“You don’t have to move out, Julian.” Sharon crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. “I don’t want you to go. I want you to stay.”

He touched a finger to the crease between her brows. “Stop frowning. You’ll get wrinkles.”

“I won’t. I’m immortal now.”

Yeah, and she was taking it all too lightly. Sharon was acting as if she’d changed nationalities, not species. He wanted to tell her that she wasn’t in Kansas or Canada but in a different reality.

Except, that was a conversation for another time. Right now Julian was more concerned with getting out without her throwing a major fuss. It seemed that in the short time they’d cohabited, Sharon had adopted him as a brother.

“Bhathian is also immortal. Do you want to look like him? That scowl of his is permanently etched on his face.”

Sharon was not easily distracted. The switching topics technique that worked on most people didn’t work on her. “And so are you, so there is nothing you need to hide from me, or me from you. Stay, you really don't have to do this. Both Robert and I like having you here. Did we ever make you feel like a third wheel?”

“I know that I don’t have to go, but I want to. Do you think it’s fun for me to watch the two of you making kissy faces at each other? Gross.” He affected a shiver.

Robert came out of the kitchen and wrapped his arm around Sharon. “Stop harassing Julian. It’s an opportunity to live alone he will not have again. Bachelors are not given their own apartments in the keep, or houses in the village. Everyone has to share.”

“Exactly. My mother moving in with Turner is the only reason I can have her place to myself. And that’s temporary, only until everyone else relocates to the village.”

Sharon let out a breath and sat at the dining table. “As long as it is about what you really want and not about feeling like we don’t want you, that’s okay. But I’m going to miss having you around. You’re fun.”

“It’s not like I’m moving across town. You’re going to see me every day at the café.”

“I’m holding you to it.” She wagged her finger at him. “By the way, Carol said she is not moving to the village. She wants to go back to her old house.”

Robert paled and ducked into the kitchen.

Had the keep’s rumor machine caught up to Sharon?

Did she know about Robert’s short-lived fling with Carol?

It had been more than a fling, but Julian was going to stick to that version if Sharon ever asked.

“Carol is just talking. She is going to the village because someone needs to manage the new café over there.”

“I like the one you guys have here. I love everything about this place. It would be a shame to leave. Does the new place have a theater and a swimming pool?”

“I haven’t been there yet, but I imagine it does.”

Robert came out of the kitchen with a tray in his hands and put it on the table, then sat down across from Sharon. “Who were you talking to about Carol?”

“Carol herself. Why?”

“Did she say anything about me?”

Julian wondered if he should excuse himself and leave the two to talk. In his opinion, Robert should have told Sharon about Carol before she found out about it from someone else.

“She said congratulations and that you’re a great guy and that I’m a lucky girl. She is very nice.”

“Yes, she is.”

Sharon narrowed her eyes. “Is there anything you want to tell me, Robert?”

Julian put his napkin on the table and cleared his throat. “I think I’m going to watch a game in my old room.”

“Sit!” Sharon pointed to his chair. “Robert?”

“We were together for a while, Carol and I. It didn’t work out.”

“Oh.” She shrugged. “Her loss.”

Julian exhaled a breath. “That’s right.”

“I’ll tell you about it some other time. It’s a long story.” Robert got busy cutting the chicken.

“It’s fine, Robert. I don’t need to hear about every one of your previous girlfriends. It’s not like you want to hear about mine, right?”

“Your girlfriends? I would love to hear all about them.”

She chucked a piece of bread at him. “You know what I mean. You don’t tell me about yours, and I don’t tell you about mine. It’s healthier this way.”

Julian didn’t agree, but it was none of his business.

“There isn’t much to tell.” Robert put a piece of chicken on Sharon’s plate. “Other than Carol and you, there was no one else.”

A snort escaped Julian’s throat before he had a chance to choke it down. He’d heard about Robert’s track record. The guy had gone through most of the keep’s females.

Sharon cut a piece of chicken and speared it with her fork. “I find that hard to believe. You’re too good-looking to be left alone. And since most everyone here is related to each other, you must’ve been quite the catch.”

“It was meaningless.”

Julian cleared his throat again. “Guys, could you please wait with the confessions until I’m gone? This is really something the two of you should talk about in private.”