He stood up as she wrapped the ridiculously long, multicolored scarf around her neck.
“How do you know it isn’t?”
“Because in the couple weeks I’ve known you, the only person that can’t help but like you is you. Carter spends one afternoon with you and he seems like a better kid—like he has someone he might want to look up to. Sure, you were kind of a jerk the first couple times we met, but when you thought I was in trouble, you were there. No questions asked. You helped me look for a little boy you didn’t even know. You’re funny and smart, and so goddamn annoying, it’s maddening. But you’re also kind and good. And real. You came here to get away from what everyone was saying, but it doesn’t do you any good if you’re going to walk around believing it anyway.”
She started walking to the door while he still stood there, open-mouthed. She’d made it to the edge of the living room when he finally moved to catch up with her. Grabbing her arm, he swung her around. She tipped her head back, scrunching her nose and looking like she wanted to yell some more.
“I’ve made more mistakes than I can count,” he said quietly. Her frustration made it easier to stay calm.
“Who the hell hasn’t?”
He smirked, pulled her closer. “You just swore,” he commented.
She rested her hands on her chest and let out a heavy breath. “Maybe you are a bad influence.”
He laughed, the ache in his chest loosening. Leaning down, he rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, inhaling the scent of her shampoo and the sweetness that was uniquely Frankie. When he opened his eyes, she was watching him. She kept watching him as she went up on tiptoe and kissed him. He’d practically drowned in her last time, but this time was softer, sweeter, and slower. She kissed one cheek then the other, the gentleness that was innately part of her thawing pieces of him that he’d thought were gone. When her lips found his again, he pulled her up tighter so he could close his mouth over hers, his hands sliding around to her back, down, until her couldn’t get any closer to her, not with clothes in the way. The kiss stayed gentle, alarmingly sexy, but gentle. Much like the woman he was kissing.
When she pulled away, she whispered his name. Not his last name like his teammates called him or some nickname the media dubbed him with. Not baby or honey. Just Ryan. She didn’t want anything from him. And damn if that wasn’t appealing.
“Stay,” he whispered, kissing her again, moving his lips to the soft spot beneath her ear.
“I can’t. I have to do a few more articles. My editor is expecting them tonight.” She arched her neck so he could continue. He laughed against her skin.
“What are these ones on? I could help you research,” he said, nibbling his way down to her collarbone. He smiled against it when he heard her sigh. Her breath was warm on his ear, sending tingles up his spine.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said.
He pulled away and frowned at her, which just made her laugh. “Why not?” He remembered Cameron’s words. She’d said yes to dinner, but that didn’t mean anything. Frankie didn’t seem like the type to play anyone, but did she know that Cameron was interested in being more than neighbors?
She moved her hands up and down his T-shirt, causing the hem to slip up. Her fingers found his skin and he lost his train of thought. “Because you’re distracting and I wouldn’t actually get any work done. Because the boys are over there probably watching a scary movie that will give Miles nightmares. Because I have to figure some things out,” she answered.
Ryan rubbed his own hands up and down her back but he couldn’t feel as much of her as he wanted to through her coat.
“Things like what to wear for your dinner date with Cameron?” He didn’t want to ask. But he wanted to know. Her eyes widened and she started to say something, stopped, then started again.
“Uh—no. That’s not actually the most pressing thing on my mind. He asked, I said yes. There’s no romantic interest on my part.”
He shrugged. “Might want to tell Cam that.”
“I guess I’ll have to spell it out for him. Apparently, men aren’t very good at reading plain-as-day signals. For instance, you seem to be missing the obvious signs of who I am interested in.”
Her eyes darted away before looking down to where her fingers were drawing circles on his chest. He shouldn’t need reassurance. He fucking hated that the words she said soothed an ache inside of him.
“I guess I’ve noticed a few signs. The way you stare at me and find reasons to be around me,” he said, trying to lighten the tension that was making the room feel smaller. She smacked his chest and looked up at him with laughing eyes.
“It’s nice of you to be so gracious about all that.” She tried to fight her smile by biting her bottom lip. The muscles around his heart contracted, hard and fast. Like they weren’t used to feeling anything so good.
“I should be pushing you in his direction. You deserve someone…more solid. Better at this sort of thing,” Ryan said, the truth of that weighing heavily in his gut.
“You seem plenty solid to me.” She shook her head when she looked up at him. Running both hands up his chest, she wound them around his neck, going back on her tiptoes. “I don’t need a matchmaker. If you’re not into me, I can handle that, Ryan. But don’t tell me who I should be attracted to or hook up with based on what you think you know about me.”
She kissed him again, long enough that he forgot she needed to go. Until she reminded him as he was pulling on the zipper of her jacket that she couldn’t stay. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d truly wanted anyone to stay. Which scared the hell out of him, but not enough to make him push her away. With one more lingering kiss, Frankie pulled back and out of his arms. He stayed rooted to the spot he was in so he was less tempted to haul her back.
“I hear you’re going to Cameron’s open house thing,” Ryan said. He crossed his arms over his chest and his jaw tightened.
“Yes. He invited me. We can go together,” she answered, hand on the doorknob.
It’s what he’d wanted to hear, but still, uncertainty spread in his gut. The sensation burned, like acid on a wound. “That should be interesting, seeing as he all but told me you’re going as his date.”
She blinked and stepped away from the door. “Ryan. I’m not. I didn’t tell him that. I did say yes to dinner with him sometime, but I told him I wanted to know more about the issues he supported. I was thinking that something in his campaign platform might work in the boys’ favor. If he thinks it was more, then he heard what he wanted to hear. Did you really think I’d let you kiss me in my kitchen and then make a date with someone else ten minutes later?”
Ryan ground his teeth together. When she said it like that, it sounded stupid, like he was an insecure fucking teenager. What did he care if she had dinner with the guy? But it must have shown on his face that he did, because she stepped closer to him.
She didn’t touch him, but her voice moved over him like a caress. “Now, if you wanted to ask me out to dinner, it would be entirely different.”
“Do you want to have dinner with me?”
She tipped her head back and laughed. “I’ll think about it.”
He kissed her again, feeling like he could do just that for hours. He couldn’t stop himself from wrecking the moment though, from getting out the words he needed to say. “I don’t share. If we’re dating or a…thing or whatever the hell you want to call it, and Cam makes a move, he might end up eating his teeth.”
She put both of her hands on his cheeks and looked at him with so much affection that he felt the same pinch in his chest as he had when he’d pulled out the bat his brother gave him. He kept his hands on her waist.
“I’m not entirely sure, but I think that was really sweet. The thing is, you don’t have to worry about anyone else if you trust me. And I promise, Ryan, you can trust me,” she said softly, almost like she was soothing him. His fingers tightened on her waist.
He wanted her,
but he had to be honest. “I’m not great at promises. Giving them or taking them.”
She nodded, like that made sense. “Good thing I’m not asking you for any then.” Opening the door, she gave a one-sided smile, a hint of something he couldn’t name in her eyes. “I like pizza. And movies. Especially on big-screen TVs.”
His nerves unwound and he smiled. “Pretty easy to please. Tomorrow night?”
She nodded. “It’s a date.”
When she left, he stood in the foyer staring at the closed door. He’d just made a date with a woman who baffled him, turned him on, and made him laugh. He’d had plenty of dates in his life. Lots of girlfriends. He should have kept it at that, but he’d added wife to that list. And then ex-wife. But he’d never met a woman like Frankie, a woman who was innately kind, generous to a fault, and calm. One that wasn’t satisfied with outward appearances and had to keep digging until she got to the heart of what was really there. She’d done that with the boys and she was doing it with him. No, he’d never dated a woman like Frankie Vaughn. That both excited and terrified him.
Chapter 15
Frankie learned exactly why couples with children talked about the importance of “date night” the next evening. She’d been getting dressed to go hang out at Ryan’s when Miles knocked on her open bedroom door.
“Hey, bud. How’s it going?” She sat on the air mattress and pulled on a pair of bright pink Converse.
“What are you doing?” He walked further into the room. His pants were too loose and Frankie wondered if he’d lost weight during his illness.
“I’m going to go hang out at Ryan’s for a few hours,” she answered as she tied her laces.
“But who’s gonna help me with my essay?”
Frankie looked up at him and blinked. “What essay?”
“My teacher says we gotta write an all about me essay. Travis is sleeping and Carter says I don’t want him helping me.”
She frowned. Okay, at least it was writing and only the second grade, right? “When’s it due?”
“Tomorrow.”
Of course. “Why didn’t you mention this before, bud?”
Miles shrugged and walked over to her air mattress to sit down. She really needed to order a bed.
“Okay. Can we work on it when I get back from Ryan’s?” Even as she said it, she knew that wouldn’t work. It was close to seven now and if they were watching a movie, there was no way Miles would stay up until she got back.
“Never mind,” she said before he could answer. “Go get your stuff and bring it to the kitchen table.”
He smiled, bounced off the bed and left the room. Disappointment tugged at her chest, but she knew Ryan would understand. She texted and apologized and teased about having to make it up to him. She frowned when his only reply was: no worries.
Forty minutes later, she and Miles had mapped out a plan and organized a rough draft. She heard the knock, but let Carter answer the door. A moment later, Ryan walked into the kitchen carrying a pizza with a brown paper bag resting on top of it.
Frankie’s heartbeat sped up and she couldn’t stop her smile. “Hey. What are you doing here?”
“Pizza!” Miles scrambled out of his seat and hurried over to Ryan, who grinned down at him.
“Not so fast, mister. You done your homework?”
Frankie bit her lip to suppress the dreamy sigh that wanted to escape.
Miles looked back at Frankie. “We’re almost done, right?”
She nodded. “Just about. He’s working on his good copy.”
Carter, who’d joined them, pulled some plates out of the cupboard. “I don’t have homework so I can have some now.”
Ryan shot him a wry glance and arched an eyebrow.
Carter smirked at him. “Please?”
Frankie laughed. “How can you say no to that?”
They shared the pizza at the table while Miles finished his essay and Travis slept on the couch. They saved him a piece and even though he’d barely arrived, when it was time for Miles to go to bed, Ryan kissed Frankie on the cheek and said goodnight. As she waited for Miles to brush her teeth, he spoke around the toothbrush in his mouth.
“You and Ryan got crushes on each other,” he mumbled.
Frankie laughed. “Maybe. Do you have any crushes?”
His eyes widened and he pulled the toothbrush out of his mouth. “No! That’s gross.”
She could see he truly meant it. He rinsed his mouth and walked out of the bathroom. “Carter’s always got crushes though. I’m never gonna be like him.”
Frankie could only nod and think, just wait, bud.
A few nights later, Ryan took Frankie out on a real date. She leaned back in the leather seat and watched the landscape sail past.
“You’re not even going to ask?” Ryan glanced over from the driver’s seat. He wore a short-sleeve, black polo shirt despite the chill of the evening. Frankie didn’t mind as it let her admire his tattoo. In black and red ink, he had what she guessed was the seam of a baseball encircling his forearm. Block letters under the seam read MMV.
“Ask what?”
He checked the rearview and then switched lanes, pulling off of the freeway. “Where we’re going.”
“It doesn’t really matter. I’m just glad that homework and coughing and article deadlines didn’t get in the way. What are the letters?”
His smile was warm. “2005. When I signed my contract.”
“How old were you?”
“Nineteen.”
Frankie thought about that as Ryan drove. They were about twenty minutes outside of West Lake and now that he’d mentioned it, she was getting curious. “Nineteen is young,” she commented.
He shrugged. “Felt like it took forever to get there. What were you doing at nineteen?”
He took a right turn that led them onto a winding road. She thought back. “I’d enrolled in writing courses, but hadn’t told my parents so I was sneaking out to college and the library.” She hadn’t exactly been a rebel.
Like he thought he same thing, Ryan scoffed. “Wild child. Why would you have to sneak off to college? Don’t most parents want their kids to go to school?”
The road was taking them up and Frankie saw a lake out her side. “They thought it was a waste of time. If I just traveled in the right circles, I’d secure a well-off husband and wouldn’t need to worry about my education.”
Ryan glanced over at her, his mouth hanging open slightly. She nodded and laughed. “My thoughts exactly.”
At the end of the road was an adorable cliff-top restaurant. It looked like a modern day, elaborate grass hut overlooking the water. “I heard this place was good. Mostly seafood. That okay?”
She nodded and locked her gaze on him as he parked the truck. It shouldn’t make her feel warm inside that he’d thought ahead; that he’d been thinking of their date like she had.
He turned off the car and found her staring at him. “What?”
Undoing her seatbelt, she slid across the leather and kissed him. “Thank you.”
“For what?” He brought his hand to her arm and rubbed up and down.
“Just for this. For dinner. For a nice night out. For being flexible and sweet.”
He laughed. “You’re an interesting woman, Frankie. About the easiest person to please that I’ve ever met.” He kissed her again then rested his forehead against hers. “And you’re welcome.”
The restaurant wasn’t busy and they were seated near a stone fireplace that went all the way to the ceiling. The Beach Boys played in the background softly and Frankie felt like she was on a tropical island. Not really a grass hut, the restaurant had floor-to-ceiling windows that let them look out over the water. The waitress brought them a dinner and drink menu.
“I’ll have a glass of house red,” Frankie said.
“Just club soda for me,” Ryan said. The waitress stared at him a moment longer than Frankie thought was necessary before collecting the drink menu.
“Sure. I’
ll be right back.”
She was mid-eye roll when Ryan turned his attention back to Frankie. “What?”
Frankie shook her head. “Even if they don’t know you’re a former ballplayer, women go dreamy eyed over you.”
Ryan’s laugh was genuine, like she’d said something hilarious. “There’s only one woman I’m interested in making dreamy eyed. And your eyes look pretty damn clear.”
It was her turn to laugh. “Maybe I just hide it well.”
“I’ll have to work harder to bring it out of you.”
Frankie shivered at the thought and didn’t let him know that he really wouldn’t have to work that hard at all.
When the waitress returned, they ordered two different seafood meals and agreed to share. Frankie couldn’t help but tease him. “And here you said you didn’t like to share.”
He folded his arms across the table and leaned forward. “Food is fine for sharing. Women, not so much. Speaking of which, did you tell your not-so-secret admirer that you aren’t going to his little block party as his date?”
Frankie sipped her wine then set it down. “I haven’t had a chance. I figured I’d let him read between the lines when I show up with you.”
Satisfaction gleamed in his gaze and made her stomach feel like she’d spun around too fast. “That’ll work. So, why West Lake? Just because of the house?”
She shrugged and glanced at the patterned table cloth. Because she wasn’t a coward, she looked back up to see he was watching her. “Mostly I hated the thought that Beth died alone and her own brother didn’t even want to come here to close up her house or pack up her belongings. He took care of everything over the phone and would have sold it to the first interested buyer if I hadn’t stopped him.”
“You and Beth weren’t close.”
Twisting her napkin between her fingers, she shook her head. “No. And I started thinking about that. How she didn’t have anyone and I worried her life was empty and then I started thinking about my own life and realized I wasn’t one to judge. I was on the board of six charities, a trophy-fiancée, and pretty miserable to be honest.”
Caught Looking Page 10