Read The Man Every Woman Wants for Free Online

he’s not all that young.’
    Laura couldn’t say a word for a moment, having been rendered speechless by her aunt’s tactless commentary.
    But, as she struggled to find her tongue, Laura knew that there was no way now that she was going up to that house tomorrow alone. No darned way!
    â€˜To tell you the truth, Aunt,’ she said at last, ‘I’m not sure exactly how old Ryan is. Middle to late thirties is my best guess.’
    â€˜You’d think you’d know your boyfriend’s age,’ her aunt said snippily. ‘How long did you say you’d been going out with him?’
    â€˜We’ve been business acquaintances for two years. But we’ve only started dating recently.’
    â€˜Oh, I see. So he’s not that serious about you yet.’
    â€˜He’s very serious about me,’ she heard herself saying. ‘You don’t think he’d agree to come home with me and meet Gran if he wasn’t serious, do you?’
    â€˜What? Oh no, no, I suppose not. So what time do you think you might arrive?’
    Laura closed her eyes and prayed that Ryan would not change his mind and retract his offer when she rang him.
    â€˜Around noon?’ she suggested.
    â€˜Could you make it later than that?’ her aunt said. ‘Say, around three? That way I won’t have to do lunch tomorrow aswell as dinner that night and lunch again the next day. That’s a lot of work, you know.’
    â€˜But we weren’t going to stay the night,’ Laura protested.
    â€˜Don’t be silly, of course you are. I’ve already bought the food and the wine. On top of that your grandmother is expecting you to stay for the weekend, not just for a few short hours. You wouldn’t want to disappoint her, would you?’
    â€˜No, of course not,’ Laura said, but her head was spinning. How on earth was she going to keep up such a ridiculous charade for that long? And what if Ryan refused to go with her? Giving her his phone number was no guarantee he would say yes a second time.
    â€˜We’ll see you tomorrow around three, then?’
    â€˜All right,’ Laura agreed somewhat weakly.
    â€˜And Laura…?’
    â€˜Yes?’
    â€˜Bring a dress to wear for dinner tomorrow night, will you? I don’t want to see you at the table wearing those ghastly jeans you seem to live in.’
    Laura sucked in a deep breath through wildly flaring nostrils. She was about to launch into a counter-attack when she realised the line had already gone dead. She glared down at the receiver for several furious seconds before slamming it back on the hook.
    If there was anyone who could get under her skin even more than her uncle, it was her aunt—stupid, self-important, insensitive woman! Laura felt sorry for her grandmother, having to live with two such impossible people. She deserved better after putting up with that wretched husband of hers for fifty-five years.
    Thinking about her grandmother’s feelings put some perspective back into Laura’s growing frustrations over the weekend ahead. Okay, so she’d backed herself into a right royal corner now. Too bad. Gran was worth putting up with pretending to be Ryan Armstrong’s girlfriend for longer than a few hours. And worth having to put her pride aside to ring himback and tell him that she’d changed her mind and wanted to accept his offer. If he prevaricated, she would beg him to come with her, if she had to. Hell, she’d even bribe him if she had to. Though what with, she had no idea.
    The thought of offering him sex popped into her head out of the blue. It was such a crazy idea that she threw back her head and laughed out loud. As if the prospect of sex with her would persuade a man like Ryan to do anything! It would more likely make him run in the other direction.
    Shaking her head, she marched back down the hallway to where she’d left her handbag, rifling through it to retrieve