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The door to the photo shoot slid open.

Ivy twisted around. “This is a closed shoot.” Her eyes widened as she saw Diadora walking toward her.

To make things worse, the baby started crying as if the sight of Diadora scared her.

Diadora stopped in front of Ivy, a scowl on her face. “I want to see a happy couple, not two distressed looking individuals with a howling infant. That won’t do our new promotion any favors.”

Ivy rubbed her forehead. “You’ll get it.”

Diadora stepped closer and eyed the couple with suspicion. “It doesn’t look like it to me.”

“We’re taking more shots when everyone has had a break,” Ivy said.

“I’ll stay and oversee,” Diadora said.

Ivy’s spine straightened. “There’s no need. I have this in hand.”

“There’s every need. The reputation of My Single Alien is at stake. We cannot have unhappy couples.”

Ivy reined in her urge to snap. She turned to the family. “There are more toys that might make the baby happy. Go take a look.”

The couple scurried away to the refreshment table, cooing over Rosalina as they did so.

Ivy closed her eyes for a second. Diadora overseeing things would only make this harder. Ivy already had a tough time focusing and not snapping everyone’s head off when they spoke to her. Being pleasant to her dragon of a boss might break her.

That lying Forka was to blame for this. He’d messed up everything. What had she been thinking, letting him get close to her and mess with her head? She knew not to trust men. Human or alien, they were always out to get something. Karn was no different. He was not her match, not unless she deserved to be paired with a demon.

“Is everything okay?” Diadora asked.

Ivy turned back to her. “It’s all great. The couple is proving a little tricky. I didn’t realize how camera shy they’d be.”

“You’re usually good at choosing couples to photograph. Where did you go wrong on this occasion?”

“It’s Vegas’s fault. She gave me this pair.”

“Make good use of them. The child is cute. Get her to stop crying and clean her face and she will be an audience favorite.”

Ivy looked at the baby. Rosalina had stopped crying now Ivy wasn’t snapping around her. She was a cute little thing. She had a button nose, her father’s enormous dark eyes, and the cutest mess of pale blue hair on her head.

“Why don’t you have a coffee and grab a seat?” Ivy said to Diadora. She didn’t want her hanging around and making her nervous. Diadora had an unsettling way of simply staring without saying anything that made Ivy squirm. Few people had that effect on her.

“I’ll stay right here,” Diadora said. “A coffee would be great.”

Gritting her teeth, Ivy hurried to the refreshment table. “How’s everything going?” she asked the couple.

“We can’t stay for much longer,” Boden said. “Rosalina is getting tired.”

“Ten more minutes,” Ivy said. “We’ve got some lovely shots. I need a few more, and then I promise you can go.”

The couple exchanged a glance.

“We can stay for a little longer,” Boden said. “Rosalina is happier now.”

Ivy ducked down and pulled out a box of toys from under the table. She had no idea what babies liked, anything bright and squeaky usually worked. They were a bit like puppies as far as she was concerned, cute but with a limited attention span.

She grabbed a soft, yellow star that had a squeaky middle and held it in front of the baby. “How about this? Does the star make you happy?” Ivy squeezed the star’s belly and made it squeak.

Rosalina jumped in her mother’s arms, and her eyes grew huge.