Page 22 of The Wedding Engagement

Liv’s mouth fell open for a split second, then she clamped it shut again, her excitement fizzling out like the proverbial bonfire being pissed upon. “There is no business where that’s concerned.”

Elise raised her eyebrows. “Really? Even after the whole arrangement to cozy up every Saturday night?”

Liv scowled. “It’s noteverySaturday. And I only managed to get him to accept my help last weekend as a one-off.”

Liv did her best to hide her inner turmoil over Arran from her best friends. There was no denying how she felt about him. She’d always found him attractive, but he’d been with Jess for years and prior to that had had a string of girlfriends, so there hadn’t been anything she could’ve done about it. Now he was single but still hung up on his ex and had sworn off relationships.

But that suited her, didn’t it? Just because she was attracted to him didn’t mean she wanted anything to happen between them. Granted, her traitorous heart had leapt when he’d asked her to stay for dinner, and she wasn’t convinced she’d done a good job of hiding that—she’d practically stirred the pot she’d been tending off the hob. How come the sight of a hot man leaning against a doorframe, arms folded, was enough to drive womankind into a frenzy? And when it was a man she’d admired for years, despite his oblivious nature, it made the heat all the more acute.

He’d only ever seen her as his best friend’s sister. And nowadays, even though he might view her as a close friend in her own right, that was where the line was drawn. The memory of the intensity in his eyes when he’d told her how beautiful she’d looked on their blind date surfaced, and a seed of doubt sowed itself in the back of her mind.

She blinked. “Even so, there’s nothing cozy about it. I don’t see much of him because he’s painting in the studio when I’m over there. Plus, he’s always given me very strong ‘we’re just friends’ vibes.”

Elise spread some jam on her scone. “I have noticed that he talks a lot about wanting to be on his own.”

“Precisely,” Liv said, wielding her scone as a means of emphasis, then taking a bite. God, this scone was good. It almost went some way to consoling her malfunctioning, divided heart.

Maya was frowning from behind her cream-and-jam-laden scone. Liv eyed her choice of cream application prior to the jam through narrowed eyes. Everyone knew the jam went on first, for goodness’ sake.

“If there’s nothing cozy going on, then why are you wearing his T-shirt?” Maya asked, her tone decidedly smug.

Glancing down at the offending green T-shirt, Liv wasn’t sure what to say. She shouldn’t have continued to wear it after he’d lent it to her, but she hadn’t been able to resist. Especially when it smelled of him.For God’s sake. I’m a living contradiction. I don’t want to want him, but I do.“How do you know it’s his?”

Maya arched an eyebrow. “Apart from the fact that it’s massive on you? Because it’s his favorite one.”

Liv shot her a dead eye.

Elise was wearing a wry smile, clearly not convinced either.

Liv sighed. “Anyway. There’s a perfectly innocent explanation behind it. And one that cements the fact that he doesn’t feelanything romantic toward me. Jayce soaked me when he was in the bath, so Arran lent me this shirt while mine dried. Then I forgot to change back.”

“How does that cement anything?” Elise asked, passing Liv another scone.

“You should have seen Arran’s face,” Liv replied, heat rising in her cheeks as she remembered how repelled he’d seemed. “There I was, my top soaked to the point of transparency, and he wouldn’t even look at me.” She let out another sigh, hoping they’d see it as her being the poor pining woman, rather than the product of her being at odds with herself. “If he fancied me even a tiny bit, surely there would have been some brief glance of interest at that point.” Perhaps like the glimpse of appreciation she’d seen when he’d told her she was beautiful? Unless she’d imagined it. Hehadbeen quick to change the subject, after all.

To take her mind off the situation, Liv topped her scone,jamfirst, then pointed at it with the knife in a passive-aggressive manner for Maya’s benefit, who stuck her tongue out in defiance.

Elise studied her, a soft expression on her face. Liv could tell she was tuning in to her feelings using her doctor radar. “And you’ve continued to wear the shirt after the fact, because you like that it’s his.”

Liv’s pulse picked up, and she broke eye contact. That was true. It was as much of him as she would allow herself to have. “Yeah. I know it’s a bit sad and more than a tad stalkery.”

Elise gave her arm a quick squeeze.

“No, it’s not,” Maya said, smiling. “Anyway, it suits you. Brings out your lovely eyes.”

“Thanks.” Liv took a massive bite of her scone so that she wouldn’t have to speak again for a bit. It was apparent that both of her best friends had resigned themselves to the fact that she was some sort of lovelorn fool. She should try to explain how she really felt, but the problem with her and relationships was so complexthat she couldn’t even explain it to herself.The throwback of having an arsehole father who abandoned us without a second thought.In any case, burdening those around her with her negative thoughts and feelings wasn’t fair.

Maya was giving her a sympathetic look. “This brings me back to my proposition.”

Frowning, Liv met her eye. “Proposition?”

Maya nodded. “The Brodie proposition.”

She’d forgotten all about Maya’s suggestion from the previous week. Instinctively, she opened her mouth to say no. But then she hesitated.

Perhaps it would be a good idea. A casual date, to put her friends off all this matchmaking crap with Arran. And this time, she’d actually know whom she was meeting. She could go on a date with Brodie and have a laugh, and that’d be it. Perhaps it would turn into a casual fling; she could manage that. Her relationship with Dean had been her longest and most serious, but it still hadn’t gotten past six months. That had been a couple of years after their dad had buggered off to Jersey without warning.

Remembering the hurtful words Dean had fired at her back then still made her wince. Nowadays she kept her relationships much shorter.

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