All Bets Are On Read Online Free PDF

you into bed?’ Tilly said.
    Sudden heat curled up through Alice’s body and pooled softly in her stomach at the thought. Since it had been three years since she’d had sex she cut her stupid overreacting body some slack and ignored it.
    ‘I wasn’t thinking so much about the physical side of dating,’ she said through gritted teeth.
    ‘Well, you’d better get started.’
    Tilly jumped down from the counter and retrieved a bottle of wine from the fridge.
    ‘Because you can bet whatever you like that the physical side of dating is exactly what he’s thinking about.’
    * * *
    Harry found himself at the office brutally early for a change. Waking early, he had found sleep shoved aside by thoughts of uptight Alice with her work obsession and her challenging attitude. He wasn’t about to be put off by a bit of procrastination. He sought her out at her desk, certain that she would be there despite the crushingly early hour, because she always was. He was right. Perfectly groomed as always, a takeaway coffee on one side of the pristine desk.
    She glanced up as he approached.
    ‘That drink,’ she said, before he had the chance to get back in and start persuading. ‘I’ve thought it over and I’d like to go, if the offer’s still on.’
    Bet your life the offer was still on.
    He knew once he got her out and alone with him that he could convert the situation into whatever he wanted it to be. Yet the expected stab of triumph didn’t for some reason materialise. After yesterday’s coldness, the sudden change of heart was unexpected and he didn’t miss the cautious tone of her voice or the way she fidgeted with the pen in her hand. He was struck again by how appealing he found her. Had she really not been out with a guy for three years? Despite the severe business dress and scraped-back hair, she was undeniably pretty and smart. What the hell had happened to her to make her withdraw like that?
    ‘’Course it’s still on. Let me know your address and I’ll pick you up.’
    She held up a hand.
    ‘Please, let me finish. First of all, we need to talk terms.’
    Not such an easy victory after all, then.
    ‘Terms?’
    ‘Yes,’ she said. She gave him a businesslike smile across the desk, pen twiddling between her fingers.
    He felt a spark of amusement.
    ‘You’re going out on a date, not buying a car.’
    She pursed her lips. He tried to drag his eyes away; the soft fullness of them was just delectable.
    ‘True,’ she said. ‘But in my opinion there’d be a lot less heartbreak and the divorce rate would be a lot lower if people just took the time to negotiate terms a bit. Get it all sorted up front so everyone knows where they stand and there’s no danger of misunderstandings. Ergo, no one gets hurt.’ She pointed her pen at him. ‘Someone like you could benefit a lot from terms, I think.’
    ‘Someone like me?’
    ‘Yes.’ She looked up at him. ‘A, you know, player. ’ She dropped her eyes quickly away from his and looked down at her desk.
    ‘Is that what I am?’ he said, biting back a smile.
    She didn’t look up.
    ‘Did you or did you not hand back a pair of earrings to Arabella yesterday, pointing out that she’d left it at your place and making it clear she wouldn’t be visiting you there again, thereby causing her to take sick leave for the day?’
    Was this for real?
    He inclined his head cautiously. ‘OK, maybe I did.’
    She nodded triumphantly.
    ‘And so we have terms.’
    A flash of exasperation made him wonder whether she might drive him nuts just over the course of an hour or so, let alone a series of dates. Was this really worthwhile for a bit of a laugh and a few hundred quid? She took high maintenance to the next level.
    Higher maintenance.
    Then his eyes dipped down again to her full lower lip and the determined look in the dark brown eyes and unexpected heat began to burn low in his abdomen.
    It occurred to him that maybe just what he needed after the last month or so was an