Page 15 of Fierce-Matt

“Come on,” he said. “You were the class clown, not me. Who do you think I learned it all from?”

Matt had idolized his older brother. Sure, there were times he took jokes a bit too far. Or didn’t gauge his audience properly, but it was all in good fun.

At least in his eyes.

“Seriously?” Ben asked.

“Yeah. Don’t tell me this is your light bulb moment.”

Ben laughed. “Guess it is.”

“I learned from the best,” he said.

Ben shook his head. “Don’t put that on my shoulders. I knew where to draw the line. Most times I got people to laugh atmyexpense, not theirs.”

His brother was right. “We approach things differently.”

“We do,” Ben said. “Which is why you’re standing here hoping to get the woman who can’t stand you to give you another forced smile. Want to go out and get a snack now?”

“It wasn’t forced,” he argued.

Ben lifted an eyebrow at him. “You keep telling yourself that.”

4

FEEL LIKE A FOOL

Such a waste of good looks on a jackass.

Matt Kelly walked into the tasting room looking like sex on a stick in his suit, butting in front of paying customers, and having his brother get him a beer.

She’d heard Ben’s name paged but had thought little of it.

Until she noticed Matt walk with his brother in the back of the tasting room.

Matt was cockier than the only rooster in the henhouse.

The older brother of her best friend that she’d always had a little crush on.

But he’d... crushed her crush.

His jokes and interruption of her time with Phoebe used to make her laugh.

Even make her feel special that he’d seek her out.

The more she laughed, the worse he got.

Until sometimes he made her feel like a fool.

She’d gotten enough of that at home from her brother.

She handed another beer over and reached for her cell phone in her back pocket when it vibrated.

“Yes,” she said, doing a fist pump.

“Everything okay?” Justin asked, grinning at her as he stood next to her behind the bar.

“The offer that I wrote up and sent in this morning was just accepted.”