Her hands moved to her head, curling protectively around the flowers. “No, you can’t poke—” As if remembering something, she snapped her mouth shut and drew a deep breath before starting again, this time with painstaking formality. “Of course, Mr. Ford. Anything you’d like.”

He made a gentle tsking sound, his tone matching her own. “You might want to be careful with those kinds of promises, Ms. Vasquez.”

Her mouth formed a prim line. “If it will help Emily and Jeeves with their training, then you can do whatever you want to my hair.”

“Whatever I want? You obviously underestimate my ingenuity.”

“Oh, I rate your ingenuity just fine. Your sincerity, however, is highly suspect.”

He chuckled. Lila obviously still took him for some kind of loose screw, incapable of uttering a truthful word. If she had any idea how much he meant what he said—of how much he longed to unwind her braids and bury himself in her hair, her scent, her body…well. Maybe it was a good thing, after all. There was such a thing as coming on too strong.

“Since you haven’t dressed yet, can I suggest you put on something a little more formal than usual?” she said. “A bow tie, if you have it. Otherwise, a nice shirt and slacks will do the trick.”

“A bow tie?” he echoed. He cast a look down at himself, aware that today, as yesterday, he was sadly unprepared for the arrival of a gorgeous, well-put-together woman in his home. He had on the same worn-out pajama pants from the day before, his torso bare and his feet in a pair of the fuzzy socks Emily proudly bestowed on him for every holiday.

He wasn’t always such a sad sack of a man, and could, if given enough warning, put together an altogether presentable appearance. But he had a puppy, dammit. And a kid. And a bed that, no matter how many times he tossed and turned and thumped the pillows, never got close to the comfort he’d felt at having Lila seated at his knee while she talked him through the steps of braiding her hair.

“A bow tie is out of the question, I’m afraid,” he admitted. “The tuxedo, too. I probably should have warned you that it was a rental. Owning one is a bit beyond my reach.”

“No bow tie?”

He shook his head.

“No tuxedo?”