Read Online Operation Valentine by Loretta Hill - Free Book Online

past, she felt almost transported to an alternate dimension where they’d known each other forever.
    And yet she had nothing to say.
    Her tongue cleaved to the top of her mouth, the air in her lungs felt trapped and her fingers fidgeted restlessly on her lap.
    What is the matter with you?
    The problem was, she had all the butterflies of a first date. But her feelings in this instance were completely warped. The person she had a date lined up with was Damien Rawsom, not Owen Black. In fact, her date was this Saturday evening. From his picture, Damien looked both personable and handsome. His profile summary had espoused many great qualities, too. Actually, probably too many. She hoped that he would be as rapt with her profile as she was with his. To be on the safe side, and because he was a gardener, she’d done some preliminary research on native plant names so she could impress him with some ‘home grown’ knowledge. She wanted to be prepared for this date and focused, so the last thing she needed was Owen’s generous biceps messing with her head.
    â€˜Thanks for coming with us, Sarah,’ Chloe piped up from the back again and Sarah quickly tore her eyes from Owen’s arm. ‘Dad is just hopeless at these sorts of things. And when I say hopeless, I mean dire . He hates all shopping. Even for food. So I do it for him online.’
    â€˜Well, I love shopping,’ Sarah immediately responded, ‘online or in person, so he’s picked the right person.’
    Perhaps the last line was the wrong thing to say because the curious teen immediately asked, ‘So, Sarah, where did you meet my dad?’
    â€˜Er.’ She glanced at Owen, whose eyes remained firmly on the road. ‘At The Blue Saloon. I’m a regular.’
    â€˜So why haven’t I heard about you before?’
    Sarah cleared her throat at such a direct question. ‘Well, we’ve only known each other for a couple of weeks.’
    â€˜Are you guys going out with each other?’ Chloe asked excitedly.
    Owen frowned and glanced at his daughter in the rear-view mirror. ‘No, Chloe, it’s not like that. We’re just friends.’
    â€˜Oh,’ came the disappointed reply from the back seat. But after a pregnant pause she spoke again, this time with optimism. ‘Well, you never know .’
    Owen continued to frown but said nothing in response. Sarah hid a secret smile. Was it her imagination, or was her love-and-leave-’em bar manager also a prudish parent? She wondered how much Chloe knew about her father’s real love life.
    They arrived at the shopping centre which sported a huge variety of outlets, including the main ones, Target and K-mart, and a giant food court. After parking the car, they decided the best plan would be to split up. Owen would go for a walk, while Chloe and Sarah went shopping. When they were finished, they would all meet up at the food court for dinner.
    â€˜So where are you going, Dad?’ Chloe asked when they reached Target.
    He scratched the back of his head. ‘I don’t know. Anywhere but here.’
    Sarah grinned. ‘Fair enough.’
    Owen took off down the centre of the mall as Sarah and Chloe entered the store. They headed straight for the women’s underwear section and before long were surrounded by a myriad of coloured cup sizes and shapes. Despite being with another female, it didn’t take Chloe long to lose her confident swagger and begin to lookembarrassed. Her head drooped a little and her hair covered half her face as she said to her feet, ‘Man, you must think this is so dumb.’
    â€˜Not at all,’ Sarah assured her. ‘In fact, I think this is going to be fun. Did you have anything particular in mind?’
    Chloe flushed. ‘Not really.’ Though she did reach out and tentatively touch a small white cotton number that had very thin straps.
    â€˜Why don’t we just pick a whole bunch that look