“C’mon Lucky. You need to eat. Maybe the mushroom tacos won’t be so bad.” He extended his hand. She stared at it for a moment, then let him help her up.
CHAPTER 20
Jackie moved the food around her plate again. Antonio had counted at least seven rotations of her fork around the perimeter of the earthenware. Granted, the lima bean salad wasn’t remotely appetizing, but this was clearly a stalling tactic on her part.
Oh, she’s still pissed. Antonio studied Jackie. Okay, maybe she wasn’t pissed anymore, just disappointed in him. That felt a hell of a lot worse.
“Not a fan of lima beans, huh?” he asked, trying to lighten the mood.
Jackie said nothing. She simply pushed her plate away.
“Yeah,” Antonio said as he picked up a forkful of beet salad. “This ain’t got nothing on that buffet in Vegas. For the life of me, I can’t remember the name.”
That was a lie. He remembered the name. There wasn’t much about that weekend he didn’t remember. He just wanted to test the waters to see if Jackie did.
Jackie stopped moving her fork and looked up. She picked up her phone and typed. “The Wynn.”
Antonio snapped his fingers. “That’s right. The Wynn. I swear, I thought I was going to have to wheelbarrow your little self out of there. You ate your weight in lobster.”
Jackie frowned as she typed a response on her app. “I know what you’re trying to do, and it won’t work, Antonio. I need a minute to process. Let me eat whatever this is in peace.”
Antonio raised his hands. “My bad. Maybe I shouldn’t talk about butter-dipped, juicy, succulent lobster. And ice-cold, dirty martinis and—”
A lima bean went flying at Antonio’s head, and he ducked just in time. He knew he deserved it. “Girl, I’m tired of you throwing beans at me. Is that a fetish or something?”
Jackie tucked her lips in, trying her best not to laugh, but it was useless. Without a voice, her laugh was breathy and came out ragged, like a strangled cough. It reminded Antonio of that old cartoon character, Muttley. Still, she managed to laugh and wheeze so loud, the people around them stared. She covered her mouth, embarrassed.
Antonio leaned over, gently prying her hand from her face. “If I can’t hear your voice, I’ll settle for the next best thing, Lucky. I’ve missed making you laugh.”
Jackie’s laughter died out as her eyes met his. He was still holding her hand, his fingers gently grazing her knuckles. She didn’t seem to object to his touch. And he wanted to keep touching her for as long as possible.
The moment was short-lived. Jackie snatched her hand away to type furiously. “You cannot charm your way back into my good graces.”
“Listen, I’ll do whatever I have to, Jackie. Can we just start over?”
Jackie looked shocked. Had he said something that terrible? She tapped his hand and lifted her chin up and slightly to the left, signaling for him to turn around. When he did, he saw Mo Williams sitting at a nearby table. He was alone, sipping tea.
Jackie wrote something on a napkin and slid it toward Antonio. Where the heck had she gotten a pen from?
Now is our chance.
