The Bakery Sisters (51 page)

“We'll deal with your apartment later. Today I want to talk about cultural references and your wardrobe.”

“I don't have an apartment.”

She blinked at him. “Excuse me?”

“I live at home. With my mom.” He pushed up his glasses. “Before you say anything, it's a really nice house. A lot of guys live at home. It's convenient.”

Oh, my. The situation was worse than she thought. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-four.”

“It's probably time to fly free. What's the point in getting the girl if you don't have anywhere to take her?” She made a note. “Like I said, that's for the advanced half of the class.”

“Where do you live?”

Jesse stared at him, then started to laugh. “With my sister.”

He looked smug. “See?”

“I'm not a guy.”

“So?”

“Point taken. But you have to move out first.” She dug into her backpack and pulled out a stack of magazines. “
People
is weekly. Subscribe.
Cosmo
and
Car and Driver
are monthly. So is
In Style.
Read them. There
will
be a quiz.”

He grimaced. “These are girl magazines, except for the car one and I'm not into cars.”

“These are cultural textbooks.
In Style
has a great section on guys who dress well. There are also lots of pictures of pretty women. You'll like that.
People
will keep you up to date on celebrity news, which you may not care about but at least you'll recognize a few of the names people are talking about. The car magazine is to make you well-rounded and
Cosmo
is every twenty-something woman's companion. Think of it as the enemy's playbook.” She pushed the magazines toward him.

“Next,” she continued. “Television.”

“I don't watch much.”

“You're going to start watching
American Idol
and
Gilmore Girls.
You can find old episodes of
Gilmore Girls
on the Family Channel every day. Record them to watch when you're free. That's going to teach you how to talk to a woman, or at least how women fantasize that men will talk to them. It's fast, it's funny, it has lots of insight.
American Idol
is the most popular show on television. Get involved. Discuss it with coworkers.”

“You can't learn how to talk to women by watching television,” Matt told her.

“How do you know? Have you tried?”

“No.”

“Okay, then.” She scanned her list. “Next. We're going out to dinner. I want you to call and ask me out on a date, over and over again. Sometimes I'll say yes and sometimes I'll say no. We're going to do that every day for a couple of weeks, until you're comfortable with the process. Next up, shopping. You have got to get some new clothes.”

He glanced down at himself. “What's wrong with my clothes?”

“How much time do you have? Don't worry. It's all fixable. I'm actually more concerned about the glasses.”

He scowled. “I can't wear contacts.”

“Have you thought about LASIK surgery?”

“No.”

“Check it out online. You have great eyes. It would be nice if we could see them. So what do you think about the Mariners' chances this season?”

He looked blank. “That's baseball, right?”

She groaned. “Yes. Follow the team this season. Add it to your homework assignment.”

He pushed back his chair and stood. “This is stupid. I don't know why you're bothering. Just forget it.”

She rose and grabbed his arm. He was much taller than her and had plenty of muscle. That was good. “Matt, don't. I know it seems like a lot, but once we get the big things out of the way, it won't be so bad. You may like it. Don't you want to find someone special?”

“Maybe not this badly.”

“You don't mean that.”

“Why are you doing this?” he asked. “What do you get out of it?”

“I'm having fun,” she admitted. “I like thinking about you. It's easier than thinking about me.”

“Why?”

“Because I'm stuck right now.” She didn't have a career or anything close to direction or a goal. She changed guys as often as most women changed panties, which wasn't anything she was proud of.

He looked surprised. “You're the one who's big on change.”

“Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.”

He studied her for a second. “You're evasive.”

“Sometimes.”

“Why?”

Interesting question. “Because I don't always like who I am,” she admitted. “Because I don't know how to change, but I can see exactly how to change you. It makes me feel better to make a difference.”

“That was honest.”

“I know. It surprised me, too.” She waited until he sat down. “Give me a month. Do what I say for a month. If you hate the changes, you can go back to your old life and it will be like it never happened.”

“Not if I have LASIK surgery.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Maybe not.”

“You have to trust me,” she told him. “I want this to work for you.” Because somehow, if it worked for him, maybe it would work for her, too. At least that was the theory.

 

T
EN DAYS LATER
, Jesse nearly fell off the bench at the Kirkland Olive Garden. She stood and pointed.

“Who
are
you?” she asked.

Matt grinned as he stopped in front of her. “You told me which clothes to buy. They shouldn't be a surprise.”

“They look better on than I remember,” she murmured, motioning for him to turn slowly.

It was amazing what a little time and a couple of grand on a credit card could do. He'd been transformed from top to bottom. An eighty-dollar haircut at an upscale Bellevue salon had only been the beginning. Gone were the too-short jeans, the tennis shoes and the geeky shirt with the pocket protector. Instead, Matt wore a pale blue dress shirt, tailored slacks that showed off his slim hips and surprisingly sexy butt. She'd teased him into buying leather loafers that cost nearly four hundred dollars but had been worth every penny.

But the real change was how he looked without glasses.

His face had masculine lines and a chiseled chin she'd never noticed before. His eyes were even better than she'd imagined, and his mouth…had it always been that sexy, with a slightly crooked smile?

“You're gorgeous,” she told him, actually feeling a slight tingle inside. “Really sexy. Wow.”

He flushed slightly. “You look good, too.”

Jesse dismissed his compliment with a flick of her fingers. Her appearance didn't matter. This was about him.

The hostess returned and offered to seat them. Jesse noticed her checking Matt out as they were led to a table.

“Did you see that?” she asked in a low voice when they'd slid into their booth. “She was totally into you.”

Matt flushed. “You're just saying that.”

“I don't think so. If I were to get up right now and go to the restroom, she would be all over you.”

He looked more nervous than excited. “You're not leaving, are you?”

She laughed. “Maybe next time. You'll have to get used to the attention first, then you can start to enjoy it.” She ignored the menu and leaned toward him. “So, tell me. What's new at work?”

“We're brainstorming a new game. The theory behind it is really advanced, but there's a—” He paused as she dropped her head to the table and groaned. “What?”

“Do I look like I care about game theory?”

“No, but you asked.”

“I asked what was new at work. That means with the people.”

“Oh.” He reached toward his face, as if he was going to push up his glasses, then dropped his hand to his lap. “It's different.”

She straightened. “How?”

“People are talking to me.”

She smiled, knowing he was already getting results. “Women, right? You mean women.”

Matt grinned. “Yeah. A lot of the secretaries are saying hi to me now. And this woman in Finance asked me to help her carry some stuff to her car, only it wasn't that much and she could have done it herself.”

“Did you ask her out?”

“What? No.” He looked shocked. “I couldn't do that. She was, you know, older.”

Jesse raised her eyebrows. “How much older?”

“Maybe five or six years. She wouldn't be interested in me.”

“Oh, honey, you have so much to learn about women. You're tall, you're in great shape, you're good-looking. You have a good job, you're basically sweet and funny and smart. What's not to like?”

He flushed. “That's not me.”

“It's exactly you. It was all there, all the time, just hiding behind a pocket protector.” She narrowed her gaze. “I told you to throw them all out. Did you?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes. I said I did.”

“Good.”

Her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her purse and looked at the screen.

“Andrew or Zeke?” Matt asked.

“Joe.” She turned off the phone. “Sorry.”

Matt studied her. “How many guys are there?”

Not a question she wanted to answer. “This isn't a very interesting topic.”

“It's interesting to me.”

“I date but I don't get serious. It's no big deal.”

“You meet a lot of different guys?”

“Sure. It's easy. They're everywhere.” And men were not the least bit challenging to attract. Not that she was interested in keeping them around for any length of time.

Their server appeared. Jesse was relieved by the interruption. Talking about her personal life would only depress her and it might make him think she was…

What? Slutty? Isn't that what her sister called her? Stop thinking about Nicole, she ordered herself and opened her menu.

Matt waited while she placed her order first, then he listed his selection, even including a glass of wine.

“Very smooth,” she said when they were alone. “The glass of wine is a nice touch. You know, we could go to the Chateau St. Michelle winery sometime. They have tastings. You could practice being snobby.”

He laughed. “You want me to be a snob?”

“You never know when it will come in handy.”

The server brought their drinks. Jesse stirred her iced tea. “You're making some great changes. How do you feel about that?”

“You're not going to get me to talk about my feelings,” he told her. “It's a guy thing.”

“Good answer.”

“Are you playing me?”

“Maybe a little.”

“I can handle it.”

There was a quiet confidence in his voice she hadn't heard before. It matched his straight posture and the way he looked her directly in the eye.

Still looking at her, he asked, “What's your story? I know you're not really a lifestyle coach. So who are you and what do you do when you're not hounding me to go to the mall?”

At least they weren't talking about her personal life, Jesse thought as she wrinkled her nose. Not that the rest of her world was in much better shape. “There's nothing much to tell. I work in a bakery that my sister and I own. Well, my half is in trust until I'm twenty-five. I don't especially like working there, but that's more about me not getting along with Nicole than anything else.”

“Why don't you get along?”

Jesse considered how much to tell. “I have a second sister. Claire. She plays piano and is kind of famous. She went off to tour the world right after I was born, so I don't really know her. When I was six, my mom took off to be with Claire and Nicole got stuck raising me. My dad wasn't much help. I was a handful, as they say. Nicole thinks I only ever screw up and I think she's the queen bitch of the West. Like with the bakery. I've begged her to buy me out so I can just leave, but she won't.”

“What would you do with the money?”

“I have no idea.”

“Maybe that's why she won't give it to you.”

Jesse smiled. “If you're going to be reasonable, we can't have this conversation.”

“Sorry.”

“That's okay. Enough about me. I know you live with your mom. What about your dad? Are they divorced?”