inside deepened. Honestly, the man was practically a walking orgasm. And Lord, it had been a long time since she’d had one of those.
“Anyway,” Griffin was saying, “Garrett and I did nothing but the job for years, building the company. We breathed and slept the work. Then Garrett met Alex and…”
“He married a princess and moved to Cadria,” Nicole finished for him.
“Exactly. So he’s running the European branch and it’s on me to keep the U.S. side running.” He shrugged. “It’s been busy and—”
“Weird without Garrett?” she asked. She knew Griffin and his twin were close. Having Garrett on the other side of the world must be hard.
“Yeah,” he admitted. His mouth quirked. “Sounds dumb to say it out loud, but not having him around feels strange. Of course, if you repeat that, I’ll deny it.”
“Understood.” She picked up her lemonade and took a sip. “Still, even with Garrett gone, you’ve got tons of family here.”
“You could say that again,” he mused. “Can’t throw a rock in California without hitting a King.” He winked and gave her a wide smile. “I know. I’ve tried.”
“I’ll bet.” Running her fingers up and down the sides of the icy-cold glass, Nicole said softly, “I’ve envied that. Such a big family. At the parties I’ve been to, you all seem to have so much fun when you’re together.”
“We do,” he said. “So, you don’t have a lot of family around here?”
She laughed a little. “Or anywhere else. My parents died when I was a kid and my grandparents went a few years ago.” She turned her head to look across the fence at her place, now empty and burned, and she hoped her grandparents didn’t know. Foolish, she thought, to worry about what they’d think of the accident, but her grandmother had loved that little kitchen. “They left me their house when they died.”
As if sensing her thoughts, Griffin said, “It’ll be back to normal in a couple of weeks, Nicole. Like the fire never happened.”
She smiled, but all she could think was, it had happened. And she knew it would be a long time before she would be able to forget what might have happened.
Four
T hree days later, all Nicole could think was, thank God her laptop survived the fire.
With Connor at preschool, she was trying to catch up on work. She bent her head to the task of tallying up the billing for Comisky’s flowers and told herself she was lucky in a lot of ways. She and Connor were both safe. The fire had been contained in the kitchen. She had insurance—okay, yes, with a huge deductible that was going to eat up her pitifully small savings and force her to maneuver a loan—but still. Her computer was safe, which meant she could keep working and making a living. And she and her son had a place to stay that wasn’t costing them a fortune.
All good things.
The only downside…Griffin.
She stopped typing and sat back in her chair. Oh, he was trying to stay out of her way. She knew that. In the last three days, she’d only seen him at breakfast and at dinner. Otherwise, he was either in that damned hot tub or at the job site at her place or out in his car.
Probably best, she told herself firmly. Since the day he’d moved into Katie and Rafe’s house, she’d been on edge. Desires she’d thought long dead had come back to life with a vengeance and she couldn’t do anything with them.
Which had been making for some really annoying dreams.
In her dreams she felt Griffin’s hands moving over her body and ached for more. Then she woke up miserable and had to face him over the breakfast table and pretend that she wasn’t wondering just how good he was in bed.
Stupid.
He was probably great.
Didn’t matter. She couldn’t have an affair with Griffin. A, he wasn’t interested and B…
Nicole stopped typing, closed the file she couldn’t concentrate on and shut the lid of her laptop. There was a B, right? Of course there was a B. There had to be. But damned
“Anyway,” Griffin was saying, “Garrett and I did nothing but the job for years, building the company. We breathed and slept the work. Then Garrett met Alex and…”
“He married a princess and moved to Cadria,” Nicole finished for him.
“Exactly. So he’s running the European branch and it’s on me to keep the U.S. side running.” He shrugged. “It’s been busy and—”
“Weird without Garrett?” she asked. She knew Griffin and his twin were close. Having Garrett on the other side of the world must be hard.
“Yeah,” he admitted. His mouth quirked. “Sounds dumb to say it out loud, but not having him around feels strange. Of course, if you repeat that, I’ll deny it.”
“Understood.” She picked up her lemonade and took a sip. “Still, even with Garrett gone, you’ve got tons of family here.”
“You could say that again,” he mused. “Can’t throw a rock in California without hitting a King.” He winked and gave her a wide smile. “I know. I’ve tried.”
“I’ll bet.” Running her fingers up and down the sides of the icy-cold glass, Nicole said softly, “I’ve envied that. Such a big family. At the parties I’ve been to, you all seem to have so much fun when you’re together.”
“We do,” he said. “So, you don’t have a lot of family around here?”
She laughed a little. “Or anywhere else. My parents died when I was a kid and my grandparents went a few years ago.” She turned her head to look across the fence at her place, now empty and burned, and she hoped her grandparents didn’t know. Foolish, she thought, to worry about what they’d think of the accident, but her grandmother had loved that little kitchen. “They left me their house when they died.”
As if sensing her thoughts, Griffin said, “It’ll be back to normal in a couple of weeks, Nicole. Like the fire never happened.”
She smiled, but all she could think was, it had happened. And she knew it would be a long time before she would be able to forget what might have happened.
Four
T hree days later, all Nicole could think was, thank God her laptop survived the fire.
With Connor at preschool, she was trying to catch up on work. She bent her head to the task of tallying up the billing for Comisky’s flowers and told herself she was lucky in a lot of ways. She and Connor were both safe. The fire had been contained in the kitchen. She had insurance—okay, yes, with a huge deductible that was going to eat up her pitifully small savings and force her to maneuver a loan—but still. Her computer was safe, which meant she could keep working and making a living. And she and her son had a place to stay that wasn’t costing them a fortune.
All good things.
The only downside…Griffin.
She stopped typing and sat back in her chair. Oh, he was trying to stay out of her way. She knew that. In the last three days, she’d only seen him at breakfast and at dinner. Otherwise, he was either in that damned hot tub or at the job site at her place or out in his car.
Probably best, she told herself firmly. Since the day he’d moved into Katie and Rafe’s house, she’d been on edge. Desires she’d thought long dead had come back to life with a vengeance and she couldn’t do anything with them.
Which had been making for some really annoying dreams.
In her dreams she felt Griffin’s hands moving over her body and ached for more. Then she woke up miserable and had to face him over the breakfast table and pretend that she wasn’t wondering just how good he was in bed.
Stupid.
He was probably great.
Didn’t matter. She couldn’t have an affair with Griffin. A, he wasn’t interested and B…
Nicole stopped typing, closed the file she couldn’t concentrate on and shut the lid of her laptop. There was a B, right? Of course there was a B. There had to be. But damned
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