Page 43 of Four of Hearts

“Actually, you should stop. You know smoking’s not good for you, and if I were you, and a woman like Lola said she disliked smokers, I would immediately quit. She’s worth it, after all.”

Another sigh left me.

She was, in fact, worth it. I just needed to get it into my brain.

“It’s hard giving up a drug.”

“Dude…just replace the ugly drug with an amazing drug. She’s the amazing drug. Hell, you were the one telling me how high you felt when you kissed her.”

I looked at him with furrowed brows. His words made sense, but I was a stubborn motherfucker.

“Goddammit,” I hissed, staring back up at the sign. “It’ll be hard.”

“Shit…Kline really did it, huh?” Morris walked up to us with an amused grin. “No more smoking in this bar. I kinda like it. Does that mean she’ll come by more often?”

“She definitely will. And your girl will too, I assume?” Leo asked.

Lola texted us about Willa having gone on two dates with Morris already the past week, and it seemed that the two best friends had hit the jackpot dating men who were also friends.

“Most definitely. But she won’t be here to see you dance,” Morris stated, grinning from ear to ear.

“That’s fine with us. We’ll only have eyes for one woman anyway,” I said as I turned away to stop staring at the sign. “Not sure how we’ll get through our next shows without giving her all the attention.”

“We’re acting on stage. We have to give the other women the attention they come here for,” Leo told me.

“I’m guessing Lola isn’t the jealous type. Is she okay with all this?”

I looked at Morris and shrugged. “She doesn’t really have a choice. It’s our job. But she’s not the jealous type. That’s for sure.”

“No, she’s not. She knows the flirting we do on stage isn’t real. Hell, I don’t think I’ve flirted with a woman the way I have with Lola in a while. And even that’s different.”

“She’s different,” I added to Leo’s words. I took a deep breath and ran my hand through my hair once more. “I guess, for her, I can quit. I’ll just need one last cigarette. One last.”

“Make it quick.” Kline appeared on the stage, looking rather stressed. “Ben’s not feeling well, and he won’t be performing tonight.”

“Shit, what does he have?” Leo asked.

“Fever. Headache. He’s gone to the doctor to get some meds, but I told him to stay home. It’s not worth coming here and getting us all sick. We’ll have to make some changes to the performance.”

“I thought he was looking unwell this morning. I’ll go by around lunch time to bring him something to eat.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket and sent Bennett a quick text.

“Morris, go help Elia get the drinks to the back. We got another delivery. There are snacks as well that need to be put away,” Kline ordered.

“Yes, sir.”

Once Morris left, Kline looked at Leo and me and nodded to the back. “Let’s go.”

We spent the rest of the morning figuring out a way to make tonight’s show worth watching, and once we changed the choreography, we learned it by rehearsing it on stage a couple of times.

By lunchtime, we were all hungry and ready to eat. Kline and Leo stayed at The Hot Spot with Morris and Elia where they ordered food for themselves. In the meantime, I headed out to grab soup for Bennett, and since I went to my favorite Japanese restaurant for that, I grabbed food for myself as well.

When I arrived at home and entered the apartment, Lola’s voice was not the one I expected to hear. She appeared in Bennett’s doorway, and she smiled gently when her eyes met mine.

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

She walked down the hallway and toward me, and I couldn’t help but look down at her outfit which was way too damn sexy. She had the same brown boots on that she wore to our date on Tuesday, combined with a short black skirt, and a white top.

“Kline called and told me Ben wasn’t doing so well, so I came for a quick visit before I have to head back to work. You brought food?” she asked, and when she finally reached me, she placed a hand on my shoulder and pressed a kiss to my cheek.

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