Lara shook her head. It was easy to compare herself unfavorably to her boisterous friend, to envy Kelly’s quick way with words and willingness to risk embarrassment in pursuit of the things that interested her.

Things like David Kirwen. Well, no: Kelly had gone after David purely for Lara’s benefit, which she was certain of for two reasons. One, she’d have heard the lie if Kelly had been interested in Kirwen for herself, and two, the slender weatherman genuinely wasn’t Kelly’s type. His broad-built cameraman, though …

Lara hid another smile in her menu. Kelly would call it instant karmic feedback, trying to set Lara up for a date and finding a hunk of her own by doing so.

“You must have gotten a much more entertaining menu than I did.” David Kirwen tipped Lara’s menu toward him so he could peer down it. “It looks the same …”

Lara clapped the menu shut, then, flustered, opened it again. “Oh. No. No, I was just thinking. I hadn’t even looked at it.”

Kirwen flourished his fingers, coming up with a shining coin. “Penny for your thoughts, then?”

“Oh!” Lara reached out, startled, to catch the penny from his fingertips. “How did you do that!”

“You’d have me give away all my secrets on the first date?” Kirwen tsked. “You’ve taken the penny, so you owe me a thought now, don’t you?”

“Ooh,” Kelly said loudly enough to be heard, though her innocent expression suggested she didn’t intend to be, “that implies there’ll be a second date. That’s promising.”

Lara aimed a kick at her under the table and instead crashed her booted toes into the pedestal with a thonk. Kelly burst out laughing as Lara sank into her seat, face buried in her hands. “Way to be subtuhl, Lar. She was thinking a second date had better not be a double,” Kelly told David. “Better not ask her while Dickon’s around. He’ll horn in on it.”

“Only if my barbecue is rained out!”

Lara risked peeking through her fingers in time to see Kelly give Dickon a frankly lascivious once-over and lean in to purr, “Honey, I’ll make sure your barbecue never goes out.”

Dickon, brightly, said, “Check, please!” and beneath their laughter Lara murmured, “I was thinking it would be easier to be like you and Kelly. She makes friends in a heartbeat, and you seem to expect that, too. I’m not that outgoing.” She held up the penny, smile turning wistful. “Was that worth a penny?”

“It was.” David reached out to fold the coin into her palm, briefly cupping his hand over hers. “And if we were all as forthright as Kelly, then we would miss the delight of coaxing the shy out of their shells. Some things, Miss Jansen, are worth the wait.”

“Good,” Kelly broke in cheerfully. “Wait until Saturday.”

David released Lara’s hand, sending a rush of disappointment through her. She quashed it, feeling absurd, and frowned at Kelly. “We’re helping Rachel move on Saturday.”

“Exactly! David can spend the whole day coaxing you, and we’ll have a couple of big strong handsome men around to help.”

David turned to his cameraman solemnly. “I believe we’ve been hornswoggled, Dickon.”

“I believe we have,” Dickon said just as solemnly, then squinted at Lara. “Hornswoggled means tricked, right?”

“Oh no.” Kelly looked dismayed. “You haven’t already done your walking dictionary trick, have you? I swear, Lara, I leave you alone for five minutes … !”

Lara lifted her chin and sniffed, trying to dismiss Kelly playfully, and shook her head at Dickon. “It’s like rapscallion. The real meaning is darker than the way it’s used now. You have an old-fashioned vocabulary, Mr. Kirwen. Is that a Welsh thing?”

“It’s certainly the way of my people,” Kirwen replied lightly. “What time will you need us to help move your friend?”

“Us?” Dickon’s voice rose. “Who said anything about us?”

“You wouldn’t leave a fair lady in distress, would you, Dickon?” David gestured to Kelly, who fluttered her eyelashes and put on an unconvincing expression of helplessness. Dickon laughed and raised his hands in defeat. Lara smiled at the banter, listening as plans were made, and watched David Kirwen quietly, thoughtfully.

“It’s the way of my people” was a very careful phrase. Lara thought even she might have overlooked it had it not highlighted something he’d said earlier, that his name was Welsh “by most accounts.” He laid no claim to that account himself.

Curiosity blossomed in Lara’s chest, stealing her breath. Handsome, witty, and not only mysterious, but cautiously mysterious. Very few people she knew could disguise the truth in such a way as to not trigger her sixth sense. Even fewer would have any reason to.

Disarmed by her own interest, Lara sat forward to rejoin the conversation and enjoy the prospect of dinner with a man who could keep a secret from her.

“I haven’t stayed up this late in months. I won’t be able to see the pins tomorrow.” Lara frowned at her feet, having difficulty focusing on where to place them, much less the more dubious prospect of fine needlework on the morrow. The steps leading down from the restaurant seemed distinctly more treacherous than they had upon arrival. “How much wine did you give me?”

“I believe you asked for that fourth glass,” David Kirwen said in amused self-defense. “Careful, now.” He offered his elbow and Lara clung to it gratefully as he escorted her down the stairs. Kelly and Dickon waited at the bottom, neither of them as impeded as Lara. She scowled lightly at Kelly, who made a dismissive sound.

“I drank as much as you did. I just have a lot more body weight to slosh it around in. You okay?”

“I think so.” Lara released Kirwen’s elbow and smiled up at him. “It was a lovely dinner. Thank you.”

“My pleasure. I hope we can do it again sometime.”

“Saturday.” Kelly put on a winsome smile so transparent that Lara laughed. “Pizza after moving day. You don’t mind, do you?”

“How could I resist such a heartfelt plea? We’ll be there.” Kirwen arched his eyebrows at Dickon. “Won’t we?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Despite his grumble, the cameraman didn’t sound at all put out, and shook first Kelly’s and then Lara’s hands. “It was nice to meet both of you. We’ll see you Saturday.”

A chorus of farewells followed, and Kelly took up David’s position of balancing Lara as they made their way down the sidewalk toward Kelly’s car. The instant they were out of earshot, Kelly began singing, “Hey there, you with the stars in your eyes!”

“Hnf. The laws of physics don’t allow for stars in the eyes, Kelly.” She glanced over her shoulder as they climbed into the Nissan. “He is awfully handsome, though, isn’t he?”

“If you like skinny blond boys with exotic accents, sure.” Kelly grinned as they pulled into traffic. “You liked him. After all that fuss over his name this afternoon, you really liked him, didn’t you?”

“He’s interesting. No, I mean it!”

“Of course you mean it. You don’t say things you don’t mean. Define interesting, by Lara Ann Jansen’s standards.”

“He doesn’t tell lies, but he’s very careful about what he says. He never said he was from Wales, did you notice?” Lara folded her arms around herself and scooted down in the seat like a much younger girl. “I hate it when people lie to me, Kel. Not about the small things, you can’t help that. But bigger things, it just feels so wrong. But he’s not lying, he’s just …”

“Interesting,” Kelly finished triumphantly. “Who knew it would be the man she couldn’t see right through who would catch her eye?” She pursed her lips, then shrugged. “Of course, if I put it that way it’s kind of obvious, isn’t it? Although, really, Lara, I think if you were trying to get him to slip up, you probably should have been pouring the wine into him, not into yourself.”

“But I wasn’t! I was just having a good time.” Lara caught Kelly’s fingers, squeezing, then released her so she could put her hand back on the wheel. “Thanks, Kel. I never would have gone if it weren’t for you. I had fun. Thank you. And what about you? You and Dickon seemed to hit it off.”