The Dating Plan(38)
Zoe gave her a hug after Tyler had walked away. “Congratulations!”
“You’re engaged!” Mia clapped her hands together. “I’m so happy for you, I could cry.”
“You cry at everything,” Josh said dryly. “An extra pickle at lunch? Here come the waterworks. Baby shower? River of tears. Someone comes back from vacation? Hysteria. I can’t imagine what you’d be like if you watched My Little Pony. That scene where Tempest sacrifices herself . . .”
“Don’t.” Mia held up her hand. “I can’t even think about it.”
“I still don’t understand this.” Josh turned his attention back to Daisy. “Last month you hooked up with a fireman and the weekend before that was the car salesman from Freemont. And now, you’re getting married? To Liam? Has he seen the collection of Marvel Funko Pops on your desk? Does he even know what the Marvel Universe is?”
Sweat trickled down her back and her throat constricted. She thought she’d assessed all the angles of their fake engagement, but she hadn’t even considered her colleagues finding out. “It all just happened so fast. When you know, you know.”
“Want to know what I know?” Josh’s voice wavered. “A person who schedules everything down to the minute, and is totally allergic to commitment of any kind, does not get married on a whim. It doesn’t make sense.”
“It’s love,” Zoe said gently. “Of course it doesn’t make sense.”
Josh shook his head. “Something doesn’t add up.”
He was right. Her behavior was inconsistent, and if Josh could see it, her family would see it, too. She needed to think through her plan again. Clearly there was something she’d missed, and the fewer people she had to lie to the better.
“It’s not real,” she murmured.
“What do you mean, ‘it’s not real’?” Josh’s frown deepened.
“He needs a wife to get an inheritance. I need to get my matchmaking aunties off my back. We made a deal, and part of it was that he would try and help Organicare. It’s only for a year, and then we’ll be done.”
Josh’s expression blanched. “Are you serious? You’re going to tie yourself to this guy for a year? The one who broke your heart?”
“She’s doing it for us,” Mia said. “To save the company. Why are you giving her a hard time? She’s the best!”
“You said what he did was unforgivable,” Josh retorted. “And yet here you are forgiving him.”
“It’s so romantic.” Zoe clasped her hands together. “I love it.”
“I didn’t forgive him,” Daisy rubbed the back of her neck. “We both benefit from this arrangement. That’s all there is to it.”
And that’s all it would ever be. He hadn’t wanted her before and he didn’t want her now—not the way she’d always imagined. No one wanted someone “weirdly smart” who preferred action figures to dolls, and math puzzles to fairy tales. Her mother had come back after a twelve-year absence to tell her so.
A disturbance at the door caught her attention. Rochelle had just brought Liam into the meeting and was eating him up with her eyes as he shook hands with Brad and Tyler.
Why was it so unbelievable that he would want to marry her? Why did she still hear her mother’s voice in her head?
Fake or not, he was her fiancé, and in this game of pretend, a man like him loved a girl like her, and it wasn’t okay for Rochelle to be slithering over to steal her man.
Gritting her teeth, she joined him near the door. “Hi . . . ah . . .” What did she call him? Honey? Babe? Darling? “. . . Humraaz.” The Urdu term of endearment came out before she could stop it.
Liam’s gaze shifted to her, and his face softened. Before he could ask her what it meant and ruin the performance, she rose up on her toes, pressed her hands against his chest, and kissed him.
Without hesitation, Liam wrapped one arm around her waist, pressed his mouth against hers, and bent her over backward in a full-on movie kiss.
Her breath hitched and her lips softened. His lips were firm and cool and tasted of coffee and something sweet. He slipped his tongue into her mouth and for a moment she thought her heart had stopped. But it didn’t matter. Upside down, in front of her work colleagues, she was the woman she always wanted to be.
Then she was up and back on her feet, lips tingling, an ache of desire between her thighs.
“What does it mean?” he murmured gently.
“The one with whom we share our secrets.”
“Then I am your humraaz,” he said. “And you are mine.”
? 14 ?
Friday, 11:06 P.M.
DAISY: Confirming Date #3. Saturday 6 p.m. Liam’s grandfather’s house, Richmond. Objective: Meet Liam’s family.
LIAM: Why are you home at 11 p.m. on a Friday night?
DAISY: Why are you assuming I’m home? Maybe I’m out having sex with a hot MMA fighter.
LIAM: Who the hell is this guy? Did you tell him you’re engaged?
DAISY: I thought that might scare him away.
Friday, 11:20 P.M.
LIAM: Is he still there?
DAISY: Who?
LIAM: The MMA fighter who’s having sex with my fiancée.