Free Mad Lizard Mambo by Rhys Ford Page A

only thing suitable?” Ryder hissed at me.
    “Because it’s….” I stumbled over the thought of paying full price. “It’s what we do. Just… roll with it.”
    “Silly custom, but of course. By all means, haggle away like an egg merchant.” He pressed a button and the stereo cut off. I wasn’t sure his wide grin was because the button deactivated something or because he’d pressed it to piss me off. “Wait, you are an egg merchant. Never mind, carry on.”
    Sparky started off high. I expected that from her, but the ground beneath me was slippery. I didn’t know exactly how much something like the drover cost, and she had me over a barrel, especially since His Lordship practically offered up the keys to the kingdom right in front of her. There wasn’t much room to wiggle in, but I gave it my best shot.
    I’d gotten her down nearly forty percent from her asking price when Ryder leaned over and whispered something in my ear. I wasn’t sure I’d heard right, so I turned to face him, no easy feat when standing on a slender platform meant solely to be a foothold for someone to get into the steel beast Sparky was trying to sell me.
    “Want to repeat that?”
    He did, and what he said didn’t get any less stupid. I’d definitely heard him right.
    Disgusted, I asked, “Are you sure?”
    “Yes. Let’s cut to the chase of this thing. She has what we need, and I want to get on our way.” He gave her a smile charming enough to pull the panties off a nun. “Besides, I’m not interested in cheating Ms. Sparky.”
    “Crap. Fine. But if you’re going to be throwing away money, toss some my way too.”
    “I already have, and still we’ve not moved out of the county,” Ryder drawled. “You still need to get weapons for this vehicle. The longer we bicker over its price, the longer I am going to be standing here, pressed up against you. And while that is nice for me—”
    “Shut up,” I muttered. “ Dick .”
    “So what’s it going to be, Kai?” Sparky toyed with the piping on the seat. “You going to take her? Or am I going to have to back this thing up and put her away?”
    “Fine, we’ll do your last offer, but….” I sighed when Ryder nudged me in the ribs. “Throw in the white puppy and we’ve got a deal.”
     
     
    “SO YOUR girl Dalia’s going to be taking Newt in, then?” Jonas’s Rover slowly crawled through San Diego’s understreets. “That girl’s too good for you.”
    “You’re not wrong,” I replied. “She’s too good for the cat too, but Newt doesn’t let it get in the way of his dinner and the occasional sunbeam.”
    “You’re not good enough for that girl.”
    “Don’t I know it,” I snorted. “I owe her more than a few life debts, and all she wants from me is fresh strawberries.”
    Dalia Yamada, ER doctor and the daughter of a wealthy Irish-Nipponese family from up north, was not only my next-door neighbor and one of my best friends. She was also gorgeous and a human I’d crushed on since the day she first walked into my warehouse by mistake and I’d nearly taken her head off with an explosive round. We’d danced around one another for a while. Then after Ryder shoved his way into my life, we’d come to the understanding that I was no good for her, and she’d gone on to fall in love with my tattoo artist. To be fair, Jason was an extraordinary mechanical engineer as well, but first and foremost, he was my inker.
    Since then, Dalia and I still shared a beer or two on the rooftop, and she took care of my cat when I left town, but any simmering glances and smoldering touches were now clearly off limits. I missed the flirtation. Hell, I missed her, but I was a lost cause if ever there was one. She deserved a hell of a lot better than a notch-eared Stalker who lived and died on the price of black dog pelts.
    “Did you eat? Because I could eat.” Jonas, ever the caring uncle, jostled the conversation away from heartbreak and straight to heartburn. “When we get