Just Say Yes Read Online Free

room, she was about to turn on the TV when a rogue thought struck her. Was she overreacting a tiny bit here? Letting what had happened with her mum and dad turn her into a bitter and twisted old crone before she’d even hit thirty—which wouldn’t have been surprising, considering her one experience of True Love. The truth was, she’d seen enough disappointment during her teenage years to last her a lifetime. Lucy’s dad had been a charmer like Nick and, having swept her mum off her feet (according to her mum, anyway), he’d proceeded to sweep several other women up in the same way.
    By the time Lucy was twelve, she and her mum had left home to live with her gran four times after her dad’s “moments.” Those moments had all involved another woman, none of whom had been old enough to be Lucy’s mother, and, each time, he’d returned, contrite, begging to be allowed back. Each time, he’d wooed her mum back with flowers and tearful promises—wooed Lucy back too, with trips to Disneyland and (oh God, she was so easily bought then) a designer coat she’d been desperate for. Come to think of it, maybe that was where her allergy to lying had come from: seeing her dad do it so well and so often had given her a phobia about it.
    By the age of fourteen, she was almost as seasoned to disappointment as her mother, and probably a lot more hardened. She already knew, then, that there was no way she was ever going to put up with what her mum had in her own relationships, no matter how charming and cheeky the guy was—no matter how much she wanted to kiss him, feel those sexy hands on her body…
    No way.
    Flicking on the TV, she resisted the urge to check her cell phone one last time. She tugged open the fridge and reached for the bottle of wine. She poured another glass, grabbed a bottle of Evian for the inevitable three in the morning rehydration call, and headed for her TV with a Lost box set. Sawyer got naked in this episode and, for the purposes of lust, Lucy had A Thing about bad boys. Scumbags were a different matter.

Chapter 3
     
    “Lucy!”
    “Bleurgh…”
    As she peered over the top of the duvet, Lucy’s first thought was that someone was trying to break into her bedroom. They appeared to be doing it by lobbing bricks at the window and next they would probably get a ladder and crawl through the hole with an ax and have their evil way before stealing her complete Sex and the City box set. She scrabbled about on the bedside table for her watch, saw the time, and lay back on the pillow with a groan. Another assault on the window had her jumping out of bed, stubbing her toe on the exercise bike, and pulling up the blind so hard it clattered against the window.
    Her eyes adjusted slowly. Too slowly. It couldn’t be . He wouldn’t dare. A man was standing at the bottom of the steps to the flat with a rose.
    “Morning!” he called cheerfully.
    Lucy blinked. “Nick?”
    “Yes. Who did you think it would be?”
    “What are you doing down there?”
    “Hoping to say it with flowers?”
    “Shhhh! You’ll wake up the neighbors!” she said, crossing her fingers and praying that Charlie, who lived below, had enjoyed a hard night and was dead to the world.
    “So am I forgiven?”
    No, actually, she thought, he wasn’t. Not even if he did have a great body and a cheeky smile and more flowers. She wasn’t going to forgive him unless he had a very good excuse for last night’s no-show. Closing the window, she pulled on a robe, debating whether to go down and let him in. She waited a few minutes before padding slowly down the stairs. He deserved to be kept waiting. It was only a shame it wasn’t pouring down outside.
    “Sorr-ry,” he mouthed as she unlocked the door and poked her head round the jamb.
    “And you actually expect me to let you in?”
    His face fell. “Well, I was kind of hoping. I know you must be surprised to see me—”
    “Surprised isn’t the word I’d use.”
    “Pissed off,