Just Say Yes Read Online Free Page A

then.”
    “You’re getting warmer.”
    He nodded. “I don’t blame you, but I do have an explanation.”
    “Involving what? Alien abductions? A multiple pile-up on the North Circular?”
    At this last suggestion, he heaved a sigh. “Now, I’m afraid, you’re getting warmer.”
    His last comment had her interested enough to open the door a little wider. Nick tugged at an imaginary forelock and held out the rose. “I really am most dreadfully sorry, Miss Lucy, but if you let me in, I can try and explain myself.”
    He managed to sound both contrite and sexy and, to her annoyance, Lucy felt her resolve thawing a fraction of a degree. She reminded herself that, ultimately, she was in control of the situation. There would be no harm in letting him say his piece, surely. If she didn’t buy what he had to say, she could still kick him out. She also realized she was clutching the front of her robe tighter.
    “We’d better go upstairs and this had better be good.”
    “Lucy, I can promise you it will not only be good, but it will also be true.”
    She raised an eyebrow, determined not to be taken in by his charm.
    “Yeah? Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
    Once in her flat, Nick flopped down on her sofa and laid the rose on the coffee table.
    “I owe you an apology—again,” he said as she perched on the edge of a chair, trying to keep her distance from him. “I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but I was actually on my way here last night, when I got a call from my sister. Harriet is as ditzy as they come and she’d crashed into a lamppost in her car.”
    She was taken aback. This wasn’t what she’d expected at all. She could hardly go all righteous on him now if he was telling the truth. “Oh. Is she OK? I hope it’s not serious?”
    “No. It’s not serious. She’ll be fine. It turned out to be just a few cuts and bruises, in fact, but she’s still pretty shaken up. The paramedics were there when I arrived and they insisted she be checked out in the hospital. I spent until two this morning in the ER with her, surrounded by winos and druggies.”
    Lucy resisted the urge to sympathize just yet.
    “By the time I realized I’d left my cell phone in her car, it had been carted off to the garage and after that, well, I didn’t dare phone you in case I woke you up,” he went on. “I really do feel awful. I can only imagine what you were thinking about me.”
    Lucy didn’t bother telling him what she’d been thinking. She was too busy wondering if his story was true. It certainly seemed genuine, and it was a fairly major tale to make up. And one she could check up on, if she really wanted to. Besides, while the accident was awful for Nick’s sister, at least it meant that he hadn’t stood her up.
    “I don’t like being messed about by anyone, Nick, but it’s fine. I mean, not the bit about your sister crashing the car, but the not phoning,” she said at last.
    “Are you sure? Because I would have been completely pissed off if I were you. I bet you were thinking I was an unreliable, lying git of the first order.”
    She gave him a rueful smile. “Now why on earth would I think that?”
    He rolled his eyes. “Hmm. Come to think of it, you did seem less than welcoming when you opened the door…”
    “It is six thirty on a Sunday morning. I don’t do mornings that well or being stood up,” she said.
    His stomach rumbled like a mini train. “God. Sorry. What am I like?”
    He looked so embarrassed, Lucy bit back a smile. “I don’t suppose you’ve had breakfast?”
    “Nothing more than several gallons of disgusting hospital coffee and, now you come to mention it, I am fairly ravenous.”
    She hesitated before making her next offer, knowing what it might lead to. “Well, I could do you some toast, if you like. I’ve even got some marmalade somewhere.”
    “Thanks for the offer, but I don’t really fancy toast, and I’m, er, not a big fan of marmalade,” he said, pushing