Alice’s thoughts were never far from babies and they immediately drifted there in a delicious daydream. Like the pointed tip of a knife, her mother’s words about miscarriages and the black and white statements of the magazine article jabbed sharply. The dream vanished, leaving her anxious. Alice didn’t have plenty of time. To have any hope of meeting someone who not only shared her interests but her life plan, it was imperative she play a numbers game on the dating apps. She must commit to talking to five men a week and if she sensed a connection with any of them, run their photo through reverse image, do a social media and google check and then insist they meet for coffee. If any of them fobbed her off, they’d be immediately struck off the list. But looking for a life partner was going to take time and, according to the graph she’d looked at earlier, her biological clock was fast ticking down to an inevitable end point. If she wanted a baby, just focusing on meeting someone wasn’t enough—she needed to buy some time. She decided to make an appointment with a doctor and discuss freezing her eggs.

Dan put down the pen. “I think we’ve covered everything.”

Alice considered Dan. If their arrangement survived their first attempt at sex—and they were both clear it would only ever be about sex—and if it continued as a pleasant way to pass the long winter months, there was one more thing that needed to be crystal clear.

“Not quite.” Alice tapped the napkin. “Write this down. The moment we start dating someone, we stop being friends with benefits.”

“The moment?”

“Yes, the moment.” Alice got a sharp pain thinking about Libby. “I refuse to unwittingly cause another woman pain. And if I find out that you’re seeing someone and still sleeping with me, your tackle will be in grave danger from my very blunt palette knife.”

Dan instinctively crossed his legs. “Noted.”

“Good.”

Alice had never been particularly forward when it came to sex, but perhaps Dan had a point—there was nothing at stake here, nothing to complicate things. She picked up the napkin and folded it in half before shoving it into her pocket. Then she pushed the raffle ticket book in front of Dan.

“Buy the meat raffle tickets and we have a deal.”

“Excellent.” Dan took out his wallet. “When do you finish?”

“In five minutes.”

“Any chance you’re free for dinner?”

“You know, I’m not that hungry for food. Are you?”

“I like the way you think, Alice.”

His smile was long and slow—pure seduction— and she gave herself over to its delicious effects. A dart of desire made her press her legs together and she laughed. This idea might just work.

Chapter Twelve

May

Libby saw Florence Jeffers out, but instead of calling in her next patient, she popped back into her office and punched in the now familiar numbers. With each ring, her heart beat faster, pumping adrenaline to all points.