“On second thought, forget it. You want to stay away from relationships that are complicated.” She was stammering, tripping over her words. Stay away from me. “It’s too much trouble. Seriously, Matt, don’t go there.”
Admiring someone from a safe distance was one thing. When you thought they weren’t interested and that it could never go anywhere, it was a safe hobby. But this—this was different. It was like admiring a tiger in a zoo and suddenly realizing that someone had removed the glass between you. There was nothing stopping his coming close.
Up until this moment she’d had no real idea that Matt was interested in her, but now she knew that he was, it changed everything.
It made the impossible possible and she found the possible terrifying.
“I’ve never been afraid of complicated, Frankie. I’ve never been the kind of guy who thinks something worth having has to be easy to get.”
“Well, you should be afraid.” Breathe, Frankie. In and out. In and out. “Complicated is bad. If it’s complicated, maybe you should rethink. You deserve to find someone special. A nice, dependable, uncomplicated, sweet girl who isn’t going to mess you around.” She articulated each word carefully, her tone transmitting the message and that’s not me.
“Frankie—”
“And talking of working on a plan, that’s what I’m doing. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
She stepped back from him, tripped over a bag of cement and virtually sprinted toward the stairs that led from the roof to the top floor of the house.
No way was she going to let this go any further, not just because she believed all relationships were doomed but because it would be impossible to get closer to Matt without his discovering all the things about herself she made a point of keeping secret.
Because he knew about the glasses, he thought he knew her. What he didn’t know was that the glasses were just the tip of the iceberg.
Roxy stood with her hands on her hips, watching Frankie bolt. “Do you have that effect on many women, boss?”
Matt swiped his hand across the back of his neck and thought about his cat. “I’m starting to think I do.”
“What did you say to her?”
“Nothing. Not a damn thing.” Well, he’d said a few things, but he’d barely gotten started.
Roxy pushed her baseball cap away from her eyes and scratched her head. “You must have said something. She ran as if she was being chased by a pack of zombies.”
“I have a way with women.”
“In fact, you do—” she grinned at him “—but today your natural charm obviously failed you. Maybe you should go after her, in case she falls and breaks her ankle or something. She looked seriously freaked out. She probably saw you checking out her butt.”
“I wasn’t checking out her butt.”
“You were definitely checking out her butt.”
Matt gave her a stern look. “Whatever happened to respect?”
“I have so much respect for you, boss, I don’t know where to put it.”
It was a
struggle not to smile. “You could put it right here, Roxy. Right here where I can see it.”
“Hey, do you even doubt it? You gave me a job when no one else in the world would, and you helped me find childcare. You’ve got to allow a girl a bit of hero worship.”
This time he did smile. “How is the baby?”
“Stop calling her a baby. She’s two years old, Matt!”
“Are you getting any more sleep?”
“Some, but she’s awake early and ready to play. I don’t mind. I love her so much it fills my whole chest. Even when she wakes at four in the morning and my eyelids are sealed closed and I’d sell my soul for another five minutes of sleep, I still love her. I’m reading to her lots at the moment. I found a stack of books in the thrift shop. She loves them.” She took a gulp from her water bottle. “She’d be perfect for you, boss.”
“Generally I like them a little older.”