Waiting on Faith (She's Beautiful Series Book 2)

by Nicole Richard

  Spencer scoffed, faking his offense. “What? I can’t visit my favorite people?”

  “Of course you can, but I know you—you would’ve called and said something first.”

  I knew that look. Something was on his mind and the tip of his tongue.

  “All right, you got me.” He chuckled then cleared his throat. I couldn’t quite make out why he was stalling, until he said, “I’ve been asked to scope out a couple of areas for our new office.”

  I just about screamed in excitement.

  “Will you let me finish?” Spencer laughed. “Apparently the firm is looking to expand, and they’ve narrowed down their choice of location to Portland and Charleston. They just set up a team to open an office in Nashville, and since I know my way around this side of the tracks and went to school in Portland, they chose me to scope out the other two areas.”

  The first thing that came to mind was I could possibly have my favorite cousin just a short way away, a couple of hours at the most. That was why he waited to tell us; he knew how much this would mean to me.

  “That’s awesome, Spence. Oh, my god, I’m so excited for you. Oh, and me too.”

  We were both laughing when Aunt Claudia tapped on the other side of the screen door interrupting us. “Hey you two, dinner’s ready.”

  “Be right there, Mom.” Patting my knee, he stood and held his hand out for me to take. “Come on, Natty. Let’s eat.”

  Dinner passed quickly. It had always been easy with the four of us, chatting, laughing, and reminiscing about our younger days. All the fun and mischief Spencer and I got into when I would visit.

  “Is anyone ready for dessert? I wish I could say I made it, but hey, cheesecake is cheesecake, right?” I giggled. Grabbing the few stray dishes left on the table, I got up to retrieve the cheesecake, fresh plates, and new silverware.

  “I’ll help you,” Spencer said, pushing out his chair and standing to follow me into the kitchen.

  “So you wanna take a walk after dessert? Might as well take advantage of how nice the night is tonight,” he asked, reaching into the fridge.

  “I’d love to.”

  Spencer cut while I plated. It made me smile a little. This had been the same routine every summer growing up since we were old enough to help with dinners.

  “Good. Here, let me take these two and you grab the others.”

  It was a beautiful night, the moon wasn’t as full as previous nights, but there wasn’t a cloud in sight. Spencer nudged my shoulder with his. “So, you sure everything is okay? You didn’t sound convincing earlier.”

  I turned to look at him, and I saw the worry in his eyes. No matter how hard he tried to hide it, it was always there right under the surface.

  “Yeah, as good as I can be. I’ve made some really good friends.”

  We walk in silence for a few seconds when a thought came to mind. “Hey, whatever turned out with that date you had that night when I texted you?”

  Spencer shrugged. “It was good.”

  I stopped my stroll. “It was good?” I mocked suspiciously.

  He shook his head, chuckling softly. “You remembered that, huh?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Nat, she’s great.” Spencer confessed dreamily. “She has a good job—climbing the corporate ladder, has her own place. . .”

  “And?” I let out a heavy sigh.

  “I’m not sure if she feels the same. I like her. Like reeeally like her.” He exaggerated the last part. “But if I get the promotion I’m hoping for and get to head an office . . .” He shrugged. “I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t work.”

  “Does she have a name?” I asked, resuming our stroll.

  “Yeah, her name’s Allison.”

  “Will you quit stalling and tell me about her already!” I demanded, linking my arm through his as he told me all about the potential love of his life. I must have subconsciously been walking us to the river. When I heard a dog barking, my feet faltered a little bit.

  “BOONES!” THIS DOG almost never bared his teeth or growled. “Stay!” I commanded in a low voice, and he sat at attention by my side. I stood next to him and watched the direction Boones had his eyes on and nose pointed.

  The faint sound of dried leaves crunching under someone’s feet was getting closer. Boones ducked low and started with a low growl again as two people came into view. I grabbed onto his collar, restraining him from taking off. Then a familiar voice apologizing caught my attention.

  It was Natalie.

  She wasn’t alone.

  My free hand clenched, my jaw tightened, and an unwelcome heat passed through me. Who was the guy with her? She never mentioned having a boyfriend, but then again, who would? And if he were her boyfriend, why the hell did she let me shove my tongue down her throat? Or was this clown just another fling. Was that what she thought of me too?

  “Cy, is that you?” Her voice was light but confused and questioning at the same time.

  I sucked in a deep breath, steeled myself, and grasped every bit of control I possessed.

  “Natalie. How are you? Didn’t expect . . .” I looked at the guy standing next to her and tilted my chin in his direction. “Who’s your friend?”

  She gazed up at the guy, and her face lit up with a bright beautiful smile. If I didn’t have Boones to hold on to—

  Shoving the thought aside, I kept my eyes on Natalie as she placed her hand around the top of the guy’s arm. I sucked in another deep breath. This time it was through clenched teeth.

  “This is Spencer. Spencer this is my friend, Cyrus . . . sorry, I mean Cy Davis,” she said, waving her hand between us. He stepped forward, drawing my attention away from her as he offered his hand for me to shake. I stared at it in disbelief, and she added, “He’s my cousin. He’s visiting from San Diego.”

  Cousin.

  “Yeah, man, her cousin.” He chuckled, and the emphasis he put on the word “cousin” didn’t slip past me.

  I offered my hand, we shook, and I apologized. “Sorry, man. I didn’t know.”

  “Nah, it’s cool, nice to meet you. So you live around here?”

  “Yeah.” I pointed in the direction of where my house stood.

  Natalie gasped loudly and whispered, “It was you?”

  I looked at her, confused. I had no idea what she was talking about. “Me? It was me what?”

  “It was you. You . . . you brought me the towel that night?”

  She was the woman in the water?

  “That was you?” I mimicked her whisper.

  “Yeah.”

  Her cousin clapped and rubbed his hands together, pulling both of our attentions to him. He winced, glancing between Natalie and me as he rocked back and forth from heel to toe a few times. “Hey, Nat. I think I’m going to head back. It looks like you two have a few things to talk about. You okay to make it back?” He eyed me for a moment, and I felt a smidgen better that she had someone looking out for her. When she didn’t answer right away, he tapped her shoulder. “Nat?”

  Blinking a couple of times, she tilted her head up toward her cousin and whispered, “Yeah, I think Cy and I should talk.”

  His eyebrow rose, silently questioning her. He must have gotten the answer he was looking for, because he shoved his hands in his pockets. “You have your phone, right?” he asked her, eyeing me.

  “Yeah, I’ll call you if I need a ride back or anything. Let your parents know I said good night in case they’re asleep when I get back.”

  “I will.” He gave her a hug and when she stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek, I had to remind myself that he was her cousin.

  When he was no longer visible, she turned back to me, making me want to fidget. I didn’t. I remained stoic as she looked at me as if she were trying her best to read my mind. Our last encounter hadn’t ended on the best foot, so I figured it was best if she led the conversation. I bent down to Boones’s ear and commanded him to go home. Hanging his head, muffling soft doggy grumbles, he reluctan
tly turned his body in the other direction and walked like an elderly person back to the house.

  When I stood, she tensed.

  Not exactly the reaction I was looking for. “Hey, you okay?”

  Her crossed arms visibly tightened and she nodded, so I took a step closer. I gently uncrossed her arms and watched her as she watched me. Then I grabbed her hand and I tried again. “That was you in the water that night?” My eyes glanced in the direction of the water before tracking back to her again.

  “Yes, that was me.” Her response was soft. “I wondered what happened to the person that was kind enough to be such a gentleman and not a pervert. But when I turned around, he was gone—you were gone.”

  Something in her voice made my heart start to race and a warm sensation covered the back of my neck. I wasn’t sure why my mouth was suddenly dry. I swallowed the thickness lodged in my throat and tilted my head to the side. “You wanna come up— ”

  “I don’t know. Are you going to apologize for the other night?” Her voice was so light and joking that I laughed instead of feeling bad about my actions.

  “I’m sorry about that, Natalie. You wanna come up and talk?” I tilted my head to the side and watched her, allowing the smallest smile to twitch at the corner of my mouth.

  “Okay.”

  The walk back to my house was quiet. It was obvious neither of us knew what to say. But this was quickly becoming routine each time we were in each other’s presence. I knew it was mostly because of me.

  Boones was in his spot at the foot of my favorite chair. His head rose up at the sight of us as we walked up the steps, then he lazily laid it back down as I opened the door.

  “Can I get you something to drink? I have water, beer, sweet tea . . .”

  “A beer would be nice, thanks.”

  I walked into the kitchen and grabbed two bottles out of the fridge. When I turned around, I could see her in the living room, looking around and taking it all in. She looked thoughtful, inspecting each picture slowly.

  Walking to her, I popped the top off and held up a beer in front of her. She accepted and had that bottle pressed to her lips, downing at least half before she lowered it. I stood there astounded. She was hot and she could drink. After stopping to take a breath, a grateful smile spread across her face.

  “Thanks.” She held the bottle up and tipped it toward me. I nodded, swallowing hard and trying to find words. I wanted to shake off the nerves like Levi told me to. I just wasn’t sure how. I gestured for her to take a seat at the table and I took the seat next to her.

  “Look”—I scratched the back of my neck—“I am truly sorry about last night.”

  “It’s okay, we gave in to the heat of the moment. We had both been drinking and— ”

  “No. You stop right there.” I sighed, taking a minute to get a good look at her. The way her hair fell in waves over her shoulder had me wanting to slide it back just to touch her. Her cheeks tinted a shade of baby pink, and I wanted to kiss her again just to be reminded of how soft they were. I didn’t know how many more times we would get to be this close. An involuntary whisper escaped, “You’re beautiful.” I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

  She smiled again, accepting my compliment as she peeled the label off the beer bottle in her hands.

  “Natalie, I froze in the truck last night. Shit got heavy real quick, and I guess you could say I panicked.” I looked away, feeling like a damn fool for admitting I freaked out.

  “Cy. . .” She paused, looking right at me. I nodded, hoping she would continue. Instead her gaze faltered before resuming the conversation. “I was in a toxic relationship for a long time. Since then, I haven’t . . . I mean, I haven’t— What I mean is, last night was the first night I’ve been that close to someone in quite a while.”

  Wow. How was I even supposed to respond to that? It was plain as day that it was hard for her to tell me. It explained a lot about why she was still single though. There were only a few types of toxic relationships that I could think of, and there were even fewer that would make a beautiful woman like Natalie hide away. All of the options made my blood boil.

  “Cy, will you say something, please?” God, she looked so nervous. Her eyes flickered downward, and her fingers trembled as she tried to pick up another piece of label off her bottle.

  “Natalie, I’m not exactly experienced with this either.” I stopped and thought about how I could put what I needed to say into words. “I’m not the love ’em and leave ’em kind. I take this shit seriously, and I’m tired of my loyalty backfiring.” She nodded. I was pretty sure she understood where I was coming from.

  “I’m not that person either, Cy.”

  I dragged her chair closer to me, barely leaving any space between us, reached up, and gently pulled her face closer to mine.

  “Sounds like it’s settled then,” I whispered just before our lips touched.

  Tasting a mixture of beer and sweetness, I fought the urge to haul her ass into my bedroom and have my way with her. I wanted to make her remember tonight. Instead, I swept my tongue across her bottom lip. Her mouth opened, and our tongues connected.

  My cock responded.

  I pressed my tongue harder into her mouth, greedy for this kiss. Roughly grabbing onto her hips, I heard the lust in her whisper, “Cy.”

  Her pleading had me wanting more; my control was about ready to snap.

  “Cy, please.” She fisted the back of my shirt, and the move caused the front to stretch and tighten over my chest and abs.

  My hands scooped her from under her thighs, and I pulled away from her lips. “Straddle me.”

  She obliged, arching herself against me as her mouth came crashing down to mine again.

  My hands reached under her shirt and roamed along every inch of her smooth and silky back. Her hands locked round my neck and pulled me in, deepening our kiss.

  When she rocked her hips against mine, pressing herself against my cock, a blast of heat blazed through me. It burned up every last ounce of control I had.

  She pulled away from me and threw her head back, letting out a soft moan. The movement had her offering up her breasts to me, and I gazed at her taut nipples through the lace of her bra.

  We sat like that for a beat, my eyes fixed on her and her eyes closed in concentration. Then, after another deep breath that had me wanting to rip off her clothes and feast on her nipples, she turned her eyes to me. Fire and lust burned in the depths of her green eyes. A feeling so intense it had me softly pressing my forehead against her chest. I took a couple of deep breaths, but now was not the time to close in on myself.

  “I want you, Nat.” I looked up at her. “Is it okay if I call you Nat?” She smiled and nodded her head. “It’s just . . . I hope this isn’t just a onetime thing.”

  Quickly she shook her head, rolled her bottom lip between her teeth, and tenderly pressed her palms to my cheeks.

  “No way, Cy. I would really like to see you again.”

  That was all the permission I needed. Without wasting another second, I stood and held her thighs as she wrapped her legs around my waist. We both pressed our lips together as I walked her blindly to my bedroom.

  BY THE TIME he kicked the bedroom door shut, I had his shirt off. It was when I was reaching to pop the button of his jeans that I noticed the ink on his skin. I only caught the glimpse of color before he was pulling my attention back to his mouth.

  Cy moved his mouth to press his lips against mine, and the light dusting of stubble that covered his face scraped against my skin. When his mouth moved to my neck, it left a trail of goose bumps in its wake. He planted hot, open-mouthed kisses along my neck, biting lightly before kissing away the sting. Good God, the groans and growls he expelled made me hotter and wetter by the millisecond. I needed to feel a release. I pressed my core to his impressive hard bulge and nipped his earlobe.

  “Ahh, fuck,” he rumbled against my skin, right before he grabbed my ass forcefully and pulled me harder against his erectio
n. My head tipped back, offering up my exposed neck to him, and another moan slipped.

  Releasing my grip from around him, I guided my feet to the floor. Cy’s strong arm wrapped around my waist, holding me close to him as he continued to kiss and nibble at my neck. It was understandable, him wanting to take his time to savor every delicious second, but my body was on sensory overload, demanding more—and now.

  I pulled back out of his reach, and our eyes locked. I pulled my shirt over my head and unhooked my bra. I didn’t take it off all the way, though. No, I held the cups in place with one arm and slowly slid each strap down my one arm and then the other. With a throaty growl, he stiffened, and I couldn’t help teasing him.

  With both straps off, I let the nude lace bra gracefully fall to the floor. His dark-brown eyes flashed with pleasure, and I smiled and slowly wiggled out of my jeans and panties.

  He didn’t waste a second. His hands were back on my skin, burning everywhere they touched, and he bent his head, pulling a nipple into his mouth. Licking, sucking, and nibbling it as his other hand massaged and pinched my other breast. He switched between both sides like a man who couldn’t make up his mind. I didn’t care. His mouth was magic.

  Then one of his hands was gone, and his movements became jerky with impatience as he kicked his jeans and boxer briefs off. I glanced down at him, and my breath stalled. Cy was impressive. Really, really impressive. My mouth watered as I watched his cock twitch against his hard stomach.

  Flattening my palm right above his six-pack, I slowly trailed upward to his pecs, and his hands fisted at his sides. It was strange how he was trying to hold onto his control, and seeing him trying so hard was making me want to get him to lose his control. I slid my palm down the front of his body and over all the dips and ridges on his torso, stopping right before I made any kind of contact with his thick cock.

  “Your teasing is killing me right now, Nat. How about you work that pretty little ass onto the bed?” He growled low and flicked his chin toward his dark wood headboard. He stroked himself. “Let my cock make you feel good baby.”