Page 7 of Matched By Mistake
“Why?”
“It’s the gentlemanly thing to do,” he said.
“Are you a gentleman?”
“I try. I know I came on too strong earlier, but I do try,” he said.
“Why did you do that?”
“Seemed like you were looking at me like you wanted to kiss me,” he said.
She blushed and chewed her lower lip. “I was thinking about it.”
“Were you? Then why’d you stop me?”
“I don’t always have the best instincts when it comes to men,” she said. She wasn’t going to pretend this was easy for her. She wanted him, but that made her doubt that she should have him. Her own gut was so unreliable when it came to the dating choices she’d made she couldn’t trust it. Could she trust Misha’s app? God, she had no idea.
“Why is that?”
“I’m not sure. I was left almost at the altar, which doesn’t help,” she said.
“I read about that. What happened?”
“That’s not a barely know-you conversation,” she said.
“Isn’t it? I find that people are most honest when they don’t know you,” he said. “I mean there’s nothing really to lose by being honest at this point. We might not even go on more than one date.”
She tipped her head to the side studying him. She’d never thought of it that way. But it made her realize that he must have a lot of experience with first dates. “Been out with a lot of strangers?”
“I have. I keep things casual. So if your gut is saying he’s not looking for forever, it’s right,” he said.
“I’m not looking for forever, either.” She didn’t know if she’d ever be able to be engaged again. All the pressure that came with it wasn’t something she was sure she wanted to sign up for. But more than the pressure was the broken hopes and dreams. The life she’d thought she’d have with Randall that was suddenly gone. And as much as she knew she’d gotten lucky that he’d bailed before they were married and had kids, she wasn’t sure she’d ever trust a man enough to get that close to marriage again.
“Maybe the app knew that,” he said. “Damn. I can’t even believe this.”
“I know, right?” She couldn’t help the giggle that came out of her. She’d spent the last two years avoiding any man. No dates, no fix-ups when her mom had subtly mentioned trying to set her up. Nothing. And then this very public match to a Winters.
He laughed, too, and then shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck. “Crazy. Trey is a big believer in this app, which is why I downloaded it.”
“Yeah? Misha’s a genius and I trust her, which is why I did,” Maggie admitted. “And if I’m being totally honest, and since by your reckoning, I can be with you—I’m intrigued to see if there’s more to you than meets the eye and where this leads.”
“Into my arms?” he asked.
“Let’s figure out if our families and us dating is going to happen first,” she said. “I know I checkedspontaneousbut I’m not. I’m cautious. I’m not a planner, but I don’t ever just leap.”
He nodded. “I do when it comes to dating. Seems like when you try to plan a relationship...”
“It never works out,” she finished.
“Exactly.”
They’d gotten to the end of the hall and he opened the door for her. The heat of the Texas August afternoon wafted in, wrapping around her and stirring her hair, making the strands wrap around her neck. She reached up to push it back.
“It’s been interesting meeting you. See you tonight,” she said, then turned and walked away.
He was too intriguing. It wasn’t just the sex thing. It was the way he looked at life and the contradictions between what she’d expected of a Winters and who Jericho was. To be fair, she hadn’t really thought of him as a Winters. Not really. Jericho was too big a presence to lump in with that rival clan.
But she knew she was going to have to face that. She put her sunglasses on as she walked toward her car and finally looked at the messages in the family chat.
