Slipping and sliding through water and suds, he followed after her. He saw that perfect ass hard-charge into the living room, and he went right for it and her. So focused on his prize, he didn’t know she was crouching by that entrance until his brand-new hockey stick slammed into his shins, flipping him head over ass. He landed so hard he took his uncle’s prized, handmade coffee table out in the process.

In that second they both froze.

Oh, shit, he thought.

“Oh, shit,” Blayne whispered.

He went up on his hands and knees, and Blayne crouched by him, the hockey stick still in her hands.

“He’s gonna kill me,” Bo whispered.

“He’s gonna kill us both!”

Bo looked down at the table. “There’s gotta be a way we can fix it.”

“How? We just threw four hundred pounds of rampaging male at it. This table is done.”

She was right. He knew she was right. And all Bo could do was laugh.

“Bo! It’s not funny!”

Yeah. It was. But he couldn’t even tell her it was because he was laughing too hard. So instead he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in close, the hockey stick still between them. She had to move it, though, when he pressed his head against her shoulder.

“I hope this isn’t nervous-breakdown laughter.”

When he snorted, she laughed with him, dropping the stick and putting her arms around his shoulders.

It was the best end he’d ever had to a weird day.

They sat next to each other on the couch. They hadn’t bothered to get dressed yet. Instead they sat and they stared at that completely destroyed coffee table. According to Bo, the table had been handmade by some master wood guy, and Grigori had only paid a few hundred for it. Of course now it was worth several thousand. Or, ya know . . . it had been.

She could imagine how bad it would be had this happened with her dad.

“Should we clean it up?” she finally asked. “Or let him see the devastation?”

“I don’t know. He’ll be home in a few minutes so—”

The phone rang, and they both looked over at it. When it rang for a third time, Blayne nudged him and Bo reached over and picked up the receiver. “Hello?” He looked at Blayne and nodded. “Okay. Sure. No problem. See you later.” Bo hung up the phone. “That wind we’ve been ignoring, coming from outside, is the storm. It’s bad and Grigori is going to crash on Dr. Luntz’s couch for the night.”

Blayne snorted. “Yeah. Right.”

“What?”

“Yeah. On her couch. Right.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You can’t be that naïve.”

“Naïve about what?”

“Bo, they’resleeping together. For a while, from what I can tell.”

“Dr. Luntz and Grigori? No.”

“Yes. He’s crazy about her. Can’t you tell?”

“No. I can’t. And I’m not comfortable with this conversation.”

“I think it’s sweet. They argue to hide how they feel about each other.”

“Since I was brought here those two have been arguing.”

“She doesn’t want anybody to know.” Blayne cringed. “She’s not married, is she?”

“Her husband passed away a few years back.”

“There you go. She’s not ready to deal with a real relationship. But Grigori is waiting for her. It’s so sweet.”

“Where are you getting this from?” he demanded.

“Instinct. You can’t tell when people are madly in love?”

“Apparently not.”

“She probably has kids, right?”

“Grown children. One of them is a physician at the hospital.”

“Doesn’t matter. They still love their father, and I’m sure she thinks this will hurt them. But they’re such a cute couple. I bet he’s loved her for years,” Blayne sighed. “That’s so romantic.”

“You bruised my shins.”

Blayne sighed again, but this time she was annoyed. “Is that all you’ve got to say?”

“Yes! Because I don’t want to talk about this anymore!”

“Fine. We’ll both pretend your uncle is an untouched schoolboy and Dr. Luntz is the Virgin Marci and they’re not at her house, right now . . . gettin’ it on. Bow-chica-bow-wow.”

“Okay,” Bo said. “Prove it.”

“Prove it? You want me to prove fucking?”

“I want you to prove that my uncle and Dr. Luntz are being inappropriate with each other.”

“Oh, my God! Is that what you call it?”

“When it involves my uncle and Dr. Luntz, yes! Now prove it!”

“Fine!” Blayne stood up and marched into the hallway. She headed right for Grigori’s room. Unlike his nephew, Grigori was neat but not obsessively so, which she was glad to see. She went right to his side table and opened the drawer. Smiling triumphantly, she held up the opened and extremely large box of condoms. “Proving not only that Grigori Novikov is far from an innocent schoolboy but that safe sex is important at any age!”

“Aaah!” Bo turned from her and marched back out of the room. “I can’t handle this!”

“What’s wrong?” she asked, following after him. She gasped, stopping in her tracks. “Are you in love with Dr. Luntz?”