Hers for a While Read Online Free PDF

That’s all you can do.” Leaning in, he pecked her on the cheek. “You’re so cute when you’re nervous.” He shut the door before she could respond to his comment, and she left it alone the drive over.
    “You ever take any other girls home to her?” Where the heck did that question come from? He didn’t ask her about other guys.
    “Just one other one, why?”
    “I was just wondering how she handled that one.” She wasn’t the jealous type. Jack was almost thirty. He was bound to have other women in his past.
    “Not good, Alice.” He pulled the truck into the driveway of a small row house. The lawn was well manicured and each flowerbed had a colorful spray of flowers and arrangements that looked like something out of a magazine. Alice loved it, and for a second, the beautiful display distracted her.
    “Not good, huh?”
    “Yep, but you know why, right? I didn’t love that girl. I love you. It won’t be the same, so don’t compare yourself to it.” His expression was genuine and the fact that he wasn’t nervous calmed Alice’s nerves. Staring at her long and hard, a small smile curled at the corners of his mouth and he played with a loose strand of her hair near her ear. “This will go well and then, you know, we can go back to my place and…” His eyebrows danced and his tone was playful.
    “We can what?”
    “I’ll let your imagination think about that for a bit. Ma’s out on the porch. We better get out.”
    Jack held her hand as they approached, and for a moment, his mother didn’t even break a smile. Alice tried not to read too much into it. She looked to be a little older than her mother, and there was a slight family resemblance with her and Jack. 
    “Hey Ma, this is Alice Mills, my girlfriend. Alice, this is my Ma.”
    “It’s nice to finally meet you, Ms. Turner,” Alice replied, extending her hand for her to shake. Letting out breath, she was relieved when she finally broke a smile.
    “Call me Janet. It’s nice to meet you too.” She opened the screen door and led them inside. The place was just as tidy as the outside appeared, and Alice noticed lots of family pictures, many of Jack as a kid and young adult, but one picture stood out. It was next to the fireplace in the living room, and she stopped to get a better look at it.
    “That was my dad in his dress uniform, taken a few months before he passed. It’s the last photo we have of him.” Jack traced the frame and with the way he stood tall as he looked at picture, Alice could tell he felt a sense of pride.
    The man staring back shocked Alice. It was almost as if it was Jack. The man was older than Jack was now, but if there was family resemblance with his mom, there was ten times more with his dad. They both had the same dark hair, green eyes, and rugged features. It was like looking at Jack a few years down the road.
    “You look just like him, Jack.”
    “Let’s hope he doesn’t end up like him.” Janet handed them both a glass of tea. “Gone young. Left me alone with a child to raise.”
    “C’mon Ma, not today.”
    Jack walked into the kitchen and both Alice and Janet followed, each of them sitting at the table, neither saying much right off. It was an awkward silence, and Alice wasn’t sure how to break it. His father’s death still appeared to haunt both of them.
    “You okay being with a firefighter?” Janet asked.
    “Yes ma’am, I am. I’m proud of the job he does.”
    Jack looked down at the table, the conversation taking a turn that neither of them had anticipated.
    “Pride.” Janet laughed. “I’m proud of my son too, but I don’t understand why he chose a job that took his dad. He saw what it did to the family.”
    “It’s a tradition, Ma. Grandpa was one, Dad was one.”
    “Tradition, huh?” She scoffed and finished her glass of tea. “Traditions of dying young.”
    The words hovered over them like thick smoke. Alice scooted her chair closer to Jack. What did you say in a situation like