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had taken it off her.

      Ryan maybe?

      Daisy’s father hadn’t been back on the scene for long, but Luke knew the man was busy trying to lay down all sorts of good impressions along with his good intentions.

      A dart of jealousy had hit Luke clear between the eyes and he’d had to convince himself that Sephy was perfectly entitled to do whatever she wanted with whomever she wanted.

      Except for with Ryan, he had thought, as his gut had tightened painfully.

      Ryan would mean it was serious. She wouldn’t go there again, otherwise. She wouldn’t risk Daisy’s happiness if it didn’t work out.

      Luke could still remember the feel of the satin between his fingertips, even as he’d scolded himself that he really did not need to be thinking about Sephy and sex.

      With anyone.

      ‘No, no date tonight,’ Luke said now, ignoring the voice in his head telling him he really ought to go home and force himself to put in a few hours’ work. He wandered into the kitchen and added, ‘Take-out would be great.’

      Sephy stared at him for a second longer than he was comfortable with and then, with a brisk nod, walked over to the dresser drawer, where she kept all the local take-out menus.

      ‘What do you feel like having?’ she asked, tucking a strand of hair back behind her ear.

       You.

      Luke balked and shoved his hands into his jeans back pockets. Crap. He had to nip this in the bud. Now, indeed ever, was not the time to be taking himself off the leash where he and Sephy were concerned. ‘I’m easy,’ he said and then cursed inwardly when she whipped around from the dresser, a teasing note lighting her eyes.

      A heartbeat later and it was gone.

      Like she too couldn’t get her head around how asking him to model had created this awkwardness between them.

      He should have left while he’d had the chance. Now, tonight – later, when he was supposed to be thinking about work, he was going to be thinking about how he hated saying ‘no’ to people he cared about; hated being the bad guy.

      Hated that her asking him to help her had made him think about all those times the car had come to pick him up from where he was living and take him to someone else’s home, where he’d been looked at and assessed for fitting in, and found wanting. Or rather…unwanted.

      Luke knew his jaw had tightened when he felt the roots of his teeth protest. Deliberately he faked a yawn to try and relax and then tipped his head one way and then the other to try and release some of the built-up tension in his neck.

      ‘Why don’t I order while you get Daisy ready for bed?’ he asked, taking out his wallet to check what cash he had.

      ‘I can pay for a take-out, Luke.’

      Luke studiously ignored the note of censure in her voice. ‘Does it matter who pays for it?’

      There was a moment’s silence and then, ‘I take it you were the one who bought Daisy that Darth Vader outfit?’

      Luke caught the catch of chastisement in her voice and wished he could decipher whether it was down to the fact that he’d spent money on Daisy when Sephy was touchy about money, or whether it was because he wasn’t Daisy’s dad.

      ‘I guess I should have run it past you, first.’ Feeling sheepish, he thought he might as well confess all. ‘I also bought her a lightsaber.’

      Sephy reached over with a mug of coffee for him and Luke winced as the chunky porcelain landed extra hard on the large wooden kitchen table. The bee in her bonnet was definitely more about the money, then.

      ‘In my defence,’ he said lightly, ‘you were only saying the other day that you really hoped she got over her sickly pink phase soon.’

      He risked a glance, caught the twitch of her lips and thought a smile might be in the offing.

      ‘So what you’re saying,’ Sephy said, ‘is that I should be thanking you for helping her transition from Princess to Sith?’

      ‘You’re welcome,’ he grinned.

      Sephy rolled her eyes. ‘And you let her watch Star Wars again, didn’t you?’

      Oops. ‘Have some pity. There are really only so many times a guy can watch Frozen.’

      Now Sephy’s grin spread across her face as she lowered her mug to the table and said, ‘But Luke – don’t you know? Love is an open-’

      ‘Argh,’ Luke stuck his fingers in his ears as Sephy started singing a tune from the film. When she saw him cross his eyes in pain, she laughed and sang louder until he was forced to start humming the theme tune to Star Wars to drown her out.

      The louder she sang, the louder he hummed, until Daisy walked in, dragged off her helmet and in solidarity with her mum performed her own ear-splittingly loud rendition of ‘Love is an Open Door’.

      Luke and Sephy grinned at each other like big kids, near-argument over money and over-stepping the boundaries of friendship totally forgotten in the moment.

      ‘Right then, Darth Daisy,’ Sephy said once Daisy had completed every verse and chorus, ‘say goodnight to Luke while I get you a quick drink. Then its bath time, followed by bed.’

      ‘’Night Luke,’ Daisy said, making him proud when she started singing the theme tune to Star Wars.

      ‘You,’ Sephy said, pointing to him as she ushered Daisy out of the kitchen, drink in hand, ‘order take-out and don’t for one minute think that I’m not paying. If the food comes before I finish putting this one to bed, my purse is in my bag.’

      Luke watched them depart the kitchen.

      In their wake, the sudden silence reminded him of being in his own place and how he tried to avoid that as often as possible. Ears straining, he could just about make out Sephy and Daisy chatting away about their day. Glad of the background noise but needing more, Luke picked up his coffee and wandered back into the lounge to switch on the TV. He knew to leave at least fifteen minutes before he ordered food or it would be cold by the time Sephy got to it.

      His gaze was drawn to where Daisy had set up her wedding chapel. With an amused shake of his head he tore his gaze away and made a grab for the TV remote control. Flicking through the channels to get the first station playing any kind of sport, he settled on the sofa and reached for his laptop again.

      Opening up the email from his foster parents, he turned his head again towards ‘wedding central’, and damned if it didn’t get him thinking.

      And then he did some thinking about Sephy’s predicament.

      And then he started smiling.

      He might just have come up with a genius idea.

       CHAPTER THREE

      Sephy pulled the door of her daughter’s bedroom gently shut and turned to follow the scent of double pepperoni pizza.

      At the top of the stairs, she stopped to drag a hand through her hair and then, instead of descending downstairs, backtracked down the corridor to her bedroom with its en suite, to freshen up.

      ‘Not for Luke’s benefit,’ she whispered to herself, mentally flicking the ears of the little devil she imagined perched on her shoulder, holding its belly to try and contain its peal of laughter.

      No, all she was going to do was splash some cold water on her face, because, wow, was she tired.

      The amount of work she still had to do to get Seraphic under way meant that even her check list had check lists, but the tiredness wasn’t going to magically disappear after the launch,

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