Page 43 of Dancing in the Rain

“Lord, have mercy.”

“Oh, yeah. Talk about drooling.”

“Why does that never happen to me?” Nik pushed away from the door.

“You see lots of naked men.”

“Yeah, but they’re usually unconscious.”

Nikeesha was an anesthesiologist.

“True.”

“I can’t believe he’s Chloe’s father.” Nik paused, her face going serious. “That’s just crazy.”

“Right? We had dinner the other night.”

Nik froze and gaped at her. “Naked time and then dinner. What is happening here?”

“Nothing’s happening here.” Peyton waved a hand. “I had to convince him not to change his mind about seeing Chloe. He was freaking out about it, I think.” She frowned. “I’m a little worried about him.”

“What? Why?”

Peyton sucked in her bottom lip. “He seems pretty down about having to retire. And about his divorce.”

“He’s divorced? I didn’t know that!”

“What kind of hockey stalker are you?”

Nikeesha grinned. “I’m not that big a fan that I stalk their every move. Seriously, what happened?”

“His wife cheated on him. When I got to his place, he was drunk, all by himself.”

“Oh.” Nik pursed her full lips.

“He asked me to have dinner with him, but I think it was because he was lonely.”

“Oh, that poor, poor man. He needs companionship.”

Peyton snorted. “I don’t feelthatsorry for him. Anyway, it was good, because I was a little worried about the drinking thing. But I made the mistake of telling Sara about it.”

“Why is that a mistake?”

“Now she’s worried that he’s an alcoholic and he’ll endanger Chloe’s life.”

“And you’renotworried about that?”

Peyton paused. “Actually, I’m not.”

“Hmm.” Nik shook her head. “Okay, what are we moving here?”

“I’ll empty the nightstand if you could strip the bed. We’ll wash the bedding. I’ll get clean sheets and we can make the bed again once we get it moved down there.”

“She’s not doing well, is she?” Nik pulled off the duvet.

“No. They gave her a couple of months and that was six weeks ago.”

“Jesus.”

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