Read Magic Kiss (Hope Falls Book 11) for Free Online Page B

actually listening to anything. She used them as the first line of defense against strangers who were prone to small talk—mainly other parents at practices and games.
    It wasn’t that Emma was anti-social. Well, that wasn’t the totality of it. As a single mom, her time was precious and she needed to grab opportunities to work where she could.
    But one look into the young mother’s eyes and she immediately recognized the yearning to have an adult conversation. When Drew had been young and Andrew had been deployed, Emma had longed to speak to someone who used complete sentences and whose interests extended past Barney and Blue’s Clues .
    Making sure she spoke softly, Emma answered, “I’m working on my next book.”
    The woman’s brown eyes brightened. “You’re an author.”
    “Yeah.” It was still odd for Emma to think of herself as an “author.” She spent her days carpooling, doing laundry, cooking, and making sure homework got done. It was hard for her to think of herself as anything but Drew’s mom.
    “What do you write?”
    Oh boy.
    This was always a fun point in any conversation. Emma wrote under a pen name, and now, unless Drew was telling people what she did and who she was, she kept her secret identity to herself. People’s reactions to the genre she wrote were varied, with extremes being at both ends of the spectrum.
    Some people were intrigued and wanted to ask her a million questions about it. There was middle ground, where people got strange expressions on their faces and said variations of their personal observation that she didn’t look like she wrote those kinds of books. And then there were the people who spit on her (yes, spit on her) and told her that she was going to Hell. Needless to say, after the first year, she’d decided to keep her identity close to the vest.
    Against her better judgment, she found herself giving up the goods. “I write romance novels.”
    The woman’s doe eyes instantly widened. “You do? I love romance novels.”
    Whew . Looked like her aisle buddy was from the first category of people.
    “What’s your name? Maybe I’ve read you,” the woman asked.
    “I write under the pen name Chelsea Paige.”
    “Oh my gosh!” she cried out, causing her daughter to wake up in a start.
    Uh oh .
    “Shh, shh, shh,” the woman shushed her baby as she bounced her up and down and patted her bottom.
    Within a few minutes, the baby was lulled back into slumber and the woman turned her attention back to Emma.
    “I love When It’s Love ! I’ve read it, like, twenty times! And When It’s Real … Oh my gosh. I sobbed when Savannah thought she had to let Ethan go so he’d never find out about the baby she gave up.” The woman’s eyes filled with tears, and her voice shook. “That was the sweetest , most heartbreaking scene ever! You are seriously one of my favorite authors! I’ve devoured the entire series!”
    “Thanks.” Emma smiled as her cheeks heated. As much as she enjoyed hearing what readers thought, it was a little embarrassing to have your work being gushed over. She would almost prefer the haters. Taking compliments had never been her strong suit.
    “I’m Gabby, by the way.” Gabby adjusted the baby in her arms and shook Emma’s hand.
    “I’m Emma. And who is this angel?” Emma motioned to the tiny, cherubic face snuggled against Gabby’s shoulder.
    “This is Adeline.” Gabby beamed down at her bundle of joy.
    “She’s beautiful,” Emma enthused. Luckily, Adeline really was all kinds of adorable. Even though she probably would’ve said the same thing even if she hadn’t been. “How old is she?”
    “Ten months.”
    “They grow up so fast,” Emma said out loud even though it was more to herself.
    “Do you have little ones?” Gabby began patting Adeline again as the baby stirred, probably disturbed by all the talking.
    “One. But he’s not a baby anymore. He just turned ten.”
    “Wow.” Gabby’s doe eyes grew as large as saucers.