Page 84 of Truth or More Truth
I let go of Jimmie’s shirt, and he smooths it down with his hand.
“We’re good.” I narrow my eyes at Jimmie. “Right?”
“Yes. Right. Sorry, dude.” He aims that at Jorge, but he’d better be saying he’s sorry to Melissa within ten seconds.
“That’s what I thought.” Jorge gives us another stern look before sauntering back over to the bar.
“You were saying?” I prompt Jimmie.
“Ma’am … I mean, well, you’re not really old enough to be a ma’am, are you?” His eyes widen. “Did I just make this worse?”
“Spit it out, Zane,” I say through clenched teeth.
He lets out a deep breath and dons a halfway repentant look when he addresses Melissa. “I’m sorry for everything I said. I didn’t mean any disrespect to either of you.” He glances at me and shrugs. “I didn’t know she was your girlfriend, man. I didn’t even know youhada girlfriend.”
“Whether she’s my girlfriend or not, you should treat any woman with respect. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“Now go home.”
He salutes me with a grin. “Yes, sir.” Then he spins and swaggers out of the bar.
I drop back into my seat with a sigh. “I’m sorry about that.”
Melissa’s hand lands on my arm. “Oh, I’m not. It was quiteentertaining. And who knew your growly, protective side would be such a turn-on, Mr. Jacobs?”
My hand finds its way back to her leg. “Yeah?”
“Mmmhm. Now, if you’d hit him, that would be a different story, unless he was going after me physically. Violence is not attractive in the least. But a well-placed non-violent threat to a punk kid who doesn’t understand how to treat women? Yes, please.”
I tip my head toward hers, but before I can kiss her again, the waitress brings our drinks and kills the moment.
“Here you go,” she says. “Your cheesecake will be out in a few minutes.”
“No rush,” I say without taking my eyes off Melissa.
The waitress chuckles and moves off to another table.
“So that was Jimmie Zane.” Melissa shakes her head. “I’ve heard about him from Leslie, but I hadn’t met him yet, obviously. You’ve got your hands full with that one.”
“That kid just might be the death of me.” I take a sip of my old fashioned. “He’s the reason I was here before the wedding and the reason I’m here today. Well, one of the reasons I’m here today.” I squeeze her thigh and lean over to give her a quick kiss. “Seeing you definitely made this trip worthwhile.”
“When do you think you’ll be back again? Do you have anything scheduled?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve got quite a bit of travel ahead. Next weekend I’ll be in Miami for the Super?—”
Melissa’s eyes go wide as she interrupts. “Wait! Are you serious?”
I nod.
“Do you have some football clients that are playing in the game? Is that why you’re going?”
“No, I don’t have any football clients these days. I tried doing all the sports early in my career, but that got too hectic with the timing of all the various seasons. Now I’m mostly baseball with a little bit of hockey.” Though Jimmie is making me rethink the hockey decision. “But I still take some of my clients to the gameeach year. It motivates them to want to be the best in their own sports.”
I love going to the big game every year, but going this year means I can’t be with Melissa. Soon after that, Diego and my other baseball guys will be heading to spring training, so I’ll be back in Florida and also in Arizona at some point in the next month or so, which will also keep me away from Chicago and the woman next to me. Could I ask her to join me in one of those places, or would she think I’m moving too fast?
“I wouldkillto go to the game,” she says.
