really expected to find love through a website. It seemed too clinical a medium ever to inspire grand passion. She had thought that Dan was the love of her life. Certainly, no one had ever brought out in her such a range of emotions. However, as time passed, she began to realise that as far as Dan was concerned, her overriding emotion had actually been frustration. Frustration that he just didn’t seem able to move their relationship forward. Frustration that after four years he still hadn’t introduced her to his children, who were by that time seventeen and nineteen, and doubtless had much more to worry about than whether or not their father was dating again.
Ian would not make Kate feel frustrated. At least, not in the same way.
There was only one small seed of doubt in Kate’s mind: Ian was very different from the men Kate had dated before. Her preference had always been for tortured, soulful types. By contrast Ian was remarkably simple. His approach to life was in fact so simple that about six months in, Kate wondered if she would be bored, but as Tess pointed out, she’d had an awful lot of practice with the tortured, soulful types and none of it had got her anywhere near the altar.
‘Easy is good. Just go with it,’ Tess had advised her.
Almost a year after their first date, Kate was still going with it and it was working out very well indeed.
For once she was glad she had taken her sister’s advice.
Chapter Twelve
Diana thought that people who had to resort to Internet dating must be profoundly sad. She couldn’t begin to imagine how terrible it must be to have to sift for a partner among strangers online. She herself had never had a problem finding a date. At junior school, she was always the first girl in her class to get a Valentine. One year, she had seven. The trend of adoration continued when she moved up to a private secondary school. At the end of her second year there, Diana was voted ‘Most Beautiful Girl in School’ by the boys in the year above.
Diana’s only problem was that a girl with as much to offer as she had needed a really special man. During Diana’s teenage years, boyfriends were picked up and discarded for all manner of reasons: not good-looking enough, not rich enough, not well connected enough in the nightclubs around town . . . Very few lasted for more than a month. From the age of twenty to twenty-three, Diana dated a nightclub promoter, but she dropped him when he said he had no intention of getting married before he hit fifty. (He was twenty-five.) Diana was not prepared to wait around.
She had hoped that ditching the promoter would be the wake-up call he needed. When he didn’t immediately give in to her demands, Diana knew she needed a different strategy. The strategy was to make him jealous. The man she intended to use to make him jealous was Ben.
Diana had been aware of Ben for years. He’d been in the year above her at secondary school. She’d seen him making gooey eyes at her in the corridors. She’d never returned the honour, because back then he just wasn’t cool enough to warrant her attention, but now Ben was back in Southampton after three years away at university and three years working in London and the geeky boy she remembered had blossomed into an altogether more attractive prospect. Having gained experience while running the student union, Ben was promoting a new club to rival Diana’s ex-lover’s. Diana and Nicole went along to the opening night and Diana quickly made her interest known.
Having reintroduced herself to Ben and spent half an hour putting in the spadework of making sure he knew that he might be in with a chance, Diana set about leading him a merry dance, which included insisting on a rendezvous at her ex-boyfriend’s club night. Mesmerised by any hint of attention from the most beautiful girl in school, Ben would have followed Diana anywhere. It took three months for him to get her into bed. The very next day, Diana had Ben
Ian would not make Kate feel frustrated. At least, not in the same way.
There was only one small seed of doubt in Kate’s mind: Ian was very different from the men Kate had dated before. Her preference had always been for tortured, soulful types. By contrast Ian was remarkably simple. His approach to life was in fact so simple that about six months in, Kate wondered if she would be bored, but as Tess pointed out, she’d had an awful lot of practice with the tortured, soulful types and none of it had got her anywhere near the altar.
‘Easy is good. Just go with it,’ Tess had advised her.
Almost a year after their first date, Kate was still going with it and it was working out very well indeed.
For once she was glad she had taken her sister’s advice.
Chapter Twelve
Diana thought that people who had to resort to Internet dating must be profoundly sad. She couldn’t begin to imagine how terrible it must be to have to sift for a partner among strangers online. She herself had never had a problem finding a date. At junior school, she was always the first girl in her class to get a Valentine. One year, she had seven. The trend of adoration continued when she moved up to a private secondary school. At the end of her second year there, Diana was voted ‘Most Beautiful Girl in School’ by the boys in the year above.
Diana’s only problem was that a girl with as much to offer as she had needed a really special man. During Diana’s teenage years, boyfriends were picked up and discarded for all manner of reasons: not good-looking enough, not rich enough, not well connected enough in the nightclubs around town . . . Very few lasted for more than a month. From the age of twenty to twenty-three, Diana dated a nightclub promoter, but she dropped him when he said he had no intention of getting married before he hit fifty. (He was twenty-five.) Diana was not prepared to wait around.
She had hoped that ditching the promoter would be the wake-up call he needed. When he didn’t immediately give in to her demands, Diana knew she needed a different strategy. The strategy was to make him jealous. The man she intended to use to make him jealous was Ben.
Diana had been aware of Ben for years. He’d been in the year above her at secondary school. She’d seen him making gooey eyes at her in the corridors. She’d never returned the honour, because back then he just wasn’t cool enough to warrant her attention, but now Ben was back in Southampton after three years away at university and three years working in London and the geeky boy she remembered had blossomed into an altogether more attractive prospect. Having gained experience while running the student union, Ben was promoting a new club to rival Diana’s ex-lover’s. Diana and Nicole went along to the opening night and Diana quickly made her interest known.
Having reintroduced herself to Ben and spent half an hour putting in the spadework of making sure he knew that he might be in with a chance, Diana set about leading him a merry dance, which included insisting on a rendezvous at her ex-boyfriend’s club night. Mesmerised by any hint of attention from the most beautiful girl in school, Ben would have followed Diana anywhere. It took three months for him to get her into bed. The very next day, Diana had Ben
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