Page 53 of Fierce-Colson

Her chest tightened. “I know that. I’m telling myself that. My mother, she knows how I feel about Colson, even though I denied it.”

“She does? You should have led with that.”

“You weren’t around last week when I talked to her. I’ve run into Colson a few times in the past few years.” She couldn’t go into the courthouse scene. That had to stay between her and Colson. “My mother told me: the man who spins you up but still makes you trust him and feel comfort is worth letting the other pieces fall into place. I took her advice and made the first move with Colson.”

“Good for you.”

“It took him a few days to reach out for a date and it was last night. And here we are. With me waiting to hear from him again, which I never do.”

“You’ll hear from him. And if you don’t, then you reach out. Sounds like you made the first move, he made the second, it’s back on you if another day goes by.”

“You don’t think it’d be too forward of me?”

Regan laughed. “Now that is funny coming from you. You be you. Sounds like that is exactly the person he wants you to be.”

“You know what? You’re right. Just like what he did last night was exactly what I wanted him to do, I just didn’t think it’d be so hard on my end.”

“The best things in life often are the hardest,” Regan said. “Just remember them. It only means you’ll appreciate them more.”

13

MANHOOD CARD

“Hey there, stranger,” Marly said to him on Tuesday.

He couldn’t explain the feeling he got when her text came in on Sunday night.

It’d been a long time since he chased a woman, let alone had a relationship.

Where they stood, he had no clue. He didn’t even want to guess.

But he knew that reaching out too soon might not be what she’d want.

The question then became, how soon is too soon?

So when Sunday night rolled around after dinner and his phone went off asking if they could have lunch one day this week, he was more than thrilled.

Elated sounded too wussy for him.

But with the conversations he’d been having lately with a teenage girl, he was pretty sure his manhood card had taken a beating.

“Hi,” he said, pulling her chair out, then leaning down close to her ear. “Not sure how you want to be greeted and don’t want to overstep.”

She didn’t flinch, nor turn her head for a kiss, so he just put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze, then sat across from her.

“That works,” she said. “For now. I’m not much into PDA.”

“The same.”

“How was the rest of your weekend?”

She put the napkin on her lap, over her navy dress. Fitted to her body, short sleeve, cinched at the waist, ending at her knees, and he caught her navy power pumps as she strutted in all full feminine confidence.

He never thought he was a sucker for the sexy workwear but found he more than appreciated it.

“Interesting,” he said.

“Now I’ve got to hear this,” she said, putting her chin in her hand and leaning her elbow on the table.