How to Win a Guy in 10 Dates

by Jane Linfoot

  Securing a towel around herself, she picked up a vest, folded it, and placed it on an easy chair, grabbed a stray flip flop, and rummaged under the strewn clothes to find the matching one.

  ‘Need some help with that?’

  Mr Snappy. Or should that be Mr Neat? Leaning on the door frame, all lazy and relaxed. Men with gravelly voices like that should not be allowed out. As for his low slung sweat pants, parading round in those with that body was just plain mean.

  ‘Why? Are you offering?’ Half way to slipping him a sultry smile, she caught her foot in an abandoned towel, and tripped. All down to those melting knees, and darn it that her legs weren’t working at all.

  His chest was hard as she barreled into it.

  ‘Easy.’ His eyes snagged onto a nipple that had escaped over the towel top, and stayed there as he righted her.

  ‘Whoops. Sorry.’ She dragged in a breath, re-adjusted her towel, and forgetting the smoulder she’d been planning, shot him one straight smile. Determined to ignore whatever was going on in the groin area of his leisure wear. ‘Tidying time?

  Did he have any idea how many good-boyfriend points he picked up there for offering to help? Wrong! Not boyfriend. Definitely not boyfriend. She kicked herself hard for that slip up.

  ‘I think tidying might be a good idea. Sorry about before, if I sounded short.’ He let out a sigh, as he picked up the nearest dress and began struggling to arrange the tangle of shreds. ‘Part of being grown up and independent is being tidy you know. Although right now this garment, whatever it is, seems to be resisting all attempts to impose order.’

  What? Had she just hear that right? First an apology, and then that. The bit about being grown up.

  She screwed her head round to check if he was messing about. ‘You are joking?’

  ‘Nope, never more serious. You’d be less obsessed about the independence thing if you felt more in control, and being more organised might help.’ The grin he posted her was apologetic not playful. ‘I’ve never known anyone this untidy before.’

  So what now? She would have balled him out, except maybe he did have a teensy point.

  ‘You sound like my parents.’ She stuck her hands on her hips, to make certain he got the message she wasn’t happy.

  ‘Hey, that’s harsh.’

  Hurt and helpful? Way too attractive. He was going to have to stop that. And she was going to have to concede he was a little bit right.

  ‘I’ll try harder in future. Hey, what are these doing here?’ She scooped up one pair of exceedingly tattered jeans that had nothing to do with her, waggling them in the air triumphantly. ‘These are yours mate. Kicked under the bed, no less, so it’s not all my mess. I’m thinking pots, kettles, and black here.’

  ‘Guilty as charged.’ He gave a shame faced shrug.

  ‘My favourites too.’ She gave a laugh. ‘Your Ed-from-the-quarry jeans. You couldn’t … ’ No, she couldn’t ask him. She wouldn’t ask him. She wasn’t going to beg. Even if the thought of seeing him in them with no pants was …

  ‘What..?’

  If she didn’t ask now she might not ever see him in them again. One awful thought, driving her to be entirely brazen.

  ‘Would you put them on?’

  The glance he shot her was pure, delighted lust.

  ‘Not sure I’ll get the zip up.’ He snatched the jeans as she flung them. ‘I’ll try, seeing how you asked so nicely.’

  ‘I’d appreciate that, Mr Mitchum.’ She had no idea how he’d read her ear to ear beam, as she watched him peel on the soft, oh-so-tight denims. Rips in all the right places, and then some.

  ‘I take it you won’t mind if lunch is an hour or two late.’ He growled as he struggled to accommodate the full length of his arousal into the jeans.

  ‘An hour or two?’ She couldn’t resist the tease. ‘I’m not sure it’s going to take that long.’

  One smart smack stung her butt, and then his hot delicious mouth hit hers and she had no further sense of time at all.

  ***

  ‘I think I’m getting the idea of this no-strings fun thing.’

  Millie sauntered across the village square beside him, flip flops flipping, bumping him gently as her hips swayed, stripping the last of an ice lolly off a stick with a tongue-technique so enticing, he decided he’d rather look away.

  ‘Yep, I thought you might. Just a shame we lost most of yesterday. A weekend should be plenty to burn out the heat, but we’ll be struggling if you’re off home tomorrow. Always best to do it in one hit, and move on.’ He pushed the end of his own Cornetto into his mouth, and crunched it.

  And always, best to tell it like it is.

  Which was why he was ignoring Millie’s appalled expression and bashing on with the home truths. Except it wasn’t exactly the truth. Because he seldom made a whole weekend of it, and he’d never spent the length of time he’d spent with Millie, with anyone. And he’d never had this much sex with one person. Another reason why it was so strange that this far through the weekend, instead of feeling the burn was subsiding, he had the uncomfortable impression it was getting hotter.

  ‘Shall we walk up through the village to the church at the top?’ Although she’d moved a pace away from him, her dismayed expression had morphed to bright and airy.

  ‘Good idea, the vista’s meant to be amazing, and seeing as this village is off the main tourist trail, at least its quiet. Will you be okay on the cobbles in those sandals?’

  Cobbles spinning him back to the polished, well groomed awesome Millie, who’d powered her way through his mother’s reception yesterday evening, and gone on to power him right over the edge. He felt himself stiffening now at the thought of her slinking around the kitchen. But that untouchable, sultry Millie had dematerialised as soon as her high heels and dress had hit the deck, and she’d been eager and insatiable as he was. Not forgetting those amazing stockings. Strange though, the Millie he preferred was the Millie he had here, all raw, and vulnerable. Crumpled, yet real.

  ‘Heels and cobbles don’t mix, but flip flops are good.’ The smile she flipped him, made his heart …

  Squeezing. Flopping. Thumping. Whatever. Hearts were off limits. Totally.

  Unless like last night, they were racing because of the lust, and the sex.

  Then it was okay.

  Hard to think this time yesterday he’d been enduring the whole damned challenge without any of the benefits. Millie’s u-turn on the sex-front had come as one big bonus. And the other plus was that the end of the challenge was in sight. Only the family meet left, and no idea at all how he was going to engineer that as yet. Then he’d be paying Will and Cassie a visit, to rub their noses in his victory.

  Winding their way up in the shade of the narrow alleys, picking their way past geranium pots, his hand fell easily onto the small of her back. ‘It’s quite a climb, are you okay?’

  ‘I dance, remember? I have stamina. I bet I could beat you to the top.’ A toss of her head, one challenging grin, and she was off.

  There was no way that he could catch her now.

  She reached the top first, barely panting. Blowing her damp fringe upwards, she flopped down onto a bench in dappled shade, and he dropped beside her.

  ‘Worth getting out of breath for that view.’ He was talking about the patterns of pan-tiled roofs and the rolling plains beyond, but focusing on her tanned thighs, spreading on the warm stone seat.

  ‘You know what else is a waste?’

  ‘No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me anyway.’ Sometimes she reminded him a lot of Cassie, and not in a good way. The way she never let things rest.

  ‘You being on your own is a waste.’ She stretched her legs out in front of her, oblivious to his eyebrows hitting the sky as her words hit home. ‘You’re a lovely guy. When you forget about being grumpy you’re fun, you’re kind, and you’re great in bed. Not for me, obviously. But somehow I think you’d enjoy life more with a partner than on your own.’

  Right about her s
ounding like Cassie then.

  ‘Don’t you start too.’ He regretted that the moment it slipped out.

  She pounced. ‘Why, who else says it?’

  ‘Pretty much everyone.’ Hopefully that fudged it, but it was dangerously close to challenge territory. ‘They’re all wanting to get me married off.’

  ‘And you’re resisting because of the commitment thing?’

  ‘What commitment thing would that be?’

  ‘You not wanting to commit because of your abandonment issues.’

  ‘My what?’ Where the heck had that come from, and more to the point, where the heck was it going?

  ‘It’s obvious. You avoid relationships because you think your mother left you. You’re probably scared of being left again.’

  ‘Thank you Mrs Freud, but that has nothing to do with it.’

  ‘Don’t you think you should get your Mother’s side of the story? It’s not like you don’t know who she is?’

  ‘Definitely not.’

  ‘Well has anyone else in the family talked to her about it?’

  ‘Lizzie – that’s my birth mother – doesn’t see anyone in the family. Never has, although Cassie looked her up a few years ago, when she was in the States.’

  ‘There you go then. And?’

  ‘I didn’t ask, I’m not interested.’

  ‘Really Ed. You are the limit. How are you going to get on with your life if you don’t sort this out?’

  ‘I wasn’t aware there was anything to sort until two minutes ago.’ He heard his voice crack with indignation. ‘What’s it got to do with you anyway?’

  She screwed up her face, let out a deep sigh.

  ‘You’re right, it’s nothing to do with me.’ She put a hand on his arm, and he winced at the screaming-pink nails. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything, wouldn’t have. It’s just I’m going back tomorrow, so it seemed like a now-or-never moment.’

  ‘Never might have been good.’ He shrugged, rubbing his chin. ‘You don’t have to leave tomorrow.’

  A couple of extra days to extinguish their fire. And it wasn’t only about the burn-out. If they travelled back through London, they could pull in a visit to her family, and tick the last box of the challenge. And then it would be over. If he pulled this off, he’d be a free man by Wednesday. Whoop, whoop. Way to go Ed! So now he needed a charm offensive to persuade her. Except it was never quite that simple. Second guessing Millie’s reactions was a science that was beyond him.

  ‘We could always stay. One more day to go for burn-out. What do you say?’ He tried to read her reaction, but she avoided his gaze, sat her biting her lip, tapping her feet in silence.

  Millie lost for words? That was a new one.

  Impatient for a result, he pushed her. ‘So?’

  Her hand was on his arm again, bright nails fluttering. ‘Thanks for the offer. Another couple of days would be great but … ’ Her wistful tone became apologetic, but firm. ‘Probably best to leave things as they are.’

  Dammit. Why was there always a ‘but’?

  ‘Let’s wander down before we decide.’ He stood up, offered a hand to pull her to her feet. ‘You might have changed your mind by the time we reach the bottom.’

  And, just as likely, not. She was going to make him work for this, like she had all along. But, he was man enough for the challenge, and if he had to dig deep, then he would.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  MILLIE had no idea how that happened. One minute they were in a sleepy hill village, and a scant hour later they were on a hotel terrace under stripy parasols, watching the sun spark off the ocean.

  ‘Thought you’d enjoy a glimpse of the Med … ’ Ed narrowed his eyes at her, his glass of mineral water half way to his lips. ‘Before you head home, if that’s what you’re still insisting you’re going to do.’

  Damn. She’d meant to dive in and talk about the bright blue sea. ‘I thought we’d agreed we weren’t going to mention that again.’

  ‘You might have. I didn’t.’

  ‘You never give up do you?’

  A waiter approached with a glorious seafood platter. Hopefully that would shut Ed up for a bit. Not that she wasn’t tempted. She’d left next week free, hoping to get on with her boxes, her regular classes were on summer break. She didn’t have to rush back, and since they’d sorted out what was – or wasn’t – going on, she was having a great time. But perhaps she was enjoying it all too much. If she left tomorrow, she could count the weekend as her first no-strings achievement. But any longer than that, and she was scared she’d get too used to his easy ways, not to mention those dynamite orgasms. Some things a girl could have too much of, and it was nothing at all to do with caring, or falling for someone. Ed might have his own worries on that score, imagining that she was going to get all clingy and difficult, but he couldn’t have been less wrong, because she had no space for a man in her life, and that was definite. But when the good things weren’t there any more you’d miss them too much. And no way was she going to risk that.

  So Mr Mitchum had to accept she was leaving tomorrow, end of.

  Across the table, Ed inclined his head. ‘I know they aren’t your favourite people, but do you see much of your family?’

  That arrived out of nowhere. Except Ed rarely made small-talk for no reason. She put down the king prawn in front of her, and met his gaze.

  ‘Where is this going exactly?’ She licked a salty finger.

  He shook his head blithely. ‘Nowhere.’

  ‘Sorry, I don’t buy that.’ She scowled him a dead eye.

  ‘So when did you last see them?’ The line of his jaw said he wasn’t backing down.

  Damn this man.

  ‘A while ago. I’m busy, I don’t go south much.’ Suitably imprecise, and excuses to match. ‘Why has it got anything to do with you anyway?’

  The memory of holding Sophie’s new-born baby still turned her heart to dry ice. That echo, in the space where her own baby should have been.

  ‘No reason.’ He gave a nonchalant shrug. ‘Are they in London then?’

  Would he never give up?

  ‘Okay, last reply on the subject. My little sister is at uni, my parents are in Knightsbridge, my older sister Sophie lives in Belsize Park.’ Sucking the sour saliva out of her mouth, she forced herself to say it. ‘She’s the one with the baby.’

  If he’d noticed her voice had dropped to a whisper, he didn’t react.

  ‘I’m picking up a family estrangement vibe here.’ Ignoring her appalled frown, he bashed on regardless. ‘Why don’t we fly back to London on Wednesday, and drop in on Sophie? Then I’ll run you back up north afterwards. It’s good to touch base with your siblings, even if you have issues with your parents.’ He flashed her a triumphant beam.

  Talk about insensitive.

  ‘Sorry, an hour ago we were talking about you needing to see Cassie to find out what happened when your real mother left you. How did we come from that to this?’

  Seeing his jaw sag, she hoped she hadn’t been too harsh. But he was asking for it.

  ‘Right. You have me there.’ He pursed his lips, pushed his fingertips together. ‘Cassie lives in Camden. Not far away. We could see them both?’

  Now he was talking randomly. What the heck was this about?

  ‘Okay, you may like this better.’ He fished his phone out of his pocket, and flicked some buttons. ‘There’s a flea-market in Nimes on Monday, and Aix on Tuesday. We could go to those too?’

  This man knew her too well. Two more flea markets? That was temptation.

  ‘No point. I’m maxed out on all my cards.’

  ‘Don’t take this the wrong way, but I could fund a bit of shopping … ’ Noting her expression, he rephrased. ‘As a loan if you’d prefer.’

  Why was he pulling out all the stops here? Oh my. Surely not? Kerching! The sound of the penny dropping. He was so determined to burn this thing out, he was throwing every enticement he could her way. A man who didn’t take no
for an answer, with no clue how much she didn’t want to see her sister.

  She drew in a deep breath, bracing herself to test him. There was one deal she would be interested in brokering, if only to see this whole thing through. In a weird way she felt like she owed it to him. Whatever else he’d done, he’d helped her put Josh firmly behind her, and she’d always be grateful to him for that. And that was before you even got on to the bit about showing her she was capable of a climax. Whatever his shortcomings, she’d be returning home a different woman. And if she could pull this off, she’d set him on the way to a better future too.

  ‘I’m not agreeing to anything here, but try this for size. How about I stay until Wednesday, then on the way back we can go and find out what Cassie knows about your birth mother.’

  The oyster he’d just picked up clattered back onto his plate.

  He screwed up his face. Three, four, five long seconds. Not happy about this then. Eight, nine, ten, then he shifted, clenched his jaw, stared her straight in the eye.

  ‘And we’ll see Sophie at the same time?’

  Oh, the way those dark eyes made her stomach descend. Not good news.

  ‘That wasn’t part of it. Why are you so keen for me to see Sophie?’

  He gave yet another diffident shrug. ‘Maybe the same reason you want me to see Cassie – because I have a gut instinct that in the long run it’ll be in your best interest. I know you might have been jealous of her as a child, but it would be useful to put that behind you, and I think you know that too. Nothing like sorting out family stuff.’ He gave a wry grimace, then stretched across the white damask tablecloth, caught her wrist between his fingers. ‘So, do we have a deal?’

  Oh my. Bulls and china shops springing to mind. Crashing about, and him with no idea about any of it. He couldn’t find out the truth, about what had happened. Nobody could. She let out a smooth breath.

  Give and take. Isn’t that what it was all about? Something for him, something for her, although heaven knows how she was going to carry off seeing Sophie and the baby. And definitely not thinking about the heat-burning that was going to go down the next few days. Ignoring the smile lines crinkling in the corners of his eyes, ignoring the twist of those destructively sensuous lips, she locked onto his deep, dark pupils.