Eliana bit her lip, her expression a mixture of sympathy, consternation, and amusement.
“Okay, okay,” Kayla said, sounding as rattled as he felt. “We’re more than friends. At least I think we are. Things just changed between us today, and we haven’t really had a chance to explore it yet.”
“But I thought he and Eliana were a couple.”
“No. They’re just friends.”
“Oh. Good,” she said, a definite Phew! We dodged a bullet there in her voice. “I admit I panicked a little when we burst in here and saw you two wrapped around each other. Once I got over the shock of it, I worried she was going to go ballistic. And I love you, Mom, I really do. But I don’t think you could take that woman in a fight if things got real.”
Kayla laughed. “I’m sure I couldn’t. Even without the cast.”
Both women laughed.
Nick relaxed. Crisis averted? He certainly hoped so.
“How badly did you break it?” Becca asked, her voice tentative now. “Does it hurt?”
“No, sweetie. I’m fine.”
“So… what? Did the accident bring you two together? Nick heard about your accident, rode to the rescue, and you two realized you wanted to be more than friends?”
“Something like that,” Kayla responded, a smile in her voice. “I wasn’t sure how you would react because…”
“Because what? Because of the crush I had on him a few years ago?” She made a dismissive sound. “Mom, I’m so over that. He’s way too old for me.”
He grimaced. She made him sound ancient. Which he was, damn it.
Would Kayla think him too old for her?
“I also haven’t dated anyone since I divorced your father,” Kayla mentioned gently.
Becca snorted. “Because Dad was such a dick it soured you on relationships.”
“Hey! Language, young lady!” Kayla retorted sharply.
“I’m sorry.” Becca’s apology was quick and sincere. “I know you’ve been careful not to badmouth Dad around me since the divorce. You’ve always tried to shield me. But I’m an adult now and fully capable of seeing him for what he is. And he is not a good person.”
He sure as hell wasn’t. The bastard had cheated on Kayla and gotten another woman pregnant, then had cheated on that woman before she had even birthed the baby.
“Wait,” Becca said suddenly. “Why is it so quiet downstairs?” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “You don’t think they’re listening, do you?”
Eliana sat up straighter at the island. “No way, Nick,” she said as though they’d been carrying on a conversation. “I told you. No mushrooms. Gross. Just bell peppers, spinach, and tomatoes.”
Taking her cue, Nick called out, “Hey, Kayla? What toppings do you and Becca want on your pizzas?” After living next door to them for several years, he knew the response before it came.
“Bell peppers and tomatoes, please,” Kayla called. Which was exactly what he had ordered for them.
“Got it. Thanks.”
He looked at Eliana as Kayla changed the subject and asked Becca how her spur-of-the-moment trip would affect her schoolwork.
Shrugging, Eliana whispered, “At least Becca’s not jealous of her mom. That would’ve been messed up.”
He nodded. At least there was that.
Chapter Six
Kayla glanced down at her daughter.
Becca had fallen asleep halfway through the second episode of Luther and was now curled up on her side beneath the covers, her hands tucked beneath her chin.
She smiled. Becca was right. Kayla did still think of her daughter as her little girl and probably always would.
She looked around the darkened room. Where was Nick? He had gone downstairs an hour ago to put the leftover pizza in the fridge and see Eliana out, but he hadn’t returned.
Was he sleeping in one of the guest rooms? No clock graced the walls or bedside tables, so Kayla had no idea what time it was. Maybe she and Becca should’ve gone home. Or maybe she should wake Becca and go home now to give him some peace? She hadn’t exactly asked if they could stay… or even thanked him for giving up his bedroom. And his bed.
Almost against her will, she smiled. This was the biggest bed she’d ever seen, much higher than her own. High enough that she would have to jump just to get her butt up on it if she didn’t use the board that ran along the side. It was also long enough for Nick to stretch out his six-feet-one-inch-tall frame without his feet hanging off the end. Her full-sized bed was tiny by comparison.
Reaching for the remote, she muted the volume on the television.
No sound trickled in from downstairs or from one of the other bedrooms up here.
Was Nick asleep? He usually worked nights, sometimes not getting home until just before dawn. Kayla’s night owl tendencies often kept her up late enough to notice when the lights came on next door.
She scooted over to the side of the bed, impressed when her movement didn’t shake the mattress. This must be one of those she’d seen in commercials that someone could jump up and down on without causing the glass of wine on the opposite corner to spill.
Once she reached the edge, she slid off and landed with barely a sound. The bamboo floor was cool beneath her feet as she left the room. She paused in the hallway. All but one of the doors were open, revealing darkness within. No light shone beneath the door that was closed.
She did, however, glimpse flickering light on the first floor.
Nary a board creaked as Kayla padded down the stairs. The huge flat-screen television in the living room flashed and flickered with images of a football game. Must be a repeat.
Sprawled on the sofa with his big bare feet propped on the ottoman, Nick watched it with the volume turned off.
He looked up at her approach, then rose. “Everything okay?” He kept his voice low.
She nodded. “Becca’s asleep.” Kayla felt oddly shy as she approached him, stopping about a foot away. He was so tall compared to her own five foot nothing that she had to tilt her head back to look up at him.
Reaching out, he curled the fingers of one hand around her upper arm and drew them up and down in a light caress. “How do you feel?”
“Fine.” She sent him an impish smile and decided to be honest. “More relaxed than I’ve been in ages.” Thanks to the nap and the orgasm he’d given her. Heat rose in her cheeks.
He grinned. “Good.”
She eased a few inches closer. “So.”
“So.”
Her heart thumped a little louder. “It’s been a weird-ass day.”
He laughed. “Yes, it has.”
“A long one, too.”
He nodded. “And terrifying at times.”
That he cared enough about her to have been that shaken by her accident still stunned her.
“There have been a lot of surprises.”
His look turned guarded. “Too many surprises?”
Nick’s superhuman speed and strength and glowing eyes might seem unreal and would take some getting used to, but she could handle it. Because it was Nick. “No.”
“Even if there are more to come?” The spark of vulnerability that entered his eyes hit her right in the chest. Was he referring to his gift, whatever it might be?