Sunset in Central Park (From Manhattan with Love #2) - Sarah Morgan Page 0,43
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.
She didn’t know how to do that.
Matt was an important part of her life. Letting him close would ruin everything they’d built over the years. Part of her badly wanted to do it, anyway. Part of her wanted to find out where this dizzying excitement ended. One kiss should do it. One kiss would be enough to kill it all.
Beads of sweat clung to her forehead. She felt as if she was caught in a riptide, pulling her far out to sea, away from the safety of the shore.
What had she learned in the swimming lessons she’d had when she’d been growing up on Puffin Island? She’d learned that the best way to deal with a riptide was not to try and swim against it. You swam with the tide then gradually peeled off and swam back to the safety of the shore.
“You’re a really sexy guy, Matt. A million women would be interested in you. You don’t need me.”
“Have dinner with me tonight.”
Was he even listening to her? “Thanks, but no. Having dinner would complicate everything.”
“We have dinner together almost every Friday.”
“Today is Monday.” If she grabbed him now and kissed him, it would all be over.
She lifted her hand and then let it drop again. She couldn’t do it.
His brows rose. “The night of the week makes a difference?”
“No. The fact that we’d be on our own makes a difference. It would make it more like a date.”
“It wouldn’t be like a date,” he said slowly, “it would be a date. That’s what this is. A date. I’m asking you to have dinner with me. Just the two of us.”
“And I’m saying no.”
“So let me get this straight. You don’t mind having dinner with me when it’s not a date, but when it’s a date, you’re not interested.”
“That’s right.”
“Do you know how crazy that sounds?”
“About as crazy as thinking we could have an intimate relationship and stay friends.”
“Frankie, we’ve known each other for more than twenty years.” He was patient. “Nothing is going to stop us being friends.”
“I will not go on a date with you, Matt.”
“Why not?”
“We could start with the fact that when it ends I could lose my home.”
“When the date ends?”
“When the relationship ends. Because we both know that’s what we’re talking about here. When men talk about dinner, what they really mean is sex. We’ll have dinner and then you’ll want to end up in bed and that’s where