Page 31 of Tame Me

I was sad when the elevator doors opened, and my fun-loving, beer-brewing, green-eyed hunk disappeared from view.

Frankie from Wild Horses had declared himself Memphis’s next adventure.

I just had to figure out how to do it.

Chapter Ten

Before I even stepped onto Lolita’s driveway, I was affronted by thumping music and raucous voices. It sounded like there were a hundred people in her house, and I already knew I was likely to be deaf by the time I left this afternoon.

I didn’t bother knocking. Instead, I pushed the front door open and made my way to the kitchen. Cal was at the counter, separating sausage links, dressed in khaki shorts, a white T-shirt, and an apron that made him look like he was wearing a Scottish kilt.

“Jane.” He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my cheek. “How are you?”

“I’m great. Where’s that crazy wife of yours?”

He chuckled. “She’s out by the pool, supervising the scavenger hunt.”

“Right.”

The second I passed through the glass door to the backyard, the noise levels hit a whole new crescendo. Lolita was impossible to miss in a bright orange strapless dress that hugged her torso but flared out into a full skirt that must have layers and layers of lace beneath. She was stunning and could have easily passed as a human Barbie doll.

“Jane.” She waved me over, and we hugged.

“Hey, Lolly.”

“Thank God you’re here. You need to save me from all this testosterone. Nine-year-old boys are psycho.”

I laughed because despite what she’d said, her grin was enough to know she loved every minute of it.

“Here, give me a hand, will you?”

For the next three hours, we herded the twenty or so energetic kids from one game to the next and fed them an abundance of food. Lolita had outdone herself with Maddox’s birthday cake. It was a pirate ship, complete with four masts with sails that looked to be catching a breeze and even a gangplank that she’d made out of chocolate.

Blue jelly surrounded the cake to look like water, which had seemed like a great idea until nearly all the kids in the room had blue fingers and blue lips that no amount of soap would remove. We laughed at that after all the kids left and Cal, Lolita, and I began the massive clean up.

Lolita and I headed out to the backyard to pick up all the scraps, and I told her about the Total Fitness Expo conference at my hotel.

Her eyes lit up. “Oooh, that sounds great. I want to see. When does it finish?”

“It’s on all weekend. Closes at nine tonight and five tomorrow night.”

“Oh, goody. I should be able to come later tonight. How about if I got there at seven—then you can have a look with me?”

“Great. Sounds like a plan.”

At two o’clock, I said goodbye and headed home. Within fifteen minutes of walking in my door, I was curled up in my bed and more than ready for sleep.

My alarm sounded at six-thirty, dragging me from a deep sleep. I stretched, yawned, and hauled myself into the bathroom. Even after my shower, the creases down my cheek failed to disappear. I devoured a peanut butter sandwich and was brushing my teeth when there was a knock on my door.

I peered through the peephole to see Lolita’s giant grin. She bounded in with her usual abundant energy and hugged me, pushing her boobs into mine. “This’s going to be so much fun.”

I returned to the bathroom and spat my toothpaste into the sink. “I know. How was the rest of your afternoon?”

“Not too bad. I took the kids for a bike ride, trying to work off some of that sugar.”

Of course, she had. Every other human in the world would have collapsed on the lounge after a kid’s party like that, but not Lolita. She was a machine.

I grabbed my bag off the kitchen counter. “Ready?”

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