different. “Mine’s in Cabo.”
“Oliver isn’t home?”
He shook his head. Nick had insisted he take some time off. “You want to stay at my place tonight?”
“Sure.” She smiled. “Although I worry it might give the missus the wrong idea.”
Laughing, he bent and began to collect the fallen vampires’ weapons. “Your worry is unfounded. Kayla isn’t interested in me.”
Chapter Two
Kayla reviewed the material on her computer screen, then clicked Send Invoice.
“Done.” Leaning back in her chair, she indulged in a nice long stretch and glanced at the clock—3:27 a.m. And she wasn’t a bit sleepy.
She sighed. It hadn’t taken her long at all to inadvertently shift to a new sleep schedule. While she’d homeschooled Becca, she had steadfastly remained on the traditional rise early in the morning and go to bed at a “decent” hour schedule. But Becca was in North Carolina now. And Kayla had always been a night owl.
At the rate she was going, she didn’t think it would be long before she ended up going to bed when the sun rose. Fortunately, her job as a freelance editor and proofreader allowed her to work whatever hours she liked.
Rolling her chair back from her desk, she rose and left her home office, shutting the light off behind her.
It was quieter at night, providing a better work environment, so she saw little harm in the new schedule. Becca usually didn’t call until afternoon or evening anyway.
Once in the family room, she fed her GloFish and debated grabbing a snack to nibble on while she wound down with a movie or TV show. Perhaps some ice cream?
Nope, she mentally lectured. You’re eating healthier, remember?
Right. Maybe some berries then? She had some delicious strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries in the fridge.
She nodded. That sounded great.
Drawing back the blinds that covered the sliding glass doors, she peeked out at the back patio. Bright solar-powered floodlights illuminated a neat cement slab decorated with an abundance of potted plants.
Her eyes fell on her pepper plants, then narrowed. “Damn it!”
She stomped into the kitchen, yanked her keys off the hook above the junk drawer, and headed into the laundry room. After tugging her jogging shoes on over her fuzzy socks, she unlocked the back door and headed outside.
A cool breeze brushed her hair back from her face and raised chill bumps on her bare arms. She’d forgotten temperatures were actually nice for a change tonight. Houston didn’t get much in the way of autumn or winter anymore, just occasional half-assed cool fronts that only made temperatures dip for a day or two before it became shorts weather again.
Oh well. At least yoga pants covered her legs.
She crossed to her veggie plants, then leaned over the bell peppers in search of her prey. “Aha! I knew it!” A large snail munched away at a leaf, having already eaten every damned flower on the plant and clearing one limb. “You’re going to pay for that, you little bastard.”
She grabbed it by the shell and tugged, grimacing when it stuck to the plant.
“Damn, Nick,” a woman said. “What’d you do to piss off Kayla?”
She froze and looked at her neighbor’s fence.
A low masculine chuckle floated on the night, doing funny things to her insides.
“Nothing, I hope,” a male replied, his voice carrying a faint French accent. Grass crunched as footsteps approached the five-foot fence.
When a handsome face appeared above it, butterflies filled her belly.
Nick Belanger smiled at her, his brown eyes glinting with amusement in the ambient illumination cast by the floodlights. “Everything okay?”
Straightening, she returned his smile and held up the snail. “Yes. Just stopping this little bugger. He and his buddies keep devouring my pepper plants.”
He grinned. Damn, he was handsome. Not in a pretty-boy way, but in a ruggedly masculine way. His short black hair was slicked back from his face, still wet from a recent shower. His strong jaw bore a five-o’clock shadow. His straight white teeth provided sharp contrast to the dark stubble that coated his cheeks.
She’d been attracted to him ever since she had moved next door to him six years ago.
Two small hands gripped the top of the fence beside him. A moment later, a lovely woman stepped up onto the horizontal brace on the other side and peered over the top of the fence. “Hi, Kayla.”
“Hi.” Reality crashed down, making a mockery of every fantasy she’d woven around Nick.
Eliana’s long black hair was slicked back from her face like his. Clearly, the two had just showered together.
Kayla envied the woman that. Nick had