The King Next Door. Maureen Child

suppose not, and I should thank you even though I didn’t ask for your help or need it,” Nicole told him.

      “Well, very gracious. You’re welcome.”

      He laughed a little and headed back toward the fence, the hot tub and his beer. She’d made it clear enough that he wasn’t welcome on her side of the fence. So if he needed something to do later, he’d call his assistant again and bug the hell out of her.

      He was almost to the gate when her voice stopped him.

      “Griffin, wait.”

      He looked over his shoulder at her.

      “You’re right,” she said. “I did need the help and I do appreciate it.”

      Smiling, he said, “I think we’re having a moment here.”

      She laughed and Griffin felt a solid punch of desire slam into him. The soft sound of her laughter spilled out around him. Her eyes lit with amusement and the wariness he was used to seeing glint out at him was gone.

      “No moment,” she said after a second or two. “But definitely a truce.”

      “Also good,” he admitted and leaned one arm on the top of the gate. He watched Connor run to get his plastic shovel, then he shifted his gaze back to the boy’s mother. “So, want to tell me why we need a truce in the first place?”

      A soft breeze twisted a long strand of hair across her eyes and she reached up to tuck it behind her ears. “Okay, maybe truce was the wrong word.” She looked over her shoulder to check on Connor, then turned her gaze back to Griffin. “It’s just, I know Katie and I’m guessing she asked you to look out for me while they were gone and—”

      “Nope.” He cut her off with a shake of his head.

      “Really?” She didn’t sound convinced.

      Griffin watched her, watched the breeze play with her hair and make the dangling blue threads from the hem of her shorts dance. Her nose was pink from the sun, her eyes were as deep a blue as the bowl of sky above them and there was a niggling, gnawing sensation inside him that was hunger. For her.

      To remind himself, as well as to put her at ease, he said, “Okay, not completely true. Katie did ask me to keep an eye on the neighborhood—which would, of course, include you. But specifically?” He paused and shook his head. “Katie actually warned us all to keep our distance from you.”

      “Us all? Who all?”

      “Us,” he said. “The King cousins.”

      “She did not.” Surprise flickered briefly in her eyes, followed quickly by a flash of outrage.

      “Oh, yeah, she did. When she married Rafe, Katie made it clear that you were off-limits.”

      “Isn’t that nice?” she muttered under her breath.

      He lifted both hands. “Hey, wasn’t me. I’m just saying … you’ve got nothing to worry about. I’m not about to cut off my own cookie supply by hitting on Katie’s friend.”

      Although, Griffin had to admit, at least privately, that being this close to Nicole might have convinced him to give up his lifetime cookie connection just for a taste of her. If she hadn’t been a mother.

      Nicole wouldn’t want to give up the cookies, either. After all, Katie made the best cookies in California. Possibly in the world. But at the same time, it wasn’t easy to know that a man would just as soon keep open his pipeline of chocolate chip goodies as take a bite out of you.

      Still, knowing the truth explained a lot, she thought. Ever since her best friend Katie had married into the King family, there had been a steady stream of gorgeous, rich, single men in and out of the house next door. And every last one of those men had treated Nicole like a little sister. Heck, they’d done everything but pat her on the head.

      She’d begun to believe she’d morphed into some kind of sexless, uninteresting blob. Not that she was looking for a man. Not a permanent one, at any rate. She’d already tried that and had found her ex-husband had the shelf life of an overripe tomato. No, she didn’t want a man, but she didn’t mind being flirted with occasionally, and the lack of interest from the King men had baffled her.

      Now at least she knew what had been going on.

      Oh, she could understand Katie’s motivations. Her friend was being protective and a part of Nicole appreciated it. But seriously? She was a grown woman with a son, a home, a business all her own. She could take care of herself.

      “She didn’t have to do that,” Nicole said at last.

      He shrugged. “Looking out for a friend? Understandable. Especially since my cousin Cordell treated Katie herself so badly she almost didn’t give Rafe a chance at all.”

      Nicole remembered that all too well. Katie had sworn off all King men because of her experience with one of them. Rafe hadn’t told her his real last name until he and Katie were already involved.

      “Your cousin Cordell is a dog.”

      “Agreed,” he said amiably. “Always has been, too. Women seem to love him, though, which I can’t figure out. Still, there’s always the hope that he’ll meet some woman who will give him the same treatment he’s been handing out for years.”

      “There’s a happy thought,” Nicole said.

      “Yeah.” He paused, clearly enjoying the possibilities, which made Nicole smile.

      “So anyway,” he continued, “Katie was just looking out for you, I guess. And when she used the threat of a cookie cutoff, she got our attention. We do like our cookies.”

      As annoying as it might be to know that her best friend was running interference for her, Nicole couldn’t really be angry at Katie for having good intentions.

      “They are good cookies,” she admitted.

      “Exactly,” Griffin agreed and gave her a smile that made something inside her sizzle and spark like a short fuse on a skyrocket. Honestly, every last one of the King men was a temptation to women everywhere.

      But Griffin … he was danger, temptation and seduction on a whole new level. There was something about him—the smile, maybe, or the casual air he had—that made her feel things she hadn’t experienced in, oh … forever. Okay, not that long, but long enough.

      Nicole had spent the last few days surreptitiously watching him. After all, he was hard to miss, since he spent nearly every waking moment—practically naked—in that damn hot tub she could see from her backyard. Besides, she would have dared any living, breathing woman to avoid watching him—impossible really, since he looked amazing, with all that black hair and the blue eyes and a dimple—not to mention the sharply defined abs that practically begged a woman to stroke and caress his skin and …

      Okay, she was clearly getting off track here. But who wouldn’t be, she asked herself. With Griffin King standing not two feet from her, dripping wet, his board shorts dipping low enough on his hips to make her wonder what it might be like to give them a little tug and …

      God.

      “Are you going into a fugue state or something?” Griffin asked.

      “Huh? What?” Oh, perfect, Nicole. Get caught mentally slavering over him. Nice. “No, I’m fine. Just busy.”

      “Yeah, I’ve noticed.” He rubbed one palm across his chest and her gaze followed the motion.

      Damn it. It was like being hypnotized by testosterone.

      “Don’t you ever just sit down in the shade?” he asked, then stretched lazily. His chest muscles shifted; his board shorts dipped a little lower.

      Nicole swallowed hard, closed her eyes briefly, then said, “No time.” Just saying it reminded her how busy she really was.

      Running