Sweeter Temptation (Kimani Hotties) by Phyllis Bourne Read Free Book Online

her proud, and make up for the disappointment and heartbreak Nia’s mother had caused the elderly matriarch.
    “Mother Nature’s getting the best of us all today,” she finally said.
    Nia rose from her chair. Grabbing the mugs and bowls, she began washing them at the sink.
    She didn’t understand it. She hadn’t even thought about sex in eons. Kyle’s under her roof one night, and she’s constantly shoving thoughts of it—of him—from her head.
    Nia felt a touch on her arm and flinched. She looked up to discover Kyle standing beside her.
    “Oh.” She blinked.
    Too bad she couldn’t blink away the heat radiating off his big body or the current his touch sent sizzling through the layer of her sweater down to her skin.
    “I didn’t mean to startle you, but I called your name a few times. You didn’t answer.”
    She dried her hands on a dish towel and walked past him out of the kitchen in an attempt to undo the spell his presence had on her. Although considering they were snowbound it was easier said than done.
    “Nia.”
    The sound of her name from his lips sent a shiver through her, and she locked her knees to keep them from melting. She turned around.
    “I asked if there was anything to read around here,” he said.
    “Oh, of course,” she said. “My grandmother kept some books upstairs. Follow me.”
    Nia led him upstairs to the room that once belonged to her mother as a girl, but that her grandmother had used for knitting. Like everything in the house that belonged to the older woman, her stash of yarn remained.
    Nia fingered the yarn of a half-finished sweater, still on its needles.
    “Your grandmother’s?” Kyle inclined his head toward the knitting.
    Nia continued to stroke the soft wool. “I keep telling myself the only reason I haven’t put away her things is I’m still looking for a file she wanted me to find, but the real reason is I can’t bear to part with it just yet.”
    Kyle nodded. “I understand,” he said. “My father died last year, too, and my brother and I still haven’t gone through his personal effects.”
    “I’m sorry. You must miss him a lot.”
    “My dad was all business and not an easy person to get close to. Still, it was hard coming to grips with the fact he’s no longer here.”
    Kyle cleared his throat, and his gaze flicked to the faded pink-and-yellow flower-power wallpaper. “So the decor reflects your grandmother’s tastes, not yours?”
    “God, no.” Nia laughed, his question instantly lightening the mood. “Grandma was very practical. The few times I managed to drag her to look at new furniture or appliances, she’d insist she didn’t see anything better than what she already had here.”
    She rolled her eyes skyward. “I finally gave up.”
    Nia opened the closet door revealing shelves lined with her grandmother’s collection of books. “Here you go,” she said. “This should be enough to get you through the storm and then some.”
    “Is this you?”
    Nia turned around to see Kyle holding a framed photograph that was on the windowsill. It was a picture of her taken last summer. She was sitting on the front porch railing, her relaxed mane tumbling down around her shoulders.
    She nodded and braced herself for the inevitable flak or question about cutting her hair and going natural.
    Nia watched as he returned the photo to the windowsill without a word. She redirected her attention back to the closet bookshelf.
    “Take your pick,” she said.
    “I like the way you wear your hair now,” Kyle said.
    Surprised, Nia turned to look at him again. Until now she’d only gotten negative comments, even from Amy.
    “Don’t get me wrong, you looked fine in the photo, and I usually like long hair on a woman,” he said. “But the short cut fits you. It flatters your face.”
    Nia fought the sliver of delight she felt at the compliment. Regardless of her hairdo, she was and would always be plain. Kyle was just being nice to the woman who’d brought him