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CHAPTER ONE

Violet

I can do this

Daisy does it She does it all the time I mean, I don’t want to insinuate that my sister is the slutty one, but she’s the slutty one

I flick aze Three seconds For three long agonizing seconds I lock eyes with hiot this tip fro like ‘How to Snag Any Man You Want in Twenty Minutes or Less’ The three-second gaze and saze while licking h That’s inner

Tip nulance while I touched my hair So dumb

I did it anyway

Desperate times and all that

But if tip nu back to my room Alone Wait, I wonder if those tips were meant to be used siaze for three seconds, sht have fucked this up Which, whatever I mean, how could this possibly work? As if all it would take to get a hot stranger to have sex with me is three seconds of eye contact across a hotel bar? How does that even work?

Daisy would know

Sometimes I hate the way she always knows, as if she’s lived a lot longer than I have when she most certainly has not

I sigh as I eye the maraschino cherry sunk in the last half-inch of et to it, or if it’ll just cling to the bottom and make me feel like an idiot

Idiot, I decide

I should get the check and go I have a big week ahead of , alood night’s sleep, not practicing seduction techniques I picked up froazine I found under my sister’s couch But as I lift my head to ask for the check a fresh drink is placed in front of me

“Frouy in the blue shirt,” the bartender tells me with a look back in his direction She s off to so for a refill

Holy shit, that worked? The three-second gaze and smile actually worked? My eyes widen and I peek across the bar at the ? What am I supposed to do now? I really should have read the rest of that article

“Mind if I join you?”

I look up and he’s standing beside nal towards the empty seat beside me And as that? Did I detect an accent? I think I did, but I can’t be that lucky I s my nerves and quickly run my eyes over him Tall Fit Oxford shirt untucked, paired with a worn pair of jeans Leather loafers on his feet and the hint of end-of-day scruff on his jaw Thick, neatly cut, well-styled dark hair and expressive brown eyes watching me with interest

“I hope the drink is to your satisfaction” He dips his head towards e “I asked the bartender to refresh you, but if you wanted solass

Oh

My

God

Accent confirht stands

“You’re British,” I say, fighting the grin from my face

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he replies and sets his own drink on the bar top while resting on the stool beside htly at the knees in order for his feet to rest on the floor “Unless you have a problem with my country?” he inquires, brow raised and a small smile on his lips

Do you knohat’s great about British men?

Everything

I mean, I’ve never met one before this and they’re likely no different than Aht? You can say it’s a cliché or whatever, but co the sa from his lips

“I’h Jennings? It’s obviously fake This guy is too old to have a trendy s Also, it sounds British for ‘I’ame