I was surprised when she kissed me. I looked at her funny and she laughed at me.
“That was for making Papa happy. He was worried I would not make it modeling. He believes in me, but what parent would not worry?”
“What do I need to do to get another kiss?” I grinned at her.
“Your mama is right, you get big head. You just be sexy boy and you get plenty of kisses.”
“I’ll work on that. I might need some coaching, though.”
“You do not fool me. You are plenty sexy.”
“David better not be sexy, he has to take me to our hotel,” Mom said as she and Kat’s parents came into the library.
Mr. Ivashov decided to ignore me flirting with his daughter, which was fine with me. Our driver was back from eating in the village, so we said our goodbyes. On the way home, Mom told me that Devin had a surprise for me tomorrow.
“What is it?”
“He got permission to put up two zip lines. He showed me a video at the hotel. I think I want to do it, too. He said we could set up a tandem trip down. I may want you to go with me so I don’t kill myself.”
“That sounds like fun. What else are we doing?”
“He found a place where you and Kat can ride four-wheelers. He said they even have some jumps. I think Devin’s planning on joining you on that one,” she said with amusement in her voice.
“I think Devin’s just a big kid at heart.”
Mom and I got back to the hotel at eleven that night. That made it five in the afternoon back home. Mom wanted to talk to Dad. I had set Dad up so he could video chat with us. He said he’d make it a point to come home early, so we weren’t surprised that he was ready when I sent him a text.
I went and got ready for bed while Mom and Dad talked. When they were done, I was wide awake. Devin had given Mom two sleep aids. She gave me one. In about twenty minutes, I fell asleep.
Chapter 29 – Sorry, I Didn’t Mean to Kill it
Tuesday April 22
MY WAKE-UP CALL CAME at seven. I figured out that the pills Devin gave my Mom weren’t herbal supplements. I wasn’t so sure I liked the sleep aids, but at least I was ready to go. This morning we had breakfast in the hotel restaurant. I wasn’t up for the English breakfast. Instead, I had ‘steel-cut oats.’ The texture was more chewy than what I think of as oatmeal, but I ate it with brown sugar and raisins. They offered me cream, but I passed. As I ate, everyone else came down and joined me.
We quickly made plans for the day. Lana, Sandy and Mom were going to hit the local shops. Kendal, Clare and I were going with Devin to work. I had put more money in my personal account for the trip. I’d told Mom to look for wedding presents for Angie and Greg. I also wanted to get gifts for the girls and for Tami’s birthday. I told Mom to find something special for Suzanne, Cindy and Beth for graduation.
On the way over, Devin wanted to talk to us.
“I understand that Lana was giving orders yesterday at the shoot. First of all, thank you, David, for not getting in her face when she tried to fire Kat. She told me that you handled it very well.”
The implied message was that he wasn’t happy with Clare. She’d had words with Lana about it before I talked to her.
“I’ve had a talk with Lana,” Devin continued. “She’s been told that business decisions must come from employees of Range Sports. I would appreciate it if there’s an issue that you either talk to me or Sandy while we’re on this trip.”
When he finished his little speech, we pulled up to a house. Everyone got out and went around back where they had tents set up. Devin held me back and let the others go ahead.
“Sandy tells me that Lana’s made inappropriate advances to you,” he said. I tried to object, but he raised his hand to stop me. “Do me a favor as a friend: if it happens again, please tell me. I don’t really feel comfortable talking about my relationship. But if she makes you feel uncomfortable, I want to know. As I would hope you’d want me to tell you if someone you cared about was flirting with another guy.”
“Are you sure about this?” I asked. “I don’t want to hurt our friendship”
“I might get pissed, but I won’t shoot the messenger.”
I just shook my head, not really knowing what to say. I had a bad feeling about Lana but knew it wasn’t my place to warn him. He was an adult and not stupid about most things. I could see exactly why he was dating her. She had one of the hottest bodies I’d ever seen. I was sure he was getting the best sex he’d ever had. Hell, I’d proposed to Aubrey because of her oral talents. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see that he was wondering if she would stay faithful.
We went to the dressing tent and changed. They had me put on protective leather racing gear and Devin came out in a hunting outfit. I hadn’t seen Kat yet. I went to the catering area and grabbed water. I was drinking it when Kat made her appearance. It was good that Lana wasn’t here. They had Kat in cutoff jeans and a plaid button-up blouse that was tied just below her breasts. I was glad I had on leather pants, or I would’ve been sporting a tent.
Devin just stared open-mouthed at her, as did Colin and the Range guys assigned to teach us how to use the equipment. I sauntered over to Devin.
“You’re a frickin’ genius. She’s going to sell the hell out of whatever you’re selling,” I whispered to him.
He snapped his mouth shut and gave me a sheepish grin.
“I wish I could take credit, but Sandy set this shoot up. I’ll have to thank her for her good idea.”
Kat sauntered up to us with a big smile on her face.
“You like?” she asked.
“I like. Do I get a kiss?” I asked.
“Papa said not to tease you,” she said, and she gave me a quick kiss.
Devin quickly left us to talk to Colin. I was in full flirt mode and had Kat blushing when Colin brought us together.
“To get started, I want David to follow Devin around the track for a few laps. I want to get the four-wheeler and David a little dirty. Then we’ll set up the shots. You boys go play.”
Devin gave me a high five as we went and got on our four-wheelers. Devin’s was a two-seater that had a camouflage design, while mine was bright yellow with just one seat. The yellow matched the trim of my racing gear and my helmet. The track looked like an absolute blast. It wound around the farm and in and out of the woods. It also had both small and large bumps where I could see catching some air.
Devin showed me how everything worked and then we took off around the track. Devin kept it slow the first trip so that we got a feel for what to expect. The second trip he took off and I gave my ride some gas. I almost got the front wheels off the ground. This little beast had some punch. After three trips around, Colin called us to a stop.
He then ran me through several different scenarios. Colin wanted me to power through the curves so that there was a lot of dirt being kicked up. Devin showed me how to lean into the turn so I didn’t get killed. Colin set up at the end of a straight that had several bumps. He wanted to catch me as I flew through the air for some dramatic shots. Finally, he had Kat pose with me. He then took Devin out and they did the hunting stuff.
I got a shower and got ready for the next shoot. We were going to go meet the girls for lunch and then do the zip line. I almost cried when Kat came out in shorts and a t-shirt instead of her previous outfit. When we got to the restaurant, they had two four-tops, but not together. Mom, Sandy and Kendal sat with me. Everyone else sat with Devin.
“What did you buy?” I asked Mom.
“I found quite a few things at great prices. I know how your dad and uncle like scotch, so I bought four different cases of single-malt. I had them ship it so I wouldn’t have to get it through customs and have to carry it. I also found four crystal scotch glass sets with decanters. I figured you could give one to Dad, Uncle John and Greg. I thought Tom might like one also.”