How to Win a Guy in 10 Dates

‘Catch you later then.’ He was sauntering towards the door as airily as he had sauntered in. One cheery wave, one disgusting, tummy flipping, laid-back smile, and he was out of her hair. Easy peasy. But something about the set of his jaw made it sound like a threat not a promise.

***

Ed, batting down yet another country lane, grappled with the unwieldy steering wheel, and cursed as he bounced the Land Rover around yet another corner.

Basic transport. One wealth-concealing novelty I can do without, he thought. Same with the full-time countryside. Two more excellent reasons to dispatch this challenge, and fast. Kicking around the local quarries all day, relying on the phone and lap- top to keep tabs on the rest of the worldwide business, tracking the progress of the French firework extravaganza. He couldn’t remember a time he’d been out of the office so long. Holidays weren’t his thing, he was more a work kind of a guy. Good job his various teams ran like clockwork in his absence. Cassie was another reason to get the challenge over and done with. She was sitting with her high-and-mighty judge’s hat firmly placed, ruling that casual cups of tea didn’t count as dates, even if you did take cakes. Especially when you didn’t have the tea, not that he’d actually admitted to that bit. Still, he mused, if this afternoon wouldn’t have counted as a date in Cassie’s darned book, then him being shown the door didn’t count either.

No-one had ever refused him a date before. Ever. But Millie had, and she was rubbing his nose in it. And he was letting himself take it, all in pursuit of the challenge. Although maybe it would have panned out differently if he hadn’t grabbed her. He was kicking himself for losing it like that, simply because she brushed by him practically naked.

Scraps of bikini, skin like hot toffee. Hardly worth the bother of dressing at all.

He wrenched the gear stick, crashing the gear-box to a howl as he missed the change.

He swore loudly.

He should be stronger than this. He knew he should be holding back, taking it slow, that if he didn’t he risked stuffing up completely. So why the hell hadn’t he?

And he hadn’t even got the twirl on the pole she’d promised.

At least she’d conceded ‘some other time’ as she blew him off. The smallest chink in her defenses, but it hadn’t gone un-noticed, and now he was here to capitalise on it.

Nine o’ clock. Time to try harder, and this time he’d get it right. He was on his way to one more spontaneous, original, and low-spend date tonight, already run past Cassie, and this time he’d make sure it was a date that counted. Date 4. This time he wouldn’t lose control. He’d give her all the space she needed, and work like crazy at making her feel comfortable. Hell, there were still so many dates left, there was plenty of opportunity to move things on later. Right now he needed to consolidate his position gently, and make sure she wasn’t so jumpy that she wrecked his plan entirely.

He allowed himself a secret self-congratulatory smile as he flung the Land Rover into her drive, and let it spread to a triumphant grin, as he saw Millie, just home, killing her car lights, opening her car door, and pushing out one deliciously curvy leg.

Perfect timing.

Drawing up beside her now. Sensibly. Absolutely no skidding. Window down, and drumming his fingers on the battered side of the door. ‘Hi! I thought I’d call by on my way home, just on the off-chance … ’

‘Home? I thought you didn’t have a home.’ And she’d already started, being exacting.

‘I’m crashing with friends until the barn’s ready.’ He’d already started lying – besides, if he told her he had the run of the East Wing at his parents’ Elizabethan castle, she wouldn’t have believed him anyway. ‘Coming for a spin? A warm summer’s evening, the moon on its way up.’

Out of her car now, and eyeballing him across her car roof, she was dropping her eyes, hesitating, the way she did yesterday, when he talked about independence. He’d seen that same flicker of her eyelids when he got to the bit about relying on people, the flicker that told him she couldn’t trust, wouldn’t trust. With his own trust issues, he knew the signs. Except her problems would be way less screwed up than his, probably all down to some unreliable guy.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.