text: "So…you and Jack, huh?"
  
  Blaine choked on her water. She hadn't expected Iona's direct question the moment Blaine sat down. Later, maybe. But not so soon.
  
  She set her glass on the coaster advertising a tire company and glanced at her best friend. Iona reclined in the corner of the large sectional in the house she shared with Wyn. She appeared out of place among the décor that belonged in the waiting room of a garage, but hints of Iona's personality were already blending in to the predominately male-themed home.
  
  A decorative umbrella stand occupied a corner of the foyer, along with one of her father's paintings and a vase given to her by the Russian president. This room, however, belonged to Wyn. She'd said as much when she'd apologized for the fishnet-stocking lamp on the end table.
  
  "Did Levi tell his entire family how he dropped Jack off at the cabin last night?"
  
  Iona leaned forward. "Jack spent the night?"
  
  Caught. Blaine clenched her jaw. "Clarify, Iona. Me and Jack…what?"
  
  "The wedding. Sparks were flying between the two of you." Iona rolled her hand. "Now, spill. Did you spend the night with Jack?"
  
  "He's quite persuasive." One look and she'd turned into a sex-starved woman.
  
  Iona grinned. "I hear he's hung like a horse too."
  
  Blaine stared at her friend. She snapped her mouth closed. "How did you hear that?"
  
  "Wyn mentioned it." Iona raised a hand. "Believe me. It was not something I wanted to know, but it came up in conversation."
  
  Blaine wasn't sure she wanted to know what kind of conversation involved discussions of siblings' penis sizes. She shook her head. "Not commenting."
  
  Iona's grin turned wicked. She shrugged. "Smart choice, because I'm not sharing any details about Wyn either."
  
  Blaine snorted. She turned, drawing her legs up and matching Iona's pose on the opposite side of the couch. "You don't have to. The man's gigantic. I'd imagine everything about him is quite…um…proportional."
  
  Iona took a sip of her wine. Her smile never wavered. She set the glass on a matching tire-shaped coaster. "Should I expect to be seeing you around Sander's Valley often?"
  
  "Because I slept with Jack?" Blaine fought not to laugh. "Please. I have never planned my life around a man, and I have no intention of doing so now. No matter how amazing the sex."
  
  "So he is hung like a horse?" Iona raised her brows.
  
  Yes. But Blaine wasn't going to confirm Iona's guess. Time to change the subject.
  
  "Guess what Eliot gave me?" Smiling, Blaine sat up straighter, basically bouncing in her seat. The high of holding the Zima violin hadn't eased overnight. It could've been Christmas and Easter all rolled into one. She'd gotten the best present in the world.
  
  "Obviously not sex if you spent the night with Jack."
  
  "Mind out of the gutter, Iona." Blaine tucked her legs under her and spread her hands over her thighs. "Guess."
  
  Iona took another sip of her wine and studied Blaine intently. Her eyes narrowed. "I'm not sure. You look happier than I've seen you in years. I'd assumed Jack had something to do with it. The way you were laughing and smiling with him at the wedding looked real. Completely out of character for you."
  
  Blaine glanced at her hands for a moment and fought her frustration. Why was everything coming back to Jack Sander? Just because the man had a way of getting past her small-talk boundaries did not mean he was the reason for her happiness. She lifted her gaze, not her head, and glared at Iona. "I don't need a man to make me happy."
  
  "No comment about how I must need a man to make me happy since I'm still here in Sander's Valley with Wyn?"
  
  "No. I'd never say such a thing, and you know that." Blaine took a calming breath. She recognized her friend's defensive tone. "Who's giving you a hard time?"
  
  "Who isn't?" Iona tilted her wine, studying the dark red liquid. "About the only people happy about my decision are the bank's board members. They've been looking to establish permanent ties in the States for years. They'd be even happier if I married Wyn and applied to become a dual citizen."
  
  Blaine tensed. The realities of being a foreigner in love with an American weren't something she'd ever considered. "How long can you stay on your visa?"
  
  Iona's back arched slightly. She glanced at the gaudy leg lamp on the end table. "I've applied for a green card. The bank's lawyers are helping me establish an acceptable business here that'll qualify and quicken the approval process. If all goes well, I won't have to worry about anything."
  
  "And if it doesn't?" Blaine had never paid much attention to politics, but she understood enough to know Russia was not a country viewed favorably by most people in the States. Especially not Russians who had the private cell number of their president.
  
  Iona set her wine down. "Then I move home."
  
  "You could always marry Wyn." Blaine's smile hurt her cheeks. Marriage shouldn't be used as a tool. Of course, most married people she knew used each other.
  
  "The immigration laws here are complicated. There are forms to fill out and get approved. Timelines to meet." Iona laughed, but the sound held no humor. "Apparently, falling in love with a foreigner or marrying one can be viewed as immigration fraud as I originally entered the country on business."
  
  "What do you mean?"
  
  "Dmitri's family is claiming I purposely used my business trip to find an American man to marry. It's not true, of course, but if they spread those rumors to the right people in America…"
  
  "I always hated Dmitri and his family." Blaine wished she'd made her opinions about Iona's ex-fiancé known sooner. Respecting her friend's choice in love had been hard. Watching her recover from the beating she'd gotten from Dmitri when he'd tried to kidnap her was harder. Every time Iona winced, Blaine's heart ached a little more.
  
  "I can't change the past. It's made me into the woman I am today."
  
  "I know." Blaine had said something similar to Iona a couple of weeks ago. "It's simply ridiculous that you need to be worrying about how his family might try to destroy this thing you've found with Wyn. Dmitri's the one who came to America with the intent to hurt you."
  
  "The Kozar family is powerful."
  
  "In Russia. Not here."
  
  Iona smiled wanly. "They have money. That brings a certain amount of power anywhere."
  
  "But so do you." Iona Volkova came from old money, much like the Zima lineage. Since their families both shared the same investment firm, their old money had grown substantially across the globe. Only Blaine's sat in a trust fund.
  
  "Yes, and I plan on getting my green card and investing some of it here in Sander's Valley. Everything will work out."
  
  "And if it doesn't?" Blaine raised a brow. "Are you really going to be able to leave Wyn and return to Russia?"
  
  "We're happy. We're in love, but honestly, we're just dating." Iona held up a hand. "Don't go out and buy a maid of honor dress or anything."
  
  "You're living in Wyn's house and talking about how you can get a green card so you can stay here with him." Blaine gave her stubborn friend a knowing look. "Don't bother telling me marriage hasn't crossed your mind."
  
  Smiling, Iona shrugged. "It has, and if it comes to it, Wyn would follow me to Russia."
  
  "He's told you that?"
  
  "No, but if he loves me as much as I think he does, he'd love me whether we lived in Russia or here. I don't doubt that for a second. At least with my connections in Russia, I know he'd be safe from deportation."
  
  Blaine leaned forward. "What does that feel like? To love someone so deeply you can anticipate their actions?"
  
  "I don't think 'good' is the answer you want, is it?" Iona smirked.
  
  "No." Blaine shook her head. A smile tugged at her lips. "But I'm serious. Tell me what it's like to be in love." Maybe Iona's insight would give Blaine the inspiration to finish her song.
  
  Iona motioned to the fishnet-covered leg with its ugly lampshade. "It means I can live with that thing in my house and not have a coronary every time I see it."
  
  "Your house?"
  
  Iona glanced around the room. "Yes, my house."
  
  Blaine leaned into the deep cushion. "How did this happen? I saw you a couple of days before you left for the States. You were bitter, jaded. I never would've guessed less than two months later, you'd be here, in love and talking about how to secure your future with a man. An American man, no less."
  
  "I don't know." Iona held up a hand. "That's the honest truth. One minute, I was flirting with a sexy mechanic, and the next, I'm sharing his bed and discussing names for our puppy."
  
  "Puppy!" Blaine sat up. "You're getting a dog? As in a slobbering, dirty, four-legged creature?"
  
  "A boxer, actually." Iona's eyes twinkled. "She's almost weaned and ready to move from the whelping box in the main barn to our house."
  
  Blaine glanced out the window. She couldn't see the barn where she'd talked to Jack the other night. The rich, earthy scents of life had surrounded her then. She'd been tempted to make her way to the stalls. She'd never touched a horse. Or a puppy.
  
  "Jack's parents' barn?" Blaine asked to be sure.
  
  "Yes." Iona's voice took on a teasing edge. "And let me just point out it's interesting that you refer to them as Jack's parents, not Wyn's parents. It's almost as if Jack is the first thing that comes to mind."
  
  "Please." Blaine rolled her eyes. "You're reading into things."
  
  "Come on." Iona pouted. "I'm trying to find out what Jack means to you."
  
  "He's a man I had sex with." Blaine waved a warning finger at her friend. "Don't make anything more out of it. Unlike you, I have a life I'm returning to in Russia. My fans won't take kindly to an extended trip. My next concert's been sold out for weeks."
  
  "But was it good sex?" Iona bit her lip, a horribly fake attempt to hide a smile.
  
  A wide grin spread over Blaine's face. Any attempt to mask it would be impossible. Her body ached in all the right places.
  
  "Uh-huh…" Iona's smile turned wicked. "So you never answered me. Is Jack hung like a horse or not?"
  
  Laughing, Blaine tossed a pillow at her friend. "No comment."
  
  Iona tucked the pillow next to her. "Enough said. I was right."
  
  Blaine smiled but didn't reply. There was no reason to respond. Iona was right, but Jack's size wasn't what made him the best lover Blaine had ever had. It was something else. She just couldn't put her finger on it. With a little over a week left in Sander's Valley, she didn't need to focus on uncovering the detail. Life went on, and Jack would soon become another chapter in hers.