Read Online Husband Hunters by Genevieve Gannon - Free Book Online

that is.’ With that he turned and left.
    The second the lock clicked into place, Gia leapt from her hiding spot behind the hallstand.
    ‘What is wrong with you?’ she cried.
    ‘I would like to be able to have a family meal without having to perform for men you’ve deigned suitable to be potential sons-in-law,’ Daniela said.
    ‘You’re too picky!’ she yelled. ‘He was a nice man.’
    Dani took refuge in her car, where she turned up the heater and plugged in her iPod. Glenn Frey’s raspy voice sang The Eagles’ ‘Take It to the Limit’. She leaned back and savoured the solitude.
    After a minute she picked up the drawings that were sitting on her passenger seat. James had stickered them with Post Its, pointing out possible problems that would arise when they moved the vents, as planned. She traced her fingertip over the letters he had scratched in the notes with his biro.
    When James had first walked onto her site last May, she almost hadn’t recognised him from their university days. Gone were the shaggy traveller’s locks and the yards of leather and twine that he’d always worn wrapped around his wrists. His stubble was banished, and the spray of adolescent acne was nowhere to be seen. He was a more refined version of the guy she had pined over at Sydney Uni. But his smile was unchanged.
    ‘Bella Daniela DeLuca,’ he’d said, appraising her in her jeans and boots. ‘You haven’t changed a bit.’
    She had felt disappointed that she apparently hadn’t undergone the metamorphosis from gangly youth to attractive adult the way he had.
    They caught up over a ‘welcome to the company’ wine.
    As they made steady progress through their second bottle of bottom-shelf Moscato, Daniela found herself leaning closer to James across the table. She played with her hair and the little gold crucifix on the chain around her neck, suddenly very aware of herself.
    ‘I was devastated when you hooked up with Tom Massey,’ James blurted, referring to a boy from uni.
    Dani arched her brow. ‘Why? You weren’t interested in me.’
    He looked at her with sorrowful eyes. ‘It’s true: devastated.’ He leaned forward and touched the back of his index finger to her top button.
    ‘Liar,’ she said, catching her breath as he slid his finger down the seam of her shirt, applying more and more pressure as his hand dropped. He stopped when reached the spot where the cotton disappeared into the thick denim.
    ‘I can’t believe you’re going to be my boss,’ he said.
    ‘That’s right,’ she said. ‘You have to do as I say.’
    He hooked his finger over the band of her jeans and pulled her to him. ‘Only when we’re at work.’
    From then on it was a haze. Daniela’s mind was addled by lust, and the memories escaped like skittles dropped in the street. The last thing she remembered was the echoey thud of James’s heart as her head lay against his chest.
    When she woke up the next morning he was on the other side of the bed with his back to her. She lay still for a few moments before reaching out her hand and resting it on his waist. He didn’t move. After a moment, Daniela spoke: ‘Are you awake?’
    ‘No,’ he mumbled.
    Rebuffed, she withdrew her hand. ‘Stupida,’ she whispered to herself. She should have known he wasn’t really interested in her. Even at university, James Jensen had never really been interested in her.
    She lay in his bed for another ten minutes, watching the rise and fall of his chest, waiting for a signal that she wasn’t just a one-night stand. Willing him to roll over and sling his arm across her shoulders.
    ‘James,’ she whispered. ‘James!’
    He stirred. ‘So drunk,’ he said dozily.
    Her flicker of hope died. She got dressed and tiptoed out the door.
    That was a year ago.
    She turned off her radio and dialled his number. He may not want her, but he could help her find someone who would.
    ‘Dani?’ he answered. The sounds of Emerson’s drinks party played in the