Eve Devon - It’s In His Kiss

Ryan was going to get swept up in learning to be a dad, and if he was going to be around her while he did that, she didn’t want him confusing matters and blurring the lines in his head.

It was better if he thought she and Luke were together, so she looked him straight in the eye and told her own little white lie. ‘It is Luke, yes.’

Sephy sat surrounded by signature antique gold-coloured tissue paper, rolls of sticky labels with the Seraphic emblem on, and different-sized samples from her lingerie collection. As she wrapped each sample in the beautiful paper, ready to place in goodie-bags for the buyers at her launch party, she was already starting to feel guilty about lying to Ryan.

It was for the good of their future relationship as Daisy’s parents, she told herself as her phone rang. Now all she had to do was tell Luke she was agreeing to his conditions and they could get the photo shoot under way and that would be one more thing checked off her endless list.

Ignoring the lick of fire igniting in her belly at the thought of telling Luke, she lifted up a pile of tissue paper and found her phone. Glancing at the screen to see who the caller was, she answered with a, ‘Hi, Sis,’ and tucking the phone between ear and shoulder, laid out another sheet of tissue paper and pulled matching camisole and French knickers in champagne-coloured silk off the pile.

‘I’m pulling rank,’ Nora said, without preamble. ‘You are coming into London this week and I’m taking you out for lunch and then we’re going shopping for shoes for the launch and that is all there is to it.’

‘I don’t have time,’ Sephy said automatically. Not being as obsessed with shoes as her sister was, she was pretty sure she could find a pair in her wardrobe that matched the LBD she had elected to wear.

‘Make the time. You know there won’t be any immediately following the launch.’

‘There might be,’ Sephy swallowed as her voice got small, ‘if no one places an order.’

‘That’s the way, keep talking positively like that and the sky’s the limit.’

‘Okay. Okay. I’ll try and free up some time.’

‘Great. So did you do it?’

‘What?’ Sephy had reached out to grab a goodie-bag, but stopped at the question.

‘Did you ask Luke The Question?’

‘I did.’ She snatched up a bag and shook it open.

‘And…?’

‘He has a couple of conditions.’

‘Oh my God, he’s actually going to do it?’

‘If I agree to his terms.’

‘Huh?’

Sephy stopped assembling samples and said into her phone, ‘He wants me to model with him.’

‘Delicious.’

‘Nora,’ Sephy warned.

‘I can’t help it.’

‘Yes, because you’ve never got yourself into a fix at all have you?’ Sephy muttered, thinking about the time Nora had super-glued her shoe to her hand in front of Ethan.

‘But mine worked out so well for me in the end. Maybe yours will as well.’

‘You didn’t have a daughter or your daughter’s dad come back onto the scene.’

‘What?’ Nora gasped. ‘You’re seeing Ryan?’

‘No. Of course not.’

‘Good. Because there’s complicating your life and then there’s complicating your life.’

Sephy agreed. That was why she had lied and told Ryan she was seeing Luke.

‘I’ll get in touch with Frazer today and set up the shoot,’ Nora said.

‘I haven’t exactly said yes, yet.’

‘Why not?’

‘Probably because of the other condition.’

‘Intriguing. Ooh,’ Nora said sounding excited, ‘does he want to do a private set of photos?’

‘Oh, would you please stop. There’s nothing tawdry going on here.’

Nora laughed. ‘Did you just use the word tawdry?’

‘Okay, I really need you to focus.’

‘But did you, though?’

‘You know, I think I’m too busy to come to London after all.’

‘Okay, okay, I’m sorry. So what’s his other condition?’

Sephy dragged in a breath. ‘He wants me to pretend to be his fiancée for a few weeks.’

There was a long pause and then, ‘Sephy that’s not even remotely a good idea.’

‘I know,’ Sephy said, immediately heading her sister off at the pass.

‘I mean, you just got through telling me you understood about not complicating your life.’

‘I know.’

‘It’s only that these things have a way of getting out of control.’

‘I know,’ Sephy repeated for the umpteenth time. What if she had to touch him in front of his parents? Kiss him, even? What if she forgot how playing with fire got your fingers burned?

‘Why does he want you to pose as his fiancée anyway?’

Sephy peeled off a Seraphic label and sealed the ends of the tissue-paper parcel of lingerie together.

‘Seph?’

‘Something to do with his parents visiting.’

‘What? He’s told his parents he’s engaged, when he isn’t?’

‘Apparently, yes.’

More silence, followed by, ‘You can’t worry about losing his friendship if you say no, and, Sephy, you should say no to this.’

‘If I say no, he won’t hold it against me. You know he’s not like that,’ she responded. She popped the lingerie into a bag and reached for another sheet of tissue paper. ‘He’s helped me out so many times.’

‘Don’t make it sound tit for tat. Friends don’t keep score.’

‘If I say no I don’t get my photo shoot.’

Sephy ran her gaze over her little production line of goodie bags. The boutique factory she had signed an agreement with had done an outstanding job of the samples. She didn’t want to even think about the debt she would incur if she didn’t get to place that first large order.

‘Is this about saving money?’ Nora surmised. ‘Damn it, you know I’ll cover it.’

Sephy winced. ‘It really isn’t only about the money.’

‘Then you lied to me when you told me you were over what Dad wrote to you in his last letter,’ Nora accused.

‘I really didn’t. Not completely or intentionally, anyway.’ This time the silence from Nora screamed at her. Sephy pushed out the breath stuck in her windpipe. ‘Okay. Yes, of course I was never going to be able to start a business and not think about Dad and what he would have thought.’

‘I can tell you what he would have thought,’ Nora interrupted indignantly. ‘I can tell you what he’s thinking right now as he’s looking down at you. He’s thinking, that’s my youngest girl and she’s doing everything I knew she could do in life – and more.’

Sephy’s vision blurred as she silently asked herself if her father might also be thinking, ‘Of course, she’s only doing it because I gave her that final push.’

‘Why can’t this be about two friends helping each other out?’ she whispered into her phone.

‘Sephy –’

‘I know. I know.’ Sephy sniffed and pulled herself upright. ‘I’ll let you know what I decided when I see you on Friday.’

‘Wow. You’re giving yourself a whole two days to think this through.’

‘Progress huh? A whole forty-eight hours longer than I usually give myself to make a decision. See you Friday.’

She ended the call, but kept the phone in her hand as she ran her gaze over the goodie-bags she was assembling.

Her gut said the women receiving those goodie-bags were going to be delighted after seeing Luke Jackson with his hands on the contents!

Her gut said getting to help Luke in return was all the justification she needed.

She looked down at her phone and before the butterflies swirling in her belly managed to break through her stomach lining and invade every part of her, she scrolled through her contacts list and found the entry she wanted.

‘Hey you,’ Luke greeted as he picked up.