Sweet Trilogy: Sweet Talk / Sweet Spot / Sweet Trouble

He climbed the stairs, only to come to a halt near the top when he saw Claire standing on the landing. She was speaking—at least he figured she was. Her lips were moving and there was probably sound, but he couldn’t hear it. Not when every cell in his body had spun around to get a look at her wearing a baggy T-shirt and—he swore and prayed at the same time—nothing else.

Her face was washed clean of any makeup, her hair hung long and straight. She was barely covered to the tops of her thighs and he would bet every penny he had that she wasn’t wearing a bra.

“He just showed up. I didn’t know who he was, so I jumped him. I don’t think the punctures are really deep. I don’t actually care about him, but someone should look at those just in case. He could get an infection.”

He had no idea what she was talking about.

She took a step toward him. Yup, no bra. Worse, he could see the outline of her nipples pressing against the soft cotton.

Panties, he told himself. She had to be wearing panties. So that was something, right?

It wasn’t enough as he imagined her in silk and lace and nothing else. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. Why her? That’s all he wanted to know. He accepted that he had lousy taste in women, but why her? Why not someone reasonably intelligent and compassionate? Or just a regular person. Not the ice princess.

He moved past her and walked into Nicole’s bedroom. Ignoring his stepbrother, he asked, “You okay?”

Nicole shook her head. “Get him out of here.”

“Sure.” Wyatt glanced at Drew. “You shouldn’t have come. You—”

He stared at the deep puncture wounds on Drew’s cheek and neck. “What happened?”

“Claire attacked him,” Nicole said. She sniffed, then gave both a sob and a laugh. “It was pretty impressive actually. She jumped him from behind and started hitting him with a shoe. They both went down. She got him in some kind of armlock, then stood with her foot on the back of his neck. I guess they take interesting classes at music school.”

Claire had attacked Drew to protect her sister? Who would have thought.

“She got me by surprise,” Drew said defensively. “I’ve been drinking. My reflexes aren’t working right.”

Wyatt couldn’t help grinning. “You were taken down by a girl?”

“Shut up.”

“I’d say make me, but we both know that’s not going to happen. I doubt Claire weighs a hundred and forty pounds. Jeez, Drew, talk about embarrassing.” He grabbed his brother by the arm. “Come on. I’m taking you home. You can sleep it off.”

Drew pulled free of him. “I’m not leaving. I belong here. With Nicole. I love her.”

“You have a funny way of showing it,” Wyatt muttered. “Come on. Don’t make me get Claire to beat you up again.”

“Get off me. At least I was willing to fight for my woman.”

Wyatt ignored the dig. Shanna hadn’t been worth fighting for. “If you’d been faithful in the first place, you wouldn’t have to fight.”

Drew glared at him, then stalked out into the hall. Wyatt watched to make sure he didn’t go into Claire’s room, then turned back to Nicole.

“You okay? One of his buddies told me he was drinking a lot tonight and talking about how much he missed you. He thought it was just talk, but I went by Drew’s house to make sure he got home and he wasn’t there. I came by and saw his truck in front.”

Nicole sagged back against the pillows. “I’m fine. He’s an idiot and he won’t even apologize for what he did. He’s sorry he got caught, but I don’t think he cares that he had sex with Jesse.” Tears filled her eyes. “I just can’t believe it happened.”

Wyatt sat down next to her. “I know. He’s too stupid to live.”

She nodded. “I don’t love him anymore. I can’t. But it still hurts.” She wiped her face with a tissue. “Thanks for coming by.”

“It sounds like the situation was under control.”

Nicole gave him a shaky smile. “She was an animal. I was impressed.”

“Drew will be humiliated for weeks. That should be worth something.”

“It is.”

He patted her arm, then stood. “I’ll make sure he gets home in one piece.”

“Okay.”

“See you in the morning.”

He braced himself for the impact of seeing Claire again. She still hovered in the hallway, looking five kinds of sexy and practically naked. She was probably one of those women who claimed she had no idea what she did to a man, prancing around like that.

He hated the wanting that rushed through him, the heat and the need that made him feel primal and hungry. She was completely the wrong woman—not that he would ever be the right man.

Claire glanced past Wyatt toward her sister. She wished she and Nicole were talking so she could comfort her and maybe make what was a bad situation a little better.

“I need to talk to you,” he said, sounding almost angry.

She squared her shoulders. “I’m not sorry I hurt Drew.”

“Neither am I.”

“Oh. Okay. I thought you were mad at me or something.”

“I’m not mad.”

He stared at something over the top of her head. She turned but couldn’t see what had captured his attention.

“It’s about Amy,” he said. “My daughter.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “I know who Amy is.”

“Nicole looks after her a couple of days a week. After school. Just until I can get away from work. But with Nicole laid up and recovering, that hasn’t been possible. I work construction, so Amy can’t always be with me. Job sites aren’t safe.”

Claire had no idea what he was talking about. Maybe he wanted her to drive Amy to her new babysitter.

“She likes you,” he said, sounding unhappy with the fact. “Would you be willing to watch her? It won’t be for long. A week or so. I’ll pay you.”

Claire blinked. Amy liked her? A happy warmth filled her body. “Really? She said she would like me to be her sitter?”

“Go figure,” he grumbled.

Amy liked her! Claire wanted to do a little happy dance right there on the landing. Finally, someone around here enjoyed her company.