Page 61 of Frank

“For what?”

“What do you mean for what?”

She sighed.

“Frank. You’re not the first patient to feel me up.”

“Is that all I really am... a patient?”

“What?”

I don’t know where my courage came from. Maybe it was because it was so damn dark, I couldn’t see past the end of my nose. Maybe it was because she was finally in my room. Maybe it was because I couldn’t get her out of my head. Maybe it was because I was hoping beyond hope the others were right. All I knew was that she was only mere inches from me and I couldn’t let this moment pass.

“I want to be more than a patient, Claudia.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I want you to be mine.”

“Yours?”

Reaching for her hands, I brought her closer to me while my hands gently trailed up her arms to cup her face. I could hear her breathing increase as I slowly lowered my head to hers.

Tenderly, I kissed her lips.

Kissing her for the first time was like getting hit by lightning. Everything inside me came alive. Desire I never knew existed encompassed every aspect of my body when I wrapped my arms around her, deepening the kiss. She was so responsive, so warm, so soft.

I wanted to melt into her and be with her always.

But like all good things, it stopped when she pushed me away.

“I can’t,” she quickly whispered before running from my room leaving me standing there, alone. A cold sense of dread I never felt before told me what I already suspected.

I was unlovable.

Chapter Eighteen

Claudia

Sitting in my office two days later, I couldn’t get his words out of my head. He wanted me. Me. The big, lovable teddy bear of the clubhouse wanted me. And what did I go and do?

I told him no.

Moaning, I banged my head on my desk. “You are a fucking idiot.”

God, I fucked up big time.

I could feel it down in my bones. The sweetest man on the planet, the father of my unborn baby, the man I’ve dreamed of on more than one occasion, wanted me and I turned him down.

No. I didn’t just turn him down.

I broke his heart.

I heard him gasp when I said what I did. I didn’t need to see his face to know the pain I caused him. Any other man and I wouldn’t think twice about it, but Frank wasn’t just any man. He wore his emotions on his sleeve for all to see. He felt everything deeply. He may not be able to articulate his feelings into words, but anyone with eyes could see what he was feeling. And I’d just crushed him.

For the longest time, I thought he didn’t see me. I now knew that was a lie. I’d seen his looks of longing, want and desire when he looked at me, but I ignored everything because of some stupid belief that I couldn’t date a club brother.

But that was only an excuse.