“In this case the friendship is too valuable to lose. It’s not worth it.” She was finding it difficult to breathe. “You’re too close, Matt.”
He didn’t move. “Do I make you nervous?”
“I’m not nervous. I have a black belt in karate. I could fell you like a tree.” It was a lie. They both knew it was a lie.
“You don’t need to be scared, Frankie.”
“I’m not—” She felt his thumb brush her lower lip and stopped breathing altogether. “Okay, now you’re definitely too close. You have to let me breathe. What the hell are you doing?” And then it came to her. The answer. “You’re doing this because I’m a challenge.”
His thumb stilled. “What?”
“I’m a challenge. That’s why you’re interested.”
“Frankie—”
“Men love a challenge, don’t they? Particularly when it comes to dating. You’re thinking, hey, I know she’s not great at this but I can be the one to transform her.”
“That is so messed up I don’t know where to start.”
“You don’t start. You give up and we pretend this never happened. I forget it, you forget it, we all forget it. I am messed up, like Claws. You need to stay away from me.” Why couldn’t she stop talking? It was as if every thought she’d ever had was determined to find its way out of her mouth.
“You’re nothing like Claws. I don’t want to transform you, Frankie. I’m interested in you, not some fake version of you.” His mouth was still dangerously close to hers. “I like who you are. I’ve always liked who you are.”
“You don’t know who I am. Not really.”
“I know you’re a smart, creative, incredibly sexy woman. And I also know you have a few relationship issues.”
A few?
“I have more than a few relationship issues. If you piled them up, North America would have a new mountain range. I would dwarf the Rockies. You have no idea.”
“I do.” He paused. “You’re not your mother, Frankie.”
Even the mention of her mother made her want to crawl under a stone. “I know. I’ve worked hard to make sure I’m not.”
“Maybe you’ve worked a little too hard.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That you’ve focused so hard on not being her, you don’t know how to be yourself.”
“That’s crap. Matt, I don’t want to dent your ego but I just don’t find you attractive.”
“I know you find me attractive.”
“That’s arrogant.” She met the amused shimmer of his gaze.
“You’ve been looking at me.” He slid his hand into the heavy mass of her hair, drawing it away from her neck. “And the reason I know that is because I’ve been looking at you, too. And I think it’s time we did more than look.”
Excitement and nerves mingled together in a suffocating cloud.
Oh crappity crap, crap, crap.
She had no idea what to do. No idea how she was supposed to respond.
She was an expert at keeping men at a distance.
She had no experience in letting men close.