Free The Playboy's Proposal (Sorensen Family) by Ashlee Mallory Page A

back.”
    “That’s so not true. There are loads of people who started out as friends and went on to become more.”
    “Really? What, in movies? Books? Look, you want me to be honest? If a guy sees a woman and he has any interest whatsoever in her—”
    “Meaning he wants to sleep with her.”
    “If he finds her attractive and wants to sleep with her,” he conceded before continuing, “he might pretend he just wants to be friends until he can find the right opportunity to make his move. A man either wants to have sex with you or he doesn’t. You have to make sure Luke Seeley sees you as someone he wants to sleep with, not become golf buddies with.”
    “The other day you were telling me I needed to learn golf,” she said, frustration in her voice.
    “Learning golf is still a good idea, but you want to make sure it’s because he’s doing it to spend time with you, not to fill an empty spot on his golf game. See what I’m saying?”
    The elevator doors finally crept open, and they stepped inside. “I guess so. But it was hard enough just to talk to him. What would you have me do? Push my boobs together and bat my eyes at him?”
    He glanced pointedly down at said boobs, which looked remarkably perfect in that formfitting top, and smiled. “Yeah. Go ahead. Try it. I want to see that.”
    She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
    “You’ve opened the lines of communication. That’s a start. Now you need to make him see you as a woman. You’ve seen the kind of woman he likes,” he said, referring to the supermodel from the other night. “Now you have to be that woman.”
    “I don’t think minidresses are something that will blend in well at my pediatric practice.”
    “I’m not saying you have to wear four-inch heels and slinky dresses, but there’s got to be more.” He looked her over, nodding in approval.
    She was wearing an outfit they’d chosen the other day that made her appear chic and sophisticated. Her ponytail was lower and looser, already making her seem softer, more approachable. In fact, that hair he’d just tucked away had come loose again and was curling below that full bottom lip. Subtle but sexy. If you looked hard enough. Because other than that, she looked like a kindergarten teacher.
    She was going to need more if she wanted to catch the attention of an eternal bachelor like Luke Seeley.
    “You look nice—for holding little kids’ hands, blowing their noses, and putting that little scope into their ears like you do. Nice. Nonthreatening. But you’re going to need to step it up if you want Luke to want you . Try wearing your hair down. It’s true. Men really do like long hair.” He looked at her face, bright and young, cheekbones that were there but barely discernible. “Get some layers in your hair. And do you know what a mascara wand is for?”
    She crooked up her lips into a smile. “Do you?”
    “I’ve dated my share of women, so I know a thing or two about what they wear. Lipstick, base, eyeliner. Just go easy on it, okay? You want to enhance what you’ve already got. I know someone who will get us started.”
    “I’m not saying I’m doing any of this, but let’s say for argument’s sake that I did try a little makeup, maybe get a haircut. And let’s say I have Luke’s attention, he’s smiling at me in that way he smiled the other night at the glamazon creature. But then what?”
    He glanced at his watch. He was meeting that cute barista for drinks at ten. He had time. “What are you doing now?”
    Half an hour later, the two were stretched out on his couch, eating what was left of Benny’s takeout.
    “Get him talking about something he likes. Check. Nod and smile, look as if I’m hanging on his every word. Check. Giggle and laugh at everything he says because my brain is too soft and empty to have anything more to do than engage him. Check.”
    He smiled at the annoyance in Benny’s voice. The disgruntled look on her face. “Oh, and don’t