“Looks fine.” I didn’t care. Sharing air with Jacy made me happy.
We took our seats and ordered, me a steak fajita platter, and Jacy a chicken salad. I got the feeling she wasn’t hungry, and to tell you the truth, I wasn’t either. But I ordered wine for both of us. Maybe that would get me through this meal with my dignity intact.
Speaking of, that particular aspect of myself was not doing well. Our knees bumped accidentally under the postage stamp sized table, and my small head got the idea there was more bumping to come. The wine couldn’t arrive quickly enough, and I took a big gulp almost as soon as the glass hit the table.
Jacy watched me wide-eyed.
“Are you sure you are okay?”
I swear if she calls me Uncle Tobias I will lose it.
But she didn’t. Jacy gave me a compassionate gaze that melted my heart. My jaw loosened, and if I didn’t keep it firmly in place, I’d pant at her like the horn dog I was.
“I’m sorry,” she said gently.
“Sorry? What do you have to be sorry about?”
“My father. Acting like he did at the hospital.”
“He had a scare. It’s natural he’d act a little off.”
The waiter brought me a green salad with raspberries and walnuts. Was that part of the menu? Apparently, it was. Jacy scored a cup of soup. I took the opportunity to jam a forkful of arugula in my mouth before I said anything regrettably stupid. I swallowed hard because Jacy’s breasts stared at me like headlights, and they were lighting my world.
Could I act any more like a teenager?
Where was suave, sophisticated Tobias Marshall? Out to dinner.
With the woman of his dreams.
“So, what’s the damage?”
Again I blanked out on Jacy’s running commentary.
“Excuse me?”
“From Cole Kane, Jersey Dys and Rory Holmes?”
Ah, the troublemakers. Former friend and band mates turned bitter rivals. Jersey had a beef with Cole over supposedly “stolen” material back in the day from when they co-wrote songs. Rory got pissed at both of them for acting like idiots. They split off and formed their own bands, but like brothers, kept the rivalry going. Unfortunately, it turned nasty at Angelo’s last night.
“The damages at Angelo’s was minimal. They won’t file suit as long as the boys pay their share for the damage and agree to be banned for life.”
She grimaced but really, it wasn’t that bad.
“It’s the rivalry that these three have,” Jacy said. “It sparks fan interest, but we can’t have them hurting themselves or others.”
“I’m more worried about their insurance companies dropping them for liability damages.”
Jacy pinched the bridge of her nose. “We’re their PR guys, not management, but for the interest of keeping everything from blowing to smithereens, I’ll get them into a meeting and inspire them to slow their roll.”
“You think you can do that? With three high energy guys who haven’t heard the word ‘no’ in the past ten years?”
“I can do it,” said Jacy with steel in her voice. Her sapphire blue eyes glittered prettily at me and my big head got lost in little head thoughts.
