Falling for Her Forbidden Flatmate, page 17
‘Have you found something you fancy?’ he asked.
Jenni looked over the top of the cocktail bar’s menu.
‘A black margarita sounds interesting. I didn’t know that black sugar even existed.’
Dan found the image of the drink. ‘It’s not a silly idea,’ he said. ‘To put something normally used to soak up toxins, like activated charcoal, into a drink that contains four different types of alcohol. It sounds lethal.’
‘It looks lethal.’ Jenni didn’t sound unhappy about that. ‘What are you going to have?’
‘Espresso martini.’
‘Classic.’
‘There’s a reason things become classics. And coffee after dinner is always good.’
‘But only after dessert.’ Jenni was looking at the menu again. ‘I’ll have one after the...tiramisu cocktail.’
A man bumped Dan’s shoulder just as he was about to pick up the cocktails they’d ordered.
‘Sorry, mate.’
‘No problem. Didn’t spill a drop.’
‘Why don’t you watch where you’re going?’ The woman with the man sounded completely fed up. ‘Oh, wait...you never think about anyone other than yourself, do you?’
‘Why don’t you give me a break?’ the man countered wearily. ‘We’re supposed to be celebrating our wedding anniversary.’
The woman’s voice faded. ‘Yeah...right...’
As he turned away from the bar, Dan caught the way Jenni’s eyes widened. She leaned towards him. ‘I’m so glad I’m single,’ she whispered.
‘Me too.’ Dan held the glasses high to keep them out of harm’s way. ‘Shall we go outside into the garden? Looks quieter out there.’
They found an empty table in the corner of the courtyard. Jenni raised her glass to his.
‘Here’s to never getting married,’ she said.
Her grin had the same kind of cheeky charm as Jock’s. The smile that never failed to win a woman over. Who would have guessed that it could work on men as well?
Most men anyway. Dan was immune.
‘Here’s to never getting married again,’ he said.
Jenni gasped. ‘You’ve been married?’
‘Just the once.’
‘And you thought that was a good idea?’
Dan couldn’t help the smile that was tilting his lips. ‘It’s okay. I know better now.’
He touched his glass to hers and they shared a glance as they both took their first sip.
A kindred spirit, that was what Jenni was.
An hour and a couple of cocktails later and it was becoming apparent that Jock and Grace weren’t likely to join them, but it didn’t matter any longer. He and Jenni were having a competition to come up with the best reason why it was so much better to be single.
‘You can eat whatever you like, whenever you like.’
Dan had to agree. ‘Reheated pizza at two o’clock in the morning can be good.’
‘As much garlic as you want because nobody’s going to complain about your bad breath.’
‘Nobody’s going to tell me off for getting home late if I happen to feel like a game of squash after work.’
‘I get to choose what side of the bed I sleep on.’ That wide smile was lighting up Jenni’s face again. ‘Sometimes, I sleep on both sides. Like a starfish.’
That stopped him.
Maybe those espresso martinis were stronger than usual. Because Dan was getting an image of Jenni McKay as a starfish on her bed and...it was doing strange things to his gut.
And his head. He had the odd thought that he could tell Jenni anything. Things that he’d never said to anyone else. He didn’t normally say much to anyone, actually, so it was astonishing to hear the words that were coming out of his mouth right now.
‘It’s safer,’ he said softly. ‘You have to trust someone to make a relationship work, but if you trust someone who tells you lies you give them the power to destroy you.’
Jenni finished the last of her espresso martini. ‘Oh, I hear you,’ she said with deep feeling. ‘Why is it that some people never learn that? My mother, for example, kept falling in love. Time after time. Even when we were kids, Jock and I thought it was stupid. We knew it was going to crash and burn. When we were thirteen we made a vow that we were never going to get married or have kids.’
‘That one’s not a problem for me,’ Dan said. ‘I can’t have kids.’
‘Why not?’
It was weird that he wasn’t bothered by such a personal question. Even weirder that he didn’t hesitate to respond.
‘Bad case of mumps when I was kid. I got told that I had more chance of winning the lottery than getting anyone pregnant.’
Jenni had gone very still. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘It’s not fair having a choice taken away from you.’
The empathy was as disconcerting as everything else about this woman. Surprising.
Captivating...
‘Nobody said life was fair,’ he growled. ‘But at least it should be honest.’
‘I gave up believing in Santa when I was five years old,’ Jenni admitted. ‘And I guess I gave up believing in happy endings when I was thirteen.’
‘Fool me once, shame on you,’ Dan quoted. ‘Fool me twice, shame on me.’
There was no smile on Jenni’s face now. Her gaze was locked on his. ‘I can’t abide lies,’ she said softly.
Dan couldn’t break that eye contact. It felt like there was an undercurrent of silent communication going on here.
Maybe it wasn’t just the caffeine in his cocktails that was making every cell in his body feel so very wide awake.
‘Neither can I,’ he responded. ‘If you can’t trust someone, they’re not worth knowing.’
‘I never lie,’ Jenni said.
Dan could believe that. Maybe he wanted to believe that? He took a sharp breath. This was getting entirely too heavy on both the obvious and the hidden levels. He needed to break what felt like a strangely intimate connection, even though he still couldn’t look away from her eyes.
He smiled slowly. ‘How do I know that’s not a lie?’
‘You don’t.’ Jenni was smiling back at him. The sexiest smile he’d ever seen. ‘But does it matter?’ she said softly. ‘We’re never going to see each other again, are we?’
That strange sensation in Dan’s gut was suddenly recognisable. The magic words had been said aloud, hadn’t they? The mantra that made it safe. A holiday fling. A casual encounter with someone passing through town. Someone he was never going to see again.
‘That might be one of the best things about being single,’ he said.
He could see the tip of Jenni’s tongue as she touched it to her bottom lip. ‘Are you talking about what I think you’re talking about?’
Dan held her gaze but lowered his voice. ‘It gets more intriguing, doesn’t it? Knowing you’re never going to see that person again.’
‘And when it’s never going to get spoiled by finding out that the second time isn’t as good?’
She looked at his empty glass. ‘Fancy another one?’
‘No,’ he said softly. He was sitting close enough to reach up and touch Jenni’s cheek. To trace the line of her jaw with his forefinger until it reached her chin—ready to tilt it so that he could cover her lips with his own—because he could see the answer to his unspoken question in her eyes.
‘I fancy you...’
* * *
Maybe Jenni hadn’t recognised the significance of the moment that changed everything when she’d found herself alone with Dan.
But she couldn’t miss the moment she began to fall into the sexual fantasy that was suddenly coming to life.
The moment she let Dan kiss her.
The moment she kissed him back...
Copyright © 2024 by Alison Roberts
LOVE HARLEQUIN ROMANCE?
DISCOVER
Find which books are coming next month from your favorite series at
Harlequin.com/Shop/Pages/Coming-Soon.html
EXPLORE
Sign up for the Harlequin e-newsletter and download a free book from any series at
TryHarlequin.com
CONNECT
Follow @HarlequinBooks on Instagram for the latest in swoon-worthy romance, including new releases, behind-the-scenes content, author Q&As and more!
Instagram.com/HarlequinBooks
Be the first to find out about promotions, news and exclusive content by following our socials @HarlequinBooks.
ISBN-13: 9780369759382
Falling for Her Forbidden Flatmate
Copyright © 2024 by Alison Roberts
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission.
Without limiting the author’s and publisher’s exclusive rights, any unauthorized use of this publication to train generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is expressly prohibited.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
For questions and comments about the quality of this book, please contact us at CustomerService@Harlequin.com.
TM and ® are trademarks of Harlequin Enterprises ULC.
Harlequin Enterprises ULC
22 Adelaide St. West, 41st Floor
Toronto, Ontario M5H 4E3, Canada
www.Harlequin.com
Alison Roberts, Falling for Her Forbidden Flatmate
