Goalie Interference (NHL Scorpions) (15 page)

The day before Vlad’s surgery, Zoe got a surprise phone call on her business line.

“Hello, this is Dr. Millis.”

“Hello, dear. This is Emma Bejsiuk. I’m Vlad’s mother. How are you?”

Zoe was taken aback by the beautiful English accent. She was also surprised that Vlad didn’t tell her his mother would be calling. “Oh. Hi, Mrs. Bejsiuk. I’m fine, thank you. How are you?”

“I’m doing well, thank you for asking. I’m sure you know that I’m calling to talk about my son. First, let me tell you how glad I am that he has you near. He’s insisting that I not come over there for his surgery. He said that you would take care of him, but I would hate for it to be an imposition on you, dear.”

Zoe felt warm and tingly inside simply because Vlad had told his mother she would care for him. That was a pretty big deal in her book. Men always wanted their mothers when they didn’t feel well. No matter how old they were, it seemed they all turned into little babies when they were sick or hurt. “Oh, no. He’s not imposing at all. Mrs. Bejsiuk, I’m really sorry, but I’m going to have to cut our conversation short. I didn’t know you’d be calling, and I have a client due in any minute now.”

“Oh, that’s just fine. I’m sorry I interrupted your work day. Why don’t you tell me a good time to call you back so that we can chat? Would that be okay?”

“Of course. How about if I call you back after I’m done with my client?” Zoe was glad she’d have an opportunity to collect her thoughts before talking to Vlad’s mother at length. Meeting the parents for the first time—or in this case, talking to them—was important, and she was totally caught off guard by the phone call.

“That would be fine. I look forward to it. Goodbye.”

Zoe hung up the phone and immediately picked it up again to call Vlad so that she could yell at him for not telling her that his mother was going to call. Right before the call connected, she heard her client ringing her doorbell.
Literally, saved by the bell, Vlad
.

After the session, as Zoe was showing her client out, Vlad pulled up to the curb in front of her house. She watched as he stepped out of his car with only a slight grimace. There were ten steps leading to her front door, and she was mildly concerned about his ability to climb them.

Vlad lumbered up the steps with a small amount of difficulty and took her in his arms, kissing her soundly. “Hello, gorgeous.”

Zoe gifted him with a radiant smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Hello to you, too. What are you doing here?”

“I had nowhere else I wanted to be. Want to make me dinner?”

She laughed at him, but nodded her head. “Sure. Let’s go see what I have to whip up. You got lucky. I just finished up for the day.” Zoe grabbed his hand and led him inside.

“While I’m cooking, how about you tell me why you didn’t give me a heads up that your mother was going to call me? Oh, speaking of that, I have to call her back! I almost forgot.” Zoe started walking over to the phone, but Vlad grabbed her by the waist, stopping her.

“My mother called you? When? How?”

“You didn’t know? She called my office today. She thanked me for looking after you. I could only talk to her for a couple of minutes, because I had a client coming in.” Zoe had no idea how much Vlad had told his parents about his condition. Apparently they needed to work on their communication skills.

“Huh. Mom is pretty crafty. Although, how hard is it to Google Zoe Millis, sports psychologist? I may have told her you were the love of my life, but I never gave her your number.” Vlad smiled and pulled her against him again. “I talked to them for a while last night and filled them in on everything. My mother kept steering me back to the surgery, but I kept talking about you.” He kissed the tip of her nose and ran his hands down her back to cup her bottom.

“Well, I need to call her back before I make dinner. I told her I would. Did you tell her we’re getting married?” She pushed herself away from Vlad and made a beeline for the phone before his hands got any more aggressive.

“No, not yet. I wasn’t sure if you’d want me to. I didn’t want to get in trouble with you if you wanted to tell them.” Vlad followed her and wrapped her up again, nuzzling her neck. “I’ll tell her when you call her if you want, but you can call her later. I have other plans for you right now.”

Zoe felt a shiver go through her at his seductive tone, but she wouldn’t be distracted. She told his mother that she would call her back and she would. “No, Vlad. I’m calling your mother back. Then I’m making dinner, and then I’ll think about letting you make love to me.” She gave him a saucy smile. “But I have to warn you, I’m feeling pretty frisky.”

“Frisky works for me, woman. Okay, call my mother. I’m going to grab a beer and sit down if you don’t mind.” His hip didn’t care for standing too long these days.

“Sure. Go sit on the deck. Want anything to munch on while you’re waiting for me?”

“Nah. I’ll just take the beer.” Vlad gave her another quick kiss before he left her alone to make her phone call.

Zoe’s talk with Vlad’s mother went well. They agreed that Emma would not fly over for his surgery, but Zoe would call her frequently with updates. Unbeknownst to Vlad, they had also made plans for his parents to visit for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, which was only three weeks away. She decided they could tell both of his parents then that they were getting married.

Zoe wasn’t used to having a big family around. The Bejsiuks were bringing Vlad’s aunt and uncle with them, along with his three young cousins. She hoped Vlad would be okay with her offering her home to his family. His place only had one spare bed. They talked it over during a dinner of chicken stuffed with spinach and goat cheese.

“You invited Aunt Anna and Uncle Ruslan? And Sasha, Julia, and Lena? Are you serious? Do you realize that the triplets are only ten years old? Where am I going to put them all?”

Zoe grabbed his hand to stop him from talking. “Your mom and I already discussed it. I have two spare rooms. I told her that you would be happy to buy another bed to put in the third bedroom upstairs. I just use it for storage. It can be cleaned out in a matter of hours. No big deal.”

Vlad laughed. “Oh, I see. You’re using my family as an excuse to furnish your house.” He let out a resigned sigh, shaking his head, but with a smile on his face. He would deny her nothing. “So how long are they staying?”

“I thought you’d be happy to see your family. What’s wrong with you?” Zoe punched him in the arm with mock severity.

“I am, It’s just …” The way he held his head down, he looked like a pouting child. “It’s just that we won’t be able to be together. My family will be cock-blocking me! That part kinda sucks.”

“Oh my God. Are you serious? Cock-blocking?” Zoe burst out laughing. “You’re thirty-eight years old. You can’t go a few days without sex, Vlad?”

“It’s not funny. I’m thinking about my surgery. I don’t know how long it’ll take until I can. What if I’m ready the same time my family gets here? You still didn’t tell me how long they’re staying either.”

Zoe folded her hands and placed them on the table in front of her. Softening her voice, she said, “Well, I don’t have their exact itinerary, dear, but we discussed them possibly coming the day before Thanksgiving and leaving the Sunday after. That’s only five days. I think you can make it.”

“Fine, but as soon as they’re gone, I’m keeping you in bed for a week—even if I have to tie you down.”

Zoe gave him a saucy wink. “Tie me down? I can’t wait.”

The day of Vlad’s surgery was dreary and rainy—a rarity in San Diego. He was waiting for Zoe in the lobby of his building when she pulled up to the curb at six AM. He waved to her as he made his way to her car.

“Hey, baby.” He leaned over and gave her a kiss as he got in.

“Hey. Are you nervous?”

“Not really.”

Zoe glanced at him, her disbelief showing on her face. “Not even a little?”

“Maybe a little, but not too much.” He could see that she wasn’t buying it. “No, really. I’m okay. I want to get the surgery over with so I focus on healing. I’m good, don’t worry.” Saying it out loud solidified it in his mind. He really had come to terms with the whole situation.

“Good, I’m glad. Okay, let’s do it.” Zoe put the car in drive and pulled away from the curb.

They got to the hospital in plenty of time for Vlad to get checked in. “Who will be waiting for you Mr. …”

“Bejsiuk.” Vlad pointed to Zoe sitting in the waiting room. “That beautiful creature will be waiting for me. Dr. Zoe Millis.” He figured he’d throw the doctor in there, just in case there were problems and she needed the pull to get information.

“Is she a relation?”

Vlad gave the receptionist a dazzling smile that had her smiling in return. “Not yet. My family lives in the Ukraine, so my fiancé over there volunteered to take care of me today.”

She was smitten. Vlad’s smile tended to do that to women. Putting her chin in her hand, she eyed him dreamily. “So that’s where the nice accent comes from.” Seeming to suddenly remember that Vlad was a patient, and not her own personal eye candy, she sat up straight and got back to business. “Yes, okay. Please take a seat. A nurse will be calling you shortly.”

Vlad grabbed a magazine that he had no intention of reading and sat down next to Zoe. “Well, that’s that. Now I wait to get called back.”

Zoe grabbed his hand. “You’ll be fine. You’ll just go to sleep and when you wake up, I’ll be there. Then you can start the healing process. Concentrate on that. Just imagine how good it will feel to walk around pain-free again.”

Good God, she was going to scream! Vlad had to be the worst patient in the history of the world. Zoe had rescheduled her appointments for the day of and the day after Vlad’s surgery to take care of him. Before they even left the hospital, she was regretting it.

He was funny when he first woke up in the recovery room, but it was short-lived. She could tell he was out of it from the anesthesia, because he couldn’t stop telling her how hot she was. He also kept asking her—rather loudly— if he’d ever ‘tapped that.’ The nurses thought he was adorable. Zoe thought he was annoying. To shut him up, she quietly told him that he had indeed ‘tapped that’—for the fifth time.

“Daaayyyam, baby. You’re so hot. We’ve really done it?” He tried to grab her arm to spin her around.

Zoe slapped his hand away. “Stop, Vlad. Just drink your juice.”

“Come on, just turn around. I wanna see that ass.”

“Vlad, please quiet down. We’re in the recovery room. Do you remember that you had surgery?”

Vlad scrunched up his face like he was trying to concentrate. “Oh, God. Am I okay? What happened?” He didn’t even wait for her to answer him before he tried to grab her again.

When Dillon, the nurse, came in to check on him, Vlad informed him that he’d slept with Zoe.

“You see how hot this girl is? We’ve had sex. Lots of sex, right? Shit, what was your name again?”

Biting her bottom lip, desperate to get Vlad off the subject of sex, Zoe asked the nurse if Vlad’s reaction was normal. “He doesn’t seem to remember who I am. He’s also single-mindedly focused on sex. And he’s not quiet about it.”