Page 23 of Burning Love (Looking For Love #7)

NOT MY FATHER

N ot only did Jace make it through dinner two days ago unscathed, but he went home with a few cases of beer.

Talia couldn’t be happier, but she’d told her mother not to expect that to be a recurring thing.

Aileen even told her that she’d liked Jace and thought he was good for her. She was embarrassed that it was said in front of Jace.

She didn’t need nor want any pressure on what they had, but it seemed as if her mother was determined to put it on her.

“I’m leaving for the bookstore.”

She turned her head and saw her mother in the doorway to her office. “Okay. I’ll see you later.”

“Are you going to be home for dinner?”

“Yes. What do you want? I’ll cook.”

“Whatever you want to make,” her mother said. “Jace must be working if you’re home.”

She sighed. “Mom. I only see Jace a few times a week. What is your big deal with all of this?”

Aileen grinned. “Nothing.” Then turned and left her apartment.

Talia rolled her eyes and went back to work. She had a call scheduled with West in twenty minutes. She rarely got one-on-one time with her brother. Maybe she didn’t want it either.

When she was younger, all she did was butt heads with West.

Then she avoided him because he always told her no or to grow up and learn or figure it out.

That could be why she’d been so afraid to finally approach him with what she wanted to do with her career.

Thank God for Elias giving her that nudge and all but holding her hand through it.

She couldn’t even get annoyed with Elias over his behavior on Sunday because it wasn’t nearly as harsh as she thought it’d be.

Her brother got a few digs in early, then Phoebe jumped in and the rest was on her mother.

When nine fifty-eight rolled around, she went to connect to her call. One thing she learned was to never be late.

If West scheduled a time to meet, you better damn well be there when it started.

She sat there by herself for a minute, then West connected with Braylon next to him.

Neither of them was looking happy.

Which was a change for Braylon who was more laid back than Elias. The difference between the two was Elias could lose his temper, Braylon rarely did.

“What’s going on?” she asked right away.

“What the hell, Talia,” West said. “It’s bad enough you’re dating someone that I could have gone to school with.”

She growled. She shouldn’t be surprised it was making the rounds in the family now. She supposed she should be happy Laken never said a word. Even her mother hadn’t for almost two weeks.

Which meant Elias had to have done it.

What a jerk!

“He didn’t live in Fayetteville when you were in high school and not in our district.”

“That isn’t what I mean,” West said. “He’s only a year younger than me. He’s thirty-seven. You’re twenty-four.”

“Thank you for confirming that with me. I wasn’t positive my math was correct.”

Normally Braylon would laugh if not smile. He was still stone-faced. “Talia. It’s not even that. Do you know what you’re getting yourself into? Do you know anything about him at all?” Braylon asked.

She frowned. “Of course I do. He’s a fireman. His father has a successful construction company in the area that he works for. What are you talking about? And I can’t believe Elias went running to you two after he met him on Sunday.”

“Elias met Jace?” West asked. Her oldest brother turned to Braylon. “Did you know that?”

“No,” Braylon said. “I know he’s got his hands full at the brewery for some event this week.”

She hadn’t known that. Which meant her mother must have put the pressure on Elias to come on Sunday because she couldn’t sit on the information any longer before she spread it like wildfire throughout the family.

“Mom,” she growled. “I should have known she couldn’t keep it quiet for long.”

Or that her mother ran down this morning and then took off faster than a jackrabbit with dogs on her heels. Her mother must have known about this call today.

“It’s no wonder you kept it quiet,” West said. “Not just for his age, which maybe I could get past.”

“It’s not up to you to get past,” she argued. “You’re not my father.”

She’d said this enough in her life, but no one wanted to listen to her. Least of all West.

“Someone has to be,” Braylon said. “Did you know he was in a calendar and voted the sexiest fireman in Fayetteville? He has one hell of a playboy reputation. What could you be thinking?”

She laughed. “What are you talking about?”

“Do you mean to tell me that in this day and age, you haven’t tried to find any information on the guy you’re dating? Everyone does that,” West said.

She crossed her arms. “Abby didn’t do it to you when she had a fling with you in Aruba.”

Braylon elbowed her brother, grinning. “She has you there. And you appreciated that she hadn’t looked into you. Though it would have saved you the heartache of her finding out after she was back home and you wanted to continue to see her.”

“This isn’t about me and my wife,” West said.

“And did you look into Lily, Braylon? Because I remember a conversation I wasn’t supposed to know about that someone else looked into her and found out things about her childhood you didn’t know.”

Braylon’s smile dropped. “No, I didn’t. It was her past and didn’t concern us.”

“That’s right,” she said, nodding her head. “His past doesn’t concern me.”

“Don’t kid yourself,” West said. Her brother switched the screen and up popped a picture of the hot man that had been in her bed.

Her jaw dropped.

He was younger in the picture, his fireman’s jacket open, revealing a damp white T-shirt underneath that he’d sweated through. He had to have been a captain at the time because he was wearing a white T-shirt under his dress shirt. Firemen had navy T-shirts.

Soot smeared his cheek, his head turned away. His hair was wild and standing on end, sweat trickling down his temple. His suspenders hung loose around his waist, and his gear pants barely clung to him, threatening to slip.

Her lady parts were telling her to get up and go find him to strip him naked.

Which was what half the other women probably thought of when they saw this picture.

Damn it.

“That picture looks like it was taken at a fire, not for a calendar,” she argued. She wasn’t going to let Jace get the shaft from her brothers over a picture someone else took without his knowledge. You could see he’d clearly just gotten done busting his ass.

“It was,” West said. Another picture came up. It was the same shot of Jace, but in a calendar this time, next to it was another shot of Jace with his shirt off, an ax on his shoulder, his muscles flexing and a smile on his face.

Oh lord, that might be hotter than the other picture, but it was so staged.

No, the one of him working was much more effective.

“West, that is a calendar to raise money for their fire station. Give me a break. You can’t tell me that he’s the only one with a picture like that.” Her brother was silent. “Right?”

“No,” Braylon said. “But most of the other months have group shots or at least two people in them. This was the only month of a single fireman. These are the comments online made about it. Along with a vote that he won by a landslide.”

Another screen came up and she saw message after message about Jace being the hottest thing they’d seen, he could come battle any fire or save any kitten on their property.

“That’s nothing he can control,” she argued. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there aren’t things out there about Rowan or Nelson like that.”

Her brothers looked at each other. She knew she was right. Neither West nor Braylon would do anything that stupid. Rowan was always in swim trunks in the water, and Nelson just liked to have fun.

“This isn’t about them,” West said. “They can handle themselves.”

“So can I,” she said, crossing her arms. “In the past all you ever cared about was someone using me to get to you.”

“And it’s happened,” West said.

“That’s right. It has. I took care of it and I know what to look for. Jace didn’t even know who I was.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Braylon said.

“He didn’t. I believe him. He didn’t grow up around here. He moved in with his father when his mother died when he was seventeen. He finished high school where he was, his father renting an apartment for them to stay there a few months, then he moved here.”

“I don’t understand that,” West said. “Explain it.”

“I don’t have to explain anything to you,” she snarled.

“Calm down, Talia,” Braylon said. “We only want what’s best for you.”

“Then let me handle my life on my own. Don’t come at me like this.”

“You didn’t know about the calendar and these comments,” West said.

“Who cares? It was years ago, right?”

“Five years ago,” Braylon admitted.

“There you go. And if they asked him to do the calendar again, he’s doing it for work. It’s not like he’s got an OnlyFans account.”

Braylon laughed. “He better not,” West growled.

“Come on,” she said. “You’re being ridiculous. You’re losing your cool. If you don’t stop, I’m going to call your wife on you.”

That was a bigger threat than telling their mother.

West never lost his cool with anyone other than family.

Talia knew it was because he cared, but she didn’t need her hand held all the time.

“Abby needs to rest,” West said.

“That’s right. And I think you’re taking your frustration out on me over your concern for your wife and son that will be here soon.”

“She has you there,” Braylon said, grinning again.

West inhaled. “Tell us more about this guy. What happened to his mother?”

“It’s not my story to tell.”

“Talia,” Braylon said patiently. “Don’t be that way. His mother died. We know what it’s like to lose a parent as a teen. What happened?”

“His mother died of cancer. She was a single mother and raising him alone. I guess he had a stepfather who came in his teen years and then didn’t want to raise him.

I’m not sure. We haven’t talked a lot. I do know that his father never knew of his existence and his mother told him when she was dying so that Jace had a place to go. ”

“You’re joking,” Braylon said.

“No. I’m not. It’s not something we’ve talked about much, as it’s very personal.

I think it’s affected him on a lot of levels.

I can say that his father was shocked and thrilled.

He was married with two daughters, and his wife and other kids accepted Jace into the family as if he was there from the first day.

I met his one sister Kelsey. She’s nice and they seem very close. As I said, Jace works with his father.”

“That’s an odd situation,” West said.

“So is being the youngest of eight kids and having your oldest brother think he’s your father because you lost your real father at four and never really knew him.”

That shut her brothers up.

“Be careful,” Braylon said.

“I will be. Can we talk about work now?”

“This is far from over,” West said.

“Yes, it is. Drop it. It’s just over a month that we’ve been dating. I’ve dated men my own age for much longer who you never met. I don’t know why this is being turned into such a big deal.”

Braylon shrugged and had his normal grin back in place.

That told her West put him up to this. Not that Braylon wasn’t worried prior to her defending her boyfriend.

Shit, she was calling him that now too.