The King Next Door (7 page)

“Come here,” he whispered and met her halfway. His mouth was just a breath away from hers when it happened.

“Mommmmmmyyyyy…”

A warbling voice erupted from the baby monitor and they both turned to look at it. Just like that, the spell between them shattered. Hearing Connor’s voice was like a cold shower for Griffin, and he guessed the same was true for Nicole. She pulled back and reached for the monitor, turning down the volume. Connor’s cries were muffled now, but no less insistent.

“Guess our night is over,” she said, reluctance obvious in her tone. “I’ve got to go.”

“Yeah, I know.” He lifted one hand and smoothed a wet lock of her hair back from her face, trailing his fingertips across her cheek as he did.

One touch.

He was on fire again with no hope of quenching it. One damn night. It might have been enough with anyone else, but with Nicole…

Connor’s voice reached for them from inside the house, reminding each of them that their night was over. That reality had come crashing down on them.

“You’d better go,” Griffin said quietly. He wanted to grab hold of her and keep her just where she was. But he couldn’t and he knew it. Didn’t make letting her go any easier, though.

She closed her eyes briefly. “Sorry this had to end so soon.”

“Yeah, me, too.”

“Is it…weird between us now?”

“Getting there,” he said softly. They were talking to each other like polite strangers when only minutes before he’d had his mouth on her breasts and her long, lovely legs wrapped around his waist. Yeah. It was weird.

Connor’s voice had shattered the moment between them and it was probably good that it had. Sex was simple. This situation with Nicole wasn’t. Best to remember that.

She nodded. “I thought it might be hard between us…after.”

Sure it would be, Griffin thought. Every time he looked at her now, he’d remember and want more. “Not gonna be the way it was, that’s for sure.”

“It was still worth it,” she told him.

“Oh, it really was.”

Smiling, she started to climb out of the tub, then stopped, sank lower into the water and looked at him. “This is going to sound ridiculous, but would you close your eyes?”

“Seriously?” He smiled in spite of the tension coiled in the pit of his stomach. “I’ve seen every inch of you.”

“Yeah, but that—” she waved one hand at the water, vaguely indicating what they’d just been doing “—was different.”

“You keep surprising me.”

“A good thing, right?”

“Yeah, I guess it is. You know,” he said, snaking out one hand to grab up her bikini, “you could just put these back on.”

“Takes too long to try to wiggle back into them in the water. Griffin, come on. Close your eyes for a second so I can go to Connor.”

Like nobody else, he told himself. Nicole was completely unique. How she could be shy or embarrassed after what they’d just shared was beyond him, but he was intrigued by her more and more. She was a complicated woman, he thought, smiling to himself. She didn’t react to anything the way he expected her to. She wasn’t easy to read and he found that exciting. Hell, Griffin had known how to deal with every woman he’d ever known, until Nicole. She kept him off balance, though—off his game—and, he thought, that might not be a plus in the long run.

“Fine,” he said finally and closed his eyes on that last, disturbing thought.

“Thanks.” He heard the water slosh and her feet as she stepped onto the top level of the stairs. “I’m going to grab your towel, too, since I forgot to bring one.”

“No problem.” His eyes were still closed, but his imagination worked just fine. In his mind, he saw her wrap the towel around her body. He saw rivulets of water running down her arms and legs and sliding down the curve of her throat and everything in him yearned to lick them all off.

“Okay,” she said, “I’m good.”

Griffin opened his eyes again and found reality even better than his imagination. She looked warm and wet and completely amazing draped only in a white towel. She watched him through blue eyes that still held a trace of passion, and damned if he didn’t want to grab her and pull her back down into the hot tub.

So much for worrying about being off-balance, he thought wryly. At the moment, he didn’t give a damn what she was doing to his equilibrium—he just wanted her.

But playtime was over and she was clearly moving into Mommy mode.

“So,” she said, inching closer to the back door, “this was great, and I’ll, uh, see you tomorrow, right?”

“Right.”

He stared after her for a long minute even after the door was closed and he was alone. She’d wanted one night. But now he wanted more.

That realization told him two things.

He was walking on dangerous ground—and he had no intention of turning back.

*

The downside to Connor getting older was the advent of nightmares.

Nicole tucked the blanket around her son, then smoothed one hand across his baby-soft blond hair. He was curled up on one side, hugging his stuffed alligator to his tiny chest. She had held him and soothed him and then settled him down again. Now, with his trusted buddy cuddled in tight, Connor slipped back into sleep, whatever nightmare had awakened him already forgotten.

Moonlight slid through the windows of Connor’s borrowed room. Most of his things were still at their house, but Griffin had made it a point to bring over enough of Connor’s toys to make the boy feel more comfortable—a gesture that had both surprised and touched Nicole. He wasn’t who she’d expected him to be. Who would have thought that Griffin would realize how important familiarity would be to a two year old? Having his things around him had made the transition to this temporary move a lot easier on Connor.

She glanced around at a few of the books he loved to “read.” The toy cars at the foot of his bed and the chalkboard in the corner. Treasures that made up the center of Connor’s world. Just as her son made up the center of Nicole’s world.

She shifted her gaze to her little boy. He looked so small, lying in the wide double bed that had been pushed up against a wall. She had piled pillows on one side of him so he wouldn’t roll off, but that only served to make him look even smaller than he was. But she smiled, remembering how excited Connor had been to be given a “big-boy bed.” He was growing up right in front of her.

How fast it had all gone, she thought.

The quiet settled around her and she walked to the window, staring down at the street that was as familiar to her as her own name. The neighborhood in Long Beach was old and settled, with bungalows tucked back from the street and yards filled with big trees that shaded the road in summer in what looked like a long, green arch. Families lived here. It was safe. Quiet. And Nicole loved everything about it.

She’d run here, run
home,
when her husband left her. There had been renters in her grandmother’s house then, but she’d broken the lease and moved in herself. Being in that house, with the memories of love surrounding her, had grounded her when she’d most needed it. Being on this street where she knew everyone had soothed raw nerves and helped her find her way again.

Then she and Katie had gotten close and that had helped Nicole remember who she really was. She’d found the strength to face the fears of being alone and pregnant. She’d let go of the fury she’d felt toward the husband who had deserted her when she needed him most and realized that being on her own was better than being with the wrong person.

Then Connor had been born, and from that moment, she’d been nothing but grateful. The last few years hadn’t been easy, being both mom and dad and scrambling for clients to help grow her business. But she wouldn’t change any of it. She’d become stronger than she had ever thought she could be. And she had Connor. That was enough.

At least it
had
been.

Now, after only one shattering experience with Griffin, Nicole wondered if there might be more for her out there somewhere. Oh, not with Griffin, obviously. He wasn’t the staying kind of guy, which was exactly why she’d come up with this whole night-of-wahoo idea in the first place. Although he was really sweet with Connor.

“And,” she whispered, “he’s fun to be with, to talk to, to argue with. And he
really
looks good and wow, what that man can do to a woman—”

Stop it!
Her mind shouted at her, dragging her back from fantasy to reality with a crashing jerk. Right. She was a mom, he was a player and never the twain should meet. Well, probably shouldn’t meet again, anyway.

Sighing softly, she glanced at her son again, then quietly walked across the room and checked the night-light before slipping out the door into the hall. A few steps later, she was in her own room.

She set the baby monitor on the bedside table and looked out the window into the backyard. She couldn’t see the hot tub from here, but her mind provided the image she was interested in: Griffin, sprawled in that hot water, eyes still hazy with passion, body still primed for more.

A tingling sensation opened up inside her, low and deep and achy. Nicole sighed, relishing that feeling even as she worried about it. She should have been satisfied with what had happened earlier. She’d needed an orgasm and boy howdy, had she gotten one. Well, two. That didn’t mean she’d be getting more of the same. This was supposed to be a one-night thing. A moment’s excitement. A simple release of tension. Have sex with Griffin, then go back to the way things had been.

But it felt like more than that, and she didn’t know what to do about it.

What she really needed to do was talk to her best friend about all of this.

She turned away from the window, flopped back onto the bed and stared blindly at the ceiling. “Idiot,” she muttered. “You can’t call Katie. You don’t want Katie to even know what you did with Griffin, remember? You can’t call her.”

And it was pointless to talk to Sandy again. She already knew what that friend would have to say—“Go for it!”

But she couldn’t. Could she?

Her door opened and her heart jumped. She turned her head to see Griffin, standing in the doorway. He was still wearing his bathing suit. But then, she was still draped in a towel.

“Connor okay?”

“He’s fine. Just a nightmare.” Silly to be nervous. Almost as silly as having him close his eyes when she got out of the tub. But it had been a long time since she’d done anything like this, and Nicole felt a little on edge. What was she supposed to do here? Welcome him inside? Tell him to go away? Drop her towel and ask for more of what she’d already had?

Okay, that’s the one she wanted to do.

So, deliberately, she sat up and tucked the end of the towel more firmly into the drape between her breasts. “He went right back to sleep.”

“Good.” He walked into the room, and closed the door behind him. “That’s good.” He stood there, back to the door, and watched her.

Tension sizzled in the room between them and Nicole could have sworn that every breath singed her lungs.

“I wanted to talk to you,” Griffin said, his voice a low rumble.

“Okay…about what?” Oh, God, don’t let it be something like,
You’re a nice woman but, seriously, the sex wasn’t that good and you should probably think about joining a convent.

“I’m not done,” he blurted.

“What?” Heat shot through her.

He shoved one hand through his hair, then scrubbed that hand across the back of his neck. “I’m not done. With you.”

Six

N
icole’s breath came short and fast. Her gaze was locked on the man staring at her as if she were a banquet and he was coming off a long fast.

“The thing is,” he grumbled, “you came to me. You wanted one night.”

“I remember,” she said.

“Now I’m coming to you.” Griffin braced his bare feet wide apart and folded his arms over his really fabulously sculpted, broad chest. “And I want more than one night. Do you?”

Here was her chance. To stick to the plan. To relish the orgasms she’d had and let the promise of future ones slide away. Return to normal. Return to the way things had been between them and try to pretend nothing had changed.

Problem was, she didn’t want to do any of that. What she wanted was Griffin.

“Yes,” she said, swallowing hard, loving the swirl of nervous expectation that was suddenly flooding her. “I’m not done with you, either.”

He gave her a fast smile that lit up his eyes and did some pretty amazing things to her body, too. That sense of expectation was skyrocketing, and the tingling sensation at her core was practically vibrating.

“Okay then.” He walked toward her in long, slow steps. “New rules. We let this play out until we’re both finished. Or until you move back to your place.”

Funny, just yesterday, she’d been thinking how anxious she was for things to get back to normal. Now, not so much. As for the other thing, she didn’t want to think about being finished. She wanted, right now, to grab hold of Griffin and feel again what he’d made her feel just a little while ago. Now that she’d had a taste of what she could find with Griffin, she was greedy and not ashamed to admit it—at least to herself. Her body was coming back to life with a vengeance.

“That sound good to you?”

Beyond good. Because he was there, watching her, with hunger in his eyes.

“Sounds great.” She reached up for him as he leaned over her. “But Griffin, I still don’t want anyone to know. That’s still part of the deal.”

“Agreed.” He didn’t look as though he enjoyed saying that, but he had and that was what mattered.

If they were going to have a real affair rather than a one-night stand, then it was more important than ever that no one know about this. Because eventually it would be over and she really didn’t want sympathy from people when Griffin went back to his real life, leaving her behind.

Just the thought of that was enough to steel her spine. “So in public,” she said, “we behave just like we always have.”

“You mean argue and snipe?” he asked, a small smile curving his mouth. Honestly, Nicole had never seen a better weapon to use on a woman than that soft, secretive smile. “Shouldn’t be hard to remember to argue.”

Wryly, she said, “True.”

“But in private,” he whispered, leaning down over her, planting both hands on the bed, caging her between his arms.

“In private…” Caught in his eyes, Nicole swallowed hard and licked suddenly dry lips.

“We have each other as often as possible,” he said softly, dipping his head to claim a fast, hard kiss.

“Oh, yeah, that sounds fabulous.” Nicole reached up to cup his face between her palms.

“See?” he said. “No argument. You have more of those condoms handy?”

She nodded. “Bedside table drawer.”

He tugged the drawer open, grabbed a condom and ripped it open. Quickly, he stripped out of his suit and sheathed himself. When he was protected, he turned back to her, plucked the knot of her towel free, pulled the fabric off her and tossed it aside before laying her back on the bed. Nicole looked up at him. The moonlight glimmered on his skin, his hair, and shone in his eyes. Her heartbeat jumped into a gallop and every nerve in her body flared into life.

Griffin dipped his head to take first one of her hardened nipples into his mouth and then the other. And with each lick of his tongue, each tugging draw from his lips, she felt herself coming to life again. Heat bubbled inside her and that oh, so delicious swirl of something amazing settled in the pit of her stomach and then slid lower.

Her skin was bristling for his touch. Moonlight caressed his skin just as she wanted to. Her hands smoothed across his chest and over his shoulders, then down his arms. Then he covered her body with his. Skin met skin, mouth claimed mouth. Hands explored, grasped, held. Legs entwined and bodies arched. Breath huffed into the air on short, sharp gasps filled with need and desperation.

Everything Nicole had felt earlier came back in a rush and was magnified. The quilt beneath her was cool, Griffin’s body was hot and hard and oh, so perfect.

She parted her legs for him and watched him as he took her, pushing his body slowly into hers. His features tightened into a mask of need and pleasure. She lifted her hips, taking him deeper, higher. He filled her so completely, she felt as though he was a part of her. The long-missing piece that, once found, made her complete. Her body screamed for release as she worked for it, moving with him in an ever-increasing rhythm. He was so good. So…perfect. These thoughts and more raced through her mind in a blur, tangling her emotions with the sensations dazzling her.

She forced her mind to quiet. Now wasn’t the time to worry about what might happen in the still-nebulous future. Wouldn’t think about what she was feeling beyond the incredible pleasure erupting inside her. But though she forced her thoughts to stillness, Nicole knew that, sometime soon, she’d have to explore them.

It wouldn’t be a one-night fling, but what she had with Griffin was still temporary. There was no future here. There was only the really fabulous present.

“Stay with me,” he whispered, taking her mouth in a fierce kiss.

“Right here,” she assured him, and slid her hands up and down his back. She loved the feel of him beneath her palms. So hot, so strong…so
hers.

Coiled tension strung even tighter at her center. Nicole reached for it, working, straining, moving with him as he set a fast, hard rhythm. Again and again, they separated and came together. Their bodies moved as one, their sighs and gasps sounded out in the moonlit darkness, creating a cocoon of heat and desire that tightened around them until they were both lost in the quest for the release that lay just out of reach.

She looked up into Griffin’s eyes and leaped into the passion she read there. Her hands fisted on his broad back, Nicole called out his name and surrendered to the moment, her body quivering, trembling with the force of her climax.

Moments later, Griffin kissed her and with a harsh, gut-wrenching groan, gave himself up to that same overwhelming release.

His body exploded into hers, and when the fire between them died, she held him close to her heart and deliberately let go of tomorrow.

*

“At least the hammering has stopped.”

“For now.”

Nicole looked over at Lucas, standing alongside Griffin, and for a second, her mind went blank. Two gorgeous men across the room from her and she was sleeping with one of them.

Well, okay, not
sleeping.

For the last three days, whenever someone else was around, she and Griffin had pretended to get on each other’s nerves. And every night, they’d taken turns simply getting on each other.

How had her life gotten so complicated?

“Want juice, Mommy!”

Oh, thank God,
was all she could think as she looked down at Connor. She could always count on her son to ground her in reality. Whatever she and Griffin had was like a slice out of time, an alternate reality where a powerful, gorgeous, rich man spent every night in her bed.

Great place to visit, but she knew she couldn’t live there. She didn’t have a place in Griffin’s life. But for now, it was enough to have a place in his bed.

“Sure, sweetie.” Nicole walked to the fridge and opened it. She grabbed Connor’s sippy cup, filled it with apple juice and stood up again. That’s when she saw Connor in Griffin’s arms. Her heart fisted. Her lover and her son. Griffin was tickling Connor’s belly and the music of her little boy’s laughter filled the room.

“He’s a great kid,” Lucas said. “Almost three now, right?”

“Yes,” she answered, walking over to hand the juice to Connor. “He’s growing up so fast.”

“Yeah, and he’s got a hell of an arm, too,” Griffin said, turning his head to avoid Connor’s swinging hand.

Lucas’s eyebrows went up. “You’re playing ball with him?”

“He does?” Nicole asked at the same time.

Griffin looked from one to the other of them, and if she was reading his expression correctly, he almost looked embarrassed for people to find out he was playing with Connor.

“Yeah, I tossed the ball with him a little this morning when I dropped him off at preschool.”

“You dropped him—” Lucas started.

“I had an appointment and Griffin helped me out,” Nicole said quickly. She didn’t want Lucas thinking that she and Griffin were a couple, after all. “He was doing me a favor because he does owe me for burning down my kitchen.”

“We agreed that was an accident,” Griffin muttered.

Safe ground,
was all she could think. One of their arguments that should keep convincing people that they were nothing more than roommates by happenstance.

“Yes,” she agreed. “An accident that wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t decided I needed help even after I told you I didn’t.”

“Just because you
can
do something yourself doesn’t mean you have to.”

“You know,” Lucas interrupted.

“And just because you
can
help doesn’t mean you should,” Nicole said, gaze fixed on Griffin.

“Arguing about it—” Lucas said.

“Accepting help doesn’t mean you have to let go of your pride, you know. Pride isn’t always the most important thing in the world.”

“Says the man with an ego the size of the planet.”

“Ego’s not pride,” Griffin countered.

“And sometimes pride is all some of us have to hold on to,” Nicole countered, and plucked Connor from Griffin’s arms. With her little boy tucked against her, she stared up into the blue eyes that were now so familiar to her.

She looked into them every night as they made love and found them watching her every morning when she woke up. She knew Griffin’s moods now and could practically read what he was thinking in his eyes. And right now, she thought, he was irritated and barely bothering to conceal it.

This little conversation had started out as just another of their ploys to keep people from guessing what was going on between them, but somehow it had taken a turn toward truth. Fine, she wasn’t really angry at him anymore for the kitchen fire. But he had yet to admit that it had happened simply because he hadn’t believed her capable of doing something on her own. Pride? That was the one thing about her he
should
understand.

Nicole had known the Kings for more than a year now, and a more prideful bunch didn’t exist. She would be willing to bet a fortune she didn’t even have that there wasn’t
one
of them that would willingly let go of his pride.

Well, she wasn’t a King, but her pride was just as important to her as theirs was to them. And it didn’t hurt to remind Griffin of that.

Turning to Lucas, she asked, “Did you ever hear from my insurance company?”

He glanced at Griffin, then looked back at her. Responding to the glint in her eye, he straightened up and said, “Yeah. I did. We’re good to go with the remodel, except,” he added with an uncomfortable wince, “for the deductible.”

“I know.” Nicole wanted to wince, too. She really hated raiding her already-small savings account to pay for a remodel that hadn’t been in her budget at all. But the upside, she reminded herself, was that once the deductible was met and the work done, she’d have a lovely kitchen where everything worked. Best to hold on to that thought.

“I’ll take care of the deductible,” she said, lifting her chin. “I’ll have a check for you tomorrow.”

“Nicole—”

“My house, my problem.” She faced Griffin and met his gaze squarely, not flinching at all from the banked anger she saw there.

“Fine,” he ground out. “You want to be stubborn, go ahead.”

“Wow, so gracious of you to
allow
me to pay my bills and meet my responsibilities,” Nicole said. “Thanks so much.”

“Play ball?” Connor asked.

“Not now, sweetie,” Nicole said at the same time that Griffin answered, “Sure.”

Lucas rolled his eyes.

Nicole narrowed her gaze on Griffin. “It’s Connor’s naptime.”

“Doesn’t look tired.”

“My son,” she said. “My call.”

A long, humming second passed before Griffin scowled and nodded. “Fine.”

Still holding Connor tight, Nicole headed out of the room. She paused in the doorway to look back at the men watching her. Lucas looked wary, but Griffin’s expression was a mixture of disgust and tightly reined anger. Well, he’d have to get used to the fact that Nicole ran her own life. She didn’t need a big, strong man making her decisions or paying her way. She didn’t need his help to raise her son, either. She’d gotten along fine on her own before he swept into her life, and she’d do just fine again once he was gone.

Although she didn’t like the sound of the word
gone.

They were playing a strange game. Lovers at night, friendly enemies by day. He’d become a part of her routine, the two of them sharing everything from kitchen duties to time spent with Connor. They were building a relationship on a foundation that didn’t exist.

This was the craziest thing she’d ever done, yet she couldn’t bring herself to regret it.

Lovers or enemies?

Nicole wasn’t sure which was the truth anymore. Or if either was.

*

“Okay,” Lucas said when she was gone. “That was awkward.”

“Yeah.” Griffin walked to the fridge, opened it and grabbed two beers. He straightened up and tossed one of them to his cousin. “Welcome to my world.”

“She’s still completely pissed at you over the kitchen.”

“Seems that way,” Griffin mused, tossing a glance at the empty doorway. A sizzle of irritation buzzed inside him. Damn woman had a head like a rock. Hell, she should have been born a King. She would have fit right in with the rest of them.