“You shouldn’t have kissed me,” she says, swiping her fingers over her lips to wipe away my taste off of them.
“You called and asked me to come over this morning, remember?”
“To get the money and go, not to make out!” she exclaims.
“You didn’t really seem to mind me kissing you.” Since she’s already red in the face angry, I push my luck and reach out to tweak one of her hard nipples to prove my point. If I remember correctly, and I do because every second of that night is etched into my brain, she likes when they’re played with during sex.
“Stop that!” she says, throwing her arm across her chest and taking a step back. “Just…how much more does Sean owe you? Four thousand, right, minus the two hundred from today?”
“Yep,” I agree even though I returned that money.
“I’ll have the rest of it to you by the end of the week.”
“Hold on. Are you sure about that, Jet?” I ask, trying out her abbreviated name. “Shouldn’t your brother have to pay up for his own bullshit?”
“I’m sure,” she says. “Whatever it takes to get you and the Dirty Aces off his back.”
“Fine,” I agree with a sigh while running my fingers through the front of my hair to get it out of my face. “Call me whenever, and I’ll come get you on your back. I mean, I’ll come get the cash from you.”
Without another word, Jetta pushes on my back, guiding me out the door.
“Until next time!” I tell her since I know I’ll see her again, at least one more time this week. And once the pesky problem of her brother’s debt is out of the way, I bet her anger will fade and we’ll be back to getting naked together.
Hopefully.
Just on the off chance that I’m completely wrong about Jetta, I go to the clubhouse for some advice. Heading into the chapel, I straddle my chair at the table where Malcolm is punching numbers into the calculator like it personally offended him.
“Got a minute, prez?” I ask.
“What?” he asks, picking up the calculator and tossing it over his shoulder where it hits the floor. “I need a new one. That one’s broken.”
“Now it probably is,” I remark. “Anyway, so I have a question for you. What’s the best way to get a woman to forgive you?”
“Buy her shit? Say you’re sorry. Fuck if I know. I think most of the time it’s just a matter of timing and luck.”
“Oh,” I say, a little disappointed by that information.
“Have you apologized yet for whatever you did?” Malcolm asks on a sigh.
“Not really.”
“Then you should probably start there. And then repeat those same words over and over again until she finally gets over whatever you did to piss her off.”
“It wasn’t really me that pissed her off. It’s the Dirty Aces, and I’m just guilty by proxy.”
“What the hell does that mean?” he asks.
“You’ll probably find out soon anyway,” I mutter. “So you know Sean James?”
“Yeah, sure. Terrible card player, bad gambling addiction. We had to ban him because he hasn’t paid what he owes so we had to foot the bill.”
“Right,” I agree. “Well, I hooked up with his sister before I knew she was his sister, and then she walked in on Fiasco and I roughing him up a little.”
“So?” Malcolm mutters.
“So, she’s pissed at me now and doesn’t blame any of this on Sean.”
“Has he paid everything he owes?” he asks while popping a piece of Nicorette gum into his mouth. He quit smoking for his kid, and I realize he may not be in the right frame of mind to be offering me guidance.
“Not yet.”
“Is he close?”
“Not really.”
“Then you need to back off the girl until he’s caught up. Don’t mix business and pleasure. Trust me, I’ve been down that road and it’s not pretty.”
“But you and Naomi are together now and have a kid!” I point out.
“It took over a year for us to work shit out,” Malcolm reminds me. “Maybe that doesn’t seem like a long time to you, but it was an eternity for me. Cut things off with the girl until the brother is no longer on our shit list.”
“Fine,” I huff. “What if she offered to pay the balance?”
“Huh. Then more power to her. Her brother is one lucky SOB.”
“Yeah, he is,” I agree with a sigh, hating that Jetta is going to use her hard-earned money to help him. But that kind of generosity and loyalty just makes me want her even more. “What if I just –” I start before Malcolm holds up his palm to interrupt.
“You are not going to pay that bastard’s debt! Do you hear me, Dev?” he asks. “That’s not your responsibility even if you’ve got the cash lying around. Sean James needs to learn a lesson, and he won’t if he gets off easy. Besides, I thought you’ve been saving up to buy a house for the last couple of years?”
“I have been saving up for a down payment. But four thousand isn’t much of it,” I explain. “Won’t Sean still be getting off easy if Jetta pays it for him?” I remark.
“Who the hell is Jetta?” Malcolm asks.
“Oh, that’s Sean’s sister,” I explain.
“If his sister wants to pay, then that’s her problem. She can hold him accountable, hang that shit over his head for however long she wants to milk it. I bet she won’t let him get off easy.”
“If you say so,” I reply, thinking he’s wrong. I bet she will let him off easy because she’s a sweet girl.
Which gives me hope that maybe one day she’ll be able to forgive me as well.
Chapter Fourteen
Jetta
* * *
It’s just a normal, hot day in the park. Kids are squealing with joy, mothers are sunbathing, dads are checking out the women half their age. Same old, same old, until around lunchtime…
The humming of a loud engine draws my attention up to the blue, cloudless sky. It’s one of the small planes flying across the coastline with an advertisement flapping behind it.
Except, instead of advertising a deal on beach towels, it says, “I’m sorry, Jetta. Call me pretty please.”
You have got to be kidding me!
Did Devlin seriously waste money on hiring a pilot to fly the silly little plane with his message on it?
It’s so…cheesy.
And yet, I can’t stop smiling the rest of the day whenever I think about it.
No man has ever gone to such lengths for me to pull off some goofy, sweet gesture. While watching romantic comedies, I usually roll my eyes at the trials guys go through to apologize when they screw up with the heroine. And it always pisses me off how she instantly forgives the hero for whatever stupid thing he did to her.
I get it now, though. It’s all about the thought and effort put into the gesture that makes a woman feel special, not the dorky act in and of itself.
Who would’ve thought that the motorcycle thug would be capable of also being sweet?
And why would he waste time and money on me?