She was the perfect size for him, and the same height as Lucina. He held her there for a second near the registration counters. Then he asked her, “Now, how hot are you gonna be wearing all of this leather tonight?”

She broke away and said, “No, it’s really, really thin. I wouldn’t have worn it if it was thick. Here. Feel it.”

She pressed his hand into the bottom of her skirt.

Ivan felt the paper-thin leather and nodded. “Damn. That’s barely even there.”

“See, that’s what I mean. But what about you, Mr. Fancy? You look like you’re all dressed to go out to a major event tonight.”

Ivan grinned and said, “Yeah, I went a little overboard for the plane ride. But let me introduce you to the folks we’re gonna be hanging out with here tomorrow.”

He led her over to Vance and his two assistants to introduce them all.

“I hear you’re a full-blooded Native American,” Vance commented to her.

“Yes, I am.”

“I have a little bit of it in me myself,” he told her.

As they all made small talk, Ivan thought again about Ida’s comments on him not dating black women anymore. But he wasn’t dating Jacari. They were only going to hang out for a few days and fly back to San Diego together. Or at least that was the plan.

He collected his key from the counter and told Jacari, “Well, let me get up here to this room and change into something more comfortable to hang out in.”

“Okay, I’ll wait here,” she told him.

“Are you sure you want to leave her alone down here all by herself?” Vance asked him.

He made it sound like a bad idea, but she was right there inside the lobby of a very popular and busy hotel. What could possibly happen to her?

Vance said, “Well, I’ll just have my guys wait down here with her while you go up and get yourself together.”

Ivan agreed to it with a nod. “All right. That’s a good idea. Thanks.”

On their elevator ride up to their floors, Vance said, “She’s quite a pretty girl, hey?”

She was, but Ivan still wasn’t too pressed about it. “Yeah, she’s dynamite,” he commented.

“I guess you’re not looking to settle down anytime too soon, hey? I found that the longer it takes for a guy to settle down, the longer that guy wants to stay away from it all. But I’ve been married to my wife now for twenty-three years.”

Ivan nodded. “That’s good. Since your twenties, hunh? That means you got another twenty-three years to go.”

“Yeah, we’ll have grandkids by then. You don’t have any kids yet, do you?”