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visitors when I saw the Subaru parked outside." Eunice
wore a tight black jumpsuit and carried her parka over one arm.
    The
jumpsuit didn't look like the kind of thing Charlie's mother baked in. He also
thought Eunice had deliberately removed the parka once she got in the door so
she could show off her figure. He pictured her at her window watching four men
traipsing into Eve's house and being consumed by curiosity.
    Eunice
Piven was legendary in Middlesex, although Charlie hadn't realized that she
lived on Elm Street, right next door to Eve, it turned out. But he definitely
knew all the stories about Eunice.
    Not
many people believed that she'd been carried off by aliens and taught unusual
sexual techniques, but something must have happened to her. She'd come to town
about five years ago as a conservative, churchgoing woman, sort of on the frumpy
side. Then she'd disappeared for a couple of weeks, and on her return she'd
been mysteriously transformed into one hot female.
    Eve
introduced the guys, and Eunice gave each man a dazzling smile that hinted at
the possibilities she could offer. Except for Charlie, of course.
    "Oh,
Charlie." She waved a hand in his direction. "Of course I know you.
You're the one who keeps this town humming like a Swedish vibrator." She
winked at Rick. "Although some people don't need wires and transformers
to generate a charge. Tell me, Rick, are you into electricity?"
    "I sure know a live
wire when I see one," Rick said.
    Charlie
stifled a groan. Not only was that a corny line, but Eunice grinned as if she
thought it was the cutest, most original comment she'd ever heard. Charlie
glanced at Eve to get her reaction to this nonsense.
    She
met his gaze and rolled her eyes. He winked back. And there it was again—the
intimate connection that was pulling him deeper into an attraction that was
doomed. His goal was to leave town, and soon.
    "So,
Eve." Eunice swept an arm to encompass the people gathered in the garage.
"Does this tempting array of manhood mean you're ready to go public with
your spacecraft?"
    "Hovercraft," Eve
said. "And not quite yet."
    "It's
my fault," Rick said. "I asked her about it this afternoon, not
knowing the project was top secret. Charlie got kind of excited about seeing
it, so here we are. Manny and Kyle just came along for the ride."
    Eunice
frowned. "You asked her about it? Don't tell me you're gorgeous and psychic."
    "Nope."
Rick looked pleased with the compliment. "She talked about this machine
years ago, before she'd started building it."
    "Rick
and I worked together for a week in L.A.," Eve said. "We had a
shooting delay so I had some wine and ended up spilling my guts to Rick. I
didn't think he'd remember." She shrugged. "He did."
    "Oo."
Eunice wiggled her shoulders. "Does that mean we're all sworn to secrecy?
What happens in this garage stays in this garage? I love intrigue."
    Charlie decided to take charge.
"I can't speak for Eve, so feel free to contradict me if you want, but I
think we're looking at a potentially valuable patent, so we should keep this to
ourselves."
    "I
don't know." Eve looked skeptical. "I just blew up an engine. The
biofuel concept is important to me, so I'm afraid I'm not that close to a
working model."
    "Charlie
can fix anything so it works right," Rick said. "I'll help too for
that matter."
    Charlie
didn't think that would be a plus, but he couldn't shoot Rick down in front of
his assistants. "Are you going to hang around Middlesex for a while,
then?"
    "Oh, I hope so."
Eunice put her hand to her heart.
    "The
schedule's fairly loose." Rick glanced at Manny and Kyle. "We haven't
booked a return flight yet."
    "Not
yet." Manny crossed his arms over his chest. "We had to see how
things would go first."
    "Exactly."
Rick cleared his throat. "I need to find the perfect location for this
shoot. I dunno. Ten days?"
    Manny
looked over at Kyle. "You think ten days is okay?"
    Kyle
shrugged. "It's cutting it close, but if everything works out here, ten
days