Her mouth firmed into a straight line and she shrugged. “Okay.”

They ate in uncomfortable silence for the next few minutes. Liam mentally cursed himself, and his father, and the chef who had made the dish so spicy he had needed to be warned.

“I’m an ass,” he said finally.

Daisy looked up, a pained expression on her face. “I won’t disagree with you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted,” she said stiffly.

“My dad passed away a few years ago, but just thinking about him . . .” He hesitated, not wanting to wind himself up again, but desperately needing to clear the air. “Triggers me.”

Her face softened. “I can’t even imagine how hard it must be. I know a little about what he was like.”

Of course she did. She’d been there when his mom had brought him over to her house, his arm in a cast, his face swollen from the worst beating he’d ever had. He’d seen her on the stairs while their parents talked, her bare feet peeking out of her pink nightdress, a stuffed rabbit in her arms. He’d found the rabbit on his bed when her father had taken him up to Sanjay’s room, and it had been a great comfort in the darkest hours of the night.

He took another bite of his vindaloo, savored the punishing burn. “I’ve ruined our second date,” he said, his eyes watering.

Daisy offered him his beer. “It’s okay. Talking about triggers and personal issues was one of the objectives for our dates. We’re just ahead of schedule.”

He waved away the glass. “I’m going to eat the entire dish. No raita. No beer. I deserve the pain.”

Daisy laughed. “I didn’t know you were a masochist. Lucky for you, I don’t enjoy seeing you suffer. I ordered extra food in case we needed it.”

“If this were a real second date, would we have had a third?” He leaned forward, studying her intently for even the faintest sign of forgiveness. “I thought I did pretty well at the beginning. On time. Scintillating conversation. Objectives not just fulfilled, but exceeded because now we’re ahead of schedule. Abject apology when I screwed up—many men have trouble with that—and I was willing to inflict mortal injury to my tongue to make it up to you.”

“Liam?”

“Yes?”

She pushed her plate of dosas toward him. “It doesn’t matter if it isn’t real.”

But it did matter. More than he cared to admit.

• 13 •

DAISY’S Thursday morning was taken up with sprint plans, bug counts, and daydreaming while Andrew droned on during the weekly team meeting.

Last night’s dinner had almost been a total disaster. She’d let her guard down, and for a while she’d almost forgotten it wasn’t real. Liam’s antics with the sword in the dress shop had made her laugh and she’d enjoyed teasing him in the restaurant. His sudden change in demeanor had been the wake-up call she needed. It would be too easy to fall for Liam, too hard to get hurt again.

Liam had never once indicated he felt anything more than brotherly affection for her. She was still the nerdy geek who’d spent lunches in the science lab, and Liam was still the guy who’d dated the most beautiful girls in the school. Daisy had watched them from the window when he came to pick up Sanjay, and wondered how it felt to be so thin you could disappear between two blades of grass, and what they would do when faced with a summer of desi weddings where you had to starve yourself at the beginning of the week so you could eat for three straight days.

Not that she wasn’t attractive—she was comfortable with her body, right down to the chipped front tooth that had come from taking a line drive to the face on the baseball diamond—but she and Liam were from two different worlds. Except for their childhood wounds, they shared nothing but memories, a love for video games, and good taste in black leather boots.

Stop thinking about him. She shifted in her chair, trying to push away the memory of how warm and solid he’d felt against her when he’d kissed her at the conference, and his sharp intake of breath when she’d kissed him back . . .

“Daisy.” Josh gave her a nudge. “The meeting’s over.”

She sighed and pushed the fantasy away. “I need another coffee. Andrew’s talks always put me to sleep.”

“He told us to stay put. Tyler’s having a meeting with Marketing and Design and he wants us to be here. He said something about another website redesign.”

“Not again.” She tipped her head back and groaned.

Mia and Zoe joined them as the rest of the marketing team filed in, taking the empty seats beside Daisy.

“I hope this doesn’t take long.” Zoe checked her watch. “I have Lily at an emergency day care in the Mission. Our babysitter was sick again. I need to find something else.”

“I talked to my aunt about Lily,” Daisy said. “She’s an elementary school teacher and she’s off for the summer. She looks after my dog, Max, and she said she’d be happy to help you out until school starts again. I’ll give you her number.”

“Oh my God. That would be amazing!” Zoe waved a hand in front of her face as her eyes teared. “You can’t imagine the stress. Tyler’s been so good to me, but I feel like I’m taking advantage.”

“And I’ve got a number for you, too.” Daisy handed a business card to Mia. “I’ve got a cousin who works at an addiction center. They do really good work with addicts and their families. They have a long waiting list but he owed me a favor, so if you’re interested you can give him a call.”

“I’ve tried pretty much everything to help her,” Mia said. “But I’ll definitely get in touch. You’ve got some family.”

“I’ve got a lot of family.” Daisy laughed. “Sometimes it’s a good thing, but sometimes they can be too involved.”