A Hopeless Romantic Read Online Free PDF Page A

soon. She was a bad sister.
    “Don’t cancel anything special for me,” Dan said, as if reading her mind. “It was just a suggestion.” He stroked her knee. “God, it’s so nice to be here, sweetheart.”
    “I think I was supposed to be having lunch, but it’s quite a vague thing,” said Laura, trying not to choke on her toast. “I’d…of course I’d prefer it if…” His hand was lying on the duvet. She hooked her little finger around his and said, “Yes, I’d love to spend the day with you. We should talk, anyway.”
    Laura was always doing this, trying to stage moments when she and Dan “talked.” But it never seemed to work. She desperately wanted there to be some kind of agenda to their relationship, instead of Dan turning up when he could, secretively texting or e-mailing, having hurried, passionate, mind-blowing sex at one in the morning when he would drop by unannounced on the way back from the pub, wake her up, shag her senseless, and then go home—to what, Laura didn’t know. Every time they tried to talk, something else would get in the way; Dan would tell her a funny story, or kiss her neck, or have to leave because Amy was calling. They’d tried not seeing each other, but the truth was it was so easy to have this relationship, it was so full of pleasure and excitement that, three months after they’d first got together, nothing had really changed. Dan was still with Amy, trying to sort it out or break it off gently. And Laura—Laura was so wildly happy with the whole thing that she would no more have irrevocably ended it than she would have moved south of the river.
    When she looked at the facts of the relationship, the bare facts, only then did she get depressed. Nothing had changed. He was still with his girlfriend. And while he and Laura got along really well, she also had to admit that what they spent most of their time doing was not having a laugh and enjoying each other’s company, but—having sex. And, God, the sex was great, but that was part of the problem—it had obscured the actual facts of the relationship, or whatever it was, for some time now.
    On New Year’s Eve, Laura and Yorky had gone round to the newly married couple’s house for a party, along with lots of other people, but Dan wasn’t there. He was on holiday with Amy, in Prague. Laura stood on Jo and Chris’s balcony with Yorky and watched the fireworks over London. It was a clear night, sharp and cold, and for once the fireworks from the Thames were visible. They fizzed in the distance, tiny and indistinct, and around them, across the rest of London, streets and parks and houses were lit up by similar flashes and bangs, stretching as far as they could see. Simon had been next to her, and as he hugged her tightly, he asked, “So, sis. What’s your New Year’s resolution, then? Tell me.”
    “Ha,” said Laura despairingly. She gave him a squeeze back. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
    “Oh, really,” said Simon, not actually listening, as his eye had fallen upon an attractive brunette in the corner of the room. “Love life?”
    “Yes,” said Laura honestly.
    Simon looked at her briefly. “Who is it this time, then?” he said.
    Laura resented the tone in his voice. “It’s…not like that.”
    “Oh,” said Simon, not believing her for a second. “Right,” he added vaguely. “You should do something about it.”
    “Thanks,” said Laura. “I am.”
    Simon smiled. “Really?” She nodded. “Well, good luck, then,” he said. “Who is it this time? Someone at work? Ken Livingstone?”
    “Go away,” said Laura. “You’re no help.”
    “Well, don’t just stand there,” Simon said. “I mean it. Do something about it.” And he shrugged apologetically, as if admitting this wasn’t helpful, and moved across the room in search of his prey.
    Laura watched him go. He was right, though, wasn’t he? This was going to be the thing that she did this year. She’d been searching for