“Yes, Nicholas,” Taylor said in a speculative tone. “Of course, Daisy will go to dinner with you.”

“Hold up,” Lincoln said before Daisy could interject. “I thought you just said you were warning her off Ballantine’s affections.”

“Sure,” Taylor said with a slow smile. “But that’s before I saw all of this.” She waggled her finger in the vicinity of Daisy and Lincoln. “And this’ll be way more fun.”

“You are such a bitch,” Nick muttered.

She ignored him, giving Daisy and Lincoln a little finger wave as she sauntered off.

“Text you later, Daisy?” Nick asked.

“Yeah, of course,” she said with a smile, even as she was acutely aware of Lincoln watching her.

Nick lightly slapped his palm twice against the desk before nodding and pushing upright. Daisy was pretty sure he and Lincoln locked eyes over her head, but Nick turned and ambled out the front door before she could get a read on the situation.

She turned back to Lincoln, who was looking a lot less shell-shocked and a lot more pissed.

“Want to fill me in on what’s going on?”

She opened her mouth, only to be interrupted by the ringing of the main desk line. “Damn,” she muttered. “Starting early today, I see.”

Daisy went back to the desk. “Oxford magazine, this is Daisy…Sure, I’ll transfer you.”

If she’d learned anything in her couple weeks on the job, it was that calls came in batches, and it was three more calls before she could direct her attention back to Lincoln.

“You’re good at that,” he said, nodding at the complicated phone system.

She shrugged. “It took me a couple days, but—”

“What are you doing here, Daisy?”

“At Oxford, or in New York?” she asked, stalling.

“Both. Either.”

She gently rested all ten fingertips against the desk, spread her fingers wide, before tapping softly as she thought of how to answer. She wanted to be honest, obviously, but too honest would leave her vulnerable.

“I realized I needed a change,” she said. “I love Charlotte, but I was stuck in limbo there. No friends outside of Whitney, no job, no prospects. The way you and Emma talk about New York, it just seemed like the place to be if you want to start fresh.”

“As the Oxford receptionist?”

“Well, no, this is temporary,” she said. “I’m grateful that Cassidy gave me something to do with my time in the short term, but I’m updating my resume. I’m thinking maybe something in event planning. Wedding planning, preferably.”

“You’d be good at that,” he said.

She grinned. “I know.”

“So you’re planning on staying then. Living here?”

“Sold my house. Well, Gary’s house. I realize now it was never really mine.”

“And you’re dating Nick Ballantine.”

“I’m…not sure.”

“You’re having dinner with him tonight,” Lincoln said, his voice just a little bit cold.

Daisy threw her hands in the air, exasperated. “Okay fine, I’m dating Nick Ballantine. Isn’t that what you wanted, Lincoln? For me to move on with my life? Find someone worthy. Be happy, Daisy, isn’t that what you told me?”

“Yeah, but you were supposed to do all that in North Carolina!”

“What difference does it make!” she started to shout, then lowered her voice. “Here, there, same thing.”

“No, it’s not the same thing,” he snapped. “When you were there, I’d have to think about it, but not see it. But this…this…”

“What do you want?” she asked steadily, daring him to be brave. Daring him to ask her out.

He glared at her, and she almost smiled, because he was obviously a man unaccustomed to frustration, and irritable Lincoln was kind of hot.

“I want coffee,” he ground out. “Right now I want coffee and fresh air, and I’m going to damned Starbucks.”

“All right—”

Daisy didn’t have a chance to finish her sentence. Lincoln was already storming out of the office, nearly mowing over Grace Malone, who was coming in as he was going out.

“Hey!” the pretty brunette said, beaming up at him. “You’re back! It’s so good to see you, we’ll have to grab lunch and catch up.”

Lincoln stepped back to hold the door for Grace and then growled a response Daisy couldn’t hear before going to the elevators and stabbing the button with an angry jab.

Grace walked backward to Daisy’s desk, breaking off a piece of the muffin in her hand and nibbling it as she studied Lincoln through the glass door. “What was that about? I’ve never seen him like that.”

“No idea,” Daisy said.

Grace turned and narrowed her eyes. “Really? Because you seem almost gleeful about his bad mood.”

“I think…” Daisy bit her lip. “I think he might have been jealous. He heard Nick Ballantine ask me out, and he got all…weird.”

“Jealous,” Grace said thoughtfully. “It would explain why I didn’t recognize it. I don’t know I’ve ever seen him jealous before. I mean, the guy didn’t even notice my chocolate chip muffin. The Lincoln I know…”

She broke off as Daisy cleared her throat loudly, just as Lincoln came marching back into the office.