The Rules of Engagement. Ally Blake

      For Better, For Worse, For Ever?

      The first look, the first touch, the first kiss… Is there anything better than the beginning of a new relationship? Not for Caitlyn March—self-confessed relationship junkie. Now she’s sworn off “forever” for good. Three broken engagements make it clear that she—and her fickle heart—are not to be trusted….

      Enter Dax Bainbridge—the most deliciously handsome man she has ever met! He’s a man with enough oomph to make her forget her vows to steer clear of romance, but luckily his rules of engagement are simple. There’s no ring on offer—all he’s interested in is one unbelievably hot fling.…

      “Are you free?”

      Free? But it had been a one-night stand. Hadn’t it? “For what purpose?”

      “You want specifics?”

      “Sure. Why not?”

      When his voice slid through the phone, deep and slow, the vibrations sent tingles all over her skin.

      “I was imagining we’d...” He paused. Long enough that she held her breath. “Eat. And later, much later, once I’ve loosened my tie, and you’ve kicked your shoes off under the table, and we’re both nicely pickled on some excellent wine, together we would do...dessert.”

      Somehow she managed to keep her voice from cracking when she said, “So you’re asking me on a date.”

      Laughter rolled through the phone. “I’m asking you to eat dinner with me, but if you’d prefer to call it that—”

      “Nooo!” Not a date!

      “No?” he repeated after several long beats.

      Caitlyn bit her lip. Dax was a man she’d taken home from a bar. For sex. Not as some kind of Hail Mary that might lead to something more. Her strident rejection of the word date had given her an accidental out, if that’s what she wanted.

      Was it what she wanted?

      In her previous life, Australian author ALLY BLAKE was at times a cheerleader, a math tutor, a dental assistant and a shop assistant. In this life Ally is a bestselling, multi-award-winning novelist who has been published in more than twenty languages, with over two million books sold worldwide.

      She married her gorgeous husband in Las Vegas—no Elvis in sight, though Tony Curtis did put in a special appearance—and now Ally and her family, including three rambunctious toddlers, share a property in the leafy western suburbs of Brisbane, with kookaburras, cockatoos, rainbow lorikeets and the occasional creepy-crawly. When not writing she makes coffees that never get consumed, eats too many M&M’s, attempts yoga, devours The West Wing reruns, reads every spare minute she can and cheers ardently for the Collingwood Magpies footy team.

      You can find out more at her website, www.allyblake.com.

      The Rules of Engagement

      Ally Blake

      ~ It Starts with a Touch... ~

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

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      This one’s for fairy dust.

      May it sparkle for you, too.

      Contents

       CHAPTER ONE

       CHAPTER TWO

       CHAPTER THREE

       CHAPTER FOUR

       CHAPTER FIVE

       CHAPTER SIX

       CHAPTER SEVEN

       CHAPTER EIGHT

       CHAPTER NINE

       CHAPTER TEN

       CHAPTER ELEVEN

      CHAPTER ONE

      THE Sand Bar, a cool little club in a tucked-away lane off Melbourne’s Chapel Street, was pumping that Saturday night.

      ‘He’s cute!’ said Franny, shouting to be heard.

      Caitlyn played with her sparkly chandelier earrings as she stared dreamily at the buff Cutey Patootey in the T-shirt and jeans at the other end of the bar. ‘Isn’t he just? And for an outdoorsy-type guy he actually has really nice hands. I’m sure he plays the piano.’

      Franny laughed into her cocktail sending the flamingo swizzle-stick spinning. ‘If he plays the piano then the doodles on the notepad beside my phone make me the next Picasso.’

      Caitlyn dropped her hand to her drink and blinked at Franny. ‘Meaning?’

      ‘Only you would see husband potential in a first date.’

      ‘I never! I—’

      ‘You know you do!’ Franny said, cutting Caitlyn off. ‘You see hearts and flowers, when what you actually need is a guy who can keep you in line. Who doesn’t let you get away with the crap you usually do. One who dances to the beat of his own drum, not yours.’

      Caitlyn glanced back at Cutey Patootey just as he sucked in his washboard stomach as a pair of bouncy blondes swayed past. Her mouth twitched. ‘Believe me, I’m not hearing wedding bells this time.’

      Franny gave her a nudge, then out of the corner of her mouth said, ‘But have you heard bedsprings creaking?’

      Caitlyn smacked her hard on the upper arm. ‘We met a week ago.’

      Franny shook her head as if that was no kind of answer, which in Frannyland it wasn’t.

      Caitlyn, on the other hand, wasn’t about to jump into bed with some random guy just because he gave her that sweet rush that came from meeting someone new. That had never been her bag. For her, the attraction was all about the delicious slow burn at the beginning of a relationship. The shy glances, and first touches and stolen kisses, and that build of delicious tension ’til they could no longer keep their hands off one another—what a thrill! So much better than the reality that always came later. So Cutey Patootey was going to have to wait.

      He glanced back at the girls and grinned; big, brawny, honestly a little less