Page 42 of Ace

“It doesn’t matter,” Lizzie assured her. “It’s not important. And I like your answers. You do know a lot about him.” She suspected Angela had a bit of a school-girl, hero-worship crush on Ace, but she couldn’t even blame her for it.

“We talk lots,” Angela offered by way of explanation. “He’s a really good guy. You have good taste, obviously.”

“Thank you.” Lizzie blushed. “I can tell he’s really important to you. Thank you for sharing all that with me. I learned a few things.”

Angela leaned forward, planting her elbows on her knees as she rested her chin in her hands. “You want to know more?”

Lizzie couldn’t really think of any more questions, and she couldn’t see letting this line of conversation go on much further in case it veered back into the realm of uncomfortable. “If I want to know anything else, I’ll let Ace tell me.”

Angela looked disappointed, but Lizzie distracted her by bringing up Taylor Swift. If there was one thing she knew about teenage girls, it was that the majority of them loved the popular singer, and Angela had already shown she was no different.

“She’s so amazing!” she gushed when Lizzie asked. “Did you hear the new vault tracks she just dropped. Ten out of ten. I died dead.”

Lizzie raised her brows, having no idea what Angela was talking about and wondering if she was in over her head on the subject.

“What’s your favorite song?” Angela asked.

Before Lizzie had to admit that she couldn’t think of one, or try to fudge an answer, the front door swung open and Ace ambled in, making a beeline for them. He hugged Angela first, lifting her out of her seat, and swinging her around the kitchen.

“How you doing, kiddo? You being good and keeping out of trouble?”

Angela giggled and blushed as he set her down. “I’m doing okay,” she answered with a heavy sigh. “And you know I never get into trouble.”

“That’s good. Let’s keep it that way.”

He turned to Lizzie next, hugging her from behind and kissing the top of her head. “What do you think of my girl here? She a keeper?”

“Depends on what her favorite Taylor Swift song is,” Angela answered, regarding her shrewdly.

Lizzie closed her eyes and winced. Quick think of a song!

“That’s easy,” Ace answered, coming to her rescue. “It’s ‘New Romantics,’ obviously.”

The look on Angela’s face said it was a good choice, so Lizzie nodded her agreement. Apparently, it was a good answer and the conversation ended with Angela giving her approval.

Ace shot Lizzie a smug smile before turning his attention to Christine. They shared a look.

“Angela, sweetie, why don’t you go on upstairs now so the grownups can talk?”

Angela didn’t move. “If it’s about that douchebag ex-boss of yours, it concerns me and I deserve to know.”

Her mother glowered. Ace nodded slowly. “What will give you more anxiety?” he asked. “Knowing or not knowing?”

“Not knowing,” Angela insisted. “It’s obvious something is going on. I’m not an idiot.”

“I know you’re not, sweetie,” Christine reassured her. “And we aren’t trying to leave you out. I just don’t want to cause you undue stress or anxiety.”

“It’s not undue, Mom,” Angela argued, sounding wise beyond her years. “It’s very very due. And if I can’t handle it, I promise to go upstairs, but honestly, sometimes not knowing is way, way worse than knowing.”

“Promise me that if you need to, you’ll hop on a call with your therapist, and if she’s not available, you’ll call me,” Ace said gruffly.

Angela smiled and Lizzie joined her. It was no wonder the young woman had a bit of a crush on Ace. He was so good to her, and with her.

“I promise.” Angela drew a cross over her heart.

“Okay, here’s where we’re at,” Ace said. “He did drive by a couple times while I was out there, and trust me, he was not happy to see me. I’m thinking about leaving my bike here for a bit and taking a cab home. You really need to get some sort of security system or camera. Maybe if you had a video of him driving by repeatedly, the cops around here would pull their heads out of their asses and you could get a new restraining order.” His eyes narrowed. “They should have never gotten rid of it in the first place.”

“I have a camera system,” Christine offered. “My brother got it for me, but I haven’t set it up yet. That kind of technology is not really my friend.”