Operation Valentine Read Online Free PDF Page B

at her. ‘I think you must have left it on the bar yesterday when you were emptying your handbag.’
    â€˜Oh.’ She licked her lips and his eyes were immediately drawn to her tongue. ‘I suppose I must have.’ She drew the box self-consciously towards her, opened her giant handbag and flicked it in.
    â€˜It’s a very pretty box,’ he murmured casually. ‘Very expensive looking. Is it real silver?’
    With a groan, she looked up. ‘You opened it, didn’t you?’
    â€˜Well of course I opened it.’ He grinned. ‘Who doesn’t open a box like that? The Hope Diamond could be in there.’
    â€˜Okay, yes the box is expensive.’ She lifted her chin. ‘It’s even one of a kind, actually. My ex-boyfriend, Travis, gave it to me for my birthday. He said it was a symbol of our love.’ Her expression clouded. ‘Then a couple months later he dumped me to be with the woman he’d been seeing behind my back.’
    â€˜Ouch.’
    She gave a deep sigh. ‘Yep, he was a bastard. But I couldn’t throw away the box.’
    â€˜Why not?’
    â€˜Come on, you said it yourself, it’s too expensive. Besides the fact that it’s got my name engraved on it so …’
    â€˜So …?’
    She lifted her chin. ‘I did the only thing I could think of.’
    â€˜You put your tampons in it.’
    She shrugged. ‘It seemed fitting.’
    â€˜Hold a grudge much?’ He laughed.
    â€˜Well, now that you’ve completely embarrassed me,’ she looked back at her iPad, ‘don’t you have something better to do?’
    â€˜I’ll stay till your friend gets here.’ He glanced sternly at the men on the couch behind her, who immediately resumed drinking and looked away.
    Her eyes flicked up from her screen again. ‘But I don’t want you to.’
    â€˜Why not?’
    â€˜Because I’m trying to do something very important here and I don’t want to be distracted.’
    â€˜Filling out an online dating profile?’ He squinted at her. ‘Honey, if you want to get picked up there’re three guys behind you who would be happy to volunteer.’
    She rolled her eyes. ‘I told you yesterday, I’m not looking for a fling. I’m going to fall in love. This is the real deal. Besides,’ her finger flicked across the screen, ‘I have very strict selection criteria.’
    He raised his eyebrows. ‘Really?’ He didn’t quite know why but he was finding this conversation fascinating. Perhaps it was her no-holds-barred honesty. The girl didn’t bother with guile. She was who she was and didn’t pretend to be anybody else.
    â€˜Well.’ She ticked off her fingers. ‘Intelligent, kind-hearted, high moral standards, has good family values, and some mining knowledge would be preferable.’
    â€˜Mining knowledge?’ he choked.
    She squared her shoulders. ‘What’s wrong with that?’
    â€˜Just a little odd, that’s all.’
    â€˜I’ll have you know, mining is the backbone of our economy.’
    â€˜Yes, I’m aware. What I didn’t know was that it was also the backbone to a relationship. Guess I’m out then.’
    â€˜No offence,’ she lowered her voice while pinching thumb and forefinger together, ‘but you were never in.’
    He grinned. ‘Yes, I received that message loud and clear.’
    At that point her phone started ringing and she dived into her handbag and drew it out. ‘Amy! Where are you?’
    Her hopeful expression faded as her friend obviously made excuses. ‘Oh no. So you’re not coming? At all? But you know how important this is, right? I’m running out of time. We’ve got a six-week deadline, remember? Oh … okay.’ She paused. ‘Fine. I’ll catch you tomorrow. Bye.’
    She hung up, dejectedly putting her phone back in her