“Five hundred dollars! He must really love you, Logan.”
Of course, another business write-off. The sleaze ball made it out to Logan, not me. “Maybe I can get those art supplies now?”
“Shit! I burned myself!” Logan squealed, ripping his hand away from the grill.
“You're stoned!” She frowned. Nick the drug dealer, it figured.
With a pained look in his eyes, he put his hand to her lips, hoping for a sympathy kiss. When she didn’t comply, he sat down next to her on the lounge chair. “Really good shit too!” He closed his eyes, dropping his head to her shoulder. “Why do you always have to look so beautiful?”
“What?” She was stunned. “You are out of it for sure!”
“Come inside with me.”
He kissed her head before getting up to carry his steak in. Encouraged by his compliment, she decided to follow him.
“I still can't believe you never even told him I was pregnant, Logan!”
“Guess I forgot. Anyway, I thought you hate him.”
He rushed to pull out a chair for her. For a second she looked at him with amazement, then sat down.
“What did he want anyway?”
“He has a couple of deals he wants me to do with him. One is Saturday night for dinner with some clients. You think you can behave?” His eyes were soft and pleading.
“I'm invited? Wow!” It was definitely an unwelcome surprise. But a night out would do her good. “If it's fancy I need a nice, big dress.”
“See, you have something to buy with the money after all. We can go shopping tomorrow.”
“What about my easel and stuff then?” Throwing herself on his lap, her arms draped his neck.
“Okay! Whatever you want. Just don't break my legs!” He chuckled, kissing her.
“Soon you won't be able to make fun of me anymore, whitey.”
“Is it that bad?” He held out his arms, inspecting them.
“You sure don't look like a Floridian! You have pasty New Yorker written all over you.”
“When you're not 500 pounds anymore we can go to the beach,” he shot back, hitting her butt as she got up. His eyes lingered on her.
Maybe things will actually work out and she’ll get over her grudge against Nick. A big bonus as a reward would definitely be nice. Better yet, with a little extra luck Nick will disregard the money I still owe him altogether.
Logan groaned when his mind returned to that night a few months earlier, the night those super-hot French chicks took him for a ride. Like usual, he didn’t heed Nick’s warning. It went in one ear and out the other when he told him no spending binges with the money that was promised for his part of a co-dependent deal. And par for the course, his magic dick controlled his brain. The minute he entered the club, they were on him like a couple of bitches in heat. It didn’t’ take long before they were in a room and the party heated up. The next thing he remembered was waking up in a drugged daze, a huge lump on his forehead, one wallet full of cash and credit cards plus a gold watch short. With the choice of calling Kristen or Nick to rescue him, he chose Nick. Unfortunately, it was his second big mistake of the night.
SATURDAY
JAKE
Jonny had a couple of unsavory looking friends filling in for him for an undisclosed amount of time. Jake and Ben looked on skeptically as they roamed the club, sticking out like sore thumbs. One huge, particularly ugly one couldn't resist hanging out by Jake's station, ogling the women like a dog in heat. Jake watched disgusted, hoping he wouldn't scare them away. A large number of tips were at stake if he did. Even Jonny never acted as hard up as this idiot did.
“Hey, Jake, right?”
Jake nodded, his eyes dull and disinterested.
“You're a real chick magnet, ain't ya?” The guy’s loud cackles screeched through the noise as he motioned for another shot. Jake rolled his eyes, beginning to get agitated. What the hell could he say? He was another boss.
“What's your trick? I could sure use some pussy.”
Jake felt the first throbs of a headache coming on fast from the guy’s annoying, booming voice. He knew he had to act quickly, since the jackass had already chased away several female customers, all of which didn’t bother to conceal their contempt.
“You want my secret?” Jake asked, moving closer, as if he were about to give away top confidential information. “What's your name anyway?”
“Oh, pardon me! It's Joey!” He grinned, spilling his vodka on the counter.
Jake mopped it up without a second thought. “Joey, you have to act like you don't need it, plain and simple. Make them come crawling to you.” He stared at him, waiting for it to sink in. “Walk around, blend in. See how fast they come running to you.” He winked, patting his shoulder.
Joey shook his head with boyish enthusiasm. “Yeah! Yeah, l like it. Good man, Jake, ya know your stuff. Gotta tell Jonny to give ya a big raise!” His stomach jiggled under the outgrown shirt.
Jake gave him a broad smile, confident he would get rid of him any second. Ben glanced over with a curious expression.
“Hey, how about another drink then?” Joey slurred, sticking out a meaty hand anxiously.
“You sure you're up to it, Joey? You don't wanna come on too strong with the ladies, know what I mean?” Jake’s face took on a look of undeniable sincerity.
“Right, right! Yeah, I hear ya.” Joey grinned, his eyes following Jake's as they fixed on a couple of busty blondes leaning against the wall.
“Nice, right? They've been checking you out for a while, probably waiting for you to walk away, to follow you.”
Joey gave him the thumbs up, tumbled off the stool and strutted away into the crowd. Exhausted by the interaction, Jake sighed, pushing a smile as soon as the blondes rushed over to order drinks. Grateful to be rid of Joey, he didn't charge them, and happily accepted a big tip instead.
Ben danced over, cracking up when Jake told him what happened. “Nice work! That loser was making me sick and scaring away the chicks!”
“He's an asshole!” Jake wasn’t amused. “Hey, where's Jonny anyway?”
Ben shrugged, returning to his station as the bar started filling up with exhilarated customers again.
Ray would've really gotten a kick out of this. If he was still here…
Jake turned away, a hint of sadness in his eyes from the unwanted image. Another harsh sigh snapped him back to the gloomy reality. It wasn’t going to do him any good wallowing in the past. In an instant, he managed to strike all depressing thoughts from his head and turn on the charm. It was going to be another long, lonely night.
LOGAN/KRISTEN
When they drove up to the exclusive, expensive Mama Mia restaurant on Miami Beach, a sinking feeling hit Kristen in the pit of her stomach. A possible premonition of the misery to come? Then again, it could've been the sight of Nick leaning on the bar guzzling a drink as they walked in that really set it off. As soon as he spotted them, he toppled off the barstool, trotted over, and crushed her in a bear hug. Repulsed, Kristen couldn’t stop herself from shoving him away as Logan stood by, his mouth ajar.
Dumbfounded, Nick brushed himself off and made a valiant effort to disregard it while Logan's eyes devoured her. She could see he was embarrassed, but didn't really care. There was no way she was going to let that disgusting animal paw her, especially in her delicate condition.