted her up as easily as if she was one of those small, dainty females. She landed in the seat with his hand still resting firmly on her thigh. For a long moment, he stood there, looking at her with heat radiating from his eyes.