She was a little amused to see that Emma and all of her Stiletto friends still seemed to be in the handsy honeymoon stage with their significant others, even though she knew they’d mostly been with their respective spouses for years.

Daisy felt a little twist of her heart. Once upon a time, she’d thought that’d be her and Gary. As much in love on someone else’s wedding day as they had been on their own. At least she’d been in love on that day. She wasn’t sure someone like Gary knew what love was.

Still, she was glad to be here. Glad to be surrounded by all of this happiness, even if it was bittersweet. Daisy wished her father could be here to see this. He’d died of a heart attack a year ago, and though their dad had wreaked plenty of havoc on Emma and Cassidy’s relationship all those years ago, Daisy wished he could have walked Emma down the aisle and had a chance at the father-daughter dance.

The way it had worked out was rather lovely, though. Cole Sharpe, yet another Oxford writer, had walked Emma down the aisle, and a whole slew of the Oxford guys had twirled a laughing Emma around the dance floor in place of the father-daughter dance.

It struck Daisy that this was Emma’s family. Sure, the twins were close, but they were orphans now, and they’d never been particularly close to the rest of their extended family. So Emma had built a family here in New York, with a network of tight-knit friendships.

And though Daisy was happy for Emma she was also…jealous.

“I hate to break it to you, pet, but you’re pulling off the wallflower routine a little too convincingly over here.”

Daisy turned, somehow unsurprised to see Lincoln Mathis standing beside her, blue eyes twinkling above the pink bow tie that he pulled off with impressive masculinity.

“You cheated,” she said, by way of greeting.

He smiled, slow and flirty, as he rested one shoulder against the wall she was leaning on, looking down at her. “How’s that?”

“You made them laugh and cry in your speech. I thought we agreed that you were just going to be the funny guy.”

He smiled wider. “What can I say, I’m alluring in a multitude of ways.”

“Speaking of,” she said, nodding her chin slightly to the sultry brunette making her way toward them, “I believe your previous dance partner is wanting an encore.”

He let out the subtlest of groans, so quiet she thought she might have imagined it.

“Dance with me,” he said suddenly to Daisy, straightening and looking down at her.

She jolted in surprise, then in panic. “I can’t.”

He smiled and held out a hand. “Come on now, Wallflower. I’m very good at dancing.”

Wallflower. Daisy had never been a wallflower in her life. Although he had a point. She did seem to be lurking in the corner a bit. She silently scolded herself. This was everything she’d been coaching herself not to do. Not to let Gary win…

“I don’t doubt your dancing prowess,” she replied saucily, “but—”

She broke off. What could she possibly say? I don’t like being touched?

It’s not that she couldn’t be touched. She wasn’t that broken. She didn’t freak out. She’d endured Cassidy’s hug when she’d greeted him last night; she’d danced earlier with her uncle. But those men were family.

Lincoln Mathis was…not family.

Dance with him, she commanded herself. Don’t be that broken woman Gary tried to make you.

She didn’t move, and slowly Lincoln’s hand dropped to his side, just as the brunette reached them.

“I love this song,” the woman said, running a possessive hand up Lincoln’s arm. “Dance?”

Lincoln held Daisy’s gaze and she shrugged before blowing him a teasing good-bye kiss. “Bye-bye.”

His eyes narrowed. “Actually,” Lincoln said, turning and giving the other woman a regretful smile, “I need to step out for a moment.”

The woman’s perfectly shaped brows folded into a frown. “Step out? For what?”

“I need to show Daisy something,” he said, bending and kissing the other woman’s cheek. “Next time, love.”

Before Daisy could register that she’d been commandeered as part of Lincoln Mathis’s escape, he’d plucked the champagne flute out of her hand, setting it aside before clasping her fingers in his and pulling her toward the door.

“Wait, we’re really leaving?” she asked with a laugh as he tugged her through the throng of wedding guests.

“Yep.”

“I can’t,” she said. “It’s my sister’s wedding, I have family here, and…”

“But you want to leave,” he said, turning and facing her.

She narrowed her gaze. “Why would I want that?”

He met her eyes. “Because you don’t like weddings any more than I do.”

Chapter 3

“How adept are you in those things?” Lincoln asked, nodding with his chin to Daisy’s sky-high silver sandals.

“Well let’s see,” she said, holding out her fingers and counting on them. “Pageant winner, debutante, Daffodil Princess, sorority girl, country club board member…”

“So you can keep up?”

She gave a small smile. “I can keep up. What did you have in mind?”

Lincoln inhaled the warm June air before exhaling slowly. What did he have in mind?

All he knew was that he hadn’t been able to take it anymore. He’d spent the entire day, hell, the entire past month, being happy for Cassidy and Emma. He hadn’t had to fake it. He really was happy for them. There weren’t better people or better friends.