Mike said with a laugh as they settled into their booth at Quigley’s. “You get that from How to Make Friends and Influence People?” Alexei chuckled as he, Reese, and Mike slid in opposite Rupert, Oliver, and Callum. Rupert immediately pictured what he and Callum had just been up to at the hotel, his pulse jumping with arousal and fear. “I haven’t any idea what you mean,” he said, stalling. That couldn’t be what Mike meant, could it? “With that jerk back at the rink? The kid’s father? “Oh, yes. Right.” Rupert said, relieved, then grimaced. “I shouldn’t have done that. It was terribly foolish.” “Seemed terribly necessary to me,” Alexei said. “Yes, well,” Rupert hedged, pleased by the support, “I don’t think it will help convince that man to let his son continue to figure skate, let alone work with me.”
