“Jesus Christ, Daisy,” he spluttered. “Does Sanjay know you do this? What about your dad?”

“They know all about Max,” Daisy said. “In fact, my dad took a picture of us cuddled together in bed the night before he left on his trip, and the cutest one of Max on my pillow. I bought Max some pajamas but he refused to wear them. He likes to sleep au naturel.”

Bile rose in Liam’s throat. “And your dad took . . . pictures?”

“Photography is his new hobby. He took some great shots when I was giving Max a bath . . .”

“Stop.” Liam held up a hand. “Just . . . I can’t. I don’t know what’s happened to you, but it ends now. We’re engaged and that means no more random hookups, no pornographic pictures, and no flashing pictures of strangers in the nude.”

“Amina doesn’t mind. She’s my second cousin.” Daisy introduced them before turning her phone around. “And this is Max.”

Liam was a heartbeat away from shutting his eyes when his brain registered the picture of a fluffy white dog on a pink duvet.

His tension left him in a rush. “Max is a dog.”

“He’s a Westie. Layla got him for me as an emotional support dog at a bad time in my life.”

Liam bit back the urge to ask Daisy about a time so bad she’d needed extra love. It was her business, and he could only hope she would tell him when she was ready so he could offer his support. “That wasn’t funny.”

“Amina and I were amused.”

“I heard you were engaged.” Amina’s gaze flicked to Liam and she blushed. “He’s almost as cute as Max.” They had a brief conversation in Urdu that Liam couldn’t follow, but from the way Amina’s eyes kept shifting his way, he knew it was about him.

“You should add some raita,” Daisy suggested when Liam handed his credit card to Amina. “Maybe two or three bowls—yogurt and cucumber are the perfect way to soothe the burn.”

“I don’t need raita,” Liam scoffed. “I have a tongue of steel.” He flipped his card over his fingers—a party trick he’d learned in high school—making Amina giggle.

“This promises to be an interesting date,” Daisy said after he’d paid for his meal. “First, you try to seduce my second cousin, then you’re going to burn your mouth out of stubborn pride. What other surprises do you have in store for me?”

Liam gave her a slow smile. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

After waiting only five minutes, they were seated at their table. Liam munched on the free poppadums while Daisy chatted with the waiter. He’d forgotten how well the Patels were connected. It had been the same with Sanjay. It was a rare occasion that they were out and didn’t meet someone his friend knew.

“I took the liberty of ordering you a Kingfisher beer,” Daisy said after she finished her conversation. “This date will be a waste of time if you can’t talk.”

He lifted an eyebrow in censure. “So, what should we discuss since we’ve already talked about the first half of the dating plan?”

“The second half of the dating plan.”

Liam pulled out his phone and sent her the spreadsheet he’d amended while they’d waited in line. “I’ve sent my changes to you so you can have a visual of what I do and do not like.”

Daisy studied her phone, eyes narrowing. “I don’t appreciate all my hard work being defaced with juvenile comments.” She read off the screen. “‘Seriously?’ ‘Yawn.’ ‘Snoozefest.’ ‘WTF.’ ‘OK Boomer.’ And my personal favorite, ‘Kill me now.’”

“I tried to be creative.” He took a crunchy poppadum off the plate and nibbled the edge.

“I thought I was very accommodating,” Daisy said. “I even allowed you to have a sports night. But Magowan’s Infinite Mirror Maze? Alcatraz?” She drew in a ragged breath. “We’re supposed to be going on dates to get to know each other. How can we talk if we’re focused on solving a maze? And who takes a date to Alcatraz?”

“I’ve always wanted to see the inside of the world’s most infamous prison. What if I wind up there one day?”

Daisy snatched a poppadum off the plate and bit into it with an angry crunch. “It’s closed.”

“Then it won’t be hard to escape.”

“What about the textile exhibition that’s going on right now?” she asked. “Or the Nerd Nite talk on metagrobology? I thought you liked puzzles.”

“I liked doing puzzles with you because you could finish them before I could even find the corner pieces,” Liam said. “Now my interests veer toward drinking, dancing, sports, motorcycles, gaming, and sex.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “We discussed sex.”

“I’d like to discuss it some more,” he said. “Talking about sex is my second favorite thing next to actually having sex.”

Daisy sighed. “We agreed on sports. I’ll put that in as Date #3.”

“Date #3 has to be meeting my family,” he said. “I have relatives who came here for my grandfather’s funeral and they’ll be leaving soon. It’s probably best if you meet everyone at once.”

Her face softened. “Of course. I’ll put that in. Sports will be Date #4. We should try to get tickets to see a hockey game at the SAP Center. My aunt and uncle and their boys have season tickets and we can arrange to accidentally bump into them, like we just bumped into Amina.”

“Go Sharks!” Liam pumped his fist in the air. “I’ll handle the tickets.”

Daisy’s lips curled in a smile. “And since you got what you want, how about a lecture on tamale-making for Date #5?”