His eye caught the sketch pad laying on the edge of the covered sofa. As an artist himself, his curiosity got the best of him. He picked it up and glanced through it, sucking in his breath at the black and white sketches that looked like they had come straight out of a book.
“Did you do these?” he asked.
Faith saw what he had in his hands and a blush stole up her cheeks. “Yeah. They’re nothing. Just some ideas.”
“They’re really good,” Kieran said truthfully. Faith had a natural talent for perspective. He flipped through page after page, seeing her visions for what this tiny, run down cottage would someday become. Is this what she saw when she looked at this place? No wonder she loved it so much.
“Thanks,” she said quietly, but she looked down at her shoes as if suddenly embarrassed. She had no reason to be. Her sketches were amazing. “Are you an interior designer? Is that why Aidan hired you? To work on the new suites?”
*
The color in her cheeks darkened. Kieran must have known she worked for the Goddess, but not what she did. Housekeeping services was a far cry from interior designer.
Thankfully, she was spared from answering that question when Matt stood and looked over Kieran’s arm. “Looks good, mom,” he said in between mouthfuls as he polished off yet another slice of leftover pizza.
“Where did you study?” Kieran asked.
“Study?” Faith blinked.
“Yeah. For art and design.”
Whoa. “You think they’re that good?”
“Hell, yes,” he said emphatically. “If this is what you see when you look around this place, you have a gift. Show these to Shane and he’ll probably start asking you to check out properties with him for potential. And my cousin Johnny – he does some historical renovations – would hire you on the spot.”
Faith blinked again, but smiled as Kieran’s compliment rattled around inside and filled her with the strange urge to giggle in joy. She never willingly shared her sketches with anyone besides Matt, not since her parents had eschewed her for wasting her time on something as impractical as art when she was younger. Kieran was the first to openly compliment her talent, and the effects of it nearly had her bouncing on her toes. There was a good possibility he was just saying those things to be polite, but they were awfully nice to hear, just the same.
“Would you like something to drink?” she offered instead.
*
Kieran regarded her with fascination. The transformation that had occurred was nothing less than stunning. Her eyes sparkled, her face glowed, and she seemed ... buoyant. He tried to think of what he might have said to elicit such a powerful response, because he wanted to make a point of doing so repeatedly.
If he didn’t know any better, he might think she wasn’t used to hearing such praise. But with talent like this, she had to be. Didn’t she?
“Yeah, anything cold would be great,” he said.
He stalled as long as he could, taking his time as he unloaded his truck and showed Faith what he’d managed to find. Judging by her reaction, he might have thought he’d created an unlimited spending account at the home center for her, rather than delivered an unimpressive truckload of odds and ends. He would have gotten a hell of a lot more if he thought for one minute she would have accepted it.
“This is a lot of stuff,” she said, shifting uncomfortably as Kieran carried things into the shed. “Are you sure you don’t need it?”
“It’s all leftovers,” he assured her. “The Pub reno is complete, although after seeing your sketches, maybe you should come by and take a look.”
He didn’t want to leave. He wanted to follow her into the house and spend a few hours removing the paint from specific parts of her anatomy before crawling into bed with her and claiming that which he now knew was exclusively his. He knew from his brothers’ experiences that now that he had discovered his croie, it would be impossible to find satisfaction with any other woman, not that he’d want to. He was officially off the market. And so was she.
“Thanks for dinner,” he said, grasping desperately for a few extra moments any way he could get them. A cold drink had turned into a meal. The vegetable stew she’d had simmering in the crock pot and the crusty loaf of homemade bread had been mouthwateringly good.
“You’re welcome.”
“You’ll let me know? About Matt?” He and Matt had presented a thorough and well-executed offensive at dinner. The kid was a natural. Plus he knew how to capitalize on Faith’s weaknesses – her unease of leaving Matt alone for the entire day while she worked, the allure of having him under watchful eyes and knowing that he was doing something constructive with his time.
Oh yeah. She didn’t stand a chance against the two of them when they joined forces. It was a heady feeling.
She exhaled and furrowed her brows, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned against the doorframe. Kieran found himself envious of the door frame.
*
“It’s a very tempting offer, Kieran,” she said slowly. “But I worry that we are taking advantage of your kindness.”