Page 42 of Fierce-Jax

“How was your dinner?” her mother asked when she walked in the door.

“Great,” she said, forcing a smile. Embarrassing as all hell.

She’d never acted like that around a man before.

Ever.

Jax probably thought she was some sex-crazed single mother that was lying through her teeth about not having been on a date since Gianna’s father.

“Are you sure?” her mother asked. “Your eyes are darting all over the place and your voice cracked. That’s a sign that you’re pissed, embarrassed, don’t want to tell me, or are keeping a secret.”

Seemed she was easy to read to everyone but the guy she just went on a date with.

He hadn’t even kissed her at the end.

It was the least he could have done.

Did she have no sex appeal at all to him?

Maybe she was the one being smacked into the friend’s category.

What a horrible feeling considering how she’d had the hots for him for over a month.

Now she knew what Jax meant when he said it kept happening to him and he was taking things slow for that reason.

“It was good,” she lied. “Nothing more. Just a long day and I’m tired. Where is Gianna? I need to find out what is going on with her.”

She should have been thinking of her daughter on her date, but she believed her mother would have told her to come home if it was that big of a deal.

She deserved to have one night to feel like a single woman, right?

Even if she was more unsure of things with Jax than she was before the date.

“Gianna is in the tub and she’s playing. You texted you were on the way and I got her in there so we could talk.”

“Oh boy,” she said. “It’s not good, is it?”

“It’s fine,” her mother said. “But go see your daughter for yourself and then come back and I’ll explain more.”

She put her purse and bag on the counter, removed her jacket, and toed off her pumps.

Her feet were screaming at her. Thank God she’d only put those shoes on after everyone left. She didn’t even know if Jax paid attention to her attire or not.

“Hi, baby girl. Are you playing?”

“Mommy, you’re home,” Gianna said. Her daughter was in the hall bathroom downstairs. Their bedrooms were upstairs, but she had a full bath down next to a guest room.

Her house was bigger than she needed, but she liked the location and the gated community.

She needed something safe to raise her daughter in. A place where her daughter could make friends.

It was the same community her parents lived in, so convenient, even if they were two miles away.

Her father had found this house for her. Probably the cheapest one here and she’d bought it in a private sale.

She was positive her father had a word out to anyone who might list their house to let him know. Dylan Patrick was well-known and talked to everyone.

A true salesman but not in a horrible way.