Maid for Love (A Romantic Comedy) Read Online Free Page B

heartbroken teen. “So what do I do?”
    Josh shrugged but Kathryn smiled. “You play it cool. You’re not going to get anywhere with Zoe by acting like the tough guy.”
    “I’m not sure I know how to play it cool.”
    Kathryn grinned. “We’ll help you, won’t we, Josh?”
    Josh’s eyebrows rose. “We will?”
    “You bet we will.”
    Michael felt a tiny rush of hope followed by a not-so tiny dash of skepticism. “You two are going to help me figure out why Zoe is acting this way?”
    “Oh, yeah,” Kathryn all but crowed. “We’re not only going to figure it out, we’re going to do something about it.” She motioned for them to lean in. “I've got a plan.”

CHAPTER THREE
               
    “So what are you going to wear tonight on your hot date?”
    Zoe stepped back out of her walk-in closet so that she could see her laptop screen. Skype was a double edged sword sometimes. “It’s not a hot date, Mother.”
    Her mother laughed. “That’s what it looks like from here. I can see you flinging clothes out of your closest in a desperate search for just the right knock-him-dead outfit.”
    “The only thing I’ll be knocking down tonight are bowling pins.” Zoe sank on to the edge of her bed and hugged an emerald green silk blouse to her chest. “I don’t even think Michael will be there so it doesn’t matter what I wear.”
    “Well then, throw on a pair of jeans and one of your comfy old t-shirts and go bowling already.”
    Zoe shook her head. Being an only child was a curse. If she’d had a sibling, now would be the perfect time to bring them up to deflect the conversation off of her life and onto theirs. “Thanks, Mother. I appreciate your support.”
    “Darling, the very fact that you’re making such a big deal about this, not to mention that you’re acting a little histrionic, tells me more about how you feel about Michael than your words ever did. I want you to really think about what you’re doing here.”
    Zoe glanced at the screen. Her mother’s expression was so blatantly sympathetic that she had to look away. “I’m not sure I understand.”
    “I think you do but I’ll spell it out anyway. It would appear that seeing Michael again has refueled your desire for him.”
    “Mother, really? Who said anything about desire?”
    “Don’t interrupt, sweetheart, I raised you with better manners than that.” Her mother disappeared from sight for a moment but quickly reappeared with a white Persian cat which she cuddled to her chest. “Say hi to Precious, won’t you, dear?”
    Zoe groaned. “I can see you’re busy, Mother, so I’ll just let you go.”
    “Sorry, darling. Where were we?”
    Just about to go crazy.
    “Wait, I remember,” her mother said. “We were talking about Michael and how you wish you’d never tried to make him forget you.”
    “Oh, let me stop you right there. I didn’t just try to make Michael forget me, I did it. Successfully.”
    Her mother wrinkled her brow. “Are you completely sure that he doesn’t have an inkling that you were his lady love?”
    Lady love? Her mother must have been hitting the romance novels again. “He doesn’t remember me. Yesterday, for a moment, I thought he might have because he said he wanted to talk about what was going on.”
    “Oh, that sounds promising,” her mother cooed.
    “No, it turns out that he wanted to talk to me about helping him with the kids. He’d rather they not drive because they’re from a rural area and aren’t used to heavy traffic.”
    “Ah, I see.”
    Zoe had felt the same disappointment yesterday that she heard in her mother’s voice now. Which was curious because she didn’t want Michael to remember her. What’s done was done.
    “Tell me this,” her mother interrupted her thoughts. “Why are you helping him out? You don’t run a babysitting service, or a taxi service for that matter. But you obviously agreed if you’re ferrying his niece and nephew to the bowling alley.