Fly With Me (Wild Aces #1)(37)

“Is he local? I didn’t recognize the name.”

Ugh. “No, he lives in Oklahoma.”

Her brows rose. “And he’s coming all the way here to be your date for the wedding?”

Yeah, I’d never get tired of hearing that. I’d had guys that were too lazy to pick me up for dates and suggested that we meet at the restaurant instead, so the fact that one was willing to fly across the country to take me to my sister’s wedding was pretty epic.

“Yep.”

“How did you meet him?”

I stifled a groan. It was going to come out eventually. “We met in Vegas.”

“For your sister’s bachelorette?”

Ugh.

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t Meg tell me that?”

Because likely Meg wanted to spare me the interrogation headed my way. I loved my mother, but she definitely could get a little too involved in my life. Especially my romantic life. She’d married my dad at nineteen and they’d been happily married for like a billion years, so she struggled with my perpetual singledom.

Why can’t you just meet a nice boy? was a refrain commonly heard in our house. And now that I had definitely met a nice boy, I wasn’t ready to share him with anyone. I didn’t want to hear all the ways Noah probably wasn’t right for me, because I didn’t doubt that they weren’t going to take the news that he was a fighter pilot well.

It wasn’t that they weren’t patriotic, they were; it was just that we were a close-knit family. They wanted their kids in the same town, never expected us to leave. And the inescapable truth was that any future I’d have with Noah would likely involve my leaving Florida.

I hadn’t quite wrapped my mind around that one, either.

“Meg’s wedding is in less than a month; I imagine she has more important things on her mind than my love life.”

“So what does he do?”

I hesitated, trying to think of a way to spin it that wouldn’t freak my mother out. And then I realized I was thirty years old, had left the nest over a decade ago, and this was kind of ridiculous.

“He’s a fighter pilot.”

There, I’d said it. The world did not explode.

“Like in the military?”

Her voice rose on the last word.

I nodded.

Her mouth tightened.

“Don’t you think you should be settling down, Jordan?”

I blinked. “What do you mean?”

“You aren’t getting any younger. Don’t you want to have children one day? Why don’t you want to date someone who would offer you a solid future?”

Did such a person exist? Besides, I loathed the saying “You aren’t getting any younger.” As though I were somehow unaware of the intricacies of the aging process. And kids? I did want to have children. Eventually. I definitely wasn’t there yet, and some part of me feared that I should be, but whatever.

“Yeah, I’d like to have kids someday.”

“Don’t you think you’re getting a little old for someday? For wild hair?”

Wild hair?

I made a face. “I’m not following you.”

“I just don’t see why you would indulge in a fling right now. It doesn’t make sense. I’m sure this boy is nice, but where’s the future in it? You live in different states. You run your own business. You can’t just take off whenever you feel like it. You have responsibilities here.”

Inwardly, I winced. Noah wasn’t exactly a fling, but at the same time, her words hit a little too close to home.

“I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought about it. We’ve known each other for a few weeks. I wasn’t exactly hoping for a proposal.”

She shook her head, disappointment flashing in her gaze. “It just seems reckless. Do you want to spend your life following some man around the world? What about the store? I just don’t understand what you’re thinking.”

Annoyance filled me at being taken to task like I was a child. “Hold up. I’ve known him for a few weeks. I like him. It’s not a fling. But it’s also not a freaking lifetime commitment. I don’t have answers to any of those questions, but I don’t think I need them. We’re dating. Getting to know each other. Why is that a bad thing?”

“Because there’s no way this will end well for you. What if you fall in love with him and then his job takes him away? Or what if you decide he’s what you want? Are you really willing to throw your entire future away? Everything you’ve worked so hard to build?”

My head spun.

“You’ve been giving me a hard time about being single for years. I thought that was the whole point; thought you wanted me to prioritize relationships.”

“Not with someone who’s going to take you away from your family, your home, your career. Someone who won’t be able to offer you any kind of stability.”

I didn’t want to fight with her in the middle of my store, but I was starting to get pissed. Really pissed. I was close with my family, but I was an adult. It was my life, not theirs.

“Look, Noah’s taking me to Meg’s wedding. We like each other. We’re dating. It’s exclusive. He’s a great guy and I could see myself falling for him, and I think he really likes me. Beyond that, I don’t know. And I’m not going to stand here and freak out about it.”