Page 41 of Fierce-Matt

“You’re not going to tell me how to figure it out?” she asked. Everyone else in her life always tried to.

“Why would I?” he asked. “You have to live it and do the work. Could I give suggestions? Sure. But I wouldn’t do it now. It’s one date we haven’t even finished. I’ve got enough things to make up for. You don’t think I’m going to step on any fresh toes, do you?”

Dang. She judged that wrong. “You’ve changed too. How or why?”

Their dinner was brought out, giving them both a chance to think before they spoke.

After he’d taken a bite and chewed, he’d said, “I got my butt handed to me by my mother and it opened my eyes some. She’s good at that.”

“Oh boy,” she said. “I need to hear this.”

“Are you going to share why you changed if I share my story?”

“I will,” she said.

His head went side to side. “Today my mother first told me I’m a little like my grandfather.”

“Phoebe hated your grandfather.”

“He was an asshole.”

“And not someone you want to be compared to,” she said.

“You called me a jerk,” he said. “You probably think it too.”

“You were one to me years ago. You haven’t been recently, Ben’s wedding excluded.”

“So you’re reevaluating your opinion?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t,” she said.

“My mother said it was made in the context of me being cocky. I’ll admit I am. But my father and Ben are too.”

“I think a lot of men are,” she said.

“We are. The men in my family. I don’t think I’m a dick about it, but there are some that might feel otherwise.”

“I can see both sides. What else did she say to you? It had to be more than that for the puppy dog look in your eyes earlier.”

“She said I used my last girlfriend.”

Not what she wanted to hear.

“How is that?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. In their eyes I wasn’t serious and just wanted to have fun. I knew Macy wasn’t really the one so I used her for enjoyment outside of work.”

“You led her on?” she asked. Guess hehadn’tchanged all that much.

“No. Never. She approached me. We dated, but it’s not as if I gave her my full attention. She wanted to move faster than I did, but we met when I had time. I’ve had enough women want me for my name and I’m cautious.”

“You move slow when you are cautious?” she asked.

“Yes. By the way, I’m not moving slow with you.”

“You know me,” she argued.

“Not like I thought,” he said.