Page 6 of King of Temptation

Aria’s very young stepmother, Goldie couldn’t help but notice when she’d seen the pictures. And a quick peek at Lottie’s—as her friends called her, also according to social media—details revealed she was, indeed, only a couple years older than Aria.

The author side of her wanted to know more. How had Lottie and Braden met? What obstacles had they faced? Did they get judged for their obvious age gap? How did Aria feel about her dad marrying someone her own age?

On the flip side, the woman in her wanted to get to know Lottie herself. Being an author was often a solitary existence, and while she had plenty of author friends, they were all scattered around the country and she only got to see them a few times a year at events and such. And Lottie just seemed… fun. The kind of friend you could really let loose with, and she wouldn’t judge you in the least for being too loud or too weird or too much.

Maybe you should be stalking her instead.

The thought teased a snort of laughter from her as Goldie scrolled Lottie’s socials, desperate for some hint of where she might find any of the O’Rourkes tonight. It didn’t have to be Brody, since her entire reason for stalking them had originally been to gain some extra realism for her books.

But if it was Brody, and he caught her again, well…

What was better for realism than being caught red-handed by the second in command of the Irish mafia?

Right. That’s the only reason you’re hoping he catches you. It has nothing to do with the workout you gave your toy box after he threatened you.

That inner voice was really starting to get on her nerves.

She was just about to give up for the third day in a row when a notification popped up on her phone. Excitement buzzed along her veins when she opened the notification and saw the ‘long-distance listening device’ she’d ordered the day Brody had cornered her in the bookstore had just been delivered to her mailbox downstairs.

Perfect.

Grabbing her purse and the notebook she’d gone back to the bookstore to purchase after her run in with Brody, she headed for the elevator bank down the hall. It was all she could do not to physically dance in place while she waited for the doors to open.

But when they did, she nearly balked at the sight of her very hot, very buff neighbor from two floors up standing in the otherwise empty cab. While Dominic Hale wasn’t a cop himself, his dad was not only retired from the force, he was still good friends with Goldie’s father. If Dom ever got any inkling of what she was up to, no doubt he’d go straight to Sergeant Quinn and tell him exactly what his daughter was doing with her free time.

Unfortunately for her, Dom was as friendly as he was hot. His entire face lit up at the sight of her and she bit back a sigh at the thought of making small talk while she was mentally planning her stakeout of the Irish Mob. “Hey, Marigold. Long time, no see.”

“Uh, yeah. Been working a lot.”

Okay, just be cool. Don’t give him any reason to suspect you’re up to something.

With that internal monologue playing in a loop in her mind, she stepped onto the elevator. “No Noelle tonight?”

As it always did, Dom’s smile widened considerably at the mention of his adorable wife. “About to go pick her up, actually. It’s girls’ night, so she and her friends from Lost River are all out having drinks together. I usually volunteer to be their designated driver and bring them back to our place for a sleepover so they can let loose a bit.”

“That’s really sweet of you. Especially with that many people crammed into your apartment,” she added with a laugh.

“Nah.” Dom lifted a shoulder in a nonchalant shrug, his grin never faltering. “We’ve got the two bedrooms so there’s plenty of room. And they don’t seem to mind snuggling each other all night, so they all just kinda pile into the extra bed and sleep on top of each other. Even Noelle, who can barely stand to have me ‘smothering’ her in bed as she says, climbs in with them more often than not.”

A familiar pang of loneliness hit her square in the chest. “Sounds fun.”

“They seem to enjoy it.” The elevator stopped with a ding, and as was his way, Dom held the door open for her. “Where are you headed so late?”

“Just grabbing a package from the mailroom.”

“Oh.” A frown tugged at his lips. “Is it big? Do you need some help?”

That was the absolute last thing she needed. Dom was almost as curious as she was, and the idea of coming up with a convenient lie when he inevitably asked what was in the package had her palms going slick with sweat.

Praying her smile didn’t look as forced as it felt, she waved him off. “Nah, it’s a small thing. You go fetch your wife and tell Noelle I said hey.”

“I will.” His expression shifted back to a smile, though this time there was a hint of mischief to it. “But she will have my ass if I tell her I ran into you without asking when your next book is coming out.”

“About a month. But it’s already been through edits so I could send her over an advanced reader copy if you’d like.”

“Yeah?” Once again his face lit with that boyish enthusiasm she associated with him. “She’d love that. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it, I’m happy to do it.”