So he is looking for something. Sex. That’s why he’s found an excuse to stop by every day this week.
I release a long sigh. “Stone likes that he’s seen me in something skimpy that I’d never wear in public, and he thinks if he’s nice to me...” I start to explain.
“No, Cami,” Raven’s quick to interrupt. “It’s not like that at all. I know he comes across a bit awkward, but Stone’s a great guy. He likes to pretend he’s a player, but I promise you he’s not.”
“Is that why he wants to help me? I haven’t been very receptive to his ideas or his help,” I admit. “And I can tell that I wear his patience.”
“He’s hoping to change your impression of him.”
Have I read this all wrong? Are my insecurities blurring my vision and convincing me that a good-looking man like Stone can’t possibly have a real, deep interest in me?
“Raven, please,” I reach for her hand, desperate to keep her talking. “I have no one to talk to about him, and I don’t understand. He’s right, we didn’t get off to a great start. He was rude and...and he didn’t stop staring at my boobs. At one point, I thought he was going to see how they fit in his hands.”
She giggles, which earns a sharp look from me. “Sorry. Go on.”
“Then, he asked me to come here. Just before opening the door, he made sure I knew it wasn’t a date. He actually said bringing me here was a good deed. Like he was embarrassed to be with me.”
It feels good to let it out and get someone else’s opinion. Someone who’s not trying to marry me off to the first willing man.
“Honey,” she pats my hand with her free one. “Breathe.” She smiles as I take her advice and calm down. “I’m putting the pieces together. I’ve never seen the version of Stone that you’re describing. Usually, he’s gruff, but not rude. I think he might have been so overwhelmed by his attraction to you that hestumbled over his words and thoughts. But he definitely has it bad for you, Cami. It’s not just physical. He’s interested in you.”
I want to believe her, but every time I thinkmaybe...I have flashbacks to the train wreck that is my dating history, and I lose confidence. Guys looking for a quick fling, married men, and finally, Miguel, the ultimate liar and cheater.
“I don’t know.”
“I do. He came here earlier, frantic to find you. He thought you might be in danger.”
“Danger? What gave him that idea? That’s ridiculous.”
“Maybe, maybe not. He saw a man looking in your window, and it worried him. Stone considers himself a protector. I don’t think he’d be as over-the-top worried as he was for no reason.”
“If a man was looking in my window, he was interested in the building, not me,” I assure my new friend.
“Well, now that you know that Stone has a crush, how about you? Would you be averse to dating him?”
I think about his muscular body. His larger-than-Popeye biceps. And his strong, thick-like-tree-trunk thighs and round, squeezable ass. Maybe I’m the one objectifying. I take a breath and think of his beautiful eyes and the smile that makes my pulse race. Yeah, I’ve got a crush. More like I’m infatuated. Seriously infatuated.
I think of last night. How easy it was to be with him. Even when we were blanketed by silence, it was warm and comfortable. I don’t want to admit that I feel a connection to Stone, and it terrifies me. I wonder if I barricaded myself in my apartment to keep safe from him, or to keep him safe from me.
And now that I know he likes me...
“I don’t know why we’re talking about this. I didn’t move here to date. I moved here to start a life for myself.”
“Why can’t you do both?”
