Read Online Game, Set, Match (A Humorous Contemporary Romance) (Love Match) by Nana Malone - Free Book Online Page A

“Yeah, she’s cool.”
    Ah, to be the mother of a teenage boy.
    Izzy mimicked his shrug. “Fair enough. Just keep it in mind. You don’t want to be a follo—”
    He rolled his eyes again and finished the statement for her. “Follower, I know. I want to be a leader.”
    Izzy feared she’d gone into Grandma territory. She was always trying to find that balance, but as he got older, she never seemed to find it.
    He grinned at her, and Izzy squirmed behind the wheel, aware she was about to get a cross examination. “Can we stop talking about my personal life and talk about yours?”
    Izzy laughed. “No! We cannot talk about my personal life.”
    “What about that pilot guy, Mick?”
    “Mike, his name is Mike, and we were never dating.”
    Nick pretended he hadn’t known. “Are you sure? Because he showed up at the Arts and Tarts the other night and spent a whole hour trying to butter me up. He could be the one, Mom.”
    Izzy laughed. “Doubtful.” She eased off the freeway. “Besides, he’s a potential client.”
    Nick sobered again, his face a mask Izzy hadn’t seen on him too often. He looked too adult and world weary when he said, “You know, Mom, you don’t have to avoid guys ‘cause of me. I want you to go out and do stuff besides work.”
    A light prickling behind her eyelid signaled oncoming tears but she blinked them back. When had her baby become a man? She took his hand and squeezed. “Nick, me not dating seriously isn’t because of you. It’s because of me. I’ve chosen to focus on my career that’s all.”
    He squeezed back. “If that’s how you want to play it. But you should go out more, Mom.” The devilish smile that would likely melt many a female heart as he got older was back. “With someone besides Simple Simon.”
    Izzy’s laughter blurted out. Where did he and Jessica come up with this stuff? “Oh, you’d like that wouldn’t you, Nick, my man.”
    Then she remembered she was supposed to be the parent. “And don’t disrespect him. He’s a very nice man.”
    Her impression of Simon’s phrase whenever he saw Nick was spot on, and her son burst into a fit of giggles, once again looking like the child he was. “You make him sound like a librarian.” He thought for a moment then added, “Maybe Jessica knows someone.”
    Izzy cringed then shook her head. The only men she ever saw Jessica with had more skin tattooed than not, and more piercings than she cared to think about. She shook her head. “I will not have my assistant or my son fix me up. I’m not that sad and pathetic yet.”
    “Well, you just let me know when you are. Half my friends have older brothers who think you’re a total MILF.” He shrugged. “I think it’s gross, but one of them might—”
    Izzy ignored the reference to older brothers and ran through the letters in her head, but couldn’t figure out what MILF meant. “Dare I ask, what is a MILF?”
    Nick shook his head. “Geez, Mom, don’t you know anything? It stands for Mom I’d Like to—” A look of alarm crossed his features. He blushed, and continued, “Follow Around?”
    She pulled into their driveway at the end of the cul-de-sac and shot him a glare. Somehow she didn’t think that’s what the F stood for. “Language.”
    “What? I didn’t swear.”
    Izzy raised an eyebrow. “Sometimes it’s the intent.”
    He muttered something that sounded like “Yeah, yeah,” as he climbed out of the car.
    As she followed him in, she wondered if she really had become so pathetic her son needed to fix her up. Catching a glimpse of her makeup-less face in the hallway mirror, she had a feeling the answer was yes. Before she could close the door behind her, her purse started to ring. The theme song from  Buffy the Vampire Slayer  filled the hallway. Izzy made a mental note to add Jessica to the list of people not allowed anywhere near her phone.
    She juggled a camera bag as she dug into her purse. When she retrieved the phone, it took her a