Read Good Girl or Gold-Digger? for Free Online Page A

smiled. ‘Water’s fine for me. Still or sparkling?’
    ‘Sparkling, please.’
    He gave the order to the waiter, and she skimmed down the menu. ‘I’m torn between the lamb and the salmon.’ Unable to resist the pun, she looked at him over the edge of the menu. ‘Do you think they’d let me have a moggie bag?’
    He glanced over at the plates of the other diners. ‘The portions here aren’t that big. But, if you can’t manage it, we can ask.’
    He’d taken her seriously? She laughed. ‘Mr Gisbourne, you’re being very slow tonight. Hel-lo— moggie bag?’
    ‘Very funny.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘I didn’t pick it up first time round because I’m distracted. Because someone is wearing lapis lazuli right where I’d really, really like to kiss her.’
    Suddenly, Daisy was the one who was distracted—imagining it. Felix’s mouth was gorgeous, well-shaped, with tiny grooves at each side that told her he laughed a lot. How would it feel, tracing a path across her skin, skimming her collarbone the way her borrowed necklace did?
    He’d just said something incredibly suggestive. Outrageous, even. But she didn’t think he was the kind of man who made that sort of comment to a woman he’d only just met: instead, she had the distinct feeling that he’d spoken his thoughts aloud without realising it. Felix the businessman might possibly have admitted to being distracted, but he definitely wouldn’t have said what was distracting him. That’d be tantamount to handing his business opponent a weapon on a silver platter.
    So, instead, she focused on what he’d said before. ‘You really think I’m one of these women who nibbles on a lettuce leaf?’
    He raised an eyebrow. ‘Are you?’
    ‘I plan,’ she informed him, ‘to order three courses, and petits fours with my coffee, and enjoy every single scrap. What’s the point of coming to a restaurant that has a reputation for phenomenal food if you’re not going to savour your meal?’ She spread her hands. ‘I can assure you, the only way I’d eat just a couple of mouthfuls of anything is if we ordered a tasting menu—and then I’d expect quite a few dishes.’
    ‘A woman after my own heart. Good.’ He looked approving.
    Well, they had some common ground. This was a good thing.
    For business, she reminded herself.
    When the waiter brought their water, Daisy ordered the asparagus soldiers with DIY hollandaise, followed by the salmon and then a trio of puddings.
    ‘So you get a taste of different things?’ he asked when he’d given the waiter his own order.
    ‘Absolutely.’
    He smiled at her. ‘So tell me—how come you have a cat who thinks he’s a dog?’
    ‘He was this tiny little kitten who walked into the workshop a couple of years ago and curled up on the engine.’
    ‘Tiny?’
    ‘He was, back then. When I stopped for lunch, he came and sat on my lap. And then he climbed up to my shoulders and miaowed very softly into my ear until I gave him a bit of the salmon from my salad.’ She shrugged. ‘I put notices in the ticket office and the local shops, and I took him home with me until he was claimed. But nobody claimed him, so I kept him. We called him Titan as a joke, just because he was so tiny—but he grew into his name.’
    ‘And became your guard cat.’
    ‘Absolutely. Shout at me, and you’ll have a big ginger cat in front of you with an arched back, his fur completely on end, and some very sharp claws being waved at you. Not to mention the growling.’
    Felix laughed. ‘He really does think he’s a dog, then.’
    ‘A superior dog. But he’s good company. I’m glad he adopted me. Do you have pets?’
    Felix shook his head. ‘My parents have dogs. But I travel a lot, so it wouldn’t be fair.’
    So he wasn’t the kind of man who stayed in one place for long. It was a warning, and she noted it.
    Before she could say anything else, the waiter appeared with their first courses.
    Felix eyed her plate with interest. ‘I can see