WEDNESDAY AFTER PRACTICE, I pull into my driveway and my phone rings. Evan. “Yo!”
“Your girlfriend is beginning to piss me off,” Evan grits out instead of hello.
I chuckle. “What’d she do now?”
“I’ll show you. Meet me at the square.”
“Are you serious?” I ask through a laugh, but he doesn’t reply. “Hello?”
He hung up.
Shaking my head, I back out of the driveway and head over to the square, where Juliette’s Dance Studio is located.
Then it hits me.
It’s Wednesday.
Jay has dance class on Wednesdays and I’ll bet Lexi is with her.
A few minutes later, I’m pulling up next to Evan’s Ford F-250. I climb out of my Jeep to find Evan leaning against the wall outside Juliette’s with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.
“Evan.” I laugh out loud. “You can’t be serious. It’s a dance class.”
His eyebrows shoot upward. “Have you seen this class?”
“No. This is Jay’s thing.”
“Oh?” He huffs out a laugh and swings his hand toward the door. “Well, come check it out.”
Shaking my head, I open the door and Evan follows me inside.
“Zach?” I look over to see Trina, my next-door neighbor, sitting behind the counter.
“Hey, Miss Trina. I came to watch my girlfriend,” I tell her.
She arches an inquisitive brow. “Oh? Who is your girlfriend?”
“Jay.”
“Oh, Jayla.” She clasps her hands together and brings them to her chest. “Good for you.” She winks.
Evan leads the way down a short hallway to a waiting room with two long, leather sofas facing a one-way mirror and his cousin Levi lounging on one of them.
“Dude, what the fuck are you doing here?” Evan barks out. “How did you even get in here? I was standing out front the whole time.”
“I’m working, dickhead,” Levi snaps. “I came in the back door. What are you doing here?”
Evan sweeps his hand toward the one-way mirror. “Lexi is in there.” He jerks a thumb at me. “Jay is his girl, but you already know that.”
Levi looks up at me and smirks. “Sorry, man. I’m just doing my job.” Levi Martinez is a former Marine in his late twenties. He works security for Evan’s father, Jason Martinez, who owns one of the most prestigious security companies in the country and oversees all the security on the island. And apparently, he’s Jay’s new bodyguard. “For what it’s worth, you got yourself a good girl. She’s a fuckin’ trip.” He chuckles.
“Does Jay know you’re here?” I ask.
He shrugs. “She knows, but she pretends she doesn’t. She makes my job a hell of a lot easier than most.”
Dropping down on the sofa beside Evan, I scan the group of girls huddled at the back of the room until my gaze lands on Jay as she breaks from the group and moves to stand behind Juliette, facing the mirror. Jay’s wearing a pair of short-as-fuck shorts and a sports bra, which is the same shit she wears when she runs. But the knee socks are new.
Seriously, what’s with the knee socks?
“So why are you here instead of the big guy?” I ask Levi.
Levi smirks. “You’ll see.”
Some song called “Give It To Me” blares through the speakers and the girls start moving. My eyes stay glued to Jay as she rolls her hips and spins around, giving us all a view of her barely covered ass, bends her knees, and begins twerking.
I bite down on my lip holding back a laugh, imagining the look on Bass’s face if he were here right now. I love Jay’s ass. It’s a great ass. It’s proportionate with her lean frame. It’s cute and round and looks good in a pair of jeans. It also fits perfectly in the palms of my hands. But there isn’t a whole lot of junk in her trunk. She can dance, though. I’ll give her that.
I’m aware there are other girls in the room, but my eyes are permanently locked on Jay as she rocks her hips and wiggles her adorable ass in time with the music. Dropping to her knees, she spins around from one to the other—guess that explains the knee socks—before bending over and lifting her half-naked ass in the air and thrusting her hips.
Well.
Shit.
“Man, I really love my job sometimes,” Levi says, prompting Evan and me to whip our heads in his direction. He waves us off. “Relax. There are actually women in this class.” He jerks his chin to the mirror. “Juliette is hot.”
Juliette is hot. She’s also one of my uncle Cam’s special friends.
The class repeats the same routine two more times and I decide it’s time for me to get out of here before I embarrass myself. Shifting to hide my hard-on, I tell Evan, “I need to go.”
Evan’s whole body shakes with silent laughter beside me. “I told you.”
AFTER DANCE CLASS, Lexi and I change out of our hoochie mama dance wear and head to Mac’s, with Levi trailing behind us. Wednesdays have sort of become our girls’ night out ever since Lexi started taking the class with me. I don’t really need a bodyguard, but Bass insists that I have one when I’m out at night.
As Lexi and I come walking out of the parking garage, I spot a familiar redhead standing outside of Mac’s, having a conversation with a woman. The woman looks pissed or upset. It’s dark, so I can’t tell for sure.
Before I can decide, the crazy woman cocks her hand back and slaps Harper across the face.
“Oh, hell, no,” Lexi and I shout at the same time before rushing toward them. “Hey, lady!” Lexi yells. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Levi rushes past us and steps between them, facing down the woman. “Ma’am, you need to leave before I arrest you for assault.”
“I’m leaving.” She reaches around Levi and points at Harper. “Stay the hell away from my husband.” Then she storms off.
Say what now?
“Are you okay, Harper?” I ask.
“Yep,” she answers, but her shaky voice says otherwise.
“What can we do?” Lexi asks.
“Nothing. I’m fine.”
“Harper, whatever is going on, you can tell us,” I prompt. “If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s okay, too, but don’t lie to us. You’re not fine. We’re not judging you. It’s your life and your business, but if you want to talk or if you need anything, we’re here for you. No questions asked and no strings attached.”
“Do you really mean that?” She turns her head to look at me.
“Of course, we do,” Lexi adds.
She blows out a breath. “Good, because I need a place to stay until I can get things figured out.”
“What about your dad?” Harper told me she lived with her dad, but he travels a lot for work.
“You said no questions asked.”
“You have to give me something, Harper, or Emerson Mackenzie will be all up in your business.”
Harper winces.
“I’d offer to let you stay with me, but I live under the same roof with Satan herself,” Lexi admits, prompting all three of us to laugh.
We all turn to to Levi who looks uncomfortable with the entire conversation. “I’ll be over there,” he says, pointing toward the entrance to Mac’s.
Once Levi’s out of earshot, Harper takes a deep breath. “This conversation stays between us and I’m giving you the short version because I have a lot of baggage that I’m not ready to share.” Lexi and I both nod. “After my sister died, I met Josh. He’s older and apparently, he’s married—but I didn’t know that. I don’t live with my dad. In fact, I’ve never met him. I live with Josh. And now I need to move.”
My eyes nearly bug out of my head. “Shit,” I drawl and look over at Lexi who is stunned silent. I turn back to Harper. “Yeah, no, that won’t fly with Emerson. What else you got?”