“Yep. But she’s moved on from making casual suggestions and stepped up to full-on matchmaking. Invitations are being issued as we speak.”

Alice scraped the onions into the hot pan, considering how this news affected them. She’d hoped to keep their arrangement going until the summer as originally planned, especially if the cream Lacey Chu had prescribed meant they could explore more than one position. She planned to test drive it tonight. But sex aside, it was Dan’s undemanding friendship she valued most. It made a refreshing change from the current problems in her family.

“Who’s she got in mind?”

“You.”

“Me?” Her voice hit an unappealing pitch.

“Why so surprised? You’re attractive, well-educated, funny and you want kids. That’s catnip for my mother.”

“But it’s not catnip for you so—”

“Three out of four is catnip for me.”

Dan propped a hip on the counter next to the stove. The stance was casual but it showcased his toned body to perfection and his eyes sparkled at her. A flash of desire shot through her and she wondered about abandoning dinner for sex. Then her stomach grumbled, reminding her she was starving. If they didn’t eat first, she’d miss out on dinner, because sharing a meal after sex moved into couple territory. Neither of them wanted that.

She reduced the heat under the onions and between them. “Why don’t you tell Hilary you’re not interested in commitment or children?”

For a moment he looked like the sandy-haired little boy who’d once clung to his mother’s hand at kinder drop-off. “I don’t want to disappoint her.”

“But she’s already disappointed.”

“No. She’s hopefully frustrated.”

“What’s the difference?”

He lifted the spatula out of her hand and added the other ingredients to the wok. “There’s a lot of pressure being the first born. Something you wouldn’t understand, Twin Two.”

Being the slower second twin came with its own pressures, but Alice didn’t enlighten him. “But I thought your parents were okay with Bram coming out.”

“They are. But the way Mom sees it, Bram has to jump through a lot more hoops to have a kid so it’s easier for me to give her the grandchild she craves. Plus, I live here and Bram’s in Melbourne. I’ve been hoping time would do the job and she’d eventually just give up on the idea, but now you’re back in town and she’s hell bent on getting us together. That’s why, when you get around to checking your email, there’ll be an invitation for Sunday lunch.”

“I—”