cried.
Jessica placed her hand around Tony’s forearm. “Listen, Tony, why don’t you come and sit with me at the bar? Jett’s going to kick you out if you cause any more trouble.”
“Fuck Jett. I’m not moving from right here. I’m just talking to her.” He gestured to the angry woman next to him. He still hadn’t realized Francesca and Slade were right behind him.
“Brother, come on. Let’s take a walk,” Slade urged.
Tony turned around when he heard Slade. When he saw Francesca, his eyes narrowed. “What the fuck is she doing here?”
“I called her,” Slade said.
“Come on, Tony. Let’s go,” Francesca said.
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“What the hell’s your problem? What the fuck have I ever done to you?” Francesca said, exasperated.
Tony tapped his temple hard. “You fuck with my head. Go away.”
“No, you go away,” the woman at the table said.
“Pa’ carajo! Fuck this, I’m outta here. You can pay for your own damn drinks.” He stood up, swaying a little. A table of men nearby was watching the altercation, and they snickered. “You got a problem?” He marched over to them and slammed his palms down on their table. “Let’s take it outside, assholes!”
“Merda! Antonio, stop it,” Francesca ordered.
“Stop saying shit in Portuguese that I can’t fucking understand.” He walked unsteadily away from the table and toward the door.
As Slade followed Francesca and Tony out, Jessica called his name. When he turned to her, she reached into her pocket and tossed some keys to him. He caught them in the air. “I took them from Tony after the seventy-eighth drink,” she explained.
“That’s my girl,” he said with a wink, before walking out the door.
A moment later, to Jessica’s astonishment, he walked back in, jumped over the bar—jumped!—and snaked an arm around her waist, bringing her flush against his body. “I really need that mouth of yours.” Before she had a chance to think about it, he cupped her chin in his hand and placed his lips against hers. Her body, of course, melted into his, and her tongue met his, stroke for stroke. There were nearby catcalls and whistles. When he released her, her knees trembled, and any glimmer of insecurity had fled.
“I think this would be the perfect time for Tony to start doing yoga, don’t you?” Slade told her. “If I can sober him up enough, maybe you can start tomorrow.”
Shit. She had completely forgotten she’d promised Slade to help him with Tony.
—
“Just hold it for thirty more seconds. Come on, you can do it.”
Slade watched as Jessica steadied the big, bulky man who was standing wobbly on one leg, his other foot tucked up against his knee, his arms straight up above his head, palm to palm. He looked like an oversized flamingo. Tony’s eyes were closed tightly and his breathing was shallow.
“Five…four…three…two…one.” Jessica slapped his ass hard, and Tony put his right foot firmly on the mat.
“She’s pretty handsy,” said a voice from behind Slade. He looked over his shoulder to see Francesca also looking at Jessica and Tony.
“Lighten up. She’s just being playful,” Slade said. Inwardly, though, he was thinking, Yeah, what’s up with all the touching?
Francesca rolled her eyes and walked back into her office. Shit if he knew what was eating away at Francesca. She’d been moody all day.
“Hey.” Jessica and her smile came skipping over, taking him out of his thoughts.
“Hey,” he repeated.
“I think Tony did real good, don’t you? I mean, he didn’t even bitch. I thought he would be completely against this.”
“I think Frances’s plan worked. Even though he won yesterday, it didn’t come as easily as he thought it would. He called me early this morning and said he was ready to train. I think his head’s back in the game. Here.” He took an envelope out of his back pocket and handed it to her.
“What’s this?”
“Payment.” He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. “I think you should have your yoga classes here. I’m going to speak with Frances about making yoga a permanent part of the guys’ training.”
Jessica ripped open the envelope and saw a check. “No. No. No.” She handed it back. “I can’t take this.”
“You have to. It’s yours. It’s for a month’s worth of classes.”
“Helping you out with Tony while I do something I love does not need payment.”
“Sure it does. I make money off Tony doing well. Tony is going to do well, so you need to earn your keep.”
“Slade. God, you did so much to help me with…you