Love Collides (Fate's Love #3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

flashed in her eyes, and I immediately felt like a total dick. "Mom, shit, I'm sorry."
    "Honey, it's fine. It is what it is. I almost forgot; here I am swooning over Joe Knuckles, and it was Ethan's big day." Mom closed her e-reader and sat up a little straighter. "How was it? Did Livy look stunning? I bet she looked stunning."
    "It was okay, I guess."
    "Okay? Kade Ford, I raised you better than that. You might be all grown up, but I still know how to get information out of you. Moms have their ways, you know."
    Joining her on the couch, I stretched out my tired legs and folded my hands behind my head. "It was beautiful. Brought a tear to my eye. The dress, the cake, all those flowers. So pretty."
    Mom batted her hand at me and scoffed. "Would it hurt you to be a little romantic now and again? For me. I'm not getting any younger, son. Neither are you. I want a house full of grandbabies and a beautiful daughter-in-law to spoil..."
    With a groan, I closed my eyes and let Mom's speech wash over me. It was always the same. Why did I never bring girls by? When was I going to get serious about life? I loved my mom with my whole heart, but she was an incurable romantic. Even after everything she had suffered at the hands of him .
    “Humor this old lady, Kade. You will be twenty-seven soon. It’s time to find a good girl to share your life with. You deserve to be happy.”
    Mom’s hand rested on my own, but my eyes remained shut tight. I’d heard that speech more than once lately. A speech I usually forgot the second I left the house. But this time something was different. And it started and ended with the pint-sized blond bombshell who had been imprinted on my mind since leaving the hotel earlier. She buried herself deeper each time. I didn’t fucking ask for it; I didn’t even want it. Not the rational, sane part of me. But I guess I wasn’t all him, after all. Because watching Staci leave hadn’t just hurt, it cut fucking deep.
    “Hey, where did you just go?”
    I opened my eyes to find Mom watching me with a look of motherly concern.
    “I’m just wiped. It was a late night.”
    Images of Staci naked popped into my head, and I shifted uncomfortably. Now was not the time for a mental rerun; not with Mom sitting so close.
    "I'm sure it was." Mom pursed her lips, giving me a disapproving smile.
    "Hey, it’s not what you think. We don't all have our heads in the gutter all of the time." I nodded toward the rectangular device on the arm of the couch, and Mom laughed.
    "None of Livy's friends catch your eye? I find that hard to believe."
    Oh, one did all right .
    "Are we really having this conversation, Mom?"
    "What? I can't even ask my only son about his love life?"
    Feeling uncomfortable with the direction of this conversation, I moved off the couch and mumbled something about getting a drink. But Mom followed me.
    "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. It's just lonely sometimes, you know. I don't want the same for you."
    Returning the glass to the counter, I wrapped her in a hug, resting my chin on her head. I didn't get my height from her side of the family. No, that was all on the piece-of-shit who didn’t deserve the title dad.
    "Never going to happen. And besides, how can you be lonely with all of those book boyfriends to keep you company."
    Mom sniffled into my sweater and anger prickled through me. I hated that he made her this way. Ten years. A whole fucking decade and he still had this hold on her.
    I could remember old Mom—the Mom before Dad beat her to within inches of her life. Jess Ford was the kind of Mom every teenager wanted—supportive but not overprotective, interested but not overbearing. She was more a friend than a mom, and everyone loved her. And that bastard ruined her.
    Mom wriggled out of my hold and smiled up at me. It was genuine but didn't quite reach her eyes. Her smiles rarely did. "I just want you to be happy. That's all."
    "Mom, I'm twenty-six and single, with my own bachelor pad and a king-size bed.