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      “Kyle, you should be more careful!” Eve warned. “You don’t want an angry boyfriend to come calling.”

      Having provoked the reaction he’d been looking for, Kyle lifted a hand. “I’m just messing with you guys.”

      Brandon did a double take. “So she’s not at your house?”

      “She is, but strictly for practical reasons. We couldn’t get the heat to come on in the farmhouse yesterday, and I didn’t want her to freeze to death. So I let her stay in one of my spare bedrooms.”

      “She agreed to that?” Noah asked. “She went home with you?”

      He shrugged. “I offered to get her a room at Eve’s B and B but she wouldn’t hear of it.”

      “What’s wrong with my B and B?” Eve demanded. “It’s the best in town—no matter what A Room With A View has done to steal my business.”

      “It had nothing to do with your B and B,” Kyle said. “She wouldn’t go to A Room With A View, either. She doesn’t want to be seen in public, needs a break from all that, like I told you.”

      Brandon clapped him on the back. “Lucky you. She’s rich and famous. I say you help her forget this Derrick dude. Sweep her off her feet.”

      Of course Brandon would say that. He had to be tired of trying to ignore the fact that his brother was in love with his wife.

      Ted Dixon, a bestselling novelist who took a more measured approach to everything, moved the sugar packets closer to Levi. “Do you like her?”

      “I do. Surprisingly, she’s as nice as she is pretty.” Kyle couldn’t help wondering if Olivia cared that he was admiring another woman. He was ashamed for even having that thought; it was the kind of thing that had made him start avoiding family events. He’d once believed that, with time, he’d get over her, and all the weirdness would go away. But after six years, the feelings themselves hadn’t gone anywhere. He just felt worse for having them.

      Dylan dusted the crumbs of his muffin from his hands. “Then I’d say she’s fair game.”

      Kyle waved them off. “She’s only staying in town for a few months. And I’m sure she’ll stick with Derrick in the end. He’s perfect for her.”

      “In what way?” Eve asked. “You haven’t met him, too, have you?”

      “No, but he works with her, understands the music business, supports her career, doesn’t mind the travel. I want...something else.” He stretched out his legs and crossed them at the ankles, hoping he’d said enough to put an end to the subject. “Don’t we have some things to go over for the wedding?” He grinned at Riley. “Like who’ll be performing the ceremony?”

      “Riley said you’re doing it,” Brandon replied, and, fortunately, the conversation moved on from there. They discussed other aspects of the wedding, how to make the most of the “winter wonderland” theme, how they’d all help set up and when they should schedule the bachelor and bachelorette parties. Once they’d hammered out those details, Noah said he’d heard that Baxter would be moving back before Christmas for sure, so they used Noah’s phone to call him and put him on speaker. He told them his last day of work was supposed to be the fifteenth, but even if he didn’t get moved right away, he could easily make the bachelor party on the twenty-third—good news.

      Fortunately, no one mentioned to Baxter that Lourdes Bennett was in town, so Kyle didn’t have to swear yet another person to secrecy.

      As soon as they hung up, he stood.

      “You getting your muffin?” Brandon jerked his head toward the cash register to signify that the line was shorter.

      “Yeah,” Kyle said, “but I’m getting it to go. I’ve got a lot to do.”

      Brandon’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re leaving already?”

      “Busy day ahead. I have to get the guy who installed the HVAC system in the farmhouse to fix it before the weekend.”

      “Why rush to have it repaired?” Riley gave him a meaningful grin. “If you like having Lourdes Bennett at your place, you could always have the HVAC guy come on Monday.”

      Kyle rolled his eyes. “She’s not my type.”

      “What do you mean, she’s not your type?” Ted asked. “You said you like her.”

      “She’s probably only twenty-eight or twenty-nine, so I’ve got a few years on her. And I wouldn’t want her kind of life,” he explained.

      “Maybe she’ll retire,” Eve said.

      Kyle scowled at her. “Are you kidding? She’s had a good taste of fame. It’s in her blood.”

      “I can understand why you’d hesitate,” Dylan said. “I wouldn’t want to be with someone who’s in the public eye. Gail and Simon handle it well, but I’m too private. I like being in my own space and not having to travel all the time. And I’d hate it if Cheyenne was always gone.”

      “I wouldn’t like it if Phoenix was gone a lot, either,” Riley admitted.

      Eve pushed her coffee cup away. “It takes a special kind of person to handle the challenges that come with having your spouse in such demand. You have to be able to share him or her.”

      “Not an easy thing,” Sophia said.

      “Then I’m glad we all agree.” But whether they agreed or not, after Noelle, Kyle understood his limitations.

      He checked his watch. “Great to see everyone. I’d better roll.”

      “Thanks for giving Noelle that water heater.” Olivia spoke before he could walk away. “That was really nice of you.”

      What Noelle had done to get him to marry her had driven a wedge between her and Olivia for years. But last Christmas they’d made inroads toward rebuilding their relationship, and although it must have taken a great deal of patience, understanding and forgiveness on Olivia’s part (that was the case with anyone who had to put up with Noelle), they were acting more like sisters now than ever. Kyle was relieved there’d been progress in that area, at least.

      “It was nothing,” he said, shrugging off her thanks. Although she claimed she’d forgiven him, and he’d been the one left hurting the longest, she had to be thinking he got what he deserved—having to put up with Noelle’s shit all the time.

      “If you decide to have a Christmas party so we can all come over and meet Lourdes, let us know,” Callie joked.

      “I don’t even have a tree,” he said.

      Eve beamed up at him. “You’ve seen my B and B at Christmastime. I can fix that.”

      “We’ll see if the opportunity arises.” He loved getting together with his friends on Friday. But ever since Brandon and Olivia had started joining them, that weekly ritual had become a form of torture. So the moment he stepped outside, he took a deep breath, as relieved to get on with his day as he’d been eager to come.

      * * *

      Lourdes was just getting out of the shower when Kyle returned. She hadn’t been able to fit everything she’d wanted to bring to California in her suitcase and didn’t have a robe with her, so he caught her in nothing but a towel as she walked down the hall to her room. His eyes swept over her, obviously taking note of her near nudity, but he didn’t make her feel threatened in any way, or even particularly self-conscious. He acted as if it wasn’t any big deal—as if they were roommates and seeing her like this was a common occurrence.

      Lourdes didn’t know whether to be relieved that he respected appropriate boundaries, or disappointed that he didn’t seem compelled to push beyond them. It was a strange reaction on her part—evidence of the state of her self-esteem. Now that she was losing her grip on everything

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