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Kirk had opened the door, dressed in a white terry-cloth robe His face paled when he saw her but she had to give him credit; he recovered quickly

“What are you doing here, Laurel?”

Before she could reply, a sultry voice called, “Kirk? Where are you, lover?” and a porcelain-skinned blonde wearing aafternoon in bed, appeared behind him

Laurel hadn’t said a word She hadn’t even returned to the Long Island house for her things And when the story got out, as it was bound to do, the people who knew her sighed and said well, it was sad but they’d have sworn Kirk had changed, that once he’d asked her to ured it meant he’d finally decided to settle down

“You got a bad diverter valve,” George ot it under control Takes time, that’s all”

Laurel gave hi took tiet over the pain of Kirk’s betrayal but once she had, she’d begun thinking about their affair with the cold, clear logic of hindsight and she’d found herself wondering what she’d ever found attractive about a in with

She’d otism for determination She, who’d always prided herself on her control, had been stupidly taken in by sexual chemistry, and the truth was that not even that had really lived up to its promise She’d never felt swept away by passion in Kirk’s arms

But Damian’s kiss had done that It had filled her with fire, and with a longing so hot and sweet it had threatened to destroy her

The tools Laurel was holding fell froers and clattered on the tile floor

“You okay?” George said, glancing over at her

“Sure,” she said quickly, and she bent down and scooped up the tools

Da but an updated copy of Kirk, right down to the sexy blonde pouting in the background at the wedding

“Gie said “No, not the Phillips head The other one”

Had the ht she wouldn’t notice the blonde? Or didn’t he think it mattered?

“Egotistical bastard,” she e’s outstretched hand

“Hey, what’d I do?”

Laurel blinked George was looking at her as if she’d lost her mind

“Oh,” she said, and flushed bright pink “George, I’m sorry I didn’t mean you”

He gave her the boyish grin that kept Alued to their TV sets from two to three every weekday afternoon

“Glad to hear it From the look on your face, I’d bate to be whoever it is you’re thinking about”

She’d never been able to bring herself to tell Annie the truth of her breakup with Kirk, not because Annie ht have said, “I told you so,” but because the pain had been too sharp

“You were right” was all she’d told her sister, “Kirk wasn’t for me”

Maybe I should have told her, Laurel thought grimly Maybe, if I had, Annie and Dawn and everybody else at that wedding would have known Daround snake he was

“Got it,” George said in triumph He handed her the screwdriver and flipped the selector lever up and down “Just you watch Soon as I get out of the tub and turn this baby on—”

“Just be careful,” Laurel said “Watch out for that puddle of water in the”

Too late George yelped, lost his footing andthat was handy It was the on-off knob Water ca out of the shower head

“Damn,” he shouted, and leaped back, but it was too late He was soaked, and so was Laurel Half the icy spray had shot in her direction Sputtering, George pushed the knob back in, shut off the water and flung his dripping hair back from his eyes He looked down at himself, then eyed Laurel “Well” he said wryly, “at least we knoorks”

Laurel burst out laughing

“Susie’s going to think I tried to drown you,” she said, tossing hi at herself with another

George yanked his soaked sweatshirt over his head and stepped out of the tub His sneakers squished as he walked across the tile floor of the old-fashioned bathroom

“I guess you’ll have to phone old man Grissom,” he said with a sheepish smile “Tell him that valve’s just about shot and he’d better send a plumber around to take a look”

“First thing in theShethe towel over the rack “I’ot drenched”