Game, Set, Match (A Humorous Contemporary Romance) (Love Match) Read Free

at least what she hoped was something near a welcoming smile and not the one her mother had used to chase boys from the house when she was Nick’s age. “How about you call me Miss Connors. What’s your name?”
    The girl’s wide blue eyes misted over with confusion, and Izzy wondered if she’d lost cool points.
    “Samantha. Samantha Tisdale.”
    Izzy nodded. “Do your parents know you’re here, Samantha?”
    Samantha wrinkled her blond brow. “Uhm, no.” Then she appeared to think better of her last statement. “No, ma’am.”
    She’d gone from Izzy to ma’am in three point four seconds. Izzy was only thirty-two, she wasn’t a ma’am. She knew who Tupac was, after all, and Snoop. “Do me a favor and call your parents. Tell them you’ll be on your way home in half an hour. Do you have a ride?”
    Samantha shot a plea for help look in Nick’s direction. Nick, true to form and his young age, provided no assistance and stayed silent.
    “N-no, Iz…erm, Miss Connors. We took the bus.”
    Izzy nodded and turned her gaze on the lanky form to her right. “Nick, call Jessica. She’s still at the office. See if she can take your friend home. I’m going to get dinner started so you guys have till about five-thirty to wrap up your studying.”
    Izzy ignored the look of horror on Nick’s face when she mentioned dinner. “Samantha, why don’t you come over for dinner one of these nights? Make sure it’s fine with your folks first though, okay?”
    Samantha’s eyes widened. “Yes, ma’am. Thank you.”
    Nick looked stricken, but Izzy couldn’t help feeling more buoyant.
    In the kitchen, Izzy helped herself to a chocolate chip cookie. An honest-to-gosh real chocolate chip cookie. No soy, wheat germ or flax seed to be found. She needed it after that make-out scene. She tried not to think about the last time she’d made out with anyone. Too depressing.
    Her baby was growing up into a man.   Not your baby.
    Because she needed the fortification, she shoved another cookie into her mouth and pulled out the casserole dish from the fridge. Thank God for their part time housekeeper. As much as she hated to admit Nick’s fear of her kitchen skills had merit, she knew what her strengths were and what they were not. She’d never mastered the art of cooking. Nick’s culinary skills were better than hers, any day.
    Somewhere after five, Nick strolled into the kitchen. “Nothing happened, Mom, I swear.”
    Izzy shoved the casserole in the oven and prepared the potatoes for mashing.
    “We were just studying.” Then, in an attempt to change the topic, he added, “Grandma called.”
    Izzy turned to give him a look, “Studying? Is that what we’re calling it now?” Then she smiled and added, “Nice try tossing your grandmother under the bus, but she can’t save you.”
    Nick blushed again. With his height and burgeoning muscles, he looked older than most boys his age, easily passable for seventeen. But, at heart, he was still a kid.
    “She’s the hottest girl in school, Mom, and she asked me to study. What was I supposed to do?”
    Izzy sighed and turned to face him, no idea how she was going to traverse this minefield. She didn’t need another embarrassing round of the sex talk. “Look, Nick, I know you’re interested in girls, but remember we had a deal. School first, always. Then the extracurricular activities you’ve committed to. Only after that come friends and girls. Remember the conversation we had about taking things slow and respecting women?”
    Nick hung his head nodding. “I know, Mom, I just…I don’t know.”
    She turned the oven on to preheat as the cooking label said. She wasn’t concerned with the girl so much as she worried her baby was growing up faster than she could control. “Do you really like this girl?”
    Nick shrugged. “I dunno, I guess.” Then he wrinkled his forehead. “You’re supposed to wait for it to preheat before you put the casserole in.”
    She turned to survey