Too Close to Resist Read Free Page A

need to bust our asses with the seven-day weeks anymore.”
    “I’m light enough to suit me. And I work the amount of days I care to work.”
    “Come on. Tonight you should come out with me and Candy. It’ll be fun.”
    “As fun as the last time you and Candy invited me out and I got ambushed by squealing Jenny?” As long as Jacob was dating Candy the Dictator, Kyle would be staying far away. He didn’t understand Jacob’s need for constant companionship. Being alone on a Saturday night sounded great to him, especially if Candy and her slew of single friends was the alternative.
    Jacob held his hands up. “I had no idea that was Candy’s plan until Jenny showed up. The squealing wasn’t that bad.”
    “Every time the waiter brought something.” Kyle imitated the horrible high-pitched squeal and Jacob hid a laugh with a cough. “It was that bad.”
    Jacob shook his head, but he was laughing. “You’re too damn picky, man. Besides—”
    “I’m not going. Shouldn’t you at least be around on your sister’s first night?”
    Jacob frowned, swiveled back and forth in the chair. “Yeah, tell that to Candy. I tried to get Grace to come, too, but she and Candy don’t get along.”
    “I can imagine.” Kyle jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. “Now, if you don’t mind.”
    Jacob rolled his eyes. “One of these days, you’re going to have to let up.”
    “Well, one of these days is not today.” Kyle slid into the chair Jacob vacated, feeling immediately better. This room, this desk, was indeed his happy place. Some people thought it was sad, but Kyle was perfectly content, so what did other people matter?
    “I won’t stay out too late, but keep an eye on Grace for me.”
    Kyle scowled. That was definitely not his first choice, but he nodded if only to get Jacob out of his room. He had no doubt Grace could take care of herself.
    Jacob left and Kyle booted up his computer. So it would be just him and Grace in the house tonight. Thank God it was a big house and Kyle had plenty of work to keep him occupied.

CHAPTER TWO
    G RACE COULDN ’ T FOCUS on painting. She was restless and feeling a little weird about being in someone else’s house, and Mom’s constant texts kept interrupting her. Might as well give up.
    She’d visited Jacob’s place plenty of times, knew most of the house as well as her own, but she’d rarely spent the night. And she’d never been in the house knowing Kyle was around without Jacob to act as a buffer.
    Grace poked her head out of her room. It shouldn’t matter if Jacob was around or not. Kyle had agreed to let her stay, and even welcomed her, even if that welcome came with a set of rules.
    Scowling, Grace tiptoed down the blue runner in the hall. “It’s an image thing,” she mimicked, stepping onto the second-story balcony. Who talked like that? Who thought like that? She didn’t look like some crazed hobo. Tons of people had tattoos, many way more visible than hers, and the colored hair was definitely a trend right now.
    Well, maybe not in Bluff City.
    Of course, Grace could remember that Kyle’s parents hadn’t dressed nicely and had been considerably inked, and his mother’s hair had definitely not been natural. Even if Grace thought he should be over that connection ten years after they’d all gone their separate ways, maybe she kind of understood why they made him uncomfortable.
    Grace took a deep breath of the cool April evening. She didn’t want to think about Kyle anymore.
    It wasn’t quite dusk. The street below was narrow and lined with barren trees on either side, their bark rough and hewn from winter. Most of the houses on the street were the same sprawling Victorians as the one she was in, some still in good shape, a few not so much. She found them just as appealing with their vacant windows and fading paint as those MC Restorations had restored to be gleaming nods to the past.
    It was a quiet little neighborhood on top of the bluffs, though the river was to