"Dude, you are one pu**y-whipped son of a bitch," Connor said with a laugh.
Micah arched one eyebrow. "You say that as if it's a bad thing, my friend."
Connor slung one leg onto Faith's desk and slid over until he was sitting on the edge, coffee in hand. He reached for the doughnut box and rifled through it until he picked up one with sprinkles.
Nathan cracked up. "Speaking of pu**y. You're eating a doughnut with sprinkles, man."
Connor looked down and frowned then shrugged and stuffed half the doughnut in his mouth. "More sugar," he muffled out.
He pinned Nathan with a stare. Uh-oh, here it came.
"So, you catch up with Julie yet?”
Heat crept up Nathan's neck, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Yeah, Nathan, you catch up with Julie?" Faith asked, her eyes gleaming with unholy glee.
"Leave the guy alone," Micah said. "He'll work things out with Julie in his own time."
Connor chuckled and wiped sugar from his chin. "He has to catch her first."
Gray strode through the doorway of Faith's office, his blue eyes stormy. Ignoring the others, he stalked to Faith's desk, slapped his palms down on the surface and leaned over until his eyes were level with Faith's.
Nathan exchanged surprised looks with Micah and Connor. This had to be worth the price of admission.
"Why the hell did you cancel our wedding?" Gray demanded.
Connor eased from his end of the desk and took a step back. Micah's eyebrows shot up and Nathan studied Gray's tense body language, but none of the men made any move to give the couple their privacy.
Faith's cheeks lit up in a blush. "Not here, Gray."
Gray didn't even look around. His gaze never left hers. "Why?"
"Because it's not private!"
He shook his head. "That's not what I meant, and you damn well know it."
Nathan's brow crinkled. Faith and Gray having problems? Gray was head over ass in love with the girl. It was killing him that they hadn't tied the knot yet, and now she had canceled the wedding?
Or maybe all the women of his acquaintance were just nuts. Serena was balking over Damon's wedding proposal, although Nathan didn't entirely fault her for that. Serena seemed to be an intelligent woman, and maybe she had reservations about all the female flesh Damon dealt in.
A scowl crossed his face just thinking about the idea that Damon might have seen Julie naked.
Hell.
"You don't trust me."
Nathan looked up to see a look of hurt cross Faith's face as she launched her accusation. Uh-oh. If she teared up, he was out of here. He was positively useless when it came to a woman crying. Micah didn't look any more comfortable. Connor was scowling, though, and had taken a belligerent stance, legs apart, arms crossed over his chest.
It seemed the entire world had gone mad. Maybe Jupiter was out of alignment, or Mars or Venus, or whatever the f**k the planets did when people lost their minds.
"Trust? Trust? This has nothing to do with trust and everything to do with you pulling the rug out from under me. Damn it, Faith, what's going on here?"
And if Faith was hurt, Gray looked terrified. It was a fascinating thing to see this big man, an ex-cop, brought to his knees by a sweet, shy woman like Faith. Nathan remembered just how devastated Gray had been when Faith had been kidnapped. He'd never forget the terror in the other mans eyes. Love did some freaky shit to a man, no doubt.
Lust might make a man stupid, but love made him vulnerable.
"I won't have this conversation here," she said fiercely. "If you want to talk, then you can bring your carcass home on time and talk to me then."
Oh hell. The men exchanged quick looks and Nathan let out a silent groan. Gray was busted in a big way.
Gray's eyes softened. "Is this what this is about? My being late?"
"Gray, read my lips. I will not have this conversation in front of my brother and your friends."
"Hey, baby doll, don't be that way," Micah reproached. "You were here way before Gray. Just because he's a guy doesn't mean he automatically gets our loyalty."
Faith frowned unhappily. "I'm sorry, Micah. I didn't mean it that way. Look, why don't I just leave? Pop will be in any second, and he wanted to talk to you all. I'm just the coffee and doughnut provider and you all know it. I'm not having a personal discussion in front of God and everyone, I don't care how much I love you all."
"Goddamn it, Faith," Gray swore when she rounded the corner of her desk and headed for the door.
She nearly collided with Pop, who put his hands out to steady her.
"Whoa there, girl. Where you going in such a hurry?"
Pop's grizzled face softened in love for his only daughter. He was an ornery coot, but he loved Faith to pieces. Hell, they all did. Nathan wondered what in the world had gotten her so worked up. Gray didn't look like he had any more of a clue than the rest of them.
"I'm going to head home, if that's all right with you," Faith said softly. "I'm not feeling so great this morning."
Pop looked up, his eyes hard as he searched out the others for an explanation. Then he looked back at Faith and patted her on the shoulder. "Of course I don't mind. Go home and get some rest. I'll send over some lunch for you later."
She smiled wanly. "Thanks, Pop." She reached up to kiss him on the cheek, then disappeared out the door.
"Well hell," Gray muttered.
Pop strode in, a scowl bunching the wrinkles around his eyes.
"One of you want to tell me why my girl just left here so upset?"
"Ask him," Connor said, thumbing in Gray's direction. "Apparently Faith called off the wedding."
Even Pop looked shocked at that announcement. His glance at Gray was almost sympathetic.
"She got bridal jitters?" he asked Gray.
"Hell if I know. I didn't even know she'd called the thing off until I called to confirm our reservations only to discover she'd canceled them."
"That would explain you coming in here hell on wheels," Micah said dryly.
"Well yeah, knocked my feet out from under me." Gray stared around at the others and then at Connor. "Does anyone know something they're not telling me?"
They all shook their heads as fast as the question spilled out. As if any of them wanted to get involved in Faith's and Gray's personal lives.