Page 8 of Daring Lance

Lily must have caught the stunned expressions on both Willow’s and Lance’s faces. “Ruby’s my copywriter,” Lily explained. “I do hope her taglines translate well into other languages because they sure sell product here in the states!”

Willow swiveled to stare at him. “Your real name is Lancelot?”

Lance sighed, and Willow chuckled under her breath. Who would have thought?

“Yeah, well, I prefer it over my brother Luke’s name.”

“Luke?” Willow blurted. “What’s wrong with the name Luke?”

Lance laughed, exposing a deep dimple at the base of each cheek, causing her mouth to go dry. “Typically, there isn’t unless it’s short for something else that your older brother, who was six at the time, chose. Think Princess Leah’s brother.”

Willow’s eyes widened. “Oh, wow! Luke’s name is Luke Skywalker? That’s hilarious. Madison never mentioned it.”

Lance nodded. “I can’t blame her. Our older brother, Will, was intoStar Warsat the time and still is a big fan today. At least ‘Skywalker’ is his middle name.”

Lily sipped from her glass and then exclaimed, “I’m not sure about aStar Warscollection. There are probably licensing agreements that I would need to worry about, but the Lancelot idea is excellent. Well, done Bernadette.”

Willow tugged her lower lip between her teeth to hold back the giggle that threatened to burst forth. A faint red burn had crawled up Lance’s tanned neck, and she didn’t think it would be going away anytime soon, especially if the ladies pursued their latest idea. Ha, served him right after sending the women to her.

“Oh my, look at the time! We apologize, but we only have a few minutes before the men’s water aerobics class in the south pool, and we do need to discuss the website translation.” Lily picked up her third brownie from the tray. “Should I email you the website domain credentials, so you can get started? I think we should start with Korean and then Spanish next. Those Korean’s do have the most beautiful skin, so why not brag about it in a demi bra and thong? That’s my thinking.”

Ruby clapped her hands together, and Willow thought she had probably been a cheerleader, oh, maybe, seventy years ago. “I do love those Latin men. I’m sure they’d appreciate the Lancelot Collection too!”

“We can discuss the illegal money laundering scheme that Ruby’s become a victim of another time. I’m sure you can solve that rather quickly once you hack into her bank,” added Bernadette.

Willow’s head darted back and forth between the two women. “Illegal money laundering?”

“You didn’t mention that to me,” Lance followed, shock ringing in his voice. “Have you reported this to the authorities?”

Bernadette licked the rim of her glass. “Why would we when someone is transferring money into Ruby’s account? She has six grandchildren who need to go to college, and with those deadbeat sons-in-law of hers, it will never happen otherwise. There are at least four others in the building who have had money transferred into their accounts over the last three months, and they all need the money, too. We want to make sure whoever has been putting the money in can’t take it out. Can you put some type of lock on a bank account withdrawal function, Willow? Sort of let the money be washed but not dried?”

Willow’s jaw sunk to what she thought might be close to her collarbone before she focused her attention on Lance. “You knew about this? Aren’t you a lawyer? I thought you are a lawyer?”

Lance massaged the back of his neck, causing his bicep to strain against the thin cotton of his shirt. Willow would have paused to admire the view if she hadn’t been on the verge of downing her entire margarita in the hope of making sense of anything that had been said in the last ten minutes.

“I am a lawyer, a real estate lawyer, but what does that have to do with anything? Besides, I didn’t know about the money laundering. I thought they only wanted their underwear website translated.”

Lily exhaled a large huff from her spot on the couch before she grabbed Bernadette’s cane and aimed it at Lance’s chest. “Underwear? It’s referred to as fine lingerie, andLily’sis considered one of the top ten online brands of lingerie globally.”

Lance raised his hands, palms out toward the elderly residents of Royal Palm Condominiums. “Whoa, sorry, I had no idea.”

“Top ten?” Willow was surprised but knew she shouldn’t be as her undergarments were typically cotton and definitely not available online, unless Walmart sold underwear online, which, when she thought about it, probably did. She wondered if their products ranked in the top ten.

“You better believe it,” Lily replied with a smug shrug as she lowered Bernadette’s cane and leaned it against the arm of the chair. “We are currently ranked number ten, and that’s why we need you to translate the website. Competition is fierce, and I have at least four other companies ready to take my place in the rankings.”

Willow dared a glance at Lance, who had finally lowered his hands but still appeared ready to defend himself if necessary. “You owe me big time,” she muttered under her breath. Lance grinned, and she was tempted to punch him right in the bulging bicep.

She blew out a long breath as each of the elderly women stared back at her expectantly, the trio looking like a set of helpless little old ladies, which Willow already knew in less than ten minutes of knowing them, was definitely not the case. “Fine, I’ll do it. Lily, please email your web domain information. I’ll give you one of my cards with my email address on it.” Willow quickly retrieved a card from a drawer in the kitchen and handed it to Lily.

Bernadette pushed herself up from the chair as did Lily. “Excellent,” exclaimed Bernadette. “We’re off to water aerobics.”

“Oh, my yes,” added Lily. “Ever since Ruben from 409 joined the group, pool chairs have been hard to come by. At seventy-three years old, that man is buff and knows how to use inflatable weights to make the water swirl around him. He’s better than the rest of all of the other old coots put together. Oh, that reminds me, I need to take my blood pressure medicine.”

Ruby stood up and followed the other two women to the front door. “We will be back to pick up the margarita pitcher later. Aerobics starts in twenty minutes, and we don’t have time to bring it to my place before it starts.”

“Doesn’t she live down the hallway?” Lance whispered at her side.

Willow jabbed him in the side with her elbow. “Wait! Ladies, what about the money laundering scheme?”

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