He shrugged. “Not really. I just know what I want.”
That makes two of us. She wanted someone strong, unyielding, someone who could take care of her, someone not afraid to make decisions. Could he be that person?
She looked down at the napkin under her drink and played with the ends. Natural power radiated from Gray. Like a second skin he was comfortable wearing.
“Want to hear my other deep, dark secret?” he asked.
She grinned. “Of course.”
“I want a woman willing to let me call the shots.”
She stared at him in shock, unable to formulate a response. The seconds ticked by as silence settled between them.
Gray cleared his throat. “I’ve shocked you. It’s hard to make a statement like that and not come across as a knuckles-dragging-the-ground Neanderthal.” He shrugged again. “I don’t see a lot of women lining up for a guy like me.”
“That depends.” Her fingers gripped her drink, pressing into the damp glass until her fingertips were white.
“On what?”
“On what you’re willing to give a woman in return.”
Their gazes locked. She could see the flickers of interest in his eyes. If she gave him any sort of encouragement, they’d no doubt go back to her apartment and have sex. She licked her lips again.
“And what do you think a woman would want in return?” he asked silkily.
“More women wouldn’t mind a man being the proverbial man of the house if he didn’t abdicate his responsibility. If he took that responsibility seriously,” she said and immediately cringed at how preachy she sounded.
He nodded slowly. “That makes sense.”
Unable to stop herself, she continued on. “When a man isn’t willing to accept responsibility, a woman has no choice but to step up to the plate. Many times she has children to think about. Herself. Her family. As a result, women have figured out that they are not only capable, but oftentimes more adept at running the household than a man.”
“You make it sound like men as a species have dropped the ball entirely,” Gray said dryly.
“Women have done their fair share of f**king up,” Faith muttered.
God, she needed to just shut up before Gray tucked tail and ran as fast and as far away as he could. She sounded like a starchy man hater. Nothing could be further from the truth. But she was only just now sorting out her feelings when it came to relationships. She was on the cusp of a strange new world where she was trying to reach out and grab what she wanted. She felt edgy and impatient, and worse, she felt doomed to failure.
“I’m making a mess of this,” she muttered. “I should have just kept my mouth shut. I sound like a preachy, man-hating piranha, when in fact what I really want—” She broke off, mortified that she’d almost blurted out just what it was she did want.
He gave her a probing look. “What do you want, Faith?”
“Hey, you two!”
Both Faith and Gray whirled around to see Micah heading across the bar toward them. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she heard Gray utter a curse under his breath.
Micah dropped a kiss on Faith’s cheek then stood between her and Gray as he motioned to the bartender for a drink.
“What are you doing here?” Faith asked. “I thought you had a hot date.”
Micah grinned. “I do. Later, though. We’re meeting somewhere.”
“Sounds positively mysterious,” Faith said.
Gray cleared his throat. “I was just about to ask Faith if she wanted something to eat. You want to join us, or are you eating later?”
Faith checked her watch and grimaced. “Sorry, but I have a hair appointment I have to get to.” She’d leave off the fact that she was getting waxed and pampered for her Friday appointment. “I should be going if I want to to make it on time.”
Gray caught her hand as she stood. She looked over at him and was surprised to see something that looked like regret simmering in his eyes.
“I’d like a rain check on this conversation,” he said.
She blushed and caught Micah’s curious stare out of the corner of her eye.
“Sure. Some other time maybe.”
She reluctantly pulled her hand from his then flashed a smile in Micah’s direction before shoving past him to walk out of the bar.
CHAPTER 11
“Got those surveillance cameras set up?” Pop asked from behind Gray.
Gray stood from his crouched position and turned to face the other man. “Yeah, just got the last one operational. I’ll give Connor a call right quick and make sure they’re all online.”
Pop nodded and put his own cell phone to his ear to make a call.
Gray punched in Connor’s number. “Everything’s set up on my end,” he said when Connor answered. “See if you get a visual from each one.”
Connor was upstairs in the surveillance room where the computerized system for monitoring all the cameras had been installed. He was the computer expert. A real geek when it came to technology. Gray was more of a grunt worker. He understood enough to install cameras and bugs, but the more sophisticated measures he left to those who understood all that shit.
“Yeah, looks like I’ve got a clear bead from all corners. Though it looks like camera B needs to be angled up maybe an inch. If you did that, I’d not only get a clear shot of the hallway, but I’d be able to monitor the doorway at the end.”
“Will do,” Gray said.
“Tell Pop I’m going to be a while up here, so I’ll catch up to y’all later,” Connor said.
Gray agreed and rang off. Shoving the phone back into his pocket, he strode out of the room and across the building to where camera B was installed. After adjusting the angle, he gave Connor another call back to confirm the position. Then he went in search of Pop.
“I’m all done,” he said as he walked back to where Pop stood. “Connor said he’d be a while with the computer system and not to wait on him.”
Pop nodded. “Let’s grab some lunch then.”
Twenty minutes later, the two sat in a small diner drinking coffee while they waited for their food. Gray wanted to ask about Faith and her relationship with her mom, but he didn’t know how to lead into such an unlikely topic without arousing Pop’s suspicions.
Pop may be outgoing and generous but Connor didn’t get his closemouthed ways by chance. Still, Gray needed to find out as much about Celia Martin and any potential connection to Faith as he could.