The Dating Plan(68)
“So he thought the solution was to sell the distillery out from under me?” A knot of bitterness tightened inside him. “He’s no better than my dad.”
Joe shrugged. “Desperate people do desperate things. You’re planning to marry a girl you don’t love. Are you any different?”
“Yes.” He stared out over the sea of wildflowers dancing in the green fields around them. “I do love her. I always have.”
? 24 ?
Wednesday, 8:00 A.M.
DAISY: Confirming Date #5. Thursday 6 p.m. The Rose & Thorn Pub, The Mission District. Objective: mix with colleagues, meet your cousin, Ethan, and your bar friends.
LIAM: What do you mean “mix with colleagues”? I thought it was a date.
DAISY: It’s a date with friends.
* * *
? ? ?
“LEFT hand like it’s moving to the side and right hand like you’re combing your hair. Bend your leg to the side and then turn.” Daisy demonstrated the Bollywood dance routine for twenty eager young dancers in front of the mirror. Twice a week after work, she taught Bollywood dancing at the neighborhood recreation center with Mehar Auntie. It was always the highlight of her week.
“My turn,” Mehar Auntie said. “Cue the music.”
Daisy walked to the side of the room to adjust the sound system and spotted Layla in the doorway.
“I’m beginning to regret asking Mehar Auntie to teach Sam and me a few routines for our sangeet after your class,” Layla murmured. “She always steals the show.”
Daisy laughed. “I’m always surprised she lets the girls dance at all.”
“You haven’t answered my messages for the last few days.”
Daisy practiced the next few steps of “Dola Re Dola,” the dance she was teaching next, turning away so Layla couldn’t see her face. “I’ve been busy at work. I stayed late a few nights helping Zoe and Mia put together their pitch for a rebrand. Josh still isn’t sure about the project manager promotion, so I’ve been going over Andrew’s planning sheets with him. And Tyler wanted someone to go with him to meet investors in case this thing with Liam falls through, and then—”
“I know what you’re doing,” Layla said. “Your feeble attempts to distract me won’t work. Do you think I’m not going to mention the fact that you had sex with Liam? Your FAKE fiancé?”
“Oh.” Daisy sighed. “That.”
Layla folded her arms across her chest. “Yes, that.”
Daisy twirled around, as much to practice her dance steps as to avoid Layla’s stern glare. “You could be a little more supportive. I had a dry spell after Orson, and the sex with Liam was amazing. AMAZING. I’ve never had sex like that before. In fact, I don’t even think what I was doing before was actual sex because no furniture got broken, I never came multiple times, and the things he can do with his tongue . . .”
Layla held up a warning hand. “I’m sure you could have found someone equally skilled. You didn’t have to sleep with the man who broke your heart.”
“First, my heart was bruised, not broken,” Daisy said. “Second, there is no way I could have found someone with that level of talent. And, third, sadly, it was just the one time. I told him the rules and he agreed to them.”
Layla slapped a hand to her head. “When has Liam ever followed the rules?”
“He’s doing pretty well with the dating plan,” Daisy offered. “Well, except for when he showed up at the clothing store before our date and bought a sherwani and a sword. And also when he showed up at my office, but that was part of helping out the company. Oh, and then he went off-plan when he came to the vet clinic after Max ate the chocolate, and then again when he played Guitar Hero with me until the early hours of the morning so I wouldn’t be alone.” She brightened. “But other than that, he’s followed the dating plan for our last three dates.”
Layla didn’t look convinced. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I know you don’t. I don’t want to get hurt, either.” She twisted her hands, making the shapes of wolves and flowers as she went through the arm motions of the dance. “That’s why I invited everyone from my office to our Irish pub date tonight. We had a rule against sex and we broke it, but we agreed on a new rule that it would be just once. There will be no chance I’ll get drunk and want to sleep with him again when my work colleagues are around.”
“Seriously?” Layla’s tone dripped sarcasm. “You need an entire office staff to help you restrain yourself when he’s around?”
“It was very intense and I don’t want to take any chances.” Daisy danced a few steps. Sometimes her cousin could be way overprotective, although thinking back, she’d acted the same way when Layla had gotten together with Sam. “Maybe it was just old feelings resurfacing and I was still back in high school crush mode thinking ‘Oh my God, Liam Murphy is taking me on a date,’ ‘he’s kissing me,’ ‘we won a free pizza,’ ‘he’s sitting in my car looking like a lost puppy,’ ‘he likes me and Max likes him,’ and then my brain exploded and no more thinking went on.”