Page 51 of Writing Mr. Wrong

His motherhadwanted that daughter-in-law and grandkids, though, and if the end had come slower, maybe cancer instead of a heart attack, would Mason have tried to find someone, just to make her happy in the time she had left? Probably, which would have been a disaster, but he still couldn’t help wishing he’d done it for her. That he’d donesomethingright for her.

“She’ll know,” his grandmother said. “And she will be so happy for you.”

“It was one date, Nonna.”

“You will get more. You always get what you want, if you try hard enough. You just haven’t wanted this before.”

Except hehadwanted it before. With Gemma. And the only person he had to blame for losing it was himself.

Nonna squeezed his hand. “Do you know what the trick is to winning this girl?”

“Be myself?”

Did he imagine her hesitation? Her hand patted his again. “Be yourbestself. Now eat.”

He was about to set the phone aside, when it vibrated with a message. He’d had it on Do Not Disturb, where it only let in messages from his grandmother and his coach, the two people he never dared ignore. After dropping off Gemma, he’d turned on all messages again, in case she tried to get in touch. Instead, it was his publicist, and apparently far from the first message Terrance had sent that afternoon.

Mason opened the thread.

“Mason,” Nonna said, clearing her throat dramatically. “Put the phone down.”

“I know.” He leaned over to kiss her cheek. “But I’ve had it off all afternoon, and someone’s been trying to get in touch with me.”

“Your phone should be off. It’s still early. The sun hasn’t set.”

“Five minutes?”

She sighed and rose. “Torta margherita or torta tenerina?”

“Margherita, please.” While he liked a good flourless chocolate cake, he preferred the simple sponge one.

“Finish your dinner while you play with that thing.”

He scrolled down the list of texts.

Terrance:Where have you been?

Mason:With Gemma. Remember?

Terrance:Yes, and the last thing I got was two photos outside a coffee shop, with gorgeous scenery that had me sitting by my phone waiting for more. I did not get more

Mason thumbed through his photos and sent a few.

Terrance:Excellent! Is she okay with using these?

Mason:Sure

Nonna returned with their dessert, and he was about to put the phone away when he got another notification.A Highland Flinghad just been delivered to his audio library.

He smiled, pocketed the phone, and dug into his cake. Guess he knew what he was doing this evening.

Mason found a pair of earbuds in his jacket, so he started listening to the audiobook as soon as he left the restaurant. Yeah, having headphones on while driving a motorcycle wasn’t safe, but he couldn’t help himself.

By the time he got to his condo, he was a little confused. The book was good, obviously. He knew nothing about eighteenth-century Scotland, but Gemma took him there. By the time he was a half hour into the story, he was immersed in historical Scotland while being whisked along in an action-packed story about a young woman traveling alone through the Highlands, a governess who’d been going to meet her new charge when her coach driver turned out to be a grifter who stole everything she had and left her by the roadside.

That was all good. The confusing part was that he expected he’d have met the main character by now, but there was just this young woman, crying at the roadside in her tattered gown. That wasnotGemma. Gemma would have grabbed the reins, twisted them around the coach driver’s neck, and lefthimby the roadside.

Then along came this total asshole who gave the young woman shit for flagging him down. Okay, at first, he mistook her for a thief, but even once that was cleared up, he kept going on about how he had an important meeting because he was an important guy, and sure, he eventually let her ride in his carriage, but he made a big deal out of it, like he was doing hersucha favor.

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