“I came to you expecting to hear you say, Stop. Don’t. Run.”
Sandy laughed. “Why would I say any of that? Do I look crazy?”
“Do I?” Nicole shook her head and stared down into her latte as if looking for help she wasn’t finding anywhere else. “If I do this, it’ll become a huge mess.”
“How is good sex wrong?” Sandy asked, keeping her voice low so that none of her other customers would overhear.
“When it’s with the absolutely wrong guy,” Nicole answered.
“Okay,” Sandy said, “tell me why he’s so wrong for you.”
“Where do I start?” Nicole snorted. “He’s a King, for one thing.”
“So? Most women in California are tripping over themselves trying to bump into one of the King men.”
“Yeah, well, my best friend is married to one of them.”
“And that’s important because…”
“Because it might make things weird for Katie, and I don’t want to do that.”
“How would you ha**ng s*x with one of Katie’s cousins-in-law make life rough for her?”
“According to Griffin, she told all of the Kings that I was off-limits. She didn’t want any of them hurting me.”
Sandy frowned a little, broke off a piece of her raspberry cream-filled cupcake and popped it into her mouth. As she chewed, she said, “It’s different if it’s your idea.”
“You think?”
“Absolutely.”
“Still…” Oh, God, she was seriously considering jumping into bed with Griffin.
Sandy glanced over at the counter, where her employee was finessing an espresso machine into bursts of steam and hissing. When she looked back at Nicole, she leaned forward and lowered her voice. “It’s been years since you’ve had sex.”
Sighing, Nicole said, “You really don’t have to remind me.”
“Obviously I do, since it’s right there in front of you and you’re not grabbing hold—so to speak.”
A wry smile curved Nicole’s lips. “But Griffin is exactly the kind of man I swore I’d stay away from. He moves from woman to woman as easily as my ex-husband did.”
“Which is why he’s perfect,” Sandy countered, a victorious smile on her face. “Seriously, girl, you’re not looking for hearts and flowers here. You just want a little fun. What better guy to get it from? Think about it. No strings. No expectations. No promises to be broken…” She sat back in her chair. “Guys do it all the time. Why shouldn’t we?”
All good points, Nicole acknowledged as her body began a slow burn in places that hadn’t seen any kind of heat for way too long.
“It’s a fling,” Sandy said. “Like a summer vacation. God knows you could use a vacation. I’ve never seen anyone who works as much as you do—along with taking care of the house and Connor and—”
“I get it,” Nicole said, cutting her friend off before she could really get going. “And Griffin is perfect.”
“There you go!”
Could she do it? Could she have a quick, meaningless affair? She worried that thought in her mind for a minute or two. This so wasn’t like her, but on the other hand…
This might be too good an opportunity to pass up.
“You know,” she said, “I actually came here so you could talk me off the ledge, not give me a shove over.”
“Please.” Sandy grinned. “You never thought I’d talk you out of it. You were hoping I’d say go for it. And I am.”
She had her there, Nicole admitted. Sandy had always been the go-for-the-brass-ring kind of girl. Of course she’d encourage Nicole to do exactly what she wanted to.
And, subconsciously at least, that’s just what Nicole had wanted to hear.
When Sandy was called over to help at the counter, Nicole stayed where she was. Her gaze slid to the wide front window that overlooked Main Street. Crowds were thick during the summer. There were moms with kids, retired couples and streams of surfers headed toward the beach.
Seemed like everyone was enjoying their summer vacation. Except for her. Maybe Sandy was right. Maybe it was time Nicole did a little something for herself.
Nodding, she took another sip of her latte, ate the rest of her cupcake and made plans for seduction.
*
At least he was tired, Griffin thought, easing down into the hot tub. To keep busy today, he’d worked his ass off with Lucas’s crew in Nicole’s kitchen. He’d spent a few summers working construction as a kid, so he knew his way around a job site. Steve and Arturo had been happy for the help and, truthfully, Griffin had needed something to do. Something that would keep him out of the house and at a safe distance from Nicole. Something that would occupy him enough that his thoughts wouldn’t have time to settle on the woman who was driving him nuts.
Now he was tired enough that he hoped for actual sleep tonight, and if he was really lucky, he wouldn’t dream.
Because if he did, he knew Nicole would be the star in another very hot scenario that would have him waking hard and miserable.
“Good times,” he muttered and laid his head back against the edge of the tub.
Overhead, the branches of the ancient elm waved and danced in the ocean breeze, making the leaves rattle gently. Glimpses of stars came and went between those branches and Griffin settled in to force himself to relax.
The old, settled neighborhood in Long Beach was quiet at night. Somewhere down the street, a dog barked and the muted sounds of rock music played in the air from someone’s stereo. The whole scene was damn near perfect.
“Should be relaxing,” he muttered, then he sat up and fisted his hands on the edges of the huge, square tub. Yeah. This wasn’t working. Hell, he hadn’t been anything but tense since he had started this vacation, no matter how many hours he tried to laze away in the hot tub he was beginning to hate.
“What’s so great about a damn vacation anyway?” he whispered, his voice lost beneath the rush and rumble of the tub jets. “Why is work such a bad thing?”
There was no one to answer him—not that Griffin expected an argument. Hell, he knew that work was better than no work. Kept a man’s mind occupied, increased his fortune and gave him something to do.
This whole mess was his own damn fault. He was the one who had decided to take some time. To rethink his workaholic, commitment-free lifestyle. Right about now, though, he wished to hell he was in his office buried in work. Or in Cadria visiting his twin. Or on a date with some nameless model. Hell, he wished he was on the other side of the planet, because since Nicole and Connor had moved in with him—