Somebody Like You: A Small Town Single Mom Romance (The Heartbreak Brothers Book 4) by Carrie Elks (best ebook reader for ubuntu .TXT) 📕

of the car, though that was more than enough. It was about his damn injury. His career. The whole reason he’d driven down to Hartson’s Creek. It made him see mists of red when he should have kept calm.

“Get over here,” he shouted from the lawn of a blue-painted house. “Did you see what you’ve done?”

The eldest boy put his hands up. “I’m sorry. We were playing. I didn’t mean to hit your car.”

The younger boy looked petrified. “Mikey, I’m the one who hit the car.”

“Shut up,” the older one – Mikey – hissed. “Go inside. And don’t tell Mom.”

Before the little kid could do as he was told, the front door opened and a woman walked out, her pretty face pulled into a frown as she took in the situation in the front yard.

“Michael?” she said, looking from the boys to Cam. “What’s going on?”

“I can handle this, Mom. Take Josh inside.”

Cam blinked, because she didn’t look like a mom. Not the kind of moms he’d grown up with, anyway. The kid had to be at least fifteen, and she didn’t look much older than twenty-five. His brain might have been addled, but even he knew the math didn’t work.

“Your kids threw a ball against my car. It’s left a dent,” Cam called out to her.

The pretty mom winced and shook her head.

“You go inside,” she said to Mikey. Her eyes were dark. “Take Josh with you. I’ll deal with this.”

“But, Mom—”

She lifted her hand. “Don’t sass me, Michael. Go in right now.”

So she didn’t look like a mom, but she sure sounded like one.

Michael glanced at Cam, his eyes wide. “Mom, that’s…” he started, pointing at Cam.

“Go inside!”

The kid recoiled and huffed, then pulled his younger brother through the door with him, slamming it hard enough for the frame to shake. Cam watched as the woman pursed her lips and blew out a mouthful of air, then slowly walked down the steps to come face to face with him.

Close up, he could see how she could be the mom of a teenage boy, though she’d still have had to have been young when she had him. Her skin was smooth, but there were a few worry lines beginning to form on her brow. And though she was slim, there was an enticing curve to her hips that he was trying really hard not to look at.

“Sir,” she started, and he immediately interrupted her.

“It’s Cam.”

She blinked, but showed no sign of recognition. He assumed she wasn’t a football fan. “Cam, I apologize for my son’s behavior. And of course I’ll pay for the damage. Please let me know how much you need once you take it in for repair.”

“It’s an Audi R8 Coupe. It’s gonna cost at least ten grand to get the dent out and resprayed.”

She lifted her head up, her expression unreadable. “Send me a quote and I’ll write you a check.”

He glanced at her clothes. Tight jeans and a flowy white blouse tucked into her waistband, highlighting the svelteness of her body. Her long blonde hair fell over her shoulders in waves.

“You should teach your kids not to run off when they get into trouble,” he told her. “I nearly had a heart attack chasing them.”

“Do you have children, Cam?” she asked. Her voice sounded strange. As though she didn’t come from around here.

“No, Ma’am.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t comment on other peoples’ parenting. My children know to come home if there are any problems. They did exactly the right thing. They would have come to see you once they told me what happened.” She hadn’t smiled at him once. For some reason, that annoyed him. He was used to women laughing and fawning, not staring at him as though he was some kind of child chaser.

“I apologize,” he said, giving her a slow, easy smile to see if it would melt her icy exterior. But it did nothing.

“Accepted.” Her face was still impassive. “Is your car okay to drive?”

“Yeah. Just a dent in the door.”

She nodded. “Okay then. Well, I should go in. There are two young men I need to speak to.”

He bit down a smile this time, because he wouldn’t want to be in her kids’ places for all the money in the world. If she was this short with him, god only knew how scary she must be to her kids.

“Can I have your number?” he asked her.

“No.” She frowned. “That’s completely inappropriate.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “I need to send you the invoice. I wasn’t asking for a date.” Though he wouldn’t say no to that. It was crazy how much he wanted to see her smile. She was pretty enough when she was frowning, he’d bet good money she was glorious when she grinned.

A blush stole up her face. “Oh god, I’m sorry. Yes, of course. Do you want me to write it down?”

He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’ll punch it straight in.” He listened as she called out the numbers, then pressed the person icon. “Do you have a name?” he asked.

“Mia.”

“Mia?” he repeated, waiting for her surname.

“Mia,” she said again.

“Right. So your name’s Mia Mia. What are the odds on that?” he said, amused. “I guess your parents really loved the name, right?”

A ghost of a smile passed her lips and damn if that didn’t make him want to touch them. “It’s Mia Devlin.”

He gave her a full blown grin. “Okay, Mia Devlin. I guess I’ll get out of here and go back to my car. You’ll be hearing from me soon.”

“I guess I will.” She nodded. “And what’s your surname? Just so I know I’m paying the right ten thousand dollar invoice.”

“Hartson.”

Still no flash of recognition in her eyes. It was weird how he liked that she had no idea who he was. “Okay, Cam Hartson. I’ll be going in.” She turned on her heel and started to walk back up the path.

“Mia?” he called out, mostly to see what she’d do.

“Yeah?” She whipped her