Page 60 of Burning Love
“I only had a few errands to run,” she said.
“I thought you’d spend more time with your boyfriend than you did this morning.”
She frowned. Aileen wasn’t being overly nosy, but she hadn’t let much drop either in the past week.
“You think I went to see him first thing in the morning?” she asked.
She wouldn’t lie to her mother but she would play some word games.
“Just tell me who it is, Talia. You’re easy enough to keep track of and you haven’t been out since last week for more than ten minutes, if that. I’m not going to fault you for wanting to get a snuggle in.”
She rolled her eyes. Laken had told her that her mother suspected it was Jace.
“You know who it is,” she said. “You’re just waiting for me to confirm it.”
Her mother laughed. “Get a coffee and let’s chat.”
“I’ve got work to do.”
“It can’t be that important if you went to see him when he got out of work. I’ll just follow you downstairs.” Her mother would.
“I’ll be right back,” she said.
“I’ll fix your coffee for you.”
When she returned to her mother’s kitchen, not only was her coffee on the counter, but a few cookies next to it.
“Thank you.”
“You’re dating Jace Rigby, correct?” Aileen asked.
“I am.”
“How old is he?”
Talia wasn’t surprised that was the first question asked. “He’s thirty-seven.”
“Older than I thought,” her mother said. “Has he been married or does he have any kids?”
“No to both.”
“Don’t you find that odd at his age?”
“Why would I when West was the same way? You didn’t think it was odd then.”
“Yes,” Aileen said, nodding. “I did think it was odd. But your brother put his career and the future of the family above himself. What is Jace’s reason? Do you even know?”
There would be no skirting this or lying. “I don’t know what we’ve got. He’s not a commitment type of guy.”
“Talia! You’re in a friends-with-benefits situation?”
“No! I wouldn’t do that. I know where he stands and he knows where I stand.”
“You’ll have to explain that to me because it seems like it’s more about him having his cake and eating it too.”
Her lips twisted in frustration over that.
“Mom. He’s got some childhood baggage that I don’t want to get into. He shared that with me in confidence. Something he wouldn’t have done if we wereonlyhooking up. I told him if I find myself caring for him or moving fast he would be the first to know. It’d be up to him to continue or step back. I’m not setting myself up to be hurt.”
