Page 150 of Fierce-Matt

Jolene was going to lose her chance to speak to Anya, but she could watch from a distance at the very least.

“I’m notsurprised you’re here,” Anya said when she saw Matt come to the bar.

“I wanted to talk to you,” he said. “I don’t like the way things were left. I’m not going to let you run and hide and not be honest with me.”

“Oh really?” she asked with her hands on her hips. “You want to talk about honesty? And I texted you last night.”

She would not hide and not talk to him.

That wasn’t her way.

She needed time to process what she found out and once she did, she’d told him they could talk.

Did she overreact? Just a touch.

She should have stayed to talk to him yesterday and get the facts, but she let her emotions get the best of her like she had as a child.

“You said you would talk today,” he said. “I’m here. I want to talk.”

“I didn’t think that meant you’d show up before I started work.” He wasn’t in a suit jacket or tie, which meant he didn’t have court today.

“I made the time,” he said. “Can we talk?” He looked at his watch. “You’ve got twenty minutes.”

“I need to get ready,” she said. “We can talk here.”

“I’ll set up,” Jolene shouted. “Go take your time.”

Jolene came running over and stepped behind the bar.

“I can’t ask you to do that,” Anya said.

“You’re not asking. I’m offering. I know a thing or two about bartending. Go,” Jolene said, shooing them off.

There was no way out of this and Anya wanted to get this conversation over with.

“Did you ask her to cover for me?”

“No,” Matt said. “She stopped me in the parking lot to talk to me. I don’t even know if she knows what is going on.”

“She knows everything,” Anya said. “Or she suspects it.”

“I would say my mother could have said something, but I hoped she wouldn’t go behind my back and confess everything that was said.”

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“First, I’m sorry. I should have told you about Macy, but I honestly thought nothing of it. I wasn’t hiding it. I asked you to trust me and you have. You do. I can see where this might have cracked your trust in me. I’m hoping it didn’t shatter it.”

“No,” she said. “It was a pinhole when I heard, but then last night I realized I do trust you. I don’t believe for a second you would purposely withhold it from me.”

“I didn’t.”

“And if it’s work related, you can’t tell me,” she said.

“She came in and wanted me to get her out of something,” he said. “She lied to me about the situation. I told her no. I’m not going into any other details because they don’t matter. She was guilty, but it’s not my problem. I’ve defended guilty clients in the past. When I said I wouldn’t do it, she opened the door to my office and loudly accused me of being unethical toward her.”

“That’s disgusting.”

“It is. My parents were eavesdropping outside the door. Macy didn’t expect that. My mother escorted her out of the building and set her straight. They made me realize that is the type of woman I went for in my life because I didn’t take enough seriously. I needed to get through all of that to know how much greater it was when I got you in the end.”