Shit, she felt good against him. Eliana had removed Kayla’s shoes before tiptoeing upstairs to sleep in Oliver’s room. Knowing his mischievous friend, she would probably rearrange just enough stuff in there to drive Nick’s Second crazy when he returned from his vacation and tried to figure out what was different.
Kayla shifted in her sleep, her beautiful bottom rubbing against his erection.
It was all he could do not to moan.
The good guy in him lambasted him for taking advantage until—in painfully slow increments so as not to wake her—he released her breast and rested his hand an inch or so away on the sofa cushion. At some point, her head had slipped off his arm. Nick withdrew it, careful not to bump her, so he could prop himself up on his elbow and study her.
Kayla was the cute kind of beautiful. A plethora of pale freckles dotted her cheeks and nose. More speckled her slender arms, left bare by her tank top.
Nick decided he loved tank tops.
He knew from the many birthday celebrations he’d overheard since she moved in next door that she was thirty-eight years old. But she could easily pass for a decade younger. No lines had yet begun to form beside her eyes or along her mouth, probably because her pale freckled skin burned too easily for her to spend much time in the sun.
He also knew she worked out almost daily, something her trim waist and lightly muscled thighs showed. She’d lost her father to a heart attack when Becca was five. She’d lost her mother to cancer three years later. Both had set her upon a quest to find a diet and exercise routine that would enable her to live long enough and well enough to chase her future grandchildren around the playground and give them plenty of piggyback rides even if Becca waited until her forties to have them.
She shifted in her sleep again, that tempting bottom of hers nearly dragging a moan from him. Her hand grazed his forearm, then slid down to his hand, drew it closer, and tucked it between her breasts.
Her lips turned up in a faint smile.
Hell. She was even cute when she slept. How awesome would it be to experience this every morning when he went to bed and to wake up to this every afternoon?
He really envied Marcus. His longtime friend had fallen hard for a woman and married her a few years ago. A woman who apparently hadn’t balked at the idea of transforming and spending eternity with him because Marcus had mentioned looking forward to spending century after century with her. They had even adopted a child together since Immortal Guardians couldn’t father children.
Nick struggled to bring his body under control, to tamp down the arousal that seemed to grow by the second. Kayla shifted again and would likely wake soon. Rolling over and finding him staring down at her with glowing eyes would probably scare the crap out of her.
She tightened her hold on his hand…
Consciousness beckoned. Kayla fought it, wanting to remain in dreamland a little longer. A large body curled around hers, warming her back and infusing her with peace and contentment. Curling her fingers around a big hand, she hugged it to her chest… then stiffened. Her eyes flew open. “Oh shit.”
Kayla rolled onto her back and looked up.
Nick smiled down at her, his hair rumpled and his handsome face coated with thicker stubble. “Morning.”
“I fell asleep?”
Amusement twinkled in his pretty brown eyes. “Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’ve fallen asleep on this sofa many times myself.”
Sure, because it was his sofa, upon which he had apparently slept last night. With her.
Wait. Had he even had a choice? Had she fallen asleep on him? Was that why he’d slept on the sofa with her?
Heat filled her cheeks, then deepened when she realized she was still holding his hand between her breasts. Hastily releasing him, she sat up. Her chestnut hair tumbled around her shoulders in what probably resembled a bird’s nest. She couldn’t be one of those lucky women in the movies who woke up with their hair spread across the pillow in lovely, shining waves. No, hers probably looked more like a maniacal squirrel had wrought havoc in it until it stuck out in weird angles.
As casually as she could, she combed her fingers through it in an attempt to tame it. “What time is it?”
“Nine. You’ve only been asleep for about three hours.” He sat up beside her, careful not to accidentally nudge her off the cushions. “Sorry we kept you up so late. I should’ve warned you that Eliana and I are both night owls. Hazards of the job and working nights.”
“That’s okay. Where is she?” And how pissed would she be about Kayla cuddling up with Nick? Eliana had said they were just friends, but that could’ve meant friends with benefits.
“Upstairs, sleeping in Oliver’s room.”
She paused. Why had he felt the need to clarify that, to make it clear Eliana wasn’t in his room?
He smiled and offered her a slight shrug. “You were sleeping so soundly I couldn’t bring myself to wake you.”
So he had opted to sleep beside her?
As if he could hear her thoughts, he added, “And I didn’t want you to roll over and fall off.”
Kayla eyed the large sofa and the ottoman. She suspected there had been little danger of that and thus no need for him to have lain down with her.
She arched a brow.
Nick cleared his throat. “I was tired?” he suggested hopefully.
He looked so adorably sheepish that amusement danced through her. “I guess we both were.”
His charming smile reviving, he tucked several stray strands of hair behind her ear.
Her skin tingled at the innocent touch.
Her nipples tightened. And her gaze dropped to his soft lips.
What would they taste like?
What would he taste like?
She dearly wanted to find out, but…
Had he really wanted to sleep beside her last night? Or was that just how her still sleep-fogged, infatuated brain had interpreted his words, his expressions, while it looked for something she desperately wanted to see that wasn’t actually there?
Nick lived next door to her. If she kissed him and he wasn’t into it, she would have to face that embarrassment every time she saw him. And she had no plans to move anytime soon.
Eliana had said she and Nick were just friends. But she could be lying. People cheated. Kayla had learned that lesson well. Eliana could be cheating on Max with Nick and just didn’t want Kayla to think less of her. Nick might wish to avoid the same.
Taking the safe route, she rose. “I’d better head home and get a couple more hours of sleep. I have an appointment at three thirty and want to get a little work done before I go.”
Something she thought might be disappointment flickered momentarily in his features, then he smiled again and stood.
“Okay.” He helped her find her shoes. “Thanks for joining us last night. It was fun. We should do it again.”
She cursed her heart for fluttering in her chest. He wasn’t asking her on a date. He was inviting her to maybe hang out with him and Eliana sometime in the future. “Sure. Sounds good.”
She followed him to his back door.
“Let me walk you out.” He escorted her onto his patio, then across the grass to his gate. He waited patiently while she left his yard and entered her own. He even lingered at the fence until she unlocked and opened her back door.