There had been pain in her mother’s voice. Her mother had been a young teen when she got pregnant with Jinx. Jinx’s no good father abandoned them. If it wasn’t for her grandparents taking them in, they both could have ended up on the streets. Her mother had kept her distance from every man who wanted to date her, instead focusing on raising Jinx. It couldn’t have been easy for her, and it must have been lonely as hell. Her mother was still young and beautiful and deserved happiness.
“How’s Uncle Leo?”
“He’s not your uncle,” her mother corrected her.
Leo Tanner was the nice man that lived across from her mother at the apartment complex. He had a lovely English accent and was always so nice to them. Jinx liked him and had been encouraging her mother to give him a chance.
“Did he ask you out again?”
“He never stops.”
“I think you should take him up on it.”
“Jinx…”
“Come on, Mom. You know you find him attractive. I see how you always check your hair first before opening the door when he comes over to bring us our Tuesday Pizza.”
Her mother hesitated before answering. “He’s nice but, I don’t understand why he’s interested in me.”
Jinx rolled her eyes. “Mom, you’re hot. Seriously, you have long blonde hair and blue eyes with a nice rack that I frankly didn’t inherit. Thanks for that, by the way.”
“I’m not sure if I can trust him.”
Ah, that was the real issue. Her mother had not trusted any man after the number of times Jinx’s father played her. “Mom, you have to take a chance on someone some time. Don’t let what one asshole did keep you from living a full and happy life.”
“Don’t say asshole.”
“He’smydeadbeat dad, I get to call him an asshole if I want to.”
Her mother wisely chose to change the subject to something else. “So, have you met someone new?”
She hesitated answering that. “I’ve been busy learning my job.”
“Come on Jinx. you are beautiful and smart. I’m sure more than one guy has taken notice of you. You can tell me anything.”
“Well…there’s this one guy. His name is Drake. He’s a bounty hunter and totally not my type.”
“What type is he?”
“Tall, muscled, opinionated, and sexy as hell. He thinks I can’t handle the job, and the worst part, he’s the one doing my assessment.”
“Oh, he’s forbidden fruit then. That’s always so much more tempting.”
She couldn’t help but smile. Jinx and her mother had always been best friends. “I don’t want to start something that would complicate things. I work with him.”
“I feel like you’re leaving something out. Have you…?”
She felt heat rise to her cheeks. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You always tell me everything.”
“Not this, not about Drake. I’m not ready to think about him as a potential future anything right now. I need to concentrate on my career first.”
“Honey, jobs come and go. Don’t push away a chance at a real relationship because you’re afraid it will fail.”
“Says the woman who turns down a guy who looks and sounds like James Bond, the hot one.”
“I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll finally go out with Leo if you promise that you will see where this thing with this new guy leads.”
