"Hey."

She turned slightly, enough to see him standing there, framed by the doorway and backlit by the light from inside. "Hey."

"So, we're all going to dinner," he said. "You hungry?"

She shook her head. "Maybe later."

"Want me to bring you back something?"

"I'm okay."

This would be when most guys would say 'okay, tell us if you change your mind' and step back inside, leaving her to her own thoughts. She was used to that by now.

Pax, it seemed, were not most guys.

She stared at him as, instead of walking back inside to the fun crowd and leaving her to her apparent sulking out on the deck, he stepped outside and slid the door shut behind him. When he came over to lean on the railing next to her, looking out over the valley, she just stared at him in surprise.

He smiled slightly. "It's pretty in the dark like this. I see why you came out here."

"…yeah," she said cautiously. Like yes, the view was totally why she was hiding out here. Shame and embarrassment had nothing to do with it.

Pax turned and looked at her. He was so tall, it wasn't even fair – Star was fairly sure she'd fit just under his chin, not that the realization helped her thoughts any. "You sure you're not hungry?"

"I'm sure," she lied. She'd gotten good at that, lately.

Pax just gave her a slightly disappointed look, though. What was with this guy? "If you say so."

For a few moments, no one said anything. It was an almost comfortable silence, or it would have been if Star hadn't been feeling so on edge just because Pax was standing right there.

"Will you come inside anyway?" Pax said finally. "You'll get cold out here."

"I'm okay." She most pointedly kept her arms relaxed and leaning against the railing, not wrapped around herself. "You can go inside if it's cold."

That earned her a soft chuckle. "Star, it's freezing out here. I'm going to get frostbite."

She chanced a slight smile. "Well, yeah, if you keep your hands on that cold railing you will."

"Oh?" Marvels of all marvels, he smiled back. "Did you have other suggestions to where I should keep them?"

Her smile turned into a grimace partway through. That wasn't even what she'd meant, but it clearly came out that way anyway. This was exactly what TC had warned her about. Coming across too desperate, giving herself away too cheap, being too much and making the actual nice guys uncomfortable. Even when she didn't mean to.

"You should go back inside." She stared out at the valley again. It at least didn't look back at her with bright blue eyes that seemed to look straight through a girl.

A cold hand – he really shouldn't have touched that railing – was placed against her back. "Come inside with me. Get a jacket. Come with us to dinner."

She forced herself to stand still under that touch. "That's a lot of demands."

"I'll ask nicely if you want." The hand was still on her back, thumb resting against her bare shoulder blade. "Will that help?"

She shrugged. Didn't trust her voice right now.

"Star, will you please come inside? I don't want you to freeze. And then, will you come to dinner with me?" He smiled down at her again. Curse how tall he was. Tall and broad enough that if he were to stand behind her, no one behind him would see her. "I want to hear more about that computer error that killed all the goldfish off."

She snorted a laugh despite herself. "That's not a nice story. They were cooked."

"What makes you think I don't appreciate a bit of grim humor?" He winked at her.

Winked.

Jesus.

"Come on. The restaurant's supposed to be very good."

She made a great show out of surrendering and turning around. Carefully, so she didn't dislodge that hand. Not that Pax seemed all that eager to stop touching her, either. "Fine. But only because you asked so nicely."

"Great." He smiled at her again. It was… a bit novel, she had to admit. Guys didn't often just smile at her. More often they leered. "Do you like sushi? For all that we're far from the sea, they're supposed to be fairly good at that."

"You want to talk about dead goldfish over sushi? That's even grimmer than I'd expected." Crap, Star, stop talking.

He chuckled, though. Didn't even look offended. "Yeah, that might be a bit much. I guess you'll have to save the goldfish story until dessert."

Was this guy for real?

Still doubting, she let him guide her away from the cold railing and back towards the sliding door that led inside. "Raw fish isn't really my thing. But I did hear they also have fairly good venison."

"Oh? Maybe I need to give that a try then."

It's just dinner. Don't get your hopes up. But Pax's hand was still warm against her back, and he was still being nice, and it was hard to remind herself that she shouldn't expect anything. She was sure she'd screw it up somehow.

It was just dinner, though. And, when she did inevitably screw it up, well, they were just here for two more days. She'd be able to hide for that long. And after that, she'd never have to see Pax again.