Page 23 of Tinsel and Teasing

I blurt out a concern. “I don’t like her wearing that skimpy dress while letting single dads ogle her under the guise of taking their kids to see Santa.”

“Me either, but you’re going to have to let her make her own choices,” Clyde says.

Luke offers a point of logic. “She was a virgin when she came to us. It’s safe to say we can trust her.”

“Trusting her isn’t a problem, but I still don’t like it.”

“Don’t run her off,” Luke demands.

I pull my brain back to the obstacles. “I’ll build an enclosed area for her dogs. I can even make a heated section.”

“Great. Next, she has to have a way to get to the city.” Clyde nods at Luke, and I immediately realize what he’s thinking.

Luke does too. “Already on it. Free helicopter rides for the princess.”

“I’m not going to warn you again. Stick with your own damn nickname for her,” I growl.

He regroups. “Free helicopter rides for my sweetheart. I checked with a friend in the city. He owns one of the buildings with a helicopter landing pad. I can fly her to town and then pick her up when she’s done. He agreed that she can keep a car in the parking garage. How does that sound?”

“It’s fucking outlandish but I love it. I think we’ve got to go big with her.”

Luke says, “Go big or go home. She’s worth it.”

I nod and say, “Is it that easy? Did we figure it out?”

I put my fist forward and the other two meet it for a fist bump.

“What are you doing for her?” Luke asks Clyde. Good question. Clyde didn’t reveal his secret yet.

“You two have the basics covered, but I’ve got a drastic backup plan.”

“Which is…” Luke says leadingly.

“Going to stay a secret unless we need it. But there’s one other problem. How to get hold of her.”

Luke says, “I don’t remember the blonde chick’s name from the auction—”

Clyde interjects, “Maggie was first with the stepbrothers, then the blonde was Roxy, and finally our sweet Isadora.”

Luke adds, “Yeah, all three of those ladies were friends, and they had a fourth friend who was too shy to be in the auction, but from what I heard, she was serving soup one minute and getting railed in the principal’s office the next.”

“I heard the same thing. News travels fast.” Clyde raises his eyebrows.

“Well, Clyde, if you stayed off SmorgasSmut, it might not travel quite as fast because I hadn’t heard that.” Then again, I’m last to hear most gossip.

Luke waves a hand between us. “Back to my point…Roxy went home with Mac, the new billionaire who moved into the Cherry Ridge foothills just down the mountain from us. I tracked down his number through the realtor who sold him the house, then texted and called him to see if she has Isadora’s number.”

Damn! We might figure this out sooner rather than later. I sit back in my chair and lace my fingers behind my head. The pain in my chest is almost tolerable. “I’m warning you, Luke… When we get her back, I’m going to fuck her on that Firebird.”

“What the hell?” Luke looks offended.

I raise my eyebrows. “I saw the way she looked at it, her favorite car and all. I’m going to make every fantasy that woman has ever had come true. If we scratch the paint job, you can put your skills to work to fix it..”

Luke shakes his head, “Fair enough. If we have to throw in ‘sex on the Firebird’ to win her back, let’s do it.”

His phone dings, and when I see that it’s Mac, the searing pain in my chest is reduced another notch.

“Hold on guys. I got a text from him. Maybe this is Isadora’s number.” He’s full of hope.

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