Page 33 of Fierce-Jonah

“I think we are all lectured by our parents. Why you?”

“The oops baby that came ten years after my one sister, twelve after the other. I guess I wanted attention from them and they didn’t care to give it to me. I started to do things my way and not like they did. It drove my parents insane.”

“Maybe your way is the right way and your parents had a hard time accepting that.”

She tilted her head. “That’s sweet of you to say. I like to think that. As I said, I don’t believe I was a bad kid. Nothing more than normal. But by the time I hit the teen age, my sisters were in relationships and getting married, having kids. They did all the things my parents wanted and the grandkids became the center of attention.”

“And it made you rebel?” he asked.

“No,” she said. “Not really. I think I stayed true to myself, but it wasn’t what they wanted. Not the type of guys they thought I’d be with. Not settled down at my age right now. I hear that lecture all the time. Can I admit something to you?”

“Seems like you’re doing a good job of it so far,” he said, smirking at her.

“I am. I find you easy to talk to.”

“I didn’t get that impression before,” he said.

“No. Maybe not earlier on, but now I feel that way. Which is funny because I’m still not sure what Raina would say about us being on this date and that is bothering me.”

“I’m sure we’ll address that before we are done. We’ve got time yet. Continue on with what you were going to confess to me.”

“Oh. You’re totally not someone I’d ever make a move toward. I mean you would have caught my eye like you did, but I wouldn’t try to get to know you.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Maybe because you don’t talk much and I never shut up,” she said, grinning.

“I talk enough,” he said.

She figured as much. Honestly, he talked to her, but she was the one doing most of it right now. “You do. If you weren’t Raina’s brother I’m not sure if I would have been as forward with you. I mean, my mother might drop dead of a heart attack if she meets you.”

“I’m trying not to be insulted,” he said.

His voice was deep and there was a frown on his face. She reached her hand over the table, almost standing up to straighten his eyebrows with her finger.

“Don’t be. I’m jumping around, but hopefully I can tie it all in. I wanted my parents' approval. I went into accounting because my father is an accountant. I thought, sure, I might not do a lot of the same things as my sisters, but that doesn’t mean I was so different.”

“Was your father happy you followed in his footsteps?”

“At first. Yeah, he thought it was nice, but again, he had grandkids by then. Grandsons. He never had a boy before.”

Her father didn’t neglect them or anything, but she knew he always wanted a boy. When she was in college, her nephews, Tyler and Charlie, were toddlers and her father was all about trying to have time with them.

“I think my father was more thrilled to have a daughter after me and Trent,” Jonah said. “We were a handful. Or I was.”

“I’m sure you were. All those competitions you were in. What did your parents say? That you never sat still? I bet that is still the case. Which of course brings me to another thing.”

“My time is limited,” he said. “You’re going to touch on that.”

“Of course I am. It’s one of those many things we’ve got to figure out. Otherwise are we just wasting time? I mean, if you want to be my personal trainer and all, I don’t mind going a few times a week to see you. But if we decided all this dancing we are doing can go somewhere it’s got to be give and take with our time too.”

She hoped she wasn’t coming off as controlling. She never tried to be in her life when it came to men and maybe that was why things never lasted. Could be she didn’t take enough of it seriously in their eyes.

Or that could be words her parents just continued to tell her all the time.

After all those years of wanting an acceptance that didn’t seem like it was going to happen, she decided it was time to do what she wanted.

Why else would she be sitting here with a man that was getting her panties wet when at the same time her mother would probably pinch her nose and frown, then follow it up with the two of them would never work out because Jonah wasn’t stable.