Guy Hater (Fisher Brothers 2)

“I’m your two o’clock,” I said, willing my nerves to shut down and pull it together.

“You’re serious?” She cast a glance toward Britney, who buried her face in a file folder, pretending not to be watching our every move.

I wasted no time. Without a word, I took the clipboard from Claudia’s hand as I rested my other hand on the small of her back and guided her toward her office.

“I’m serious. We have business to discuss,” I whispered into her ear, thrilling at the sight of tiny goose bumps appearing on her bare shoulder. Another good sign, I thought, even if her reaction had been involuntary.

She looked stunned but moved willingly with me, and closed the door behind us as I took a seat in the guest chair across from her desk. God, she looked sexy as hell, all professional and in charge.

“Why are you here? I’m pretty sure you don’t need a business loan.” She tried to sound tough as she sat down, keeping her spine ramrod straight, but I sensed the hurt underneath her businesslike tone.

“I needed to see you so I could apologize in person. You wouldn’t return my calls or my texts. You left me no choice.”

Her expression hardened before I could explain. Shit. I’d said something wrong.

“No choice? I left you no choice? That’s rich,” she spat out at me. “What about me and the fact that you neglected to tell me that you had a girlfriend the entire time you were”—she sucked in a breath, waving one hand in the air—“whatever it was you were trying to do with me. What was I, Frank? A conquest? A notch on your belt?”

Like the fool I so clearly was, I hadn’t been prepared for this level of anger. I knew she’d be upset, but hadn’t anticipated how deep that anger might run. The only way to counter her heightened emotions was to stay calm, keep my responses measured and even, and be honest.

I had to be more honest that I’d ever been in my life.

“You were unexpected,” I said, the words spilling straight from my heart. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. I know I messed up, okay? I should have told you about Shelby, but I couldn’t.”

“You could have, but you didn’t.” She glared at me. “There’s a difference. I didn’t have a choice, but you did. You chose not to tell me, and I want to know why. Do you do this all the time? Is this some sort of sick MO for you? Is leading women on just a game?”

I shook my head, hating that she could think so little of me, but knowing deep down that I deserved it. I’d expected her to see me as the stand-up guy I had always tried to be, but when it came to Claudia, I hadn’t acted like one.

“No. God, no. I’ve never done this before. Not one time. I swear it.”

Her expression softened briefly before she hardened it again. She had the upper hand, and I needed to swing the pendulum in my favor somehow. I wouldn’t give up this easily.

Her lips pressed into a firm line. “Why should I believe you?”

Hell, I didn’t have a good answer to that question. Why would she believe anything I said to her? If I were in her shoes, I wouldn’t believe me either.

“Because it’s the truth.” I reached across the desk for her hand, but she pulled it away, refusing to let me touch her.

“So you expect me to believe that in all the years you were with your girlfriend and not happy, you never wanted to cheat on her until I came into the picture?” Her accent thickened as she continued. “That’s what you’re telling me?”

My jaw tightened as I worked it. I didn’t like what Claudia was insinuating or how she was thinking. “Yes. That’s what I’m telling you. I’m not a cheater,” I ground out, even though technically it was a lie. “Yes, I crossed an emotional line with you. And, hell yes, I wanted to kiss you every fucking time you were near me, but I didn’t. And yes, Claudia, I do expect you to believe me.”

I was frustrated, even though I knew I had no right. I had dug this hole I was in all on my own, but that didn’t stop me from wanting this woman to send down a rope and help me climb out. Instead, it felt like she kept kicking me back down as soon as I neared the top.

Claudia crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair. “Why me? What makes me so special?”

Why her? Didn’t she have any idea the kind of effect she had on me, the sheer pull that her existence held on my soul? Fuck. How could I put this connection into words so she’d understand? How did you explain the unexplainable?

I stared at my hands in my lap for a moment, digging deep for the right words to express the crazy feelings I’d had for this woman since I first laid eyes on her. Everything I came up with seemed stupid or crazy, but when I glanced up and found her unexpectedly looking at me with yearning in her eyes before she masked it, the words came easily.

“I’ve never had my world so shaken up from a single look before, okay? But that’s what it felt like the moment I saw you. The very foundation that I stood on split and cracked in two. I knew I could never be the same again. It sounds cheesy as hell and like something Ryan would say, but I swear it’s the truth, Claudia. Meeting you was like looking up at the stars and realizing there was an entire galaxy up there that you never knew existed. And then, every time you walked outside and looked up, it would be all you could see. And now, you’re all I can see.”

“Jesus, Frank,” she said low, her voice breaking. “You can’t run around saying things like that to a girl unless you mean it.”

I stared into her warm brown eyes. “I mean it. I’ve never meant anything more.”

She swallowed and looked away for a moment, obviously trying to pull herself together. I prayed that meant she was trying to repair the cracks in her armor that I hoped I’d inflicted.

Her tone was stronger, but still a little shaky when she responded. “If I’m a galaxy, then what is your girlfriend?”