Page 3 of The Wedding Engagement

“Excellent. Walk this way,” Arran said, performing a comical gait for her to imitate, which she did. It occurred to her that she had as many in-jokes and gestures with him as she did with her best friends, Maya and Elise. And yet up until the previous summer, while Arran had always been best friends with her twin brother, Sam, to her he’d merely been a casual acquaintance. A really hot acquaintance whom she’d harbored a crush on for the past decade or so. Not that he’d ever noticed.

Arran set about making them some tea. “Don’t judge me,” he said, glancing up to meet her eyes.

She frowned as she took off her coat, then the jacket from her karate uniform. “Judge you for what?”

For a moment he was silent, and when she looked up, he was eyeing her tank top-clad form with an odd expression. He shook his head slightly, as if bringing his thoughts back to the conversation. “For my inferior tea-making skills.”

Liv smiled. Shewasrenowned in their friend group for making the best cup of tea in the land. She blew on her fingernails, then pretended to polish them on her white top. “Well. One does try.” She took a seat at the breakfast bar, looking behind her to where Jayce was sitting at his little red table, energetically drawing something that resembled a tiny stick figure battling a dragon. “What’s the deal with Jess, then? Change of plan for this weekend?”

Arran glanced over at Jayce, then pushed a steaming mug toward her, leaning his elbows on the counter to bring himself closer. Liv’s pulse rocketed as she inhaled his scent and struggled furiously to keep her eyes off how his biceps flexed under the close fit of his T-shirt.

“Yeah. She asked if I’d have him last night so she could go to this party with the boyfriend.” Arran always referred to Rory as “the boyfriend,” and Liv was sure it was because he still resented the fact that his ex-fiancée was dating anyone.

He lifted his mug. “The deal was that I’d drop Jayce at street dance, then she’d pick him up and have him the rest of the weekend. But then she called to say they’d overdone it last night and she was too hungover to drive.”

“Ah,” Liv said, sipping her tea. “And by that time, you’d already reached the paint shop?”

“Yep,” he said on a sigh. “I’m behind schedule on this commission. There’s a specific deadline because it’s a present for a wedding anniversary.”

He took a drink, eyes down in a rather dejected manner.

She touched his hand. “Why the long face? I thought you loved doing these new portraits.”

“I do,” he said, eyes still on his mug. “Problem is, I’m…” He paused, rubbing the side of his face.

“You’re what?” she asked, studying him.

He cleared his throat. “I’m struggling. To manage it all.” He met her gaze. “Don’t get me wrong, I love having Jayce more often. But Jess keeps reneging on her weekends, and it’s the only free time I get to paint.”

She could tell admitting that was a big deal for him. “Are you in a position where you could give up your day job to concentrate on painting during the week?”

He shook his head with a wince. “Nah. Not yet. But I can’t waitfor that day to come. Especially since no one in the office appreciates my sense of humor.”

“What did you do this time?” she asked.

He grinned. “I replaced everyone’s desk photos with Leonardo DiCaprio memes.”

She sighed, trying to suppress the smile threatening to break out over her face. “You’resoimmature.”

He gave her a nudge. “I can see how desperately you want to laugh at my hilarious joke, karate kid. Don’t try to hide it.”

The corner of her mouth quirked.

“We have the same sense of humor.” He waggled his fingers. “We are kindred spirits, you and I,” he said in a mysterious tone.

That was the last straw, and she broke down laughing.

He joined in, but as the laughter died away, the tense expression made a reappearance on his normally relaxed face.

Liv watched him, hating seeing her lighthearted and playful friend so stressed, and wondered what she could do to help. “I’ll babysit for you,” she blurted out.

He frowned. “You’ll what?”

“Babysit. On the Saturday that’s meant to be Jess’s. I’ll come over after karate to watch him for the afternoon while you paint. I can stay into the evening too if you need it.”

Arran stared at her, his jaw working. “No.”

She waited for him to elaborate, but he stayed silent. “No? That’s all?”

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