Laura was furious. She felt she’d made herself abundantly clear on the phone and yet here he was, her ex-fiancé, standing in her new life as if he’d been part of it all along. He knew she wouldn’t cause a scene in front of anyone, because it wasn’t her way, and she knew he was milking that advantage for all it was worth. A few minutes after they’d all walked in, Maggie had come downstairs to see what the excitement was about, and now Nick was holding court in the way he always did. He was asking questions, cracking jokes, waging the charm offensive that came so naturally to him. It was a large part of what drew Laura to him in the first place, and his social currency had been a lifesaver in high school and college. Now, however, she wanted to make her own capital, and spend it as she saw fit. She watched him drawing out Bob and Maggie with equal ease and felt uncharitable. Perhaps he was being a good friend, making sure she was settling in.

Maggie yawned. “Kids, this is way past my bedtime, I’m going back to bed.” She smiled at Nick. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Nick. You’re welcome to join us for dinner tomorrow if you’ll still be in town.”

Nick smiled. “I’ll be here. I’m planning on staying as long as Laura will let me.”

Both Bob and Maggie looked at Laura, who blushed and said nothing. This was classic Nick behavior, making her commit to something she didn’t want to do by asking her in public.

Maggie smiled again and said good night, heading up the stairs to her bedroom. That left only Bob, which was awkward for all of them, so he quickly said good night as well, muttering something about an early start.

Laura waited until she heard his bedroom door close, then turned to Nick.

“My room, now,” she said.

Nick grinned. “I was hoping you’d say that.” He grabbed his suitcase handle and turned to leave the kitchen.

“You can put that by the front door,” said Laura, leading the way. “You’ll be leaving in a minute.”

Nick said, “Why don’t I leave it here by the door to your room? Maybe I’ll be able to extend my welcome.”

“You don’t have a welcome,” Laura replied, holding the door open and then closing it behind him. She turned to face him as he looked around the room. She gave him a second to take it all in, then said, “Nick, why are you here?”

He sat on the edge of her bed and grinned up at her. She frowned back. She was finding his good-looking, familiar face incredibly irritating. Nick shrugged. “I came to persuade you to change your mind and come home,” he said simply. “Your family voted me Most Likely to Succeed, so I came.”