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My stomach twisted at her confession. I’d do anything to keep her from harm, but I couldn’t tell her that. Not when everything I did was the exact fucking opposite. Her emotions weren’t safe with me. Her feelings weren’t safe.
I should tell her about Shelby.
I need to tell her.
But at the sight of the softness of Claudia’s brown eyes when she looked at me, I melted on the spot. If she knew the truth, she’d never look at me the same way again. Everything soft would turn hard, and I’d lose her forever.
So I kept my damn mouth shut.
More Than a Little Crush
Claudia
Frank’s expression changed when I told him that I trusted him. Convinced that I’d scared him with my honesty, I tried to pull back. I was a little rusty when it came to dating, and had forgotten how easily guys could be scared off, even if Frank hadn’t seemed like the type.
“Can I ask you something about the bar?” I scrambled for a subject change, hoping it would ease the tension radiating from him.
“Anything,” he said, and the worry lines between his brows disappeared altogether.
Thank God.
“What’s the plan? Do you eventually want to open more bars, or just keep this one?”
“That’s a great question, actually,” he said, sounding almost out of breath. “I’m honestly not sure what the future holds, but for now we’re happy with just this one location. It keeps us all in one place, and we really like working together. If we had multiple bars, we’d spread out and never see each other, and none of us would like that idea. Does that sound stupid?”
It was completely endearing to see this tough-looking, confident man be a little insecure and unsure.
“I like it when you think like a person instead of a computer,” I teased. I couldn’t help it. That had been too golden of an opportunity to pass up.
“Yeah, yeah. I know we could increase our income by opening more bars, but we’re not really in it for the money.”
“So he’s human after all.” I all but swooned, and Frank shook his head at me before raising his hand and making a tiny space between his finger and thumb.
“Only a little.”
I reached across the table and parted the space between his fingers as wide as they would go. “I think it’s sweet.”
“Sweet?” He raised his eyebrows in challenge.
“Yeah. It’s sweet that you boys like each other that much. You’re lucky. I don’t have any siblings.” I’d always wanted a brother or sister, but eventually accepted the fact that my mom and Bradley were never going to give me one, even though I put it on my Christmas list in the number-one spot every year for at least a decade.
“Did you hate being an only child?”
“I didn’t hate it, per se. It wasn’t bad, just a little lonely sometimes. But I’d always been intrigued by the idea of having a built-in, forever kind of best friend. You know?”
He nodded. “I do know. We’re pretty lucky. The five Fishers.”
“Five? Oh, you three plus your mom and dad. I get it. Are you showing off your finance major?” I asked, not seriously because he didn’t seem like the numbers type. I wasn’t sure why, but Frank could have told me he majored in How to Make Walking Look Sexy and I would have believed him.
“I did, actually.”
“You did not! I was only joking.”
“I did.”
I tilted my head and stared at his rugged jawline, longing to run my fingers along the scruff that lined it. “I guess I can see it. After all, you do handle the finances for the bar, don’t you?”
“I thought you didn’t know anything else about me and my brothers?”
