Read Online How to Win a Guy in 10 Dates by Jane Linfoot - Free Book Online
Authors: Jane Linfoot
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across the surface, toppled off the edge, and skidded across the tiled floor. ‘Marie-frigging-Antoinette!’
‘See you tomorrow.’ That’s what Ed had shouted after her as he’d shot off in a spray of gravel last night. ‘See you tomorrow.’
Just the thought of it made her furious. She’d put herself out there, taken a risk, totally against her better judgment, and he’d thrown it back in her face. All her fault. She should have kept a grip of herself, not jumped him like some sex-starved harpy, not assumed that just because for an instant she’d had an inexplicable urge to eat him whole, it was reciprocated. It had been utterly humiliating, being carried from the water like a kid, but it served her damn well right for deviating so far from her plan. Last night had been one bad, bad call. Her life-plan was there for a reason, and she should darn well stick to it.
See you tomorrow? She snorted disgustedly. How about – not if I see you first mate?!
And just to prove she meant business, she’d put on her scrattiest playsuit, and left her hair unbrushed.
Not that she was expecting callers.
She heard the knock first, then the clunk of the door handle. Then the rasp of his voice sent her heartbeat into overdrive.
‘Anyone home?’
This far through the day and no contingency plan for if he walked in. She really wasn’t functioning properly.
He sidled in, looking as if he’d just stepped out of a Vogue ad. ‘I’ve brought salad. Thought you might like to give me that twirl.’
And her legs turned to jelly, though this time she was the one growling.
‘You’ll be lucky!’
Noticing the fallen box on its side on the floor, he stooped to pick it up, turning it nonchalantly between his fingers.
This one already had her ABB signature stuck firmly in place.
No way was she up for questions about her Amelia Brunswick Brown alter ego, the moneyed parents, the running away. She’d made the hardest decision of her life when she was Amelia. Not that she’d ever forget that. She lived with the burden of it every day. But she’d made her new start as her abbreviated-alias, Millie Brown, and it was imperative she kept Amelia hidden.
‘I’ll take that, thanks!’ She snatched it, and spun it back onto the work table before he had time to blink.
One grin turned to grimace, a roll of his still-too-dark eyes, then moving on to the kitchen, he plonked down a carrier from the deli in town, and a pretty glass bottle of something fizzy. ‘Have you eaten today?’
She desperately scraped her fingers through her hair, regretting the playsuit choice now. ‘Nope.’
He sniffed his disapproval, pushed one delectable dark wave off his forehead. ‘It’s bad to skip breakfast, even if you have just got up.’
She was open-mouthed, reeling at the onslaught, knees weakening, despite her best life-plan resolutions. ‘I’ve been up since five, if you must know.’
Now he was the one with the surprised face, already settled in though, back against the work surface, legs crossed, arms folded, as if yesterday never happened.
‘Jeez, you must be starving! Grab some plates then, and we can dive straight in.’
***
‘Have you got grated carrot?’ He pushed the plastic container across the table towards Millie, as if vegetables were going to make anything better. If he had wondered how that delicious pout would look when she seriously wasn’t happy, now he knew, in spades. Even worse than at the hospital.
He’d counted on difficult, not impossible. So, how to rescue the situation once you’d blown a girl off, even if it was for the best of reasons? If he hadn’t pulled out of that kiss when he did, he’d have been inside her within a minute.
‘Olives and tomato?’
She nodded. Took it in silence.
‘Dressing?’ Ditto.
The trouble was that last night she’d spun him so far out of control that the only thing he’d known to do was stop. He cleared his throat.
‘Last night, in the water … ’ He had her
‘See you tomorrow.’ That’s what Ed had shouted after her as he’d shot off in a spray of gravel last night. ‘See you tomorrow.’
Just the thought of it made her furious. She’d put herself out there, taken a risk, totally against her better judgment, and he’d thrown it back in her face. All her fault. She should have kept a grip of herself, not jumped him like some sex-starved harpy, not assumed that just because for an instant she’d had an inexplicable urge to eat him whole, it was reciprocated. It had been utterly humiliating, being carried from the water like a kid, but it served her damn well right for deviating so far from her plan. Last night had been one bad, bad call. Her life-plan was there for a reason, and she should darn well stick to it.
See you tomorrow? She snorted disgustedly. How about – not if I see you first mate?!
And just to prove she meant business, she’d put on her scrattiest playsuit, and left her hair unbrushed.
Not that she was expecting callers.
She heard the knock first, then the clunk of the door handle. Then the rasp of his voice sent her heartbeat into overdrive.
‘Anyone home?’
This far through the day and no contingency plan for if he walked in. She really wasn’t functioning properly.
He sidled in, looking as if he’d just stepped out of a Vogue ad. ‘I’ve brought salad. Thought you might like to give me that twirl.’
And her legs turned to jelly, though this time she was the one growling.
‘You’ll be lucky!’
Noticing the fallen box on its side on the floor, he stooped to pick it up, turning it nonchalantly between his fingers.
This one already had her ABB signature stuck firmly in place.
No way was she up for questions about her Amelia Brunswick Brown alter ego, the moneyed parents, the running away. She’d made the hardest decision of her life when she was Amelia. Not that she’d ever forget that. She lived with the burden of it every day. But she’d made her new start as her abbreviated-alias, Millie Brown, and it was imperative she kept Amelia hidden.
‘I’ll take that, thanks!’ She snatched it, and spun it back onto the work table before he had time to blink.
One grin turned to grimace, a roll of his still-too-dark eyes, then moving on to the kitchen, he plonked down a carrier from the deli in town, and a pretty glass bottle of something fizzy. ‘Have you eaten today?’
She desperately scraped her fingers through her hair, regretting the playsuit choice now. ‘Nope.’
He sniffed his disapproval, pushed one delectable dark wave off his forehead. ‘It’s bad to skip breakfast, even if you have just got up.’
She was open-mouthed, reeling at the onslaught, knees weakening, despite her best life-plan resolutions. ‘I’ve been up since five, if you must know.’
Now he was the one with the surprised face, already settled in though, back against the work surface, legs crossed, arms folded, as if yesterday never happened.
‘Jeez, you must be starving! Grab some plates then, and we can dive straight in.’
***
‘Have you got grated carrot?’ He pushed the plastic container across the table towards Millie, as if vegetables were going to make anything better. If he had wondered how that delicious pout would look when she seriously wasn’t happy, now he knew, in spades. Even worse than at the hospital.
He’d counted on difficult, not impossible. So, how to rescue the situation once you’d blown a girl off, even if it was for the best of reasons? If he hadn’t pulled out of that kiss when he did, he’d have been inside her within a minute.
‘Olives and tomato?’
She nodded. Took it in silence.
‘Dressing?’ Ditto.
The trouble was that last night she’d spun him so far out of control that the only thing he’d known to do was stop. He cleared his throat.
‘Last night, in the water … ’ He had her
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