Page 2 of The Sweet Part
“Me too.” I could drown in those brown eyes. Like a vat of chocolate.
“AnotherMname. Lot of those in my family. My three younger brothers have names that start with anM, two of my cousins, and my mom.” The easy charm he shows on TV translates in real life at ten times the intensity. A hundred times.
“And now you met anotherM, me.”
“May, you’re the prettiest one of them all.”
I suck in air and quickly cover. “I hope so if you’re comparing me to your brothers!” My voice hits a high note that would normally embarrass me, but he laughs, and I find myself laughing too.
“Mommy! Mommy!”
Sophie runs straight to me, her pigtails askew as usual. I scoop her up, relaxing with my baby in my arms once more. “Did you have fun with Aunt Alice?”
She nods enthusiastically.
Alice gives me an apologetic look. Her long light brown hair shines. What a pretty color, almost caramel. Guess I’m complimenting myself too. Ha. Alice looks stylish as ever wearing an off-the-shoulder wine red sweater, gray skinny jeans, and long leather boots. It’s laundry day at my house, so I’m wearing a pink T-shirt that shrank in the wash, revealing a stripe of skin on my stomach that I keep trying to cover by pulling up my navy, ankle-length skirt. It’s a summer skirt, really. I threw on a gray cardigan for warmth and bam! Fashion mom. Not.
“Sorry,” Alice says. “I kept her distracted as long as I could.”
Mason stares at Sophie and then me, surprise registering on his face.
“Single mom,” I say, setting Sophie down.
He shifts uncomfortably. That’sfine. I’m not in dating mode. I was just enjoying meeting a local celebrity. He glances quickly between me and Alice, noticing we’re identical. We get that a lot.
Sophie grabs my arm. “Mommy, that’s Mason fromHot Finds!” She turns to him. “Can I get your autograph?”
He smiles. “Sure.” Grabbing a napkin, he looks around for a pen. I fish one out of my purse and hand it to him. “Thanks.”
Alice elbows me, whispering, “Now I get why you watch a car show.”
I give her a warning look that saysdrop it!I have to be extra careful not to show interest in men when Sophie’s around. Made that mistake before.
Mason turns to Sophie. “Who should I make it out to?”
She cocks her head. “Huh?”
He leans down. “What’s your name?”
“Sophie Herman. I live at—”
I put a hand on her shoulder. “We don’t share our address with everyone.”
“But I know it!”
“Just Sophie’s good,” Mason says. He writes on the napkin, using his other hand to shield what he’s writing.
Sophie goes on tiptoe, trying to see it.
When he finishes, he presents the napkin with a flourish.
“Wow,” she says in a hushed tone.
Alice and I lean over, trying to read it. Sophie can read thanks to me.
“Lemme see,” I tell Sophie. She holds the napkin up. He wrote: Sophie, ride on! Mason. At the bottom of the napkin, he made a drawing of a sports car with fins.
She hugs it to her chest. “Wait until I show Olivia H.! Can I be on your TV show?”
