Free The King Next Door by Maureen Child Page A

his, stirring into roaring life the deeply stifled hunger he’d been dealing with.
    “I’m not looking for a relationship, Griffin,” she told him sharply, “so don’t make this so complicated. I just want a damn orgasm or two.”
    “I can’t believe we’re having this conversation,” he said, muffling a laugh.
    “Why shouldn’t we talk about this?” she argued. “Have you never had a woman come on to you before?”
    “Of course I have, but this is dif—”
    “How is it different?” Her blue eyes glinted with more than passion now. There was anger there as well, and damned if that didn’t intrigue him, too.
    She started talking again before he could say a word.
    “I’ve been divorced three years. You know how long it’s been since I had sex?”
    He stared into her flashing eyes and didn’t think he could have looked away if someone had a gun to his head. Those soft eyes of hers were burning with a fire he understood. And shared.
    “How long?”
    “Three years,” she said shortly. She took a deep breath. “When my husband first left me, I was too hurt and furious to even so much as think about sex. The second year, I was just too busy—what with work and Connor and… Anyway, now it’s been three years and I’m ready. Boy, am I ready.”
    He was getting more ready by the second, so he could agree. “Yeah, I get that.”
    “Good.” She nodded, took a breath and blew it out again. “Look, Griffin, I know your reputation.”
    “Is that right?”
    “I’m not an idiot, you know. I see your picture in magazines and newspapers, and I do live right next door to Katie. She keeps me up-to-date on what the Kings are up to. So,” she continued, “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 so flingable.”
    He snorted.
    “As long as you’re healthy—” She stopped. “You are healthy, right?”
    “Of course I am.”
    She blew out a breath. “Okay, good. Great, in fact.”
    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 resignedly, there was something to be said for variety, right?
     

Five
    “Y ou’re crazy, you know that, right?”
    “What’s your point?” she asked, one corner of her mouth curving.
    Griffin smiled and reached for her. “Guess I don’t have one.”
    This will be good, he told himself as he plucked her wineglass from her hand and set both glasses on the step. Get her into bed and get over it. Once he’d had her, Nicole would be like every other woman he’d ever met. She’d stop taunting his every damn thought and he’d be able to sleep in peace again. Then they could both move on.
    Hell, this was brilliant.
    He should have come up with this idea himself, and if she hadn’t been making him so nuts lately, he might have. But, he told himself, he wouldn’t have made a move on her anyway. Not with the single-mother thing. Not to mention the fact that his cousin’s wife would kill Griffin if he hurt Nicole.
    Well, hell, what was a little threat of death when compared to a completely alluring woman in a tiny bikini?
    “No strings,” she whispered.
    “No promises,” he agreed.
    “Just a fling.”
    “Absolutely.”
    “I brought condoms.” She pulled a few foil packets from where she’d stashed them beneath the ties at the side of