Page 98 of The Locker Room

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although they had more money than they knew what to do with, they

never stopped and landscaped the path, or tried to civilize it (with the

exception of hiring someone to burn out the poison oak, that is. Chris

had been applying calamine lotion too damned high up on his thighs for

anybody"s comfort.) It was something in their lives pure and untainted

by the rest of the world, and they clung to it.

It was a short run, even with the dogs crashing in front of him, one

hundred and fifty pounds of clumsy canine good will. It was the second

week of January, and the sky was the color of snow on the road, and the

wind off the dirty silver lake cut to the bone. Xander never had gotten

the hang of running in anything but old T-shirts and sweats, and he

shivered his way through half his run before he decided he was getting

old and spoiled and that he"d rather spend the rest of the morning in bed

with Christian.

84

Amy Lane

He threw the ball for the dogs a couple of times in their modeled

front yard, and then left them their food in big bowls on the porch before

coming inside, hot, breathless, and sweaty. There was fruit and pastries

on the table, and his stomach felt like it might behave, so he grabbed a

banana and a croissant on his way up the stairs, thanking Lucia, their

middle-aged housekeeper as he went. Lucia, fully intent on her morning

break, waved to him with her nose buried in the middle of herPeople

magazine, and Xander gave her shit like he always did.

“Lucia, why you reading that crap, sweetheart? Seriously, you

know they always get it wrong!”

Lucia turned around and looked at him, halfway up the stairs, her

mouth twisted wryly. “Old habits are hard to break, Mr. Karcek. I

understand you"re dating one of those dancers from that show now;

how"s that going?” She held up the picture for proof, and Xander rolled

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