She nodded. “Well, when are you gonna be back out on the West Coast?”

They lived out in the San Diego area.

“As a matter of fact, I have L.A. and then Oakland, back to back, in two weeks,” I told her.

“Oh, well, let us know when you get out there.”

“All right, I got your new numbers. I’ll call you guys up,” I told her. “Now let me go say ’bye to your niece.”

I took a breath before I approached TaShay. Would I look the girl up later on or what? I knew I couldn’t say good-bye to her as fast as I had with her aunt.

“Hey, I’ll see you next go ’round, kid,” I told her.

She immediately grabbed me into her and asked me, “What’s your cell number?”

I froze for a second. Then I told myself, What the hell, and gave it to her.

She pulled out her cell phone right there in the open and logged my number in.

“Okay, I’ma call you, so expect my phone call.”

Her game was straight crafty. She made it look like business, but I knew that it wasn’t. I had just played that same game with Victoria.

I grinned, knowingly. “I bet you will,” I responded.

That young girl had the hots for me. Or maybe that was just what she wanted me to believe. Who knows with young women sometimes. They seemed to change their minds a lot from what I had dealt with. One day they’re totally into you, the next day they’re just as passionate about another guy.

“Stay up late,” she snuck out there as I began to walk away.

I froze for another second. Stay up late? What the hell does that mean? Was she planning on sneaking out to see me or just calling me?

I headed toward the door and said my final good-byes to some of the sponsors and admirers in the room. When I finally reached the limos outside, Victoria was nowhere to be found.

Then I spotted our limo driver.

“Ah, Mr. Mitchell, your lady friend is in the car straight ahead, sir,” he told me.

He led me toward the limo parked at the front of the line of cars and quickly opened the door for me to climb in. Victoria was sitting inside smiling. She looked like an untouched lady with her hands folded in her lap.

As soon as the limo driver shut the door behind me, she asked, “Is everything clear?”

She seemed amazingly at peace with herself, all calm and civil.

“So far, so good,” I answered. “But what about you? Is everything clear with you?”

She reached over to hold my left hand in her right. She nodded and said, “I’m good. I’m glad I’m still with you.”

She had a sparkle in her dark eyes, looking everything in the world like a Hollywood romance movie.

I nodded back to her. “Okay, but I’m gonna make you bad before this night is over.”