Months.
Watching her laugh with customers. Watching her tuck that dark hair behind her ear. Watching her mouth get her into trouble every five damn minutes. Half the time, I wasn’t even listening to what she said because I was too busy imagining what that smart mouth would sound like saying my name in bed.
I wasn’t some lovesick kid with a crush.
I was a man who knew exactly what he wanted.
I wanted Frankie.
And after that kiss? All bets were off as to how long my patience would actually hold.
“You’re awfully quiet, Max.” Frankie’s voice broke the silence.
I cut a glance at her. She was chewing on her lower lip—the same lip I’d bruised with my own yesterday. She looked nervous, her hands twisted in her lap, but there was a flush on her cheeks that told me she was thinking about the same thing I was. That brought on a low, insistent throb behind my fly.
“Just thinking,” I rumbled.
“About how much you hate your cousin? Or about how much you want to throw Tiffany off a mountain?”
A smirk tugged at my mouth despite the tension. “Blood thirsty little devil, aren’t you?”
She shrugged, making the green blouse she was wearing slip a little bit off her shoulder. “If the shoe fits…”
“Well, that option is growing on me. But mostly I’m wondering if you realize what you walked into when you claimed to be mine.”
Mine.
I probably shouldn’t have liked saying that as much as I did.
“I have to warn you, most of my family — Leo’s side — are a pit full of vipers. And Leo is the biggest snake of the bunch.”
Frankie laughed and I realized I hadn’t heard nearly often enough.
“They can’t be that bad.”
My silence was my answer.
“I was just trying to help. Tiffany was being a judgmental ice queen and I seriously considered introducing her to the business end of a staple gun.”
That dragged a laugh out of me before I could stop it.
Damn. I couldn’t remember the last time a woman had made me laugh.
“And you thought pretending to date me was the smart solution?”
She winced. “In fairness, the side of my brain that’s a little crazy was driving at the time.”
“I noticed.”
She groaned and dropped her face into her hands. “Please don’t remind me. I basically assaulted you in front of your ex-girlfriend.”
“Frankie,” I said roughly, “if that was assault, I’d happily volunteer to be a victim again.”
Her head snapped toward me so fast I almost smiled.
Pink flooded her cheeks again.
Fuck, she was cute when she got flustered.
