“You could say that,” she murmured while shuffling over to the coffee pot. Her back to me, she filled a mug, pouring cream and sugar in, all the while keeping me on pins and needles. I hated when she did this. There was nothing worse than to be kept waiting while anticipating her mom-like questions and subsequent lecture that were sure to come.

She turned and sat at the kitchen table. When she brought the mug to her lips, she looked at me over the rim and raised an eyebrow.

“What?” I asked defensively.

“You’re wringing your hands. Any reason why?”

I sighed and plopped down in the chair across from her. “I’m waiting for you to ask me about my boss and the scene you witnessed.”

“Okay,” she said in a bored tone.

“Okay? That’s all you’re going to say?”

“Yes. If you want to tell me about him, you will,” she advised.

Oh boy. She was good. The old reverse psychology bit to get me talking. So sly… and smart, considering it worked.

“There isn’t much to say. His intentions are… misguided sometimes.” Misguided. Yes. I thought that accurately described his behavior of late. While he might have good intentions, he was going about them the wrong way. Especially since it really wasn’t his place to have the intentions in the first place.

“And what exactly are his intentions?” she asked casually, the direct opposite of how I expected her to be. By now we should have been well underway in the third-degree.

I could learn a thing or two about interrogation from her. I had a feeling I was going to need it once Sophie got older.

“He thinks Sophie and I deserve better. He’s… protective. Which I like. It’s just that, I don’t know.”

“You don’t want him to be protective?”

“No, I do,” I said quickly, surprising even myself. Sure I wanted him to protect me while at work, but not throughout the rest of my life.

“I see.” She nodded her head in understanding.

“What do you see?” I narrowed my eyes at the smug expression on her face.

“You want him to protect you. You like him,” she announced like it was as easy as that.

“It’s not that simple.”

You didn’t like someone like Xavier. You either stayed far away from him in the interest of self-preservation, considering he could cut you down with just a look, or you worshiped at his feet, hoping for any scraps he might give you. There was no in-between as I was coming to learn.

“Honey, love is never simple.” She looked thoughtful for a moment before continuing, “He’s quite the looker. Tall, dark and handsome. Not what I’d imagine for you, though.”

“Why not?” I asked defensively.

“You know you’re beautiful, Alyssa. It’s not that you don’t deserve someone who looks like him. It’s just, he’s got demons. One look in his eyes and I knew it. Not sure anyone can beat back that kind of heat.”

An invisible brick landed on my chest and my breath left me in a whoosh at her observation. If she only knew the truth about who and what he really was, she’d probably have a heart attack.

Xavier unapologetically peddled flesh. He had a dark side that I not only had gotten glimpses of but had also heard numerous stories about.

Candy had practically been beside herself just the week before telling us girls the story she’d learned about the state Big J had been found in before being rushed to the hospital recently. Broken ribs, contusions on his face so bad he was barely recognizable, internal bleeding and a collapsed lung had come courtesy of Xavier’s carefully—or not so carefully, depending on which way you looked at it—leashed temper. Rumor had it he’d disobeyed one of Xavier’s rules, something every person who knew the man knew not to do.

It was scary as all get out that he could do that kind of damage to another human being and not think twice about it. If he could leave a man he knew barely breathing, what might he do to one he didn’t even know?

“It doesn’t matter,” I finally replied. “It’s not a good idea to go there. Demons or not.”

“Probably not,” she concurred in between sips of coffee. “Why’d he call you Aurora?”

“It’s my stage name.” Calling it that was the easiest thing for her to understand.

“I see. So what was the big to-do upstairs about moving?”

The reminder that he actually thought I would just pack up my life and move because he wanted me to had me annoyed all over again. It was a ludicrous idea and there was no way in hell I would ever find myself indebted to him over something as huge as a lake house.

“The jerk thought he could rent a house on the lake for Sophie and me and that I’d be okay with it,” I cried out in exasperation.

“Why the lake?” Her question took me by surprise.

“Because I told him that ever since my parents died, I’ve dreamed about living in that neighborhood again. It’s a silly dream, really. It doesn’t matter anyway. I told him I wasn’t going to accept it,” I prattled on, oblivious to the somber expression on Ruth’s face.

“Alyssa, you might not want to take on that boy’s demons, but he sure wants to take on yours,” she declared.

“What?”

“Some men have a drive deep inside them to make things happen. They’re born to take care of people. When they claim a woman, and in some cases her child, they’ll stop at nothing to move heaven and earth to give her what she needs. To fulfill her innermost desires. To have her feel nothing but being loved and cherished. Xavier is one of those men, Alyssa. If you can beat back his demons, you’ll know the richest kind of love.”

“I don’t think you understand.” My brows furrowed in confusion. One minute she was telling me to stay away from him and his demons, and the next she was spouting off about the rewards of loving a man like him. It made absolutely no sense, and I wondered if this was another lesson in reverse psychology.

“I understand perfectly. My Charles was a man like your Xavier.” I wanted to argue that point seeing as no one was quite like Xavier. Plus the whole pimp extraordinaire gig was the complete opposite of what I presumed Ruth’s church-going Charles had been like.

“Until the day he died,” she continued, and I tamped down my internal musings, “he shielded me from just about every bad thing he could. Wrapped me up in cotton every day. The only thing he couldn’t protect me from was our precious daughter dying in that car accident. But if he could have, you better believe he would have.”

“What are you saying, Ruth?” I couldn’t allow myself to think of Xavier as being as wonderful as she described. It wouldn’t do well when it came time to steel myself against his mercurial moods.

“I’m not saying anything, child. Just thought you should know.”

Well shit. I hadn’t seen this coming.

“Can I get a pretzel, Mommy?” Sophie jumped up and down, pointing at the pretzel stand with a look of pure excitement on her face.

“Yes, baby.” I picked her up and kissed her cheek, then set her down and watched her sprint towards the worker at the cash register with Candy’s daughter, Sasha, hot on her heels.

“You spoil her.” Candy’s words were chiding, but the smile on her face told me she was teasing.

“Please. You bought almost the whole store for Sasha.” I nodded towards the plethora of bags weighing down her slim frame.

“Hey, it’s back-to-school shopping. It’s a necessity.”

“I don’t think any second grader needs a wardrobe of that caliber,” I noted before ordering two salted soft pretzels with cheese cups for the girls.

While Candy was shopping for Sasha’s back-to-school selection, I was doing the same for Sophie. My baby was going to pre-kindergarten, and while it made me want to cry, it also made my heart swell with pride.

“Her father actually ponied up the cash this year. Trust me, I’m spending every penny of it,” she murmured at my side.