Which wasn’t at all what men were doing. Instead of arguing the facts, Ashna took Tatiana’s puppy from her and let it lick her nose while Tatiana reached for some fabulous wine from Ashna’s favorite Sonoma winery.

Ashna wasn’t a drinker. Having an alcoholic father meant even the occasional glass of wine came with all sorts of complicated memories. When she did drink she stuck to her one-glass rule. It kept people she didn’t know from asking why she didn’t drink, and it kept people she did know from dumping sympathy on her head.

Ashna’s star made his way out of the green room, with Song hanging by his arm, and was immediately surrounded by a mob.

She tried to slip out of the lounge, but DJ found her.

“What’s the matter, love?” he said, his gaze on her cousin. Trisha had finished her consults and decided to join them.

Trisha made her escape from someone who had accosted her about a sore throat. “Do they not teach human anatomy in schools anymore? How hard is it to know that the trachea and lungs aren’t part of the central nervous system and the brain stem? How hard is it to understand that I’m a flippin’ neurosurgeon!”

DJ and Ashna smiled.

“That is, indeed, a question everyone must ask themselves,” DJ said with utmost seriousness.

Trisha narrowed her eyes at him, not missing the teasing, but her laugh was free and heartfelt.

“Are you sure you’re in love with Trisha?” Ashna asked DJ.

“That depends. What are you offering?” DJ said, waggling his brows, and Trisha elbowed him in the ribs.

“I know many ways to kill a man without anyone ever knowing what happened.”

“Got it. The answer to your question, lovely Ashna, is that I am very much in love with your cousin. Hers forever, etc.” Then he mouthed Help me!

The effect was ruined when he dropped the tenderest kiss on Trisha’s head. For the past twelve years the idea of an intimate relationship had made Ashna physically sick. Now she hated the grip of envy that tightened inside her.

Trisha tucked a lock of hair that had come loose from Ashna’s bun behind her ear, and turned suddenly somber eyes on her. If she said anything about how Ashna would find the perfect person someday, Ashna was leaving right now.

She didn’t. Instead, she said, “You’re spectacular on the show. Everyone loves you.”

“Actually, everyone loves Frederico Silva.” Ashna was just basking in reflected glory.

“What’s not to love? The man tore open his stitches for you.” Trisha made a swoony sound and looked at Rico, who was fully absorbed in keeping Song upright. “I wonder if he looks that good when he wakes up in the morning.”

“That’s what you wonder, is it?” DJ said.

“I am human.” Trisha made another exaggeratedly swoony sound.