I stared at Maya for a long moment as she slept at my side, her chest rising and falling in slow, rhythmic breaths.

She seemed peaceful, almost childlike in the pale light of the moon streaming through the window of my bedroom.

She was a work of elusive art, Maya, indescribable in words but the feeling I got when I merely looked at her was almost spiritual.

There are some people like that in the world; they simply draw you in and make you want to be near them and Maya had always been one of those people.

I would be naïve to think I was the only one who had fallen under her spell. It was clear that she drew in strangers without effort but coupled with her sweetness and adorable appearance, I was sometimes stunned there was not a lineup outside the farmhouse door.

She had been living in our makeshift commune for two years, just after she had come to work at the yoga studio.

It had seemed like a natural next step asking her to move in since she spent so much time amongst us anyway and she had fallen into the sharing life quite easily.

Our affair was open and accepted but like Maya, I was not the monogamous type.

I had been married once upon a time and that relationship had scared me off to even contemplating the idea of staying with one woman ever again.

But on nights like those, I caught myself looking at the slumbering angel in my bed and wonder if Maya couldn’t change that for me.

Of course, the thought was fleeting, and I never pursued it but deep down, I considered myself Maya’s protector.

We had a special bond, one I hadn’t found with any other and I believe she felt the same way about me.

Gently, I brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face cautiously as not to wake her before slipping out of the double bed and making my way into the hallway.

I could hear voices downstairs and I wondered who was up so late.

It was almost two o’clock in the morning and while it wasn’t unusual for someone to be burning the midnight oil, it was odd to have a group up at that hour.

Descending the steps, I could make out the half-drunken voices of Luke and Sterling intermingled with other unfamiliar tones, chuckling amongst themselves.

“There he is!” Sterling cheered, holding up her bottle of craft beer as I entered. “I didn’t think you were home.”

I offered her a tight smile and gazed at the other people in my home.

At first glance, they appeared to be strangers and I cast the engaged couple a reproving look.

Generally I had a strict rule about who was allowed inside the common areas but as my eyes adjusted, there was something familiar about the other two people with my housemates and my mind raced trying to place them.

I was half-asleep after all.

“Malcolm, right?” the chubby girl asked, grinning up at me and I nodded.

“You teach my spinning class on Tuesdays,” she provided. “I’m Cara.”

Instantly a flash of recognition and annoyance filled me simultaneously and I turned to stare at Sterling and Luke accusingly.

They should know better than to invite clients to the house, I thought with anger, but the couple was far too inebriated to heed my silent warning.

As usual, they were lost in each other’s eyes as if hypnotized by the other’s face.

It was nauseating, and I wanted to slap sense into both of them.

“Come and have a beer,” Cara called as if I wasn’t in my own living room and perfectly capable of going anywhere I damn well pleased.

I smiled tersely, about to shake my head as my eyes fell on the smiling but quiet stranger among the foursome.

An uncomfortable lurch tickled my stomach.

“You’re Troy, aren’t you?” I asked, the hairs on my neck rising inexplicably.

He nodded eagerly.

“You remembered,” he said with too much enthusiasm.

I did remember him, but I didn’t want to say why.

The last time I had seen him in the studio, he had given me a bad feeling.

It was not just that he was openly gaping at Maya. There was something else about him, something…creepy?

And he was sitting on the floor of my house like he belonged there.

“Maybe I will have a beer,” I decided, plopping onto the floor, unceremoniously close to Troy, studying his face with too much interest.

I could smell fear on anyone and Troy reeked of something I did not like.

“Great!” Cara squealed, jumping to retrieve one from the kitchen as I studied Troy’s pudgy face.

Sterling and Luke had begun making out as if they had forgotten then had company.

I’ll deal with them tomorrow, I promised myself.

“So how do you know the lovebirds over there?” I asked, trying to keep the suspicious note from my words but it was difficult, especially since Troy continued to keep his dark eyes cast downward.

He did, however, maintain a boyish smile on his face.

“Oh, uh, actually,” Troy started. “We, uh –”

“Here you go,” Cara said brightly, depositing a bottle in my hand but I did not break my stare on Troy.

“Thanks. You were saying?” I was not about to let him off the hook, but Troy took a swig of his own beer and shifted his gaze away, so I turned my attention to Cara.

“How do you know these guys?” I asked loudly and pointedly, hoping to break apart the couple but I could see they were far too involved in their caress to pay me any mind.

“Oh, Luke and Starla?” Cara asked.

“Sterling,” I corrected, my heartrate beginning to race. “Yes.”

Cara shrugged and gestured toward Troy.

“We just met them tonight actually. But Troy recognized them from the studio, right, hon?”

Hon? Are these two dating?

Troy nodded quickly.

“That’s right,” he answered, flashing me an unconvincing smile. “I just thought I would go and say hello and they suggested we come back here for a drink.”

“How long have you two been dating?” I demanded, my tone much sharper than I had intended but I could not shake the mounting concern in my belly.

Cara giggled.

“We’ve been on and off for about three months, right Troy?”

Again he nodded but he refused to meet my eyes.

I swallowed any further inquiries, determined to see how the night play out organically.

I had the feeling that I was going to learn a lot about the awkward man before dawn broke.

“So tell me about yourselves,” I said, sitting back against the couch cushions from my spot on the floor. “What do you guys do?”

Cara giggled, a sound which seemed to be her trademark.

Unlike her date, I found something endearing about the round brunette, but my mind was far too occupied with Troy to pay her any special attention.

“I’m a schoolteacher,” Cara volunteered.

I arched an eyebrow.

“Oh yeah? Where?” I asked.

“In Oriental at Pineland Elementary,” she replied. “Third Grade.”

I arched an eyebrow.

“Our other roommate has a sister who teaches there,” I said but as soon as I said the words, Troy spoke, and my apprehension returned.

“Who’s that? Maya?” he asked immediately, and I inhaled sharply but there was no taking back my rather foolish statement as Cara stared at me with interest.

I shouldn’t have said that. Why did I say that? I cursed myself silently, but it was too late to recant.

“Maya’s sister, yes,” I replied, my mind working to change the subject, but the floodgates had been opened.

“Who is her sister?” Cara asked but Luke saved me from answering as Maya herself walked into the living room, wearing nothing but one of my extra-large yoga studio shirts, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

“Are you guys having a party without me?” she joked, slumping against the doorway. Her expression brightened as she recognized Troy.

“Oh hi!” she called sweetly, and my blood became ice chips as I watched Troy’s face melt into a puddle of desire.

He licked his lips and smiled warmly at her.

“Hey,” he murmured. “Did we wake you up?”

She laughed and shook her head, turning to look at Cara.

“Hi,” she said, extending her hand. “I’m Maya.”

Cara eagerly took her hand and nodded.

“I’m Cara. Troy has told me so much about you,” she gushed. “He says your classes are the best! He swears he lost twenty pounds because of you!”

I noticed a shadow cross over her face as if sensing the falseness of the statement and she cast me an uneasy look.

“Malcolm says you have a sister who works at Pineland like me,” Cara continued, and Maya maintained a smile, but I could sense her nervousness suddenly.

She’s picking up on the weirdness too, I realized.

“Yes, Vyolet,” Maya said, folding her arms over her chest.

“Oh! I love Vyolet!” Cara squealed. “She’s so sweet.”

Maya nodded in agreement.

“It runs in the family,” she laughed but her eyes continued to dart toward Troy.

“Do you want a beer, Maya?” Troy asked suddenly, jumping from his spot for the first time since I had arrived in the room.

Cara noticed his sudden change in demeanor also and I watched as her face grow stony.

Okay, I thought with some absolution. It’s not just me. The atmosphere in here is weird.

“No, thanks,” Maya said quickly. “I just came down for a drink of water and heard the voices. Nice seeing you again, Troy. Good to meet you, Cara.”

She turned to leave, and Troy called out.

“Wait!” he pleaded. “Stay for one drink!”

“I really can’t. I have clients in the morning,” Maya replied, shaking her head. “Next time, okay?”

“One drink won’t harm anything! You’re already up!”

The desperation in his voice was apparent and Maya looked at me, her green eyes flashing.

I knew we had a problem.

“Good night, Maya,” I said firmly, hoping that my tone left no room for argument. To my relief, he did not speak again as Maya left the room.

“We should go too, Troy,” Cara said abruptly and there was no mistaking the anger in her face.

“We don’t have to work –” he started to say but Cara cut him off midsentence.

“It’s late and we have worn out our welcome.”

She rose and grabbed Troy’s arm, pulling him toward the door.

“Thanks for coming,” I offered, herding them out gratefully.

That poor bastard is going to get an earful from her all the way home, I thought but I was happy I was not the one who had to throw him out.

He was a client after all and he wouldn’t be the first man who had done stupid things to be close to Maya.

Maybe the first one to bring a date, I thought ruefully, waving them off from the door. I exhaled as they got in their car and drove away, but I could read Cara’s baleful expression even through the darkness.

Hopefully that will teach him, I thought and despite the uneasy feeling in my stomach, I closed the door and walked back into the living room.

“Was that Maya?” Luke asked, finally pulling his face away from his fiancée’s.

I eyed them with disgust.

“Is that what you do? Bring clients into our private home and act like a couple of porn stars while they watch?”

Sterling gazed at me in confusion.

“We didn’t invite them here. Maya did.”

I stared at her.

“What?” I demanded. “What do you mean Maya did? Cara said you guys met tonight and you invited them back.”

The duo gaped at him.

“No,” Luke denied. “Troy approached us and said that Maya was going to meet us at home. He only followed us back.”

The anxiety sprung back into my bones full force and I wondered what kind of stupid game Troy Caspian was playing and what he hoped to achieve.

I need to keep an eye on that guy, I told myself.

Not that it was good business to threaten clients but if Troy was behaving out of line toward Maya, he had to go.

I bid Luke and Sterling a goodnight and hurried back upstairs to my room, expecting to find Maya back asleep in my bed but she was not there.

I padded across the hall toward hers and rapped on the door gently.

“Come in,” she muttered, her voice a whisper.

I realized that she had almost fallen back asleep and I instantly felt guilty.

“It’s okay, My,” I told her, poking my head into the room. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Everything good, Mal?” she asked, raising her head slightly to look at me and I nodded quickly, forcing a smile.

If she wasn’t worried, I wasn’t about to give her cause to worry.

Who knows? Maybe I was overreacting too.

A part of me wanted to crawl into bed beside her and hold her close, warding off the strange, apprehensive feelings flooding through me.

But I didn’t.

I knew if Maya had wanted me close, she would have stayed in my bed.

Everything is fine. Maya is fine. I’m concerned for nothing.

“Sweet dreams,” I told her and even through the dark, her smile gleamed brilliantly at me.

I closed the door and returned to my room, exhaling slowly.

Still, I couldn’t release the sense that something bad was coming.