The King Next Door
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.