Here With You (A Laurel Heights Novel) - By Kate Perry Page 0,2

didn't deserve your friendship, much less have the right to intrude on your life."

"But you're here now," she pointed out.

He exhaled deeply. "I need your help."

She nodded. He'd said as much earlier. It made sense that he'd come back because he needed something from her, but it didn't hurt any less. "I'm not sure what I can help you with. Don't you have a team of people who help you with things?"

"Yes, but only you have what I need."

How many times had she laid in bed at night and wished for a man to say that to her, just like that, with a voice full of dark desire?

But it was Grif. How much could he really want her, if he couldn't bring himself to even call her once in all this time? "How would you know? You haven't seen me in years."

"My family gives me updates." He smiled apologetically. "My parents still live next door to yours. You know how your mom and dad love to rave about you."

They did. Usually she thought it was so cute, but in this case she wished they'd kept their mouths shut.

"It's cute," Grif said, as if reading her mind. "But they've always adored you."

She curled into herself, confused—not sure what to think or feel. "Not that this catching up isn't nice, but I'm still wondering why you're here."

"I want to live with you."

Her mouth fell open. "Excuse me?"

"Just for a couple weeks."

"A couple weeks?" She goggled at him, waiting for him to say he was just kidding. But he stood there calmly watching her. She shook her head. "Is someone feeding you crack?"

"I know I have no right to ask this, but I need a quiet place to work on my next album. I have some songs done, but I don't have a solid piece to anchor the whole thing together."

"Don't you rock stars have a place you go to work in peace? Some island in the Caribbean or something?"

"Yes, but I need you."

Every night, millions of women dreamt of Griffin Chase standing before them, looking them in the eye, and saying he needed them. Probably tens of millions.

But not her. She folded her arms across her body. "Kind of like you've needed me all these years?"

"I deserve that." He nodded.

"Oh, you deserve way more than that." She glared at him. "You left me. We had all sorts of plans to travel together, and you left. I understand you were pursuing your dreams, but you could have sent an email every now and then. Or, heck, even a text."

"I know—"

"You don't know." She knocked his shoulder with her hand. "You were my best friend. We were together every day for years, and then you disappeared. How is that cool?"

"It's not." He took her hand and secured it against his heart.

She refused to be distracted—or excited by his touch. He was just holding her hand, she told herself. He didn't have his hand down her pants.

Which was not something she was going to think about.

He moved closer, so she felt the force of his gray eyes. "I was a selfish jerk, Nicole."

She motioned with her free hand, "More."

"A complete dog."

"Try harder."

His brow furrowed in thought. "Brown, foamy pond scum?"

She shrugged. "That's closer, I guess."

"The worse part is that I knew what a mistake I was making." He rubbed her palm with his thumb. "I missed you, Nicole. I just got caught up in work."

"You aren't helping your case." Bothered by his touch in a way that confused her, she retracted her hand but immediately regretted it.

"I lost sense of everything that was grounding in my life," he said quietly, ignoring her sarcasm.

"And now you want to be grounded again."

"No, I want to remember why I loved music so much." He looked away. "I've been thinking about quitting."

"What? Music has always been your life. Always."

"It's not making me happy anymore."

Of all the things she'd expect to come out of his mouth, those words weren't even on the list.

But it was something she understood. How many jobs had she started because she thought they'd been perfect only to find out they weren't what she wanted either? Too many to count. "Then change what you do," she suggested.

He shook his head. "I'm not like you."

The way he said it didn't sound like a compliment. "What does that mean?"

"Well, you've always jumped from one thing to the next."

"You say that like it's bad. I like to try new things." Her parents always told her she was smart and