Nico laughed. She sounded forlorn and a bit testy. He was used to Stevie pretending she wasn’t going up in flames. However, he’d known the woman long enough to see every side of her. Even those she tried to keep under wraps. Stevie Shepherd was a hot-blooded woman with a libido that burned out of control all the time. He knew because she didn’t have a problem sharing those little nuggets of information. At one point, he’d been as much her sounding board as his sister had. So much so that Nico worried she was relegating him to the friend zone.
“I’m more than happy to sign up for the job,” Nico noted while driving into the Coyote Ridge town limits. “I’ll be back in ten minutes.”
“I got you naked last night,” she countered.
She had. And it had been fucking incredible.
Although he’d stated his desire to have her in his bed every night, Nico had expected Stevie to pretend it never happened. To his surprise, she was the one who brought it up after they’d gotten home from Stone’s on Friday night. He wouldn’t pretend not to notice that her desire was ramping up whenever she spent a little time in Stone’s company. That was to be expected. After all, it affected Nico in much the same way. And it was working out for both of them that they had each other to lean on.
Which they’d definitely done.
“So? Do you wanna invite him, or should I?” Stevie asked, interrupting his memory of the past two nights.
“I will. I can do it now.”
“No,” Stevie blurted. “Wait until you get here.”
He frowned. “Why? Somethin’ goin’ on?”
“Nope.”
“Stevie?”
“Just wait until you get here,” she said, her tone holding a hint of determination. “I’ve got an idea.”
“Why is it that I always fear there’s gonna be trouble when you say that?”
She giggled. “Maybe because you know me so well. Now hurry up. Tara’s goin’ to lunch, so we don’t have much time.”
Before Nico could ask her what that meant, Stevie hung up on him. His curiosity had him pressing the pedal closer to the floor.
Ever since Stone’s reappearance, and especially since the night he stayed at their place, Nico had noticed a shift in Stevie. As he said, she’d always been open about her desires, and yeah, he’d allowed her to seduce him more than once simply so he could be with her on her terms. However, Stone brought out a different side to her. The hot-blooded woman he knew now smoldered at all times. And yeah, he was as hot-blooded as she was, so he was curious what she had in mind.
As he was pulling down the driveway leading to the office, he saw Tara driving toward him. When she slowed, he did, too. She lowered her window and waved up at him. “I’m takin’ Jäger with me to grab some lunch. I thought I’d walk him through the park, get him a little exercise.”
“You’re gonna spoil him.”
“That’s the plan.” She waved again and pulled away.
Nico turned his attention to the building directly in front of him. There was only one vehicle out front—Stevie’s—because the crews were all out taking care of clients today. Sundays were busy for them. Their non-commercial customers appreciated them working on weekends because it worked better with their schedules.
Nico parked the truck and got out, his phone in hand. He considered calling Stone to warn him that Stevie might be up to something but decided against it.
As usual, the office was empty when he walked in. Saturdays were busy with walk-in traffic, but Sundays were hit or miss. Since they weren’t close to town, most people didn’t venture out this way. Only those who knew they were here or those who stumbled upon them accidentally while out for a leisurely drive. Except for their word-of-mouth customers, their clients tended to be businesses—apartment complexes, new-build communities, etc.—because of it. Nico hoped to change that because he wanted nothing more than to cater to his hometown.
“Stevie?” Nico called out as he headed toward his office.
He was about to stop at her open door but didn’t have to because she came racing out, grabbing him by the hand and dragging him with her into his office.
“Jäger’s with Tara.”
“I saw that.”
She stopped long enough to close his office door. “Did you call Stone yet?”
“You told me not to.”
“Good.” She stopped in front of his chair, then turned, still dragging him along. “Sit.”
