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and locked the front door and walked down the steps to where our cars were parked in the driveway. I turned back to speak to him, then paused, looking at Tessa’s front yard, squinting in the late-afternoon sun that bounced off the lake.

    He noticed my puzzled expression and glanced at the yard, then back to me. “What’s wrong?”

    “Someone mowed her lawn.” And fairly recently too. Perhaps the day before? And the flower beds out front had been weeded and tended. I gave myself a mental thwack for not noticing this earlier.

    Ryan gave the yard another sweeping glance, then shrugged. “Probably one of her neighbors doing her a favor.”

    I chewed my lower lip as I scanned up and down the street. “Maybe,” I said, not totally convinced. Aunt Tessa’s house was on the lakefront, a neighborhood made exclusive by the price and quality of the houses. The houses here were old and lovely and had been either exquisitely maintained or carefully restored; most were now tourist attractions. Every yard on the street was in exquisite condition. An unkempt lawn was not the sort of thing that would be tolerated in this area, and it was perfectly reasonable to assume that one of her neighbors had taken up the task. “But how did they get past the aversions?”

    Ryan frowned. “Are the aversions strong enough to keep someone from mowing the lawn?”

    “Well, they’re placed on the house itself, but their effect certainly extends past the flower beds.” Then I gave a shrug. “On the other hand, I have a hard time being upset about it, since, if the tending had been left to me, there’d be nothing but dead flowers and tall grass.” Proof in point was the fact that it had taken me this long to even notice the lawn. But the question of who and how definitely had me baffled. Maybe the aversions were beginning to fade? It was tough for me to tell, since I was used to ignoring them.

    Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to worry about that now, but I made a mental note to look into it as soon as I had the chance. It was just her yard, anyway. If I thought someone had been in her house, then that would be a completely different thing.

    I turned back to Ryan. “Okay, I’ve been awake since about nine last night, and I need to make preparations for the summoning and then take a nap, so you have to go away for a while. Come to my house at ten tonight.”

    He grinned with wicked deviousness. “Aww, can’t I come over and nap with you?”

    “What? No!” I blurted before my brain could engage. Shock flickered briefly in his eyes, and then his grin slipped, to be replaced by his neutral fed smile. Fuck, Kara. Overreact much? I thought with a mental groan. “I mean, I really need to rest, so I intend to sleep.… Unless you are offering to bore me into somnolence?” I added, struggling to bring back the teasing tone of the conversation.

    “Ouch!” He laughed, but I could detect a forced edge to it. “All right, I’ll see you at ten.” And he turned and sauntered off to his car.

    I watched him go, mentally thrashing myself for reacting like such an idiot. What the hell was wrong with me? Iteased and joked with my coworkers all the time. So why the freak-out when Ryan did the same? He was teasing too. Right?

    I exhaled as he backed out of the driveway and drove off. I had to face facts: I was no good at dealing with men. I couldn’t even tell if he had any real interest in me. How pitiful was that? Still, it wasn’t like I knew him all that well. We’d been thrown together for a month on the Symbol Man case, and that had pretty much been it. It was sad that my best friend was someone I barely knew, but even if I did know him, did I want to get involved with him?

    Not sure . That was the best answer I could give myself. Not only did I not want to chance losing him as a friend, but I also didn’t know enough about him. The demonic lord Rhyzkahl had implied that Ryan was more than he seemed. Unfortunately, I’d had