Page 47 of The Wedding Engagement

“No problem,” Arran murmured in a distracted tone, his eyes still on her. She vaguely registered that Henry had referred to them as a family but was too consumed by these new thoughts of Arran to process it.

“I’ll send you some of these shots in case you like any of them,” Henry continued. “Free of charge, of course, because I corralled you into it!”

“We can’t accept that,” Arran said, finally glancing up away from Liv. “I’ll give you something for them.”

“No, no, I insist,” Henry said, busying himself with dismantling the camera.

Arran turned back to where she was still burrowed against his side, paralyzed by the warm feeling of being cuddled with him and his gorgeous son. “Here,” he said quietly. “I’ll help you up.” He shifted away and got to his feet holding Jayce, extending a hand and pulling her up next to him. He slid his arm around her shoulders as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

“I think he’s definitely our guy,” Arran murmured as he set Jayce down. “Do you?”

She nodded, her heart still tripping. “Absolutely.”

“Thanks, Henry,” Arran said more loudly so that Henry could hear. “For the visit, the coffee, the advice, the photo shoot, and of course for signing up to shoot our friends’ wedding.”

Henry smiled as he came over to shake each of their hands in turn. “Delighted.”

Arran bent down to get Jayce’s shoes back on.

Henry took down Liv’s email address to send on the photos.

“We really do need to give you something for them,” Liv told him.

“I’ll tell you what,” Henry said. “How about we say no charge, but instead I ask for your permission to display a couple of the shots in my folder of family portraits? I think having you three in there will really enhance that portfolio. As long as that meets with your approval, of course.”

Flattered, Liv felt heat rising in her cheeks. But she finally connected the dots that Henry mistakenly thought she and Arran were a couple and that she was Jayce’s mother. “That’s fine by me as long as it is with Arran,” she told him. “But I should probably point out that we aren’t actually a family. Just good friends.”

Arran stood up next to her, holding the hand of a freshly shoed Jayce. “Yeah we’re BFFs,” he said, slinging his arm around her shoulders again. “And Jayce is my son with my ex.”

Henry’s eyes widened a little. “I do apologize. How presumptuous of me.”

Liv waved her hand. “Oh no, that’s okay. We didn’t introduce ourselves properly.”

Henry smiled as he showed them to the door. “Funny, because I find I’m very intuitive about these things and I was convinced you were a couple. You clearly have a very special bond.”

Liv’s heart thumped in her chest.

“We do,” Arran replied as Henry opened the front door for them. “To be honest, I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

She glanced up to give him a shy smile as they said their goodbyes, something new blooming in her chest. Henry gave them a wave as they got Jayce into the car, and then Arran took them in the direction of Liv’s house.

“I’ll call Sam once I get in,” Liv told him, “and tell him to lock Henry down.”

“Excellent,” Arran replied. “It’s all coming together.” He paused, then cleared his throat, his voice coming out a little stiff. “So. Tonight’s the night.”

“Why, what’s tonight?” she asked, still feeling a little breathless from all these thoughts and recovering from the sensation of being tucked up against him.

He glanced over quickly. “Your date.”

Her heart sank as his meaning became clear. “Oh yeah. I nearly forgot.” She didn’t want to go on a date with anyone except Arran.

Arran was silent for a second. “You meeting him there or is he picking you up?”

The conversation felt a bit stilted and wooden, very unlike their usual banter. “Meeting him there,” she said, aware that her speech was flat.

“Cool.” He shot her a brief smile. “I hope it goes well.”

For some reason that comment put her on a downer. If Arranhad a date, she wouldn’t want it to go well. She didn’t want him going on any dates at all.

---