Read Operation Valentine for Free Online Page B

daughter?’
    Damn! He hadn’t meant to tell her that either.
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜And you’re raising her on your own?’ she prompted.
    â€˜My mother used to help out but she’s out of town at the moment.’
    Sarah’s eyes widened as though she was impressed. He tried to ignore the warm feeling it gave him as she asked her next question. ‘How old is she?’
    â€˜Thirteen.’
    â€˜Wow, a teenager. How are you handling it?’
    â€˜I’d rather not talk about it.’
    She tilted her head innocently. ‘Why not?’
    His mouth twisted. ‘You don’t understand. I don’t talk about my daughter with … with women I’ve just met.’
    â€˜You mean with the women you pick up.’ She nodded knowingly. ‘But we’ve already established that you and I aren’t romantically compatible.’
    His eyes narrowed, not quite agreeing with this in the strictest sense but knowing that overall she was right.
    She smiled. ‘We could just be friends?’
    He blinked. ‘I don’t have friends who are women.’
    â€˜Really?’ she said with some interest. ‘Is that a general rule or just the way things turn out?’
    â€˜Just the way things turn out, I guess.’
    â€˜Well, maybe this will be good for you then.’
    â€˜What’ll be good for me?’
    She turned off her iPad, put it in her handbag and stood up. ‘Given Amy’s not coming and you need to leave, I might as well go home and email Tom. I’ll let you know how it goes, okay?’
    â€˜Er, okay.’ He stood up too.
    â€˜See ya.’ She wiggled her fingers over her shoulder as she walked off and he felt like a pin that had just been hit by a bowling ball.
    Had she suggested that they just be friends ?
    Before he’d slept with her?
    Was that even possible?
    Whatever the case, he had a feeling he’d just been signed up to some club that he’d never had any intention of joining.

Chapter 5
Week 1, Day 3: First Contact
    Sarah slept in late on Saturday. Rising at eleven o’clock for brunch, she found a number of urgent voicemail messages on her phone. All were from Amy who wanted to know if she was okay and whether she should come over that morning to run through potentials. Sarah yawned as she put the kettle on.
    The truth was, she’d already shot Tom Beresford an email last night. Her chat with Owen Black had left her energised so she’d wanted to just get on with it before she lost her nerve.
    It had taken her the better part of an hour to compose the three-sentence email, with a subtle link to her profile, introducing herself and inviting him out for a drink.
    Frankly, this was a big deal.
    She had never asked a man out before. She usually waited to be approached, thus making herself the choosee rather than the chooser which, in hindsight, might be part of the larger problem. After much fingernail-biting and deleting, however, she believed she had achieved a message with a good balance between casual and flirty without sounding too desperate.
    It was very empowering.
    She wondered what Owen would have thought of it if he had read it. Her heart jumped in her chest as she recalled looking up to find him sitting there contemplatingher with those dark chocolate eyes. He seemed to have this incomprehensible knack of making her feel boneless. In general, she never went for guys like him. Men who were too sexy often knew it and Owen Black was definitely no exception to that rule. As weak as her body might be, her brain was certainly still functioning. She was insanely attracted him. The key word there being insanely .
    A lack of sense was no basis for a mature relationship.
    If she was going to save her job and break the Valentine’s Day curse, she had to be smart about this.
    She jumped at a loud knock on the door.
    â€˜Sarah, are you there? It’s Amy. Why aren’t you answering your phone?’
    She