She slid off the table and straightened her clothes. Across the room his robe, and the towel she'd tossed away, lay carelessly strewn. She hurried for both then turned and tossed them in Nathan's direction.
"That... was on the house," she said, proud of the steadiness of her voice. "I won't, however, be available for future appointments. You'll have to find another massage service."
She caught only a brief glimpse of the shocked expression on his face before she turned and walked out of the massage room.
Chapter 2
Nathan roared up into the parking lot of Malone and Sons Security and cut the engine. With an irritated yank of his keys, he got out and slammed his door.
He strode to the door, glowering the entire way. That damn hellcat Julie. After giving him an orgasm that rivaled Mt. Vesuvius, she'd had the nerve to blow him off.
What the f**k kind of point was she trying to prove? If she wanted his attention, she'd certainly gotten it in a big way. After weeks and weeks of endless sexual frustration, his prayers had been answered. Julie's mouth around his cock, her hands on his body, a vixen bent on seduction.
Yeah, well then she'd turned into a friggin' iceberg. Not only had she fired his ass—could a customer be fired?—but he'd seen neither hide nor hair of her in a week. A week! When before he couldn't damn well turn around without her being there, now she'd disappeared off the face of the earth.
He'd gone into her salon, determined that she, and nobody else, was going to give him a massage. Only this time he was going to have her down on the table under his mouth and hands. Imagine his surprise when a woman he'd never seen before introduced herself as Julie's new massage therapist.
Oh, hell no.
He'd turned around and walked out, ready to strangle Julie. Right after he f**ked her brains out.
He swung open the door to Malone and Sons Security and stalked in, making a beeline for Faith's office. He almost ran into Micah Hudson in the hallway. Micah started to say something but took one look at Nathan's face and held his hands up.
Micah backed away, an amused grin on his face. "I'll catch you later, dude. After you've worked the knot out of your panties."
"Fuck you," Nathan muttered as he shoved past him.
Faith looked up as Nathan walked into her office, her eyebrows going up. Usually he was a lot more even tempered, especially with Faith. He loved the girl to death, but today his patience was hanging by a thread.
He put his hands down on Faith's desk and leaned over to stare her in the eye. "Where—is—she?"
Faith blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Julie," he growled. "Where the hell is she hiding?"
A burst of amusement flared in Faith's eyes, which only served to piss Nathan off more.
"I swear to you, Faith, if you don't tell me where she is, I'm going to strangle that pretty neck of yours."
If he thought that threat was going to get him anywhere he was sadly mistaken. Faith laughed in his face.
"She finally get to you, Nathan?"
He closed his eyes and was tempted to beat his head on the desk. God save him from impossible women. When he reopened his eyes, he found Faith staring at him, a glint of steel in her expression.
"Come on, Faith," he wheedled. "You're supposed to be my friend."
"What you are is a dumbass."
His mouth fell open. What the hell happened to sweet, generous Faith who made them all coffee and mothered them incessantly?
She stood and placed her own hands on the desk and leaned forward, her lips twisted in a snarl. "You ignore her for weeks, act like she doesn't even exist and then when you decide to take notice, you're pissed because she's not running when you snap your fingers?"
"Not that I don't love watching you get your ass kicked by a girl, but Pop wants you on the phone," Micah called from the door. Amusement was heavy in his voice.
"Get out!" he and Faith said at the same time.
Micah threw up his hands. "Okay, okay. Just don't call me to clean up the mess later." He backed out of the office at high speed.
Nathan turned back to Faith. "What do you mean, I've ignored her for weeks? Do you know how impossible it is to ignore that woman? I'd have to be blind, deaf and dumb not to notice."
It was Faiths turn for her mouth to gape open. Then to his utter shock, she reached across and smacked him upside the head.
He yanked back, staring at her in shock. "What the hell was that for?"
"Dumbass. Complete and utter moron. If all men were as stupid as you, the world would have a population crisis."
"You can quit with the insults any time."
"Don't stop now. Its just getting interesting," Connor Malone said from the door.
"Out!" Faith screeched at her brother.
Nathan didn't say anything, but he pinned Connor with a glare. Connors shoulders shook with laughter, but he turned and sauntered back out.
"Office is a damn revolving door today," Nathan muttered.
"It's a revolving door every day," Faith said pointedly. "You just never get the hint. Just like you're too thick to figure out that you could have had Julie at any time. You've lost your chance, and moreover, you don't deserve her."
Heat simmered in Nathan's veins. Lost my chance, my ass. Just because women had to be so f**king complicated didn't mean that he was the dumbass for not figuring out the mystic woman's code for I want you. There wasn't a man in the world who knew how the f**k women thought, and if he said he did, he was a goddamn liar.
"So, you're on her side," Nathan huffed.
She rolled her eyes. "Men are such babies."
"Would you quit with the name-calling? Jesus, Faith, what's crawled up your ass?"
"Why are you here, Nathan?" she asked impatiently.
He gaped at her. His blood pressure was going through the roof. He'd be lucky if he didn't stroke out in her office. He reached for his hair but then remembered he didn't have any.
"Why the hell do you think I'm here?" he roared.
She looked unfazed by the fact he was losing his mind.
"I'm here because that hellcat seduced me and then ran the f**k away. She's avoiding me, and when I went in for my massage, another f**king woman showed up to give me one. And you think I'm a chickenshit?"