The Dating Plan(27)

Stunned, Liam just stared. “You came up with all that in five minutes?”

“It’s just the bare bones of a plan, Liam. The only problem is: Who do we tell outside of the family?”

“I’ll have to tell Tyler that we’re engaged,” he said. “There may be conflict of interest issues. And if I do send the pitch to my partners, I’ll have to tell them, too. As far as business goes, it will be a real engagement. A stable relationship can only help my chances of partnership. I can’t think of anyone else who needs to know the truth.”

“Same here, except for Layla. I can’t lie to her.”

“What about your dad?” he asked. “I know you two are close.”

Her face crumpled, and for a moment he thought it was the end of their arrangement.

“I’ve never lied to him about anything important before.” She twisted her hands together. “But he’s the one spearheading this matchmaking frenzy. Just this morning he guilted me into meeting some guy he picked from a matchmaking site. He just can’t accept that I’m not interested in having a serious relationship, so it will be easier if he believes our engagement is real. The bigger problem is that it’s you. Somehow we’ll have to convince him you’re not the guy you used to be.”

There was an easy way to solve the problem. He could tell the truth about that night. But that would mean letting Daisy’s father know that his own son wasn’t who he thought he was. Even if he had to lose the distillery, Liam wasn’t prepared to betray his best friend.

“So you plan to be alone forever?” Liam asked. “No sex?” He immediately regretted his words when her expression tightened.

“Just because I’m not interested in having a long-term relationship doesn’t mean I plan to be a nun.”

“What about when we’re married?” He looked away, as if not seeing her would change her answer.

“Fake married. And yes, I plan to have sex then, too. I’m a single woman with a healthy sex drive. A year is too long to wait.”

Liam’s pulse kicked up a notch at the thought of Daisy sleeping with other men. “How many?”

Affronted, she sniffed. “I beg your pardon?”

“How many guys are you planning to sleep with while you’re married to me?” he asked.

Daisy folded her arms across her chest. “It’s none of your business.”

His eyes narrowed and he pulled out the ring box and tossed it to her. “I’ll be your husband.”

“Fake husband.” She tossed it back. “And the day I accept a ring is the day I start believing in love.”

“Well, I’ll be sleeping with people, too,” he said with an unexpected surge of jealousy. “Lots of them. When we’re living together, you might want to find a place to spend the night if the noise bothers you.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“That’s not what the ladies say.” He had no idea why he was being such an ass, except that he was still struggling to get his mind around the fact that Daisy was a woman now—a woman other men wanted.

Daisy closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. “I think we need to be clear about one thing.” She underlined the words she’d written on the board. “No physical contact means no sex.”

“Ever?” Liam didn’t like ultimatums. “What if you beg for it?”

“I have never begged for sex in my life.”

A slow, sensual smile spread across his face. “You’ve never been with me.”

“I’m not sleeping with you, Liam,” she said firmly. “And no developing feelings, either. This is solely a business arrangement. I’ll include my terms and conditions when I send you the final plan.” She took a picture of the whiteboard and then wiped it clean. “I’ll go get Tyler.”

“Daisy?”

She looked back over her shoulder as she reached for the door. “Yes?”

“What if I beg?”

“I’ll throw you a bone.”





? 11 ?


    Wednesday, 5:48 A.M.

DAISY: Confirming Date #1. Wed. 5:30 p.m. Krishna Fashions, El Camino Real. Objectives: discuss dating plan, shop for wedding outfit, meet Layla and her relatives.

LIAM: Shh. I’m sleeping.

DAISY: Obviously not.

LIAM: This is an autoresponder. I use it for people who wake up at ungodly hours and send messages about dates they already scheduled in my calendar.

DAISY: Clearly not an autoresponder, since your responses suggest sentience.

LIAM: Definitely not sentient. Why aren’t you asleep?

DAISY: I get up every morning at 5:45 a.m. to work out.

LIAM: I don’t get up at 5:45 a.m. to sleep as long as possible.

DAISY: That’s why we would never work in real life. We’re too different.

LIAM: I could turn you to the dark side. Come and sleep with me.

DAISY: Read the dating plan I sent you. No sex.

LIAM: ZZZZZZZZZZZ





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? ? ?

    “ARE you crazy?” Layla turned from the mirror in the changing room of her aunt’s clothing store. She had taken the afternoon off to check out the latest shipment of bridal lehenga and to give Daisy moral support for her first fake date with Liam. Layla ran her own recruitment firm and enjoyed the flexibility that came with being her own boss.