“The weather, huh? So how’s the weather?” he remarks on a chuckle and I can tell he’s smirking without even having to turn around.
“I don’t know how it is there, but I told her it’s amazing here.” And I wonder if he picks up on my hidden message. “Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, anything.”
“What’s with your brother and that superhero obsession?” From the beginning of Gabby and Brad’s relationship, she’d always tell me how he’d refer to her as Lois. She thought it was super cute, while I thought it was a bit odd…even though I love Brad.
“Yep, that’s my brother, Superman,” he snickers before continuing, “He’s been obsessed with Superman since he was in third grade and he made sure everyone knew it. I had to kick a couple of asses in his defense because he got teased about it a lot. The time he wore the cape to school was the worst. The boys in his class harassed him for days, especially this kid Robert Lankin. Asshole,” he barks out, and I love how protective he is and how he looks out for his baby brother.
“What about you?” I ask, “Did you ever have anyone you wanted to be like?”
“That’s a no-brainer,” he replies arrogantly. “Definitely Tom Selleck. What boy didn’t want to be Magnum PI—the shades, the red Ferrari 308GTS, the women.”
“Ah, yes, of course. I remember him well. Definitely not the women I was interested in though. More like his abs.”
“Why that’s very shallow of you, Fran,” he admonishes. “What about you?”
“Wonder woman,” I respond, without even having to think twice, fond memories of pretending I was using my gold handcuffs on the playground to ward off bullets from David Mulligan, my fifth grade crush, flashing in my mind. “You know, the gold cuffs, the invisible jet, the lasso. Those items come in handy.”
“I can totally picture it.” He cackles, and I can feel his gaze over my shoulder burning a hole in my cleavage. “You have similar attributes.”
I clip his arm with my finger and he bumps me. “You’re a jerk.”
“Yeah, but I’m a cute jerk,” he taunts, smiling against my hair.
“Eh. You’re all right.”
He lowers his voice to a whisper. “Is that what you were thinking when I was kissing you earlier?” His warm breath caresses my neck and I mash my lips together to try to slow down the sudden quickening of my pulse.
Two can play this game. “Actually, I was thinking about all the laundry I’ll have to do when I get back home.” God, I love toying with him.
“Hmph. Then I might just have to kiss you again so I can wipe away all those mundane thoughts.”
Yes, please.
Matt takes me by surprise, tilting my head back and cupping my jaw, the gentle stroke of his thumb back and forth over my skin encouraging my eyes to flutter closed. He coaxes my lips open, our tongues twisting as he takes what he wants, and what I’m so ready to give him. We kiss slowly until he pulls away, his breath a light tickle on my lips, and he leans his head back on the chair leaving me completely flustered. I exhale a breath at the same time he does. At least I’m not the only one who’s off-balance, and the thought surprisingly makes me happy.
A stretch of silence passes between us before Matt breaks it. “You know what’s really strange, Fran…never mind,” he says quickly, but my nagging curiosity won’t let this go.
“Now you have to tell me. Come on, I want to know,” I whine, hoping I’m persuasive enough.
“It’s just that…I don’t know. We’ve only known each other for a few days, but it seems like—”
“Like what?” I prompt, suddenly desperate to know what he feels.
“Like…we’ve know each other for years,” he admits, his voice quieter at the end of his words.
“Yeah, I know what you mean. I feel the same.” And I really do. “We’ll have to keep in touch once I go back home,” I blurt out, and after the words escape my mouth, I suddenly wish I could take them back.
“I’m going for a swim,” he says rather abruptly, and I nearly fall back on the lounger when he gets up.
I can’t say that I blame him. He just kissed me and I’m talking about leaving. My head starts to pound, my mind battling the conflict within, and I know it’s my fear talking, not me.
With a frustrated groan, I sit back and watch Peyton and Caleb splashing at one end of the pool and Matt doing laps at the other. He hasn’t looked over here once and I know I’ve upset him. Hell, I upset myself, too. Where’s that invisible jet when I need it? I wish I could just run away from all of this. He won’t want anything to do with me once he gets a glimpse of my scars and the depth of my insecurities, once he sees how damaged I am.
“No one will ever love you like I do, Franny…no one.”
You’re probably right, Daddy. Even though I hate you for it.
I blink my eyes open when I feel drops of cool water hitting my feet. It takes me a second to realize I’m not dreaming when I see Matt, his hair slicked back, water dripping down his tight abs before disappearing under the waistband of his shorts. My eyes gradually travel down his form and the smirk on his face tells me he likes it. His smile is back in full force.
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” he says, his lips twitching at the corners.
“Oh, I’m up. That water is quite cold.” I wiggle my toes to emphasize my point.
He flicks more water on me with his fingers, smiling devilishly. “Are you sure you don’t want to go in?”
“Yes, I’m sure,” I state firmly.
Caleb and Peyton come up behind him, and I have to say, Caleb isn’t hard on the eyes either. He’s slightly taller than Matt, maybe six-foot-two, but with dark hair, olive skin and a rock hard body.
Caleb steps in front of Matt. “Fran, are you sure you don’t want to go for a dunk? Take your skirt off and I could easily lift you and dump you in.” He stands in front of the lounger and my hands feel clammy, my limbs suddenly heavy, panic weighing them down at the possibility of being exposed.
“Leave her alone, man,” Matt orders from behind him.
He grins and turns around to clasp Matt’s shoulder. “I’m only kidding, dude. Relax.”
Matt’s cell phone rings and he walks off to take the call. He’s gone for just a minute before coming back and addressing Caleb. “That was the SVP. We have to be at the office tomorrow. He’s leaving on a business trip and there are some issues with the Winkler building and he wants us to handle them.” He chuckles. “I guess I won’t be presenting tomorrow, either.”
“So I’m guessing we should probably call it a night because we need to do some research before tomorrow,” Caleb says, somewhat deflated that work is interrupting his social life.
“Yep,” Matt replies, peering over at me, and I try to hide the disappointment lurking in my eyes. I don’t want this night to end yet.
Matt towels himself off and slides a shirt over his head. “Let’s go. I’ll walk you to your room.” He takes my hand after I say goodbye to Caleb and Peyton. I have a feeling they won’t be calling it a night just yet.
He seems lost in thought and distant as we ride the elevator to the twenty-third floor. The only connection is his thumb, a gentle caress to my skin as he holds my hand. He hesitates when we get to my door. “So…I’m not going to see you tomorrow. I’ll be at the office, but maybe we can hang out tomorrow night.” He grins. “If you’re not busy.”
I shrug but my lips deceive me, curling into a smile. “I’m pretty sure I’m clear for tomorrow night.”
“Good,” he says, moving closer, removing his fingers from mine and placing his hand beneath my hair, grazing my neck and encouraging tingles to shoot down my spine. “I want to kiss you one more time before I say goodnight because if I don’t, when I get back to my room I’ll be wishing I had, and I don’t want to have any regrets with you, Fran.”