Page 56 of Fierce-Jax

Dillion looked at her mother trying to figure out how to reply.

“Sometimes Mommies need a night away from their kids,” her mother said. “It doesn’t have to be fun to be enjoyable. It just has to make us happy.”

Her daughter seemed satisfied with that answer, the three of them walking downstairs with Gianna’s bag of stuffed animals and another of clothing.

She got a hug and kiss and sent her daughter on her way. It was not the first sleepover Gianna had.

Sometimes her parents just took their granddaughter to give her a break. Some peace and quiet, maybe a long bubble bath, an extra hour of sleep in the morning.

All those things she rarely got anymore.

She was going to take that bath before Jax showed up. It’d help her relax and prepare for the night ahead.

For whatever might happen.

“This is a nice big house,” Jax said an hour later when she was opening the door.

He was in jeans and sneakers and had a flannel shirt jacket on over a cotton shirt.

More casual and relaxed than she was used to seeing him.

“It is,” she said. “Bigger than I need, but again, convenient. My father told me about the place before it went up for sale.”

“That makes things easier,” he said.

“It did. I think the owners thought it’d take a long time to sell since it’s one of the smaller houses in the community.”

She didn’t need anything larger. It’d be easier for her to maintain on her limited time as it was.

“I did pass some pretty massive ones,” he said. “Along with pools and parks and courts.”

“Lots to do here. I think I would have loved it as a kid, but as I said, I didn’t grow up here. My parents moved because my father wanted something newer.”

And flashier, but there was no reason to add that.

“Do you want me to take my shoes off?” he asked. He was looking at her feet. She had black socks on with her jeans.

“That’s up to you,” she said. “Normally I’ve got slippers on, but they are pretty silly.”

“Eli wanted to give Roni these elephant slippers he saw when we were out one day. I bought them and she wore them all the time. Even tripped over them, but still wore them.”

“One of those things you do when your kids give you something. Mine are unicorns. With the horn on them and all.”

He laughed, his smile wide, his white teeth straight, but not perfect. Just perfect enough though.

“I might have to see them.”

“They are in my room,” she said.

He lifted an eyebrow. “Is that an invitation?”

It hadn’t been, but maybe it was one of those Freudian slips.

“A polite nice guy would have ignored me saying that,” she said.

He pulled her close to his body. “As I said yesterday, I think you like it when I’m not so polite, but tell me if I’m wrong.”

She wanted his mouth on hers desperately. More than she needed air to breathe.