friend. I love that you offer to stay in the apartment with her, even though you like your own space—”
“She told you about that?”
“Paige did. I love how smart you are, I love your sense of humor—”
“Do you love the fact that I’m a sex addict?”
“That’s the best part.” He kissed her and she laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“You’re entirely responsible for that flaw.”
“If it’s a flaw, I’m happy to take the blame for that one.” He kissed her and she felt her body melt.
“How do you do it?”
With a groan he lifted his mouth from hers. “How do I do what?”
“Make me want you like this? I’m desperate. Again.”
“I think you have a lot of sexual energy to use up. I’m happy to help you out.”
“Your generosity is one of your best qualities.” She gasped as he slid his hand under her bottom. “Do we have to go to this wedding?”
He stilled. “You don’t want to?”
“I’m scared. I admit it. So far we’ve bumped into a few people and they’ve all been welcoming, but half the island is going to show up to this wedding. What if someone says something to me?”
“I hope plenty of people will say things to you. Things like ‘great to see you back on the island, Frankie’ and ‘good to meet you.’” He lowered his forehead to hers. “Nothing bad is going to happen, sweetheart.”
The endearment made her heart turn over. “You don’t know that.”
“I do. I’m going to be there with you the whole time. If anyone so much as looks at you the wrong way, I’ll drop them headfirst in the ocean.” His blue eyes gleamed. “You know I can be a bit overprotective. It’s one of my flaws. I’m working on it.”
“A bit overprotective? Matt, I’ve watched you with Paige. You could get a part-time job as a bodyguard.” She teased him, but deep down she loved that side of him. As someone whose parents had never given much thought to protecting her from anything, it felt surprisingly good to be with someone who cared how she was feeling.
“It’s different with Paige. She’s my sister. It was my job to keep her out of trouble, whereas with you—” he shifted position so that he was cradled between her thighs “—with you my purpose is to get you into as much trouble as possible.”
“I had no idea you had such a bad side, Matt Walker.”
“I keep it hidden.” He eased into her and she moaned as she felt the thickened thrust against sensitive flesh.
“How long am I going to feel this way? When am I going to get bored?”
He lowered his mouth to hers and she felt him smile against her lips. “Never,” he murmured, “as long as I have anything to do with it.”
Somewhere in the deep recesses of her mind a tiny part of her knew this was too good to be true; but what he was doing to her, what he was making her feel, drowned out the voice of anxiety. Swamped by sensation, she closed her eyes and went with the fairy tale.
* * *
MATT STOOD UNDER the hard jet of the shower and closed his eyes. He would have dragged Frankie into the shower with him had it not been for the fact that he needed a few moments to pull himself together. He’d wanted her to open up to him, and she had. And the fact that she’d trusted him enough to do so had somehow deepened the intimacy. He’d been stunned by her response, but what had shocked him more was the strength of his own. He didn’t think his feelings for her could go any deeper, but it seemed he’d been wrong about that.
What would happen when they were back in New York? Back to their regular lives?
He wanted to freeze time and keep her here, insulated from the outside world. He was almost tempted to skip the wedding. He would happily have spent the rest of his life holed up in this cabin with Frankie. The rest of the world could go to hell as far as he was concerned.
“Matt—” Frankie stood in front of him, his phone in her hand “—it’s Ryan.”
Feeling guilty at being caught in the middle of contemplating ways of getting out of attending his friend’s wedding, Matt reached for a towel and took the phone from her.
Distracted by the tiny dip at the base of Frankie’s throat, he listened as his friend outlined the problem.