Several hours later, Kieran took Matt home. With a quick “Hey, mom” in greeting, Matt made a beeline for the kitchen. Kieran had trouble making it past the living room. Dressed in well-worn, torn jeans and an oversized raggedy shirt, Faith stood before him, hair escaping the confines of her ponytail, dollops of paint adorning her arms, her legs, and her face. He felt a twinge deep in his chest; it was such an adorable image. The unease he’d witnessed at BodyWorks was gone. Clearly she was much more comfortable in her own environment. He could work with that.
“Painting, then, are you?” he said, unable to completely hide the smile that tugged at his lips.
“That’s one of the things I like about you,” Faith said, shooting him a smile of her own and a teasing glance. “Your exceptionally keen grasp of the obvious.”
“Yeah, well, you know,” he said, puffing himself up with feigned bravado, “I was a SEAL. I’m trained to be observant.”
Faith laughed softly, sending rivulets of sunshine directly into his chest.
“What I don’t understand,” he continued, affecting a look of puzzlement, “is exactly which parts of yourself you were painting with.”
She looked down and checked herself out, as if just realizing some of the medium had gotten on her. When she looked back to him, her eyes sparkled with mischief. “Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of full-contact body painting before?”
He laughed, though he couldn’t help the ache in his groin at the thought of finger painting her. “And here I’ve been doing it the boring way. Your way seems much more fun.”
*
Faith couldn’t stop the heat from rising in her cheeks. Even though she knew Kieran meant nothing by it, it was impossible not to let her overactive imagination run rampant every now and then, especially when he looked at her with those hypnotic blue eyes as if she was the only woman on earth.
She shook herself free, a bit miffed with herself for falling under his spell. She’d spent all afternoon convincing herself that she could be the unassuming friend who didn’t have grand expectations. It eased her mind, as well. She didn’t have to worry about her appearance quite so much, or saying the right thing at the right time. She’d never been very good at that kind of thing anyway.
His words finally sank in. “You were a SEAL, huh? That’s pretty impressive.” It certainly explained a lot – his lean, muscular build, economy of movement, and overall quiet intensity.
Kieran shrugged modestly. “Family tradition.”
“So you’re not anymore?” Except for his hair, which was longer than standard military length, he looked like he could still be one. Faith hadn’t known too many servicemen, and none well enough to ask, but it didn’t seem like the kind of thing you could do for a couple of years and simply walk away from. Obviously, given the fact that Kieran was the same age as she was, he hadn’t made a lifetime career out of it.
“No.”
The single word hung in the air; Faith didn’t miss how he averted his eyes. Clearly it was not something he wanted to discuss. That was okay; there were plenty of things she didn’t like talking about either. She mentally catalogued that for future reference, putting it in the ‘topics to avoid’ category.
Thankfully, Matt re-entered the room at that point, stuffing the remains of last night’s pizza into his mouth. Faith looked at him, amused. “Hungry?”
“He wouldn’t let me buy him lunch,” Kieran said. Judging by the way his lips thinned when he said it, he wasn’t happy about it. Well, too bad. She was inwardly proud of her son, who she knew could scarf down half his body weight in one sitting. It showed remarkable restraint and a sense of manners she couldn’t help but feel good about. She might not be able to buy her son all the extras some kids had, but she’d do her damnedest to give him other, less tangible things like pride. Self-respect. Dignity.
“I know you mean well, Kieran,” Faith said gently. “And please don’t take this the wrong way, but we would prefer to pay our own way, if you know what I mean. You’ve done so much already.”
*
Kieran nodded. “I get it.” But he didn’t have to like it. His natural inclination was to want to take care of them, and it would be an effort to curb that enough so that she would not be offended.
It was bad enough to see the slight flash of hurt in her eyes when she’d asked him about being in the service. He hadn’t lied. Technically, neither he nor his brothers were part of the service any longer. Kieran wouldn’t be able to offer any more details than that, however, until she became his wife. The thought sent a rush of longing, heat and need rippling through him.