“Stop standing there like you’re frozen with fear. This is supposed to be enjoyable. You’re meant to look like you’re having the time of your life with your new husband.” Ivy grimaced and waved her hands in the air at the nervous looking couple in front of her.

This photo shoot had been a disaster from the beginning. The couple had been late, the baby kept crying, and every time Ivy tried to get them to pose, they looked awkward and uncomfortable.

“Take five minutes,” Ivy said. “Nalina, change the lighting to a soft-focus glow and give the kid something to play with. She keeps crying.”

Nalina Trib, a tall, pale Koob with beautiful black eyes and long limbs hurried into action. She was quiet and obedient, as all good assistants should be.

Ivy stamped away and grabbed herself a coffee. She couldn’t focus, and her stomach kept twitching uncomfortably. Every time she let her mind wander, she kept thinking about Karn and their encounter last night in the My Single Alien office.

Anger still burned through her veins. He had used her. He’d pretended he liked her to hide what he’d been doing. The betrayal hurt more than it should.

Ivy had undone the damage to the system. At least, she hoped she had. She’d deleted several matches and wiped evidence of Karn being there. So far so good. She’d heard nothing from the office.

Her fingers touched her mouth. Ivy couldn’t deny it. Their kiss had been amazing as had the touch of his fingers deep inside her. Karn was gorgeous but untrustworthy. She’d had enough of men like that. She’d left that behind on Earth. She didn’t want it back, no matter how hot the package was. Maybe she should try a science geek like Heather. She seemed stupidly happy with her alien lover.

Resisting the cookies on the table, Ivy headed back to the couple in front of the camera. She took a deep breath and forced a smile. If she didn’t get this photo shoot in the can, Diadora would start asking questions. That was the last thing she needed.

“Imagine the first time you met. What did you think of each other?”

The petite human, whose name Ivy had forgotten, glanced up at the enormous blue Draxdan by her side. “Honestly, well, I was terrified. I’d read all about Boden in his file. He sounded lovely. When you meet for the first time, you’re never sure what you’re getting or how honest your match has been.”

“I was excited,” Boden said. “I’d been waiting for my human match for six months. I thought my human looked adorable from her pictures.”

“Thanks, honey. That’s sweet of you.”

Ivy kept the smile on her face, even though she felt like gagging.

Boden continued. “But you’re right. The first time we met, I felt nervous. I was surprised how small my mate was. I was afraid she might break.”

The human giggled and gently nudged him. “As you’ve discovered, I definitely don’t break.”

Ivy grimaced. “I don’t want you looking nervous in the photographs. What about when you had your child? What’s her name again?”

“Rosalina. We adore her. I became pregnant almost straightaway, so it wasn’t that easy. We were still getting to know each other and working our way through an alien pregnancy. It all went well. She came out perfectly.” The human sniffed the baby’s head and sighed.

“She’s our little piece of paradise,” Boden said. “I feel complete now I have her. Now I have them both.”

“Take the shot,” Ivy whispered to Nalina, who stood behind the camera.

The couple was lost in cooing over their baby and forgot they stood under glaring white lights in front of the camera.

Nalina got off a dozen shots before the couple realized what was going on and their movements became forced.

“Let’s try a different pose.” Ivy walked to the couple. “Boden, you take Rosalina. Your mate will stand in front of you.”

“Oh, no! I’d feel too exposed. Can I stand behind Boden?”

“No! Everyone wants to see how happy you are. It’s important humans aren’t put off of joining the agency. You’re supposed to be an illustration of how wonderful love is with an alien. If you’re cowering behind him, people will think something is wrong. They might think you’re not happy.”

“But I am.”

“Then act like it. Stop being terrified. It’s only a camera.”

“I’m not sure Rosalina’s feeling well.” Boden pressed a hand on her head. “Does she feel hot to you?” He passed her to his mate.

Ivy repressed a groan. “I’m sure she’s fine. It’s the lights. They make everyone warm.” She just needed a few more shots and then this disaster could be over.

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.

Ivy bit her bottom lip, worried Rosalina was on the verge of another crying session.

Instead, Rosalina held out her little hands for the star, a smile on her face.

“Excellent choice,” Boden said. “She loves anything that makes a noise.”

Ivy handed the star over. “She’s welcome to hold that when she has her picture taken if it will make her happy.”

Boden checked the baby’s forehead. “I think she’s fine. Rosalina got a little hot under those lights. It’s important she is cared for. She’s our only one.”

“Our only one yet.” His mate giggled. “Trust me, we’re working as hard as we can for baby number two.” She blushed as she looked up at Boden.

“It is not work, my sweet. It is pleasure.”

Ivy scowled at seeing how disgustingly happy they were. It was a front; it had to be. Behind closed doors, she knew married life wasn’t fun. Her parents had argued every day for fifteen years until her dad had walked out one night and never came back. People put on this ridiculous charade in public to make everyone else think they should get coupled up and married. This alien and human match wasn’t the exception to that reality.

“Whenever you’re ready, we can take the last photos.” Ivy grabbed a coffee and headed back to Diadora.

“Is everything under control?” Diadora took the coffee without a word of thanks.

“All sorted. We’ll do a few more photos and then wrap up. You don’t need to stay if you have somewhere else to be.”

“I do,” Diadora said.

Worry surged through Ivy. Did Diadora know what happened last night? Ivy was sure she’d removed all evidence of Karn breaking into the office. She’d left nothing behind. Diadora’s visit couldn’t be about that.

Ivy spent the next twenty minutes focused on the couple and their baby. They’d finally relaxed enough to get decent shots. Rosalina didn’t cry once she was so engrossed with her new yellow starry friend.

Ivy clapped her hands together. “Thanks, everyone. We’re done for the day.” She led the couple to the door and said goodbye to them. She let Rosalina hold on to the star. Ivy had plenty of other toys to entertain kids who came for photo shoots.

She turned to see Diadora had followed her to the door. “I hope that wasn’t too boring for you.”

Diadora’s eyes narrowed. “What are you playing at?”

Ivy blinked in surprise. “What do you mean? The photo shoot went well. We got some great shots. I can show them to you.”

“This is not about the photos.”

Ivy pushed past Diadora, her heart racing. “Then I don’t know what you mean.”

“Come over here.” Diadora walked to a table and placed her tablet on it. “Look at this.”

Dread kicked at Ivy’s heart as she stood beside Diadora. She watched what must be images from a security drone. It was of the corridor outside My Single Alien’s office. She saw herself come out of the office door and hurry away.

“What were you doing in the office at that time of night?” Diadora turned to her.

“There’s no law to say I can’t go to the place I work however late it is.”

“I know you hate working late.” Diadora glared at her. “On the one occasion you do, it’s a big coincidence that the previous day’s matches are a complete mess.”

Ivy swallowed against the tightness in her throat. “The matches? What’s wrong with them?”

“There have been a number of unsuitable ones. Heather believes somebody manually entered the system and uploaded a program to alter the matches.”

“I had nothing to do with that.”

“You know something about this?”

Ivy looked at the ground. She’d been an idiot. What had she been thinking, trying to cover up for Karn? She’d had him arrested. She should have told Diadora what had happened. She’d held back and couldn’t figure out why.

“If you value your job, you will answer my question.”

Ivy raised her head. She was so screwed.