Page 122 of Accidental Roommates

She blinks a few times. “I’m what?”

“Stunning.” He smiles as he picks up her hand and kisses it. “You’re stunningly beautiful.”

“Oh, um, thank you.” Her eyes bounce all around like she doesn’t know what to say, or how to respond. My mom is really pretty, but she never goes out so she’s not used to getting attention from men. And I doubt she’s ever had a man kiss her hand. Jace’s uncle is quite the charmer.

“Would you like some wine?” Greg asks, letting go of her hand. “It’s a Tempranillo. I brought it back from Spain.”

“You were in Spain?”

“I taught there last semester. I’m a professor. I teach in the business school at the college here in town. I was offered the chance to teach in Spain last semester as part of our exchange program.”

“How interesting.” My mom’s beaming. This is her dream man. Handsome. Charming. A professor. “I just returned from a semester in South Africa. I teach as well, but at a community college. They recently opened a school in South Africa and I too was part of an exchange program.”

“How did you like it?”

“I loved it! It combined two of my favorite things. Teaching and traveling.”

“It seems we share some common interests.” He motions to the living room. “Perhaps we should go sit down.”

She glances at me. “Honey, do you mind? Or if you need help with dinner I can—”

“Go ahead. Jace and I can handle dinner. Do you want some wine?”

“Oh, yes. That’d be wonderful.”

“I think you’ll enjoy it.” Greg leads my mom to the couch to sit down. “I’ve had that particular wine several times. It’s one of my favorites.”

As they continue to talk, I go up to Jace, keeping my voice down. “What’s going on with those two?”

“My uncle wants your mom.” He smiles. “And I’m pretty sure she wants him. I think she’s glad you didn’t have that safety pin.”

I look over and see my mom turned toward Greg, sitting up straight, pushing her chest out, showing off her cleavage. She’s smiling as he talks, gazing into his eyes.

“Oh my God, my mom’s flirting. I can’t watch this.” I turn away.

Jace laughs. “You should be happy. My uncle’s a great guy. It runs in the family.”

“If he’s like you, then yeah, my mom would be lucky to have him.”

Jace gets the corkscrew out to open the wine. “Let’s hurry and get dinner ready so we can eat and those two can get out of here and have some alone time.”

“Alone time? It’s Christmas. Where are they going to go?”

“Back to his place. He has an awesome house. It’s big and open and has a huge stone fireplace. Really romantic.” He winks at me, smiling.

“I don’t think I’m ready for this. I’ve never seen my mom date.”

“Never? She hasn’t been on one date since the divorce?”

“If she has, she didn’t tell me about it. She didn’t go out much, and when she did, it was with me. It’s hard to date when you have a kid.”

I hear my mom laugh, not her normal laugh, but a flirty laugh in a high pitch.

“What is going on with her?” I whisper to Jace. “I’ve never seen her act like this.”

“Maybe she’s in love,” he says, pouring the wine.

“She’s not in love. They just met.”

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