The tour of Jupiter Point shifted things with Cassie, Kevin noticed. After that, she treated him like another one of her many brothers. Sometimes exasperated, sometimes amused, but never flirtatious. The heat between them still simmered under the surface, but it didn’t burst into the open the way it almost had at Barstow’s.

Which, of course, was for the best.

Something of which Kevin reminded himself several times a day.

Being buddies with Cassie was pretty good too. He cleared off half the workbench so she could have space for her tools. Then he added a “Welcome to Your New Home” banner, adorned with images of smiling baby faces and rattles and baby bottles.

She laughed when she saw it. The next day when he came in, he was greeted with a bunch of silver balloons in the shape of airplanes.

That night, he left a fluffy toy wolf in the engine of the car she was working on.

“Let me guess — a lone wolf?” She cuddled the wolf against her cheek, her eyes alight with laughter.

“Not anymore. He looks pretty cozy now.”

“Jeez, and I didn’t get you anything. I’m sure I’ll think of something. Consider yourself warned.”

“Bring it on.”

But he definitely wasn’t prepared for the live chicken he found pecking at a pile of feed next to his work boots the next time he came in.

He shoved his hands in his pockets while Cassie popped up from behind the Cessna. “Let me guess. Alpha chick?”

She just laughed. The sound startled the chicken, which flapped away across the diesel-stained floor, toward the door. Cassie and Kevin both chased after it, but every time one of them nearly caught the bird, she managed to escape with a loud squawk. By the time Cassie finally managed to get her arms around the franticly flapping hen, she was laughing so hard tears were running down her cheeks.

Ben flung the door open, with Tobias right behind him. “What the hell is going on in here? Is Cassie okay?” Ben peered at his sister. “Why is she hugging a chicken?”

Cassie was laughing too hard to answer, so Kevin tried to come up with something. “That’s our new mascot.”

“Our mascot is supposed to be a knight in shining armor, not a damn chicken.”

Cassie made a choking sound, then gave up on trying to say whatever she’d intended and just laughed some more.

“Why shouldn’t it be a chicken? People underestimate them. Did you know a hen can eject a rooster’s sperm after they’ve done the deed? You know, if she decides she doesn’t want his offspring after all.” Why that particular fact popped into his head, he had no idea. His brain worked in strange ways.

Ben looked over his shoulder at Tobias. “Are they drunk? I think they’re drunk.”

“I almost hope they are. Otherwise I have some serious questions.”

Cassie looked at Kevin pleadingly. “This poor chicken. I don’t want to squish him but he really wants out.”

“This is a female hen, not a rooster. Want me to hypnotize her?” Kevin kneeled next to her.

“You can hypnotize a chicken?” Cassie looked at her brothers, who both shrugged.

“I’ve read about it but I’ve never done it. Anyone else have a better idea?”

“My only idea is to back out of here and pretend we never came in. Tobias?” Ben checked with his older brother.

“Works for me.”

They both disappeared, leaving Cassie and Kevin to attempt hypnosis on a hen.

Which didn’t work at all, probably because Kevin had only read about it in one of Holly’s science magazines. But wrangling the poor thing was a bonding experience nonetheless. By the time the chicken was safely back in Cassie’s truck, both of their stomachs hurt from laughing.

Kevin had never had so much platonic fun with a woman before.

Since part of his job was backup pilot, some days he spent flying rather than mechanic-ing. But when he was working in the hangar with her, they helped each other out—grabbed tools that were out of reach, offered an extra hand with more physically demanding or awkward tasks. They talked the way co-workers do—casual, relaxed, only occasionally going deeper underneath the surface.

She eventually talked about her gypsy life on the road with her mother, and about the Knight family’s investigation into her father’s murder.

Finally, the comments he’d overhear at Barstow’s made sense.

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Kevin tightened the new bolts he’d just installed on the struts of the newest Cessna. “You’re talking about a killer.” He really didn’t like the idea of them searching for a murderer on their own, even if the Knight brothers could handle themselves perfectly well. With a former sheriff’s deputy, a former Special Forces Nightstalker, and a former Air Force pilot among them, there was no need to worry.

Was there?

“Yes, probably, but Will’s just trying to find his location. The police will take it from there. My theory is that he’s long gone from here and never coming back. He got lucky when he slipped through Ben’s fingers. He nearly got caught then. Why would he take a chance on hanging around here?”

“Let’s hope you’re right. Do you know what he looks like?”

“I have a photo from a rehearsal of Grease. I guess he was playing one of the gang members who fixes up Greased Lightning. Kind of ironic that he was playing a mechanic. It almost makes me question my life choices.”

She walked to the workbench, where she had her tools laid out. From what he’d seen, she was meticulous in her work. Not quite as fast as he was, but then she hadn’t been working at the job for as many years. But smart and thorough and knowledgeable. He’d put his car in her hands, for sure.

“Hey, would you mind handing me that three-quarter-inch wrench while you’re at it?”

She selected the proper wrench from his end of the bench and brought it over.

“Be careful, okay?” he said softly as he took it from her. Their fingers touched and the usual sparks came to life between them.

“It’s just a wrench.”

“You know what I mean. If this guy has gotten away with murder all this time, and now he thinks someone’s onto him, he could get desperate.”

“Look at you, all worried and protective.” She blew him a kiss. “That’s sweet, but you should tell Will. He’s the one investigating. I’m just a bystander. Besides, just think, you could have all this,” she twirled in a circle, indicating the hangar, “to yourself.”

“Don’t even—” He scowled at her. “Fine. Be reckless. Take chances. I’ll keep my opinions to myself, like Holly always says.”

She touched his arm lightly. “Hey, I was serious. I think it’s sweet. But I also don’t think I’m the one who has to worry. And you’re definitely not the one who has to worry. How’s Holly doing, by the way?”

Pretty smooth change of subject. He got the message. Back off, I don’t need your concern.

“Doing great. I hardly see her anymore, she’s so busy.”

“Lots of friends?”

“Apparently. But she also has a job. She’s working at the observatory a few hours a week. She gives tours, that kind of thing. Something with a laser pointer. The new director there offered her the position after she took the tour and corrected the guide every other sentence.”

“Wow. That’s fantastic, good for her. Is it too soon to take the tour with her? Would that embarrass her?”

“I’ll ask again. I’ve seen her rehearse it enough times, I know it by heart. But she wanted me to wait until she’d gotten a few under her belt before I watch the real thing.”

“Well, when she’s ready, I’d love to go with you. If you want,” she added hastily. “As a buddy. Or a co-worker.”

“I got it,” he said dryly. “I got it a while ago, as a matter of fact. You really don’t have to keep reminding me.”

“I know. Sorry.” She tucked a flyaway piece of hair behind her ear and headed back to the Chevette she was working on. She muttered something as she went, something that sounded like, “I’m reminding myself.”

He grinned to himself as ducked back into his task. He wasn’t sure what he wanted from Cassie—well, that wasn’t completely true. He knew what he wanted. But that was off the table. Even so, he liked the way things were going with her. He liked the way she teased him, the way she talked to him, the way she looked at him occasionally. Attracted, intrigued, speculative.

It was all good. Sure, he spent a little too much time thinking about pranks that might top the chicken. And a little too much time imagining stripping off her coveralls. And way too much time regretting the fact that he hadn’t actually kissed her when he’d had the chance.

At least Holly had relaxed about Cassie. His unpredictable daughter had decided she liked Cassie, as long as it was completely guaranteed there was nothing romantic going on. Sometimes she rode her bike to Knight and Day after school and did her homework in the office, if it wasn’t busy, or in the hangar. She’d talk about the teachers and the kids, and Cassie would listen patiently while she worked. Kevin tended to zone out during that kind of conversation, but Cassie was great at it. She’d ask a question now and then, or tell a similar story from her own school years.

Sylvie had never been much of a listener—her big advice was usually to stop whining. So Kevin considered it a stroke of amazing good luck that he shared a work space with Cassie Knight. Even if that was all he ever shared with her, he’d be grateful.

But there were also all those laughs.

And all those sparks.

He just hoped no one else noticed the way he responded every time she walked into a room. Maybe in time, that reaction would go away.