The Right Temptation (2 page)

“Yeah. My mom was here for a few weeks helping out. I love the woman, but I’m glad she finally left.” He pushed off the wall, picked up the remote control and clicked off the video game he’d probably been playing before her arrival. “She drove me bonkers.”

Perfect. She didn’t have to worry about his mother. “That’s what moms do,” she said, looking at him. Of course, he’d been staring at her the whole time. “So now you have no one to take care of you?” Little did he know, she would be assuming all nursing responsibilities. And
no
would not be an option. Finally, she had a whole weekend off. They’d had her working around the clock. Good money, so she hadn’t complained. But she needed a change of scenery. The visual feast Nico provided definitely fit the bill.

One shoulder lifted. “Like I told my mom, I can manage just fine.”

“I have no doubt.” She smiled at him.

Nico put down the clicker and ambled toward her. “Look at you, all grown up.”

She really needed to fan herself. The man gave off way too much heat. “I’ve come a long way from the teenage version.”

Once again, he totally breached her space. “You were one fiery girl.”

“Still fiery.”
And fidgety, thanks to you.
“But I’m not a girl anymore.”

His smile came slowly. He reached out and tucked a wayward curl behind her ear. “No?”

Nope. And she planned on drilling the point home. Later. “I can’t believe you turned up at my hospital. Talk about wild.”

“And I can’t believe I broke my ass the way I did.” Nico shook his head. “That was bad.”

Kayla knew all about his accident, but she wanted to hear his side of the story. “They said you fell off a scaffold. You work in construction?”

“My cousin has a contracting company. I’m the flooring specialist.”

She liked how he spoke with an air of authority, as though he felt proud of his trade. “So what were you doing on a scaffold?”

“Sticking my nose where it didn’t belong. I tried to show up one of the guys. Thought I could spackle better than him.” Nico sat on the edge of his coffee table. “I started horsing around and lost my footing.” He held his injured arm. “Pretty stupid, huh?”

“Yeah,” Kayla agreed. “You’re lucky you didn’t kill yourself.”

“That’s okay. Both my cousins almost killed me for scaring the crap out of them.”

“Were those the two good-looking guys who were with you in the ER?”

He pierced her with those bedroom eyes. “Yep. Do you remember Dylan and Christian? We grew up together.”

“Not really,” Kayla said in all honesty. During those days, Nico had been her sole focus. Of course, he’d had no clue. “I do remember your mom, though. What’s her name again?”

“Charo. And she’s not easy to forget.”

True. Blonde and bodacious, Charo definitely left an impression. “Who was the pretty dark-haired girl with your cousins?”

“You must be talking about Shay. She’s Dylan’s wife.”

Kayla liked the sound of that. With a little luck, one day she’d be Nico’s wife. “Oh. Is Christian married too?”

Nico laughed. “Nah. Christian’s in love with himself.”

“What about you? Do you have a girlfriend?”

“No one serious. And I like it like that.” Nico’s gaze left hers.

Kayla let the words seep in. So she had her work cut out for her. Fine. By the time she got done with him he’d be singing a different tune. “Hope you don’t mind my dropping in. Were you in the middle of something?”

“Not really. Just messing around with a video game.” He lifted his chin to indicate the game console. “I’m glad you came. How long has it been, anyway?”

“I don’t know, like four or five years.” Last time they’d talked, she’d just started her senior year in high school. They’d run into each other at the local
bodega
and he’d actually said a few words. It had been exactly five years, three months and ten days. But he didn’t need to know that.

“Wow. Really?”

“I wanted to come sooner to check on you.” She caught his gaze. “I’m the new kid so I get stuck with the worst shifts. The past month has been insane.” Not a total lie. She had been working grueling hours.

“No worries.”

“You and Jesse still hang out, huh?” Good thing too. It’s how she’d kept tabs on Nico all this time.

“We grab a beer, shoot some pool every now and then. A lot of the guys from the old crew still live in the neighborhood.”

“Cool.” She liked the familiarity of her old stomping grounds. It made her feel right at home, like she’d never left. Most of the kids had turned out well. Some even had their own families now.

“Your brother never mentions you.”

Surprise, surprise.
Kayla looked to the ceiling. “You know Jesse. He’d be pissed if he knew I was here.”

Nico rose to his feet. “True. He kept us away from you and your sister.”

“Sadly, he still treats me like a little kid.”

“If you were my sister I’d probably act the same way.”

She liked the look on his face. And no, it wasn’t brotherly. “Yeah, but he took it to the extreme.”

“We were teenage boys. He knew we only wanted one thing.”

“Remember when we kissed?”
Whoops.
It had just slipped out.

He dragged a hand through his slightly mussed hair. “How could I forget? Your brother almost pounded me into the dirt.”

It had been a simple game of spin-the-bottle, a bunch of kids having fun. When Jesse had found out–and he found out everything–he hadn’t been amused. “Is that why you avoided me?”

“Hell, yeah.”

All muscled and manly, Nico gave the impression he didn’t scare so easily anymore. “What would you do if he caught us together now?”

His beautiful, half-naked body strolled her way. “Nothing. We’re just friends.”

“What if we were more than that?” Boy oh boy, did she have a big mouth.

He shot her a cocky grin. “Then I’d be in a whole lot of trouble.”

Chapter 2

One thing about Kayla hadn’t changed–still gutsy as ever. Nico wondered what she had up her sleeve. While a friendly visit seemed like a good excuse, he seriously doubted that was the reason. Okay, she worked at the hospital. She’d even taken care of him, although that part he swore he didn’t remember. Look at the woman. Who could forget an angel like her? Jesus. The cute kid, the one who’d had a crush on him, had morphed into a hot babe. Shit. Give him some willpower, because this time he’d definitely need it.

The minute she'd stepped foot inside, he'd felt a frenetic energy buzzing around his living room. Just standing near her spiked his blood several degrees. When it came to women, Nico had it under control. She’d caught him off guard. Initial shock. He’d recover.

Kayla. Wow. He hadn’t thought about her for years. He’d liked her back in the day, would’ve probably hung out more often, had she not been one of Jesse’s sisters. Nobody messed with those girls.

Well, there’d been the one time when Kayla had snuck into their makeshift clubhouse. Jesse hadn’t been there. It had been a typical night, a bunch of teenagers sneaking beer and playing spin-the-bottle. He’d ended up in a hot make-out session with Kayla. The minute their lips had come apart, he’d known it had been a huge mistake. He’d have to answer to Jesse, who’d eventually find out. Luckily, he’d gotten away with a verbal lashing and a stern warning. Nico had always prided himself on being a smart kid. Besides, he’d wanted to see his seventeenth birthday. From that point forward, he’d gone out of his way to avoid her.

Now here she stood, watching him with those big brown eyes. Something told him to back off, stay away. Not because of Jesse. A grown man now, he could handle his friend. Nico liked things simple. Kayla would turn his orderly world inside out, complicate his uncomplicated existence. Nope. Not happening. Right now, he only cared about one thing: healing up so he could get his ass back to work.

“Let me grab a shirt,” he said, thinking with the right head. “You want something to drink?”

“I’m good. Need some help with your shirt?”

“Nah. I got it.” He moved swiftly across the floor and to the bedroom. With his good hand, he fished out a baby blue tee from the dresser. Nico looked at the shirt. Fucking cast turned a mindless act like dressing himself into a major ordeal. This time, he didn’t have his mommy. She’d done everything for him for weeks. What a wuss. Him. Not her.

First, he put his cast through the armhole and yanked the tee over it. Damn plaster smothered him from knuckles to two inches above his elbow. He’d kill to straighten his arm. Two more weeks of this shit. Thank God it wasn’t his dominant arm, which would’ve sucked even worse.

Dammit. His head got stuck. He fought to free himself, when all of a sudden, the shirt decided to cut him some slack and cooperate. It cleared his forehead, slid over his eyes, and when he opened them, Kayla’s white smile blinded him.

“Isn’t this easier?” She grabbed the sides of his shirt and pulled it down his frame.

He automatically winced when her hand came too close to his ribcage. It didn’t really hurt anymore; he’d just gotten used to grimacing, because for a while there, the pain had nearly done him in. He didn’t wish it on anyone.

Kayla made him forget about pain, forget his own name. Holy crap, she stood totally in his face, her lush body centimeters from his. He smelled her scented skin, the fruity shampoo. How the hell could he ignore it? Her hands grazed his skin. Jesus Christ. He didn’t want her warm slender fingers touching any part of him. “You didn’t have to do that,” he said, staring into her eyes, which twinkled.

“Yeah. I did. You nearly suffocated yourself. And to be honest, I had enough drama for one day.”

“Oh, so now you’re making fun of me.” He looked at the wall mirror and checked out his hair. Crap. He needed a haircut. A shave wouldn’t hurt either. After weeks of feeling sorry for himself, suddenly he cared about his appearance. He used his fingers to comb his hair.

“Guilty as charged,” Kayla said. Her gaze swept over his bed.

He watched her through the mirror. Good thing his mom had made the bed this morning. Not that he should’ve cared. Then again, the thought of Kayla in his… Stop. Not going there. “I’m not usually this helpless.” He inspected himself more critically. Dark circles under his eyes too? What the fuck?

“Are you usually this stubborn?”

Nico moved away from the mirror. He felt bad enough already. “Are you usually this pushy?”

Kayla gnawed her bottom lip. She reached out and straightened the hem of his shirt. “Stick around and maybe you’ll find out.”

Funny girl. “Considering this is
my
house, I don’t plan on going anywhere.”

“What if
I
stick around?” Kayla said, completely straight-faced. She tapped her shoe on the wood floor.

“Why, so you can abuse me?” He needed to get out of the bedroom, because his body had started to get all kinds of traitorous ideas. “What kind of a bedside manner is that?”

She folded her arms across her chest and sneered at him. “I’ve gotten zero complaints about my
bedside
manner, thank you very much.”

He noticed the swell in her shirt. Her loose-fitting top didn’t conceal the fact she’d blossomed over the years. Great. More torture. “Yeah, well, there’s a first time for everything.”

She smiled so wide he could see her back teeth. “There sure is.”

Nico laughed. He couldn’t help it. “I think I’m the one who needs a drink.” He left the bedroom and went to the kitchen.

Kayla followed him. “While Mr. Capable gets himself a drink, I’m going to change.”

“Into what? Not being a smartass?”

She laughed hard. “Be nice and maybe I’ll cook for you.”

Things were getting more interesting by the moment. “You cook?” His mom had left plenty of food to heat up. But did he really feel like leftovers?

“Baby, I do it all,” Kayla said over her shoulder. “Be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

“Thought we already covered that.” He shook his head and smiled.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t smiled in weeks. He loved to have a good time. Hell, he’d always been the life of the party. He needed to get back a sense of humor, start acting like his old self again. His ego had taken a hit. So what? Shit happens. Get over it already. It had been an accident. A stupid accident he’d brought upon himself. Fortunately, he’d been the only one who’d gotten hurt.
Live and learn, dude.
He wasn’t as invincible as he’d thought.