A Dozen Dates Read Online Free PDF Page A

relax...” He untwisted the criss-crossed laces from her knee all the way down and removed Gemma’s boot. Instantly she started wiggling and flexing her toes. “That feels good, doesn’t it?”
    “Mmmm,” it wasn’t a real word but in her tenor was clear testimony to the relief Gemma felt. Michael squeezed her foot with his strong workman’s hands for a minute, before sliding them northward along her leg. Gemma jumped!
    “I’m just taking your stocking off.”
    “I... I will.”
    “Okay,” he said as he retracted his hands, but ogled as she went to do it herself.
    “Close your eyes,” Gemma insisted. Michael closed his eyes with a smirk. She quickly reached up under her skirt and pushed both stockings down below her knees, repeatedly double-checking the status of his eyelids as she did so. “Okay...”
    “I can open?”
    “Yes...”
    Michael opened his eyes to see her peeling her left stocking all the way down her shapely leg to her ankle, where he took it out of her hands and finished removing it for her. He then set out removing the other boot and stocking and once finished he got up, lifted Gemma into his arms and started carrying her to the pool. “Don’t you throw me in..!” she warned him.
    “If I was planning on throwing you into the pool I would have given you a white t-shirt to wear.”
    Gemma gasped, shocked and then accused, “You have a kind of a boob thing, don’t you..?”
    Michael grinned widely and unapologetically admitted, “I do... I surely do..!”
    The water was like an island holiday as it engulfed first her toes and feet and then her tired calves, cooling and refreshing her in its paradise. “It’s nice, isn’t it?” Michael spoke her mind.
    “It is very nice...” Gemma agreed and then offered, “This is a nice area actually... What are you planning on doing out here?”
    Michael looked around at the unkempt backyard, “We’re not really sure about that...” Michael tested her, “This is your field – what would you suggest?”
    “I would make it a tropical retreat... Low maintenance... Work with the spirit of the city!” Gemma suggested.
    “Yes, that would make sense...”
    “You need to get rid of those trees...”
    “Oh?” Michael exclaimed as he observed the offending foliage she was gesturing towards, “Why is that?”
    “Well, they are both in dreadful condition... That palm is shabby and doesn’t self-shed... And that tree has never been pruned properly – it is not meant to be that shape,” Gemma stated and then added disgustedly, “It is an abomination.”
    Michael snickered fondly at her passion, “An abomination?” He noted how much of her shyness retreated when she spoke about her vocation.
    Gemma looked at him smiling, “Yes.”
    “Well then, I guess it will have to go...”
    Gemma smiled and asserted, “Good!”
    “So what happened with that loser last night,” Michael interjected to Gemma’s surprise.
    “Huh?”
    “Your boyfriend...” Michael continued.
    Gemma’s expression twisted from soft to hard, from hurt to defensiveness before her voice became monotone and she started twisting her hair around her finger. She answered Michael’s question, “He dumped me for someone else.”
    “What a loser... When you came in the room I was happy to see you - I had heard that you busted up,” Michael turned to her, but she couldn’t look at him. “Rob and Sandi are friends of Nathan’s...”
    “Sandi’s nice... I only just met her, but she was really nice to me.”
    “Yeah, she is... I wanted to make sure you were okay... Anyway, I knew you were in good hands...” Michael’s voice drifted off, and then he came back and added, “And then you came into my room...”
    “So-so what colour are you painting the kitchen?” Gemma interposed, staring indomitably at her feet as she swirled them in the clear, cool water.
    Michael caught her frightened tone and promptly attuned his conversation to what she was comfortable with, “Not