"Wheels within wheels, all right." Bernice chuckled. "Reminds me of the old days with the Agency."

"Sure does," Arizona said.

Like old comrades in arms, the two started to talk, sharing war stories of the days when they had worked for clandestine agencies.

Fallon settled back to enjoy himself. Isabella leaned forward to whisper under cover of the lively conversation.

"What are you thinking?" she asked.

"That I feel right at home," he said. "I'm with my kind of people. No one in this room thinks I'm weird."

"Of course not."

Arizona got up and took a bottle of whiskey out of the cupboard.

"Remember that time when they assigned us to find out what was really going on in that basement in a building at the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina?" she said to Bernice.

"Sure do." Bernice snorted. "Turned out to be another black-ops agency running lucid dreaming experiments. They were using psychic dreamers to hunt serial killers. What a snafu that was. The director of the dream research operation thought our director was trying to take over his territory and vice versa. Turned into a real pissing contest. Classic bureaucratic turf war."

"I still laugh whenever it comes to mind," Arizona said.

"Hey." Fallon pushed his empty bowl aside, sat forward and folded his arms on the table. "I never heard of the lucid dream research going on in North Carolina. Tell me about it."

Arizona brought the whiskey and four glasses to the table and sat down.

"Well, you see it was like this," Bernice said.

She started to talk. Fallon opened up his senses and listened closely. It was all about context.

Under the table he reached for and found Isabella's hand. She squeezed his fingers very tightly. The energy of their shared love flowed through him, brightening all the places that had once been locked in shadow.

When there was a brief lull in the conversation, he smiled at her.

"You're not the only one who finally got a life," he said. "I've got one now, too."

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Isabella said.

"Yes," Fallon said. "It feels very good."

OTHER TITLES BY JAYNE ANN KRENTZ

Fired Up

Running Hot

Sizzle and Burn

White Lies

All Night Long

Falling Awake

Truth or Dare

Light in Shadow

Summer in Eclipse Bay

Smoke in Mirrors

Dawn in Eclipse Bay

Lost & Found

Eclipse Bay

Soft Focus

Eye of the Beholder

Flash

Sharp Edges

Deep Waters

Absolutely, Positively

Trust Me

Grand Passion

Hidden Talents

Wildest Hearts

Family Man

Perfect Partners

Sweet Fortune

Silver Linings

The Golden Chance

BY JAYNE ANN KRENTZ WRITING AS AMANDA QUICK

Burning Lamp

The Perfect Poison

The Third Circle

The River Knows

Second Sight

Lie by Moonlight

Wait Until Midnight

The Paid Companion

Late for the Wedding

Don't Look Back

Slightly Shady

Wicked Widow

I Thee Wed

Seduction

Affair

Mischief

Mystique

Mistress

Deception

Desire

Dangerous

Reckless

Ravished

Rendezvous

Scandal

Surrender

With This Ring

BY JAYNE ANN KRENTZ WRITING AS JAYNE CASTLE

Midnight Crystal

Obsidian Prey

Dark Light

Silver Master

Ghost Hunter

After Glow

Harmony

After Dark

Amaryllis

Zinnia

Orchid