Girl on the Run Read Online Free PDF

next week’s half-marathon, Oliver?’ Jess asks, topping up my wine. ‘Are you going to beat your personal best?’
    ‘Well, I’ll try,’ he replies. ‘Though usually I don’t drink for two weeks before a race. I’ve blown that rule tonight.’ He grins, looking at me, and I notice a little dimple in his chin for the first time. It is unbelievably sexy, a quality he seems entirely unaware of.
    ‘Well, if ever I needed another reason not to take up running, that’s it,’ I smile.
    Jess giggles, but as I glance at Oliver it strikes me that self-deprecation might not be a wise move in this case. I’m never going to get him to fancy me if I let on I’m as lardy as the pastry on a steak and kidney pudding.
    ‘Don’t you like running, Abby?’ He’s smiling with wide, kind eyes – but something makes me stop buttering my roll. I suddenly despise its enticing fluffy dough, its lavish smear of butter – and what it and its kind have done to my love handles.
    ‘I used to do a lot of exercise,’ I tell him. Jess bites her lip and looks away.
    ‘Oh?’ he replies as I take in his forearms: they – like the rest of Oliver – are lean and muscular, without an ounce of spare flesh.
    ‘Hmmm. Cycling mainly. A lot of swimming. I was always at it.’
    ‘Right,’ he nods. ‘Well, both are very good for you.’
    ‘Abby’s so busy with her business these days it’s difficult,’ Jess interjects. It comes to something when it needs two of you to come up with pathetic excuses.
    ‘I know everyone says that, but in my case it’s true,’ I add, pointedly passing on the potatoes and helping myself to fibre-packed green beans.
    ‘Oh, come on.’ Oliver laughs softly, his dimples appearing again. ‘I don’t believe anyone’s too busy to exercise. Everyone can build an hour into their schedule a couple of times a week. Even you, Abby.’ He says it with a glint in his eye, but there’s no doubt that he’s convinced.
    I manage to hold his gaze for longer than I would without three glasses of wine. But as heat spreads up my neck, I’m forced to look away.
    ‘Well, you’ve obviously never met anyone who’s just started their own business,’ I manage.
    ‘You might be right,’ he concedes. God, he’s cute. ‘What’s your line of business? Jess mentioned it’s something to do with websites.’
    ‘We’re a web-design company.’
    ‘Abby has already won an industry award and has some really big clients,’ adds Jess. ‘It’s only been going eighteen months.’
    ‘Well done you,’ he smiles. For the first time this evening, I get a sense that he likes me. Yet, it’s obvious that flirting isn’t something that comes naturally to him – he seems too genuine, too boy-next-door. For some reason, that makes him even more desirable.
    Jess stands with a satisfied grin. ‘I’m going to clear the dishes,’ she says. ‘Oliver, don’t get up.’ She pushes down his shoulder with the force of a pneumatic press. ‘You wait and chat with Abby.’
    As she disappears through the doors, Oliver and I glance around the room, awkwardly searching for something to say.
    ‘Nice bracelet,’ he says eventually. It’s as if he’s trying to make the right moves because he likes me, but that he’s far from practised in the art. ‘Looks like it came from somewhere exotic.’
    Claire’s Accessories, to be precise. It was £4.99. He doesn’t have to know that.
    ‘Thanks,’ I mumble shyly. He reaches for the wine and as his arm brushes against mine I explode with nerves.
    We catch each other’s eye again and I suddenly feel slightly faint. ‘You know,’ he muses, ‘now your business has been up and running for eighteen months, perhaps you should make a bit more “me time”.’
    My heartbeat doubles in speed. ‘Perhaps you’re right. What did you have in mind?’
    He leans back and smiles, looking bolder than he has all evening. ‘Join the running club.’
    That wipes the grin off my face. ‘I don’t really