Page 26

Maddie had always believed she was a self-reflective person.

She knew herself and her moods and was blessed with a relaxed, peaceful disposition.

Lucy, on the other hand, was quick to lose it.

Not Maddie. Rachel would become loud when she didn’t like something.

Not Maddie. Her father would become defiant when he thought something was unjust. But not Maddie!

So, what the hell had just happened?

No matter how long she stared through the windshield at the road ahead of them, she just couldn’t figure it out.

“We were kicked out,” she finally whispered, still perplexed.

Matt grinned. “ You were kicked out,” he corrected.

“ I was kicked out,” she echoed, astonished. “Oh my God, I’ve never been kicked out of anywhere before. I hate confrontations!”

“That’s not the way it appeared just now.”

“I know! But…what happened, Matt?”

“You freaked out.”

“Oh. Yeah. That.” She swallowed. She had no idea what had come over her, but those two men’s words had made her so unbelievably angry ! “I didn’t mean to push him against the table. I…I guess I misjudged my strength.”

Matt chuckled softly. “What strength are you referring to?”

She punched him hard on the arm. “This one!”

“I didn’t feel anything. Did a fruit fly just run into me?”

She rolled her eyes. “I honestly don’t know why all these people are fans of yours when you’re so obviously an idiot.”

“You heard them, I have great hair,” he replied dryly.

She had to laugh. “Oh God, one of them said that, didn’t he?”

“Yup.”

“But your hair is a complete mess.”

“Hey, it’s intentional.”

She grinned. “Even worse.”

“You’re just jealous because you weren’t asked to do a shampoo commercial.”

“Oh my God, tell me someone actually asked you.”

He sighed. “Condoms, shampoo, bottled water...everything.”

She laughed…until she remembered that she had pushed a stranger and groaned, burying her face in her hands. It was not because she regretted it, though. The idiots had deserved it.

“Maddie?” Matt asked after a while, while they were stopped at a traffic light.

“Yes?”

“Thank you.” He lifted one corner of his mouth. “For defending my honor.”

She grimaced and her head sank back against the headrest. “That wasn’t my intention.”

“Yes, it was.”

Yes, it was. “Yeah, maybe. But I was so angry!”

“Evidently.”

“They were so disrespectful.”

“You get used to it.”

“But that’s not right! You’re not just lucky . And you’re not arrogant. And you’re certainly not an asshole.”

“That’s debatable.”

“No!” she said vehemently. “It’s not debatable. Dax, maybe. Leon, definitely. But not you!” He was a good guy. He was polite. He didn’t purposefully hurt anyone. He was… nice .

She glanced up and noticed that Matt was still looking at her. “It’s absurd,” he finally muttered. He didn’t look away until the light changed.

“What’s absurd?”

“How easy it is for you to confront people on my behalf , but it’s so difficult for you when it comes to yourself.”

“That was an exception.”

“No.” He shook his head. “When Lucy felt so bad because of Dax, you had no problem telling her and your dad what you thought. When someone towed Hailey’s tiny house, who was the first to show up at the tow yard and tell the guy off?”

She was silent.

“Exactly. You’re good at fighting, Maddie, but for some reason, you only fight for someone else, not for yourself.”

She rolled her eyes. He was exaggerating. “Are you still talking about the olives in my salad? It’s not a fight to send the food back.”

“For you, obviously it is,” he said tersely.

She bit her lip. Damn. He was right. “It was different. The thing with the olives, that’s okay. I merely choose my battles carefully. And, most of the time, other people need a battle more than I do.”

“I didn’t need it. I don’t care what people say.”

She swallowed. “I do.”

He grinned. “That was evident, too.”

Sighing heavily, she drummed her leg. “I just don’t like asking for too much for myself. I don’t need much.”

“But you need a salad without olives! And what do you mean by…asking for too much?”

Her cheeks caught fire. Sometimes, it was a shame that Matt wasn’t an asshole; then he might have just left it alone. That would have been easier. “I’ve had and still have a lot of people in my life who ask too much, Matt,” she whispered. “I don’t want to be one of them.”

“Your dad,” he replied quietly.

“For example. Rachel. Just…because she’s not here. Many clients. And…” …Clemens had also demanded too much of her: too much understanding, too much indulgence.

“And?” Matt asked.

“And nothing. When there are too many people around you who need something, Matt, you don’t feel comfortable wanting too much yourself. Because it’s exhausting. For everyone.”

He sighed heavily. “You should say ‘no’ more often, Maddie, when something is too much for you. And say ‘yes’ more often to things that are good for you.”

True, that wasn’t her strong point. “Can we talk about something else?”

“Okay. Then let’s talk about that clown that you asked out on a date tonight.”

She groaned and narrowed her eyes. “I take it back. Let’s talk about my inability to say no.”

“No way. Because, seriously, what the hell were you thinking?”

“His profile didn’t sound that bad,” she replied, defending Alfie, even though Matt was right. Alfie had been downright awful.

“But how did you come up with him in the first place? I mean…your questionnaire didn’t seem to work for you, did it?”

She sighed. She couldn’t blame the technology. “Oh, the questionnaire was fine. Alfie and I only had a compatibility match of forty-eight percent.”

“What?” he asked confused as he entered the underground parking garage. “Why is that?”

She kneaded her fingers in her lap and was grateful for the dim lighting so Matt couldn’t see her cheeks glowing so intensely.

“Well, I thought it would be better to start a little lower and work my way up. I haven’t been on a date in so long that I wanted to dip my little toe into the dating pool first.”

“But…what?” Matt parked a little more erratically than his BMW deserved. “Not even a fifty percent match?”

“No,” she admitted, unbuckling her seatbelt and hastily fleeing the car. Unfortunately, Matt was a professional athlete and acted swiftly.

“Did I understand that correctly?” he exclaimed in disbelief, slamming the door shut. “ I’m supposed to take dating seriously, but you can meet Mr. Forty-Eight Percent?”

“It was your decision to take dating seriously,” she reminded him. “And I’m trying.”

“Oh, come on.” He glared and stepped into the elevator after her. “Forty-eight percent is not trying .”

“I wanted to start off without high expectations! Speaking of which, what did you think of Christina?” She tried to sound as nonchalant as possible, but it felt as though her voice had slipped up an octave.

Matt shrugged and pressed the button for his floor. “She’s beautiful.”

A lump formed in her throat. “I know.”

“And intelligent. And funny. And open.”

Damn. “Mm hm,” she replied.

“Your algorithm wasn’t far off the mark.”

She was afraid of that. She nodded and focused on the lit button as the elevator started moving.

“But…” Matt drawled and Maddie jumped.

“But?”

“Well, she said that would be the only date.”

Her jaw dropped. Was Christina crazy?

Wide-eyed, she stared at Matt and for a few endless seconds, their gazes locked. She studied his expression carefully, looking for disappointment inside herself or…relief, maybe, but found nothing, only warmth and the memory of his words: It would be stupid to sleep together now .

Those eight words that she just couldn’t get out of her head!

“It’s okay,” Matt murmured, lifting the corner of his mouth. “It was missing that certain something, anyway.”

What was the guy talking about? If Maddie played for the other side, she would have kissed Christina senseless right there at the table.

“What ‘certain something’?” she asked and blinked, wanting to see into his mind, read his every single thought.

He frowned and leaned forward almost imperceptibly. “Chemistry, I guess,” he finally murmured. “That tingling on the back of my neck that promises more .”

Maddie’s neck tingled. She knew what he meant. And the interior of the elevator shrank with every second.

“More? What’s more?” she echoed.

His gaze flicked to her lips. It was only a tenth of a second, but she saw it. Felt it. “More,” he repeated softly. “Things you feel but don’t comprehend. That you find attractive for seemingly no reason. The attraction that comes from nowhere but is still there.”

Her fingers gripped the fabric of her dress. “Do you feel that…often?”

He shook his head. “No. But when it’s there, it doesn’t just go away.”

The elevator pinged and Maddie flinched. He wasn’t talking about them, was he?

She cleared her throat and exited, hurrying down the hall to the door. “So, if Christina doesn’t meet your standards, then they’re just too high,” she said, wanting to get back to harmless topics.

“Oh, you have no idea. And Maddie, you should be brave enough to search for one hundred percent. Or at least ninety percent.”

“One hundred percent scares me,” she admitted, unlocking the door. “What if they don’t exist? What if my dream man doesn’t exist? Or, what if I believe I’ve found him…but I’m wrong?”

Matt didn’t answer directly, so she glanced over her shoulder questioningly. She was surprised to see him narrowing his eyes at her.

“You have a list, right? A dream man checklist or something equally silly?”

“It’s not silly to write down what you want!” she countered.

“Okay, tell me. Who is your dream man?” He closed the door and went straight to the kitchen, probably because he was still extremely hungry, just like her. They had been thrown out before they could enjoy much of the food.

“You don’t want to hear it,” she said, snorting.