All I had to do was convert the money into bitcoin and send it to them up front. That wasn’t happening. Before I did that, I would help some prince get his money out of his country per an email I received. At least I would be rich in the end due to his generosity.
I called Dare back.
“You need to figure out something within a reasonable budget,” I said before he launched into his sales pitch.
“I can make one for a quarter of the price if you let me buy a drone and the parts I need to upgrade it,” he said and became quiet.
He had hustled me. What Dare didn’t realize was I wasn’t completely clueless when it came to negotiations. I just kept quiet. Finally, he blinked.
“I can do it for three grand,” he blurted.
That was what I’d paid for the current drone. If Dare could put one together that wasn’t so loud, it would be a big help for security. People tended to look up when they heard it, which defeated the purpose of checking for bad guys. He could take my current one and give it to my mom for her real estate business, so it would go to good use.
“I’ll call Megan.”
“Now?”
“Yes, I’ll call her now.”
Dare hung up on me again. I chuckled as I made the call. When Megan answered, I told her his budget and made sure he ordered everything through her. I didn’t want him to contact any arms dealers and lose the money for his project.
◊◊◊
Today, everyone ran off in different directions. Halle called Brook and invited her and Cassidy to her set. Tami, Tim, Sarah, and Wolf planned a couples’ afternoon, while Tracy and Pam were exploring LA.
That left Lexi and me on our own. My goal was to do absolutely nothing for a change. I’d downloaded the latest spy thriller and planned to lounge around the pool and read it.
But first, I walked into the kitchen to grab a glass of iced tea.
The click of heels signaled her approach before I saw her. Lexi sashayed in and over to the coffeemaker. She had on black stiletto heels, a black pencil skirt, and a white button-up blouse. Son of a bitch, the inner sexual beast came fully awake.
This was right up there with the naughty-librarian or Catholic-schoolgirl look on my list of favorite turn-ons. There was something about a woman wearing heels that accentuated their derrière in the best possible way.
Lexi glanced back at me to make sure she had my full attention and then reached up into the cabinet to get a coffee mug. The hem of her skirt crept up her thighs to reveal a surprise.
“Stockings and garters,” I moaned.
Seriously, just how much temptation could a guy resist?
“We’re here all alone. What should we do today?” Lexi asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
Damn Tami and her advice. She’d said that I should reject my first thought in a situation because it was always wrong. So ravishing Lexi wasn’t on the menu this morning. I closed my eyes and willed Mr. Happy into submission. Sorry, guy, not happening. Would he listen? Hell, no!
“David?” she prodded in a sexy voice.
“I … uh … I … uh,” I said and bolted for the sliding glass door to the pool area.
I looked back and saw Lexi shoot me a pouty little frown. My eyes locked on her lips. Lips so pouty that I wanted to suck the bottom one between my teeth and … Frick!
She giggled as I made my escape. All thoughts of reading a book on my tablet were lost. Brook needed to get home, and soon. Maybe a swim would help.
◊◊◊
I swam until I was exhausted. I focused on my form to distract my mind from leaping back to doing naughty things to Lexi for the rest of the afternoon. At last, I’d succeeded and stopped.
“Oh, hell, no,” I complained when I saw Lexi, Teresa, her gold-digger mom Paulina, and the neighbor lady Liza, who looked like a Barbie doll.
As I got out of the pool, Liza slid her sunglasses down her nose to get a better look at me. I stepped over to my recliner to get my towel. I realized that all these women were older than me. What were they thinking, eyeing poor innocent me? I decided to give the old women a thrill and did my sexy model walk.
“He moved as smoothly as a large cat on a lazy day,” Liza cooed.
“Settle down, or I’ll have to get my gun to fend you all off,” I said, acting frightened.
“Why would he need a gun? Unless he’s planning on doing something depraved to us,” Paulina teased.
“You have no idea how deep the level of my depravity is right now,” I said without thinking.
They all chuckled. For some reason, I blushed.
“Are you thinking he could handle all of us?” Liza asked.
“Enough teasing,” Lexi said to surprise me.
“I think someone’s interested in him,” Paulina said.
“Mom,” Teresa warned.
Liza wasn’t done.
“A good martini, a perfect sunny day, a pool boy to put suntan lotion on my back, and then lots of sex. That’s my trifecta for a perfect afternoon.”
“That’s more than three. Can’t be a trifecta,” I said.
Yep, I could tell I was a ‘stupid boy’ by the looks they gave me. As they eyed me, I retreated into the house. That foursome was a disaster waiting to happen. I hoped I survived next week without Brook being here.
◊◊◊
