Page 39 of Fierce-Matt

“Fries,” he said. When the server walked away, he added, “Don’t need to have onion breath later.”

“Why?” she asked. “It’s not as if you’re getting that close for me to smell it.”

Shoved back in place quickly.

10

PEGGED ONE WAY

Matt stilled at her words that she wasn’t getting close tonight. She was only speaking the truth.

Then he laughed when it registered that she more or less said it was dinner and conversation tonight.

She wasn’t ready for anything else.

He had a lot of ground to make up for her to think of him as someone more than a childhood tormentor having matured.

That was a far cry from a guy she was interested in getting to know on a more personal level.

“I like this new you who isn’t afraid to speak her mind. I’m going to want to know why you changed too.”

“You want to know a lot,” she said. “Are you going to share with me?”

“Absolutely. I told you I would.”

Her head went back and forth. She wasn’t sure how much she’d share exactly. It’d be a fine line she’d have to not break.

But when she looked at him as a full-grown adult who had only gotten sexier with age, her secret schoolgirl crush was the angel on her shoulder screaming to open up.

The devil teenager was standing on the other shoulder jumping up and down and saying he’ll make her cry again, it’s not worth it.

“You asked what I liked to do. I’ve been trying to figure that out for years. What I want to do is find something that is sustainable for the long term. School wasn’t for me. It never was.”

“It’s not for everyone,” he said.

“I’ve had a lot of different jobs.”

“Like what?”

She wouldn’t be embarrassed about her work history. “I’ve done several customer service type things. Office jobs. In a hospital checking people in. A doctor’s office. I’ve done customer service for cell phone companies. Anything that required sales I struggled with.”

“And you ended up in real estate?”

She grinned. “Ironic, I know. I wasn’t thinking of it that way. I don’t push my clients enough. I bend over backwards for them and it bites me on the butt from time to time. The thing is, as much as I hate sales, I really enjoy helping people find their dreams.”

“It didn’t bite you for the owners here,” he said. “At least not from my viewpoint.”

“No. But most times clients don’t care that they are demanding. They have the mentality that I work for them and have to earn my commission.”

“It’s not right, but I understand it. Attorneys are thought of the same way.”

“I don’t think it’s of the same caliber,” she said.

“You should always treat people with respect and I’m assuming that hasn’t been the case?”

“Not even close. It took me a long time to get my first sale. I had dollar signs in my eyes and that was wrong. I had to stopthinking of what I could make and focus on what they needed. It’s a lot of work. Yes, when you get that big commission check it feels as if it was all worth it. Almost like a gambling addiction to make you go back for more.”

“I think most people in sales relate to that.”