Page 19 of The Wedding Engagement

“Arran?” she said, frowning. “What’s up?”

He cleared his throat, glancing away. “Nothing.” Placing his hand on the soft throw beside him, he fiddled with a corner. “I’ll go and get Jayce bathed. You can have a rest inside the comfiest fort in Scotland.”

“Nah,” she said, shifting next to him. “I’ll help. I like bath time.”

“Is it bath time?” Jayce asked, looking at them wide-eyed. He loved the bath. Mainly, Arran suspected, because he adored soaking everyone within a five-mile radius.

“C’mon, then, troops,” Arran announced, crawling toward the exit. “Company, march!” Leaving the fort, he scooped Jayce up, then began a march out of the living room and up the stairs with Jayce laughing and Liv matching his steps from behind.

Setting Jayce down on the landing, he closed the stair gate and made for the bathroom, turning on the taps and squirting in some bubble bath. Liv appeared next to him, leading Jayce in by the hand and beginning to undress him, the two of them chatting away about the fort and how Jayce had defeated the dragon that tried to attack its defenses. She folded his clothes in a little pile on the floor while Arran tested the water with his elbow.We make a good team.

Lifting Jayce into the water, Arran attempted to wash him. It was a bit like cleaning a slippery octopus, with Jayce flailing around and seeming to sprout extra arms and legs. Plus he kept getting up and moving around, then sitting back down with a huge splash. Eventually he met Arran’s eyes with a wide-eyed smile that signaled danger. But before Arran could issue a tsunami alert, Jayce launched himself down with a force that about emptied all the water from the bath. Arran ducked to avoid the worst of it, but unfortunately, Liv wasn’t as quick, being less experienced in the watery perils of bath time. She blinked from behind her droplet-speckled glasses, drips falling from the soaked tendrils of her hair.

Arran snorted, hiding his mouth behind his hand.

“Oi, you,” she said, giving him a shove. She grinned. “Don’t laugh at me when I’m in the midst of being drowned.”

“Sorry,” he said, trailing off as he took in the fact that her T-shirt was soaked to the skin. The white fabric clung to the appealing swells of her breasts, the outline of her bra apparent.Fuck.He glanced away, clearing his throat. “He got your top good and proper.”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw her glance down, clearly realizing how much was on display, because she hugged her arms around herself.

Reaching quickly for a towel, he passed it over, keeping his eyes off her. Once she’d wrapped it around her shoulders, he looked at her again. “You can go and change into something of mine, until your shirt dries off.”

Liv stood, bringing the towel close around her, her cheeks streaked with pink. “Thanks. Which one should I borrow?”

“Anything you like,” he told her, trying to banish the uncomfortably clear image of her shapely breasts from his mind. “They’re in the second drawer down.”

She disappeared out of the bathroom and Arran shoved aside the thought that Olivia Holland was in his bedroom right now, taking off her top and standing there in her bra as she rifled through his T-shirt drawer. He gritted his teeth as he emptied the bath. “Get a grip.”

Lifting Jayce out, he dried him off and got him into his nightwear. How was it possible that he’d known Liv practically all his life—only seeing her as his friend’s goofy sister—and then that had all changed?

Now he couldn’t look at her without imagining how good it would feel to kiss her, to have her fingers dig into his hair, urging him on. So much for his earlier resolve to stop those kinds of thoughts. His own fault for asking her to stay for pizza.

He took Jayce through to the nursery, tucking him into his little bed. A movement at the door caught his eye, and as he glanced up, his heart rose into his throat.

Liv was wearing one of his favorite T-shirts—the green brought out her eyes, and there was no denying that seeing her in one of his shirts gave him a thrill. He liked that it was oversized on her petite form, as if some part of him was surrounding her. Protecting her.

“Is it okay if I borrow this one?” she asked, eyeing him and clearly misinterpreting his staring to mean he was displeased with her choice. Far from it.

“Of course,” he said, flashing her a smile. “It’s one of my faves. It suits you.”

She smiled, holding the edges of the tee in a self-conscious manner. Then she crouched next to him. “Can I do his story?”

He nodded, his mouth dry.

“Cool,” she said softly, stroking Jayce’s hair. “I like doing the voices.”

Grinning, Arran settled back. “Really? I’m staying, then. Gotta hear this.”

Liv shrugged, seeming unperturbed by the thought of an audience. “We nursery school teachers have to be good at the voices. Otherwise, you don’t get past the first round of interviews.”

She lifted their well-thumbed copy ofThe Gruffaloand began to read. Each animal was read in a different accent and was a fair representation of the actors who played the parts in the animated version. He found himself mesmerized by her rendition, joining in with Jayce as they spoke aloud the repeated lines.

She was so good with Jayce, and the wee one adored her. Another reason to keep his hands off her. If he screwed up their friendship, then not only would he lose Liv, but it would also affect her relationship with his son. Making a move on her would be the height of selfishness.

The doorbell rang, signaling the pizza guy’s arrival, and Arran found himself disappointed at having to leave them to go and answer it. He gave Jayce a kiss on the forehead, ruffling Liv’s hair as he got up to leave, then regretting it when even that brief platonic gesture caused fire to crackle across his skin.

He reached the front door to accept the warm pizza boxes, gave the guy a tip, then took them into the kitchen and got some plates ready. On a whim, he decided that they should eat the pizza in the fort. So, he took the boxes in there along with the plates and a couple of glasses of water, plus a cup of tea for Liv because she was the only person he knew who had a hot drink with a hot meal. He smiled as he made it just the way she liked it, with a splash of milk.

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