Read Online Mistletoe & Bastards by Lindy Dale - Free Book Online

slowly. I could do it. Hell, if I could go
skydiving for a dare, I could bloody well keep a boyfriend.
    I hoped.
    I rinsed my
body and turned off the taps, standing for a second and watching
the last drips of water run into the plughole. All I had to do was
let down my guard. Try to see the positive rather than be eternally
cynical. And what better person to do it with than Johnny? He was
my best friend aside from Millie. He knew every little detail about
me, things that I never shared with anyone. He was hot and
intelligent and he looked great in a pair of rugby shorts. If I let
myself admit it, he really did turn me on. Plus, he seemed to like
me in a non-platonic way — a crucial factor if we were going to
move beyond friends.
    I slipped into
my underwear and went back to the bedroom where the man in question
was sprawled on the bed wearing only his boxers. Now that I’d
decided to give it a go, the sight of his big hard body was enough
to make me want to jump him, but I didn’t.
    “What are you
reading?” My eyes registered the book he had in his hand.
    “ Jane
Eyre . I found it in your bookshelf. I hope you don’t mind.”
    Mind? I was
astounded that of all the things on my bookshelf that was the book
he’d chosen.
    “Not at
all.”
    Johnny flipped
through the pages. “I haven’t read this book for years.”
    “You’ve read Jane Eyre ?”
    Okay, clearly
there was more to Johnny than even I knew.
    “A few times.
I’m not nearly as moronic as you seem to believe. I’ve read some
Jane Austen too and Oscar Wilde.”
    “Quite the
Rhodes Scholar.”
    “Come here.”
Johnny put the book down and beckoned me to him. I lay down beside
him and he wrapped his arm round my waist, his hand coming to rest
on my bum. “You feel nice,” he whispered.
    “Thank
you.”
    He rolled to
his back and picked the book up, thumbing through the pages. “You
know this part where Rochester tells Jane he feels like he has a
string connecting his heart to hers?”
    “ Mmm .” I
loved that scene. But then, being alone for most of my life, I
connected with the story on a number of levels.
    “Well, that’s
sort of how I feel about you.”
    Oh God. Not
again.
    “I think we’re
sort of the same,” Johnny continued. “We pretend we’re tough and we
don’t need anyone but we’re not like that at all.”
    That was
true.
    “Johnny?”
    “Yes?”
    “Can you stop
being so nice to me? The whole idea of a relationship is freaking
me out. You know I don’t go for all that soppy stuff and if you
keep quoting the classics I’m going to start laughing.”
    “Relationship?”
He feigned horror. “I was only thinking I might get into your pants
on a more regular basis if I showed you my tender side. I wasn’t
going to propose.”
    “Such a
charmer.”
    “You don’t want
to be wooed, then?”
    Oh puh-lease .
    “It depends on
how you intend on wooing me. If there’s going to be flowers and
going down on one knee, you have to know I’ll most likely clock you
with them.”
    Johnny
chuckled. “I wouldn’t dare. How about we start with Christmas? You
never gave me an answer.”
    I bit my lip.
“I don’t know if I can do a big family Christmas. I’m not
ready.”
    “If you can
handle a night at the club, I’m pretty sure you can give my family
a run for their money. They’re pussies.”
    “But I’m not
used to crowds. I spend my holidays alone. I like being alone. I
think we need to get to know each other a little more before I go
foisting myself on your olds.”
    Johnny sat up
on the bed. “Sure. Okay. Well, if the actual day is a step too far,
how about we meet for dinner tomorrow night? Let’s do a bit of a
romantic first date thing where you frock up, we drink a shed load
of expensive champers and then have rowdy Christmas sex.”
    I couldn’t
believe I actually agreed to the idea. But that was Johnny. He
could charm the wool off a sheep’s back.
     
     
     
~8~
    Christmas
Eve.
    I hadn’t seen
Johnny for a whole