The King Next Door. Maureen Child

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       “I know you’re a player—different woman every night kind of guy—”

      “Hey—” Griffin started to argue, but what the hell could he say? He was that guy. At least, he had been until he’d made the decision to grow the hell up. For all the good that was doing him.

      “No offense,” she said quickly. “In this case, your inability to commit is a plus.”

      “My—”

      “Seriously, you’re not interested in forever, and trust me when I say I’m not either, Griffin. I just want one good night. A damn fling. And you are s-o-o-o flingable.”

      Griffin could only stare at her. This was the weirdest situation he’d ever been in. He’d never had a woman come to him with an offer like this one. He’d always been the pursuer not the pursued and frankly, he was a hell of a lot more comfortable when he was calling the shots.

      Still, he thought, there was something to be said for variety, right?

      Dear Reader,

      Every once in a while, when you’re writing a book, a secondary character comes across as so vivid, so much fun, you just know you’re going to have to tell a story especially for that character.

      After my book King’s Million-Dollar Secret was released, I received a lot of letters from readers telling me that they wanted my heroine’s best friend, Nicole Baxter, to have her own hero—preferably a King.

      It was great knowing that Nicole had won over not only me, but my readers, as well.

      Nicole and Griffin King are thrown together when they suddenly become next-door neighbors. Griffin’s made it a point to avoid getting involved with single mothers … but Nicole is hard to ignore. Especially when she comes to him with an offer—one spectacular night together, no strings attached.

      One night just isn’t enough, though, and before he knows it, Griffin is drawn into the circle of the little family and isn’t sure he wants to find a way back out.

      I really hope you enjoy Nicole’s story as much as I did!

      I’d love to hear from you. Visit my website at www.maureenchild.com.

      Happy reading!

       Maureen

      About the Author

      MAUREEN CHILD writes for Mills & Boon^® Desire™ and can’t imagine a better job. Being able to indulge your love for romance as well as being able to spin stories just the way you want them told is, in a word, perfect.

      A seven-time finalist for the prestigious Romance Writers of America RITA^® Award, Maureen is the author of more than one hundred romance novels. Her books regularly appear on bestseller lists and have won several awards, including a Prism Award, a National Reader’s Choice Award, a Colorado Award of Excellence and a Golden Quill.

      One of her books, The Soul Collector, was made into a CBS-TV movie starring Melissa Gilbert, Bruce Greenwood and Ossie Davis. If you look closely, in the last five minutes of the movie you’ll spot Maureen, who was an extra in the last scene.

      Maureen believes that laughter goes hand in hand with love, so her stories are always filled with humor. The many letters she receives assures her that her readers love to laugh as much as she does.

      Maureen Child is a native Californian, but has recently moved to the mountains of Utah. She loves a new adventure, though the thought of having to deal with snow for the first time is a little intimidating.

      The King Next Door

      Maureen Child

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      For my daughter, Sarah, for so many reasons.

      I love you.

      One

      “What do you call a female Peeping Tom?”

      Griffin King didn’t really expect an answer to the question since, for the moment, he was alone.

      Still, it was an interesting puzzle.

      Sprawled out comfortably in his cousin Rafe’s hot tub, Griffin took a sip of his beer. Sliding his gaze to the short fence and the neighbor beyond, he watched as Nicole Baxter trudged in and out of her garage carrying what looked like tons of potting soil.

      Seriously, he’d never seen a woman more focused on work. Most of the women he knew didn’t do anything more strenuous than stretch out on a massage table. But Nicole … she was different.

      He’d first met her more than a year ago, when his cousin Rafe married Nicole’s next-door neighbor Katie Charles the Cookie Queen. Griffin smiled to himself. Katie was still running her cookie business and, bless her, had left a few dozen cookies for Griffin to eat while he was staying at their house.

      But back to Nicole, he told himself with another sip of his beer. Despite the number of times he had been at Rafe’s place, he had hardly spoken to Nicole. All he really knew about her was that she was divorced, a single mom and absolutely seemed to never stop working. Hell, she could give some of the Kings lessons in drive and determination. Made him tired just watching her.

      Yet he couldn’t seem to look away.

      Maybe it was the whole forbidden fruit thing—the woman he couldn’t have was the one who fascinated him? Possible, he told himself. Although it could just be that everything about her appealed to him.

      Shaking his head, Griffin took off his sunglasses and set them on the edge of the redwood tub. The afternoon sun was bright, but he was shaded by a giant elm tree that grew between Nicole’s house and the one he was currently living in.

      Rafe and Katie were off on a three-week trip to Europe and Griffin had volunteered to house-sit. It hadn’t been a completely altruistic offer. Since Griffin’s beachside condo was for sale, the constant stream of lookie-loos prowling through his place on a daily basis was making him nuts. So staying here kept him sane and Rafe and Katie’s place occupied.

      A win-win anyway you looked at it.

      Unless you counted Nicole.

      His gaze followed her as she strode across the yard. Her shoulder-length blond hair was tucked behind her ears. She wore a pink tank top and cutoff jean shorts with a few dangling blue threads lying against her tanned, really exceptional thighs. Her skin was a sun-kissed pale gold and her curves were enough to make Griffin enjoy the view—a lot.

      Knowing she was watching him back was a nice plus that would ordinarily have had him inviting her over to join him in the hot tub. Ordinarily. But in Nicole’s case, there were a couple of perfectly good reasons why he wasn’t going to be getting any closer to her than he was right now.

      “Mommy!”

      “Speak of a reason,” Griffin murmured. He took a long drink of the icy beer.

      Nicole’s nearly three-year-old son, Connor, was a cute kid, with big blue eyes and blond hair just like his mother. And Griffin didn’t have anything against kids. Hell, he had more nephews, nieces and infant cousins than he knew what to do with. The King family was really taking the old Go forth and multiply thing to new levels.

      What Griffin did have a problem with was getting involved with single moms. Frowning to himself, he tightened his grip on the cold can in his hand. He admired the hell out of a woman who could run her life, hold down a job and be both mother and father to a child. But he didn’t do permanent, and when you inserted yourself into a child’s world, there were bound to be complications.

      He’d learned that years ago.

      So