good/right/real

Chapter 61: I Surrender

Summary:Brett and Casey get some overdue one on one time.

Matt shows up at her place at around ten, as promised. Sylvie's nervous as hell. She shouldn't be. It's Matt. But it's the first time she and Matt have been truly alone since she stopped denying her changed feelings. Everything's different for her and she's not sure how to act.

She decides to take it one step at a time. First, she dresses for painting and sanding. Old ripped jeans, a t-shirt that's already covered in paint streaks, and sturdy closed toes shoes. She almost feels like she's dressed for farm chores. All she needs is a pair of workman's gloves and she'd be all set for repairing fences and cleaning out the barn.

The next thing after that is answering the door when Matt arrives. She smiles prettily as she shoulders her bag and steps out the door to meet him. She locks the door and then turns to verbally acknowledge him, trying to avoid an anxious gulp as her eyes clash against his.

"Hi," she says, lamely.

"Hi," he replies with a crooked grin. "You look ready to get to work," he says as he scans her from head to toe.

"Absolutely," she agrees, willing herself not to blush while his eyes linger over her. "I need this."

"Well, let's go then," he says, smiling in amusement and gesturing to his truck.

He opens the door for her when they reach it and she nods in thanks. "What a gentleman."

He shrugs modestly. "I try."

He walks around to the other side and gets in the driver's seat.

As he starts the truck, he speaks. "Since I'm not paying you, I thought I would buy you lunch and then take you out to dinner tonight?"

His voice shakes slightly as he asks and she bites her bottom lip to hold back an eager smile. She thinks he sounds nervous like her and she wonders if that means anything.

"Oh, no, you don't have to," she tells him. "I owe you for helping me so—"

"I know I don't have to," he says, cutting off her attempt to give him an out. "But I want to. Plus, it's your birthday tomorrow. We can celebrate a little early. Come on, my treat."

Dinner alone with Matt? That feels an awful lot like a date. Does he want it to be a date? She wants it to be a date. She knows that for sure.

"Okay, yes, you can buy me lunch and dinner," she agrees.

"Great," he says with a bright smile. "That's settled then."

He pulls away from the curb and heads toward the site where they'll be working today. She helps him unload everything and then they start setting up. She sets down the cans of primer and paint and then looks at the color sample on the top of the can curiously. What she finds is a dated avocado green. Her grimace is obvious and immediate.

Matt laughs and nods. "Yeah, that was my reaction too. But it's what the client wants. And to be fair, it's in the same shade family as the tile backsplash they've picked out. It might look better once it's all put together."

"Maybe," she replies with doubtful narrowed eyes. "I'll reserve judgement until then. But right now all I can see is an orange, yellow, and green 1970s style kitchen."

He winces. "With some ugly ass wallpaper?"

"Yes!" She exclaims. "The kind that gives you a headache if you stare at it too long."

"I would never let a client do that," he assures her with a mirthful grin. "I may not be a decorator but even I know better than that."

She feigns wiping sweat from her brow and chuckles. "Well, that's a relief."