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Daisy’s father nodded again, leaning back in his seat and letting his arm fall behind his wife.
“Well, thank you for the meal, Mom and Dad,” she said, tapping the side of Arvil’s leg under two table to signal him to move. “But I should get back to my work. I’ll see you sometime.”
“I should be going, too,” Arvil said, slowly standing up and trying not to look at Daisy. He reached out his hand. “It was a pleasure meeting you both.”
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Daisy slipped out of her seat as soon as Arvil was out of her way. She didn’t look at her parents as she stood, only casting a quick glance up at Arvil.
“Like I said, the pleasure was all ours,” her father replied, firmly shaking his hand while Mrs. Riley nodded her agreement.
After bidding her parents goodbye, Arvil followed Daisy out the door before he stopped her.
“What the hell was that?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.
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“What do you mean?” Daisy asked, immediately on the defensive when Arvil looked at her that way. Her arms wound around her stomach as she narrowed her eyes right back at him.
“It’s none of my business to say this, but they’re your parents,” Arvil said, softening his expression a little when he saw the panic in her eyes. “And you were completely brushing them off. I get it that they’re probably not the best out there, but what they’re doing, in their opinion, is something they think is good for your future. You were rude.”
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Daisy pursed her lips, turning away. She was a bit rude, but she had at least tried more than usual this time. He hadn’t even seen them alone. This was her parents being polite.
“Have you ever had marriage nearly forced on you?” she asked calmly, drawing her eyes back to him. “Because that can make it pretty hard to be polite to someone.”
Arvil quirked an eyebrow and stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking her over. After a moment’s of silence, he finally spoke.
“Have you honestly wondered why I even chose to help you, Riley?” he quirked an eyebrow, standing straight. “Because Jordan asked me? Because I’m nice? I could have refused, but I didn’t. Maybe think about why I decided to start this lie. Now, I wasn’t lying when I said I have business to attend to, so see you later.”
Without waiting for her reply, Arvil turned to walk away, his hand raised as a goodbye.
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Daisy was frozen to her spot, cheeks slowly turning pink. Did he mean that he’d had that happen to him? That was why he’d agreed?
Dangit, she’d screwed up. Badly. She needed to fix this somehow, but how was she supposed to do that?
When Arvil reached his car, he leaned against it and sighed, rubbing at his face. He shouldn’t have snapped at Daisy like that, even though her words had made him irritated. Arvil was a businessman. He was way past the traditional marriageable age. Things had happened once, and it wasn’t like he blamed his parents for it. Especially not his father. They were always close, and that incident hadn’t ruined anything.
With a sigh, Arvil pushed himself off his car and sat inside, buckling himself up. He drove away without a second of delay.
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With a slow sigh, Daisy finally moved toward her car, shifting her purse up higher on her shoulder. She would make it up to Arvil somehow. She would think of something.
Once she reached her car, she sat down, sighed again, and started it. After a quick glance toward the entrance of the restaurant and seeing her parents finally walking out hand-in-hand, she drove back home.
