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“—that you’re livin’ with aliens. Talk about bubble-headed. We laughed it off.” Stuart inclined his head toward Wyatt. “Well, Wyatt didn’t.”
    Charley kept Wyatt in her peripheral vision, prepared to turn Stuart’s conversations elsewhere if Wyatt continued to grimace and sigh or Cael and James’s temperatures ratcheted up any higher.
    Stuart himself broke the undercurrent of anxiety. “How do you guys like living way up here?”
    “It’s very peaceful,” Lily said.
    “No neighbors?” Stuart picked up a Brie-encrusted apple slice, studied it a moment and popped it into his mouth.
    “Nope. Not this high.” James grabbed a handful for himself. “About a mile down, though.”
    The temperature in the room decreased a degree.
    “You guys know Wyatt’s been here before? In this house?” Stuart started in again, oblivious to the change in James and Cael’s posture, the way their muscles tensed and the subtle shifts of their faces from interested to concerned.
    Charley smiled, amused by Stuart’s verbal garbage dump. “Do tell.”
    She leaned into the table, preparing to hear what she already knew. One hand in Wyatt’s, her head rested in the palm of the other, but the sizzle didn’t come from unaddressed sexual desire.
    James and Cael shifted in their seats, subtle movements no one but she or Lily would register.
    “Apparently, way, way before you guys moved in—” He pointed with the carrot again to Lily, James and Cael. “—his Mom stayed in this house for somethin’ like three or four weeks. She says it was like her most favorite vacation. The people here were uber-rich and gave her everything she needed. Doesn’t she still keep in touch or somethin’, Wyatt?”
    Wyatt nodded, but the cringe and slight shift of his head tore at Charley’s heart. Wyatt slumped lower in his chair, but tension emanated in invisible waves from James and Cael.
    She let the smile grow inside as memories of that month surfaced. She’d have to keep them tucked away or risk their cover.
    “Shall we move to the dining room?” Lily’s chair squealed against the floor as she slid off.
    Charley recognized the diversion. While Lily showed Stuart the way, James and Cael followed.
    With a quick sideways look from James, Charley leaned into Wyatt’s shoulder and bumped him with her hip. “You okay?”
    “I shouldn’t have brought him. He’s on a roll, and there’s no telling what’ll come out next.” He ran a hand through his hair and shook it so it settled back down into place. A few cowlick spikes remained.
    “It’s okay, you know.” Charley patted his bicep, firm under her palm, and leaned her body into his. “He’s nervous, is all. We all find ways to deal.” She kept her lips close to Wyatt’s ear. “Seems his power of speech improves.” She giggled.
    Wyatt turned toward her so their lips came within a breath. “My Mom really did live here for a bit before she met my Dad—well, the guy I call my Dad.”
    Lily poked her head back in the kitchen. “C’mon guys. Dinner’s on.”
    The clink from glasses, plates, tableware and chairs as they slid on the hardwoods, along with mixed conversation, reached them. Together they pushed back from the island, shifting off their stools. Before they crossed into the dining room, Wyatt turned Charley to face him.
    “Ah, I have a question.” He ran his hands up and back down her arms, sending a tingle of interest elsewhere.
    Charley shivered under the touch—more than she’d experienced with him, other than a simple link of fingers. “Go ahead. Ask. Anything.”
    He rubbed at the side of his nose. “Uh … well … is Leena hooked up?”
    Charley grinned. “You mean in a relationship? I don’t think so.” She knew very well.
    “Um …” Wyatt’s gaze redirected to the doorway. “Do you think she’d be willing or interested in going to the dance with Stuart?” Wyatt twisted his mouth in that I-can’t-believe-I-just-asked way and pinched the