Chapter 20

Tamara got out of the tub first so I just sat there enjoying the sight her drying off. I was truly mesmerized by her beauty. She is so graceful and so fluid; she had no wasted movements. Watching that unassuming beauty caused a stirring in my loins.

She put on her robe and wrapped a towel around her head and went into the bedroom. Since the show was over, I got out and dried off myself. I walked into the bedroom and Tamara wasn't there. I looked around and saw the patio door open. I reached the door and saw her sitting in a chair drinking her coffee. She had pulled her knees up to her chest and a flashback of Trish serving me coffee entered my head. I quickly shook my head and Tamara was back in front of me.

I walked out and joined her. "Good morning again," I said.

"Good morning as well. Isn't this beautiful?" she asked. "It took you to come into my life to open my eyes to beauty again."

"It is beautiful here... and I may invest here. If I do, I'll probably build a house here as well," I told her. "But alas, I really do need to make some calls, do you mind if I neglect you for a few minutes?"

"You make your calls. I should check on Lena," she said.

I called Trish first. She had taken Steph with her and they picked up a few more things then went back to my place. She told me she was working on her tan and Steph was more at ease than she had been in a long time. I reassured her that I was still only a phone call away and we hung up.

Tamara must have heard me say goodbye and called out, "John, Lena wants to know if she and Christina can use your pool?"

"I don't mind, but Trish and her daughter are staying at the house. Let me make sure Trish doesn't have a problem with it," I said.

I called Trish back and asked her if she would mind the company. She said it was my home and she would do whatever I wanted. I told Trish that she was my houseguest and that she came first. She thanked me and said it was okay.

When I hung up, I walked in to where Tamara was. She looked up and put her hand over the phone. "It's okay for them to use the pool," I said. I wrote Trish's cell number on a pad and told her to have Lena call before they went over.

I went back into the other room and called the security office at my subdivision. I gave them Lena's name and told them that until further notice, she had access to my home. Since they had caller ID, they used that to verify it was really me.

It was now ten-thirty and I let Tamara know the time. I went back into the bathroom and stepped into the shower. I never felt clean from a bath. Plus, I liked to shampoo my hair in the shower.

Tamara was at the mirror putting on her makeup when I stepped out of the shower. She turned to me and watched as I dried off. I stared at her with a questioning look.

She said, "You aren't the only one that enjoys looking!"

My phone rang and interrupted the moment. I walked into the other room and picked it up. I checked the caller ID and it was a Phoenix number but I didn't know who it was.

"Hello, this is John," I answered.

"Hi John, this Jim," he said. "Just checking to make sure everything is on for today?"

"Yes, every thing is still a go. I'll be ready by eleven-fifteen if you want to start earlier, however eleven-thirty is still okay," I told him.

"I'll make it sometime between eleven-fifteen and eleven-thirty," he said. "I'll see you then."

"Tamara, that was McKenzie. He'll be picking me up in about thirty minutes," I said.

"Then the timing is about right. I'll be ready to leave about the same time," she said.

We both finished up without playing any hanky panky. I walked her out to the Jag and kissed her. She got in and drove off. I turned to go back in when a big Lincoln pulled up to the front of the resort. I would have bet a dollar to a dime that was McKenzie. My cell phone rang and I answered it. I was looking at, and talking to him at the same time.

I told him to look at the parking lot. We both smiled and hung up our phones.

"John, nice to meet you," he said.

"Nice to meet you as well," I said.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked.

"Absolutely," I said.

We got in his car and he drove us to a quaint little restaurant. Most of the talk at lunch revolved around him telling me about all the different deals he'd put together. We finished and headed to his office. Jim said his team would be waiting for us at one.

We arrived at his office. It looked to be swanky. He appeared to flaunt his money. I felt I was going into this with distrust. I hated to be that way but Jim McKenzie rubbed me the wrong way.

Jim introduced me to three young studly looking men. There was one young lady that kept flittering by. Jim led me into a conference room. The first thing I noticed was a model mock-up of the project. A lot of time and trouble had gone into this.

Jim led me to a prime-viewing seat then the dog and pony show began. Everything they said led me to believe that the consortium would be involved in the project. They were good; they seemed to cover all the angles. They seemed to have put this show on for many investors.