She shook her head.
‘I think he’ll understand,’ she said weakly, trying to convince herself more than Iris.
The town thinks that boy is in love with you.
Her grandmother’s words reared their ugly head.
Maybe fooling around with Elliot would be a mistake.
Her mother came bustling in through the door carrying a poster board, glitter and paint before Daisy could think about it further.
‘I got sign-making supplies, girls!’ she said, cheerfully. ‘Now, hand over that baby.’ She put the supplies on the table and held her arms out to Iris, who happily gave her a full and sleepy Owen.
‘Thanks, May,’ Iris said.
Daisy’s mom dipped her face and breathed deep, right over Owen’s head. ‘New-baby smell,’ she said. ‘Divine.’
Daisy and Iris laughed as they made space for the art materials. Her mom hummed and rocked Owen while they worked on the sign to hang on their Beltane booth. And between the work and the laughter, Daisy managed to put Elliot out of her head until later when she was alone in bed.
Alone and lonely in bed.
And that was when Daisy thought maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to work out some of her physical frustration with Elliot.
Maybe it was a great idea.
ChapterNineteen
‘We’re not related,’ Elliot burst out as soon as Daisy opened her door. An incredibly smooth and charming thing to say when you pick up a woman for a date.Well done, Elliot.
‘I know,’ she said with a smile. ‘Come in. I’m almost ready to go.’ They were supposed to be headed to karaoke night at the pub, which he’d only agreed to when Daisy assured him that he didn’t have to sing.
‘You know?’
‘Yeah, I talked to my grandmother, and she assured me that Great-Aunt Daisy never had children.’
‘Oh. Good.’
‘What did you find out?’ Daisy asked, grabbing a sweater from the hook by the door.
‘After looking through some ancestry stuff and talking to my mom, I think the man in the picture is a cousin of my great-grandfather. So, I wouldn’t be a direct descendant of his.’
‘So that means…’
‘We’re definitely not related.’
‘Right.’
Daisy was watching him, looking like she wanted to say something but was fighting the urge.
‘What is it?’ he asked.
She sighed and then launched into it. ‘Remember that little sexual fantasy confession?’
‘I couldn’t forget it if I wanted to.’
‘Okay, well, I think it’s just been a really long time since I’ve, well, you know… and I think it’s making me a little nutty so maybe we could just like… you know…’
Elliot nearly groaned, struggling to keep his sanity at the idea of what Daisy was suggesting. ‘I think I know, but I really don’t want to be wrong about this, Daisy, so if you could just spell it out for me.’
