Positively Yours Read Online Free PDF

them. Tom had redone the whole house after his wife moved out, and while it looked like a bachelor pad it still oozed class; Beth loved the art that hung on the walls in every room.
    Tom had clearly drunk more than usual, and Beth was momentarily surprised as he whisked her off the bed and swung her around the room dancing to David Gray. He held her tight, and she seized the moment and hugged him back. As she clung close to his tall frame and listened to him hum the words of the songs she imagined what it would be like to live here permanently. To wake up with Tom every morning, tofall asleep in his arms every night. To have her own wardrobe, to have dinner parties, to be a proper normal couple. Suddenly Tom pulled away from her and opened the drawer beside his bed. From it he pulled a small black velvet box.
    â€˜This is for you,’ he said, as Beth sat down on the bed beside him and gazed in surprise at the gift.
    She opened the box. Inside was a white-gold bracelet. It was encrusted with diamonds. Beth was in shock.
    â€˜What’s this for?’ she said, as she immediately placed the bracelet on her wrist.
    â€˜No reason,’ Tom said, helping her close the clasp. ‘Well, it’s for being you, I suppose.’
    Beth felt herself blush. Her heart raced.
    â€˜For being lovely you,’ he said. ‘Most women wouldn’t put up with me and my lifestyle. I know I work too hard and that our relationship can be difficult. But I’m so glad I have you. You’re like me, driven and ambitious. It’s what I love about you.’
    Beth swallowed hard. Her whole life people had praised her for being hard-working and ambitious, and told her it was her biggest asset, but that wasn’t what she wanted to be loved for.
    â€˜What we have works, Beth. We want the same: a great career, travel, friendship and, of course, fun! We’re made for each other,’ Tom said softly, as he kissed Beth’s neck.
    She bit her tongue. Tom was offering her everything except what most women of her age really wanted: marriage, kids, a family. She knew he had already had those and didn’t want them again, but sometimes she wondered if she was mad not to demand them. She looked at the bracelet; it felt tainted. She knew Tom was offering her all he could, but was it enough?
    Suddenly he flung his arms around her.
    â€˜I’ll miss you while I’m away,’ he said, referring to the triphe was taking the following Monday to America for a week’s business. Beth didn’t reply.
    â€˜You know I love you, don’t you?’ he said, as he began kissing her neck. Beth didn’t know if it was the drink talking or the romantic music in the background softening him up, but with that statement of love, she forgot all about engagements, babies and weddings, flung caution to the winds, sank into the soft Egyptian cotton sheets, and held tight to the man she loved.

9
    ERIN DELANY DROVE along red-brick Donnybrook Street and parked outside No. 23. She grabbed her appointment book, measuring tape and client folder and headed for the front door. Pretty young Ciara Ryan opened the door and beamed to see her standing there.
    â€˜Come in!’ she said.
    Erin looked around the hallway of her newest client. Ciara and her husband Mark had recently bought an old house that needed a facelift. Erin knew the area, and from the start had been impressed that people so young-looking could afford such a big house. Situated on the south side of the city, Donnybrook was one of the most affluent suburbs of Dublin. Only minutes from the busy city centre, the area was known for its elegant period buildings and leafy tree-lined streets; a fashionable and exclusive place where many wanted to live.
    Over the past few months Erin and Paula had been working with Mark and Ciara, helping them plan the refit of their new purchase. At the initial consultation Mark had admitted their first ideas had changed.
    â€˜To be