Don't Break This Kiss (Top Shelf Romance Book 5)

by Jessica Hawkins

  Johnny stood quietly with his plate between them as Lola served him.

  “Everything all right?” she asked. Their morning had been normal despite their unusual night. Neither of them had brought up Beau or his offer. Johnny had even been in high spirits for football. During the game, though, Lola had looked over at a commotion and seen Johnny arguing with Mark before spiking the football hard into the grass.

  “I’m fine.”

  “You mad because your side lost?” He wasn’t a sore loser, but it was the only plausible reason for his shift in mood.

  “I said I’m fine.”

  “Okay.” She smiled and scooped him more potato salad. “A little extra for my man,” she said. “Don’t tell Mark.”

  “Thanks, babe,” he said and pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head.

  Lola sat across from Johnny once she’d made herself a plate. Mark gestured as he told everyone about the harrowing adventure of taking his six-year-old son to the mall. They’d gone to find his wife a birthday present, only to go home empty-handed because his credit card had been declined.

  “Maybe that’s because you’re at a picnic in the middle of a workday,” Johnny said.

  “Shop’s closed for renovations this weekend, asshole. You calling me out in front of my wife?”

  “Now, now, boys.” Brenda smiled. “Mark and Kyle ended up surprising me by setting up the Slip ’N Slide in the backyard. We played in the sprinklers all day. Couldn’t have asked for a better birthday.”

  Mark put his arm around Brenda’s shoulders.

  Johnny winked at Lola. He held up a forkful of potato salad before cleaning it off in one bite.

  Mark’s son ran from the playground to the table. He stuck his shoe on the bench. “Tie,” he demanded.

  “Kyle, why don’t you show everyone how you’ve been learning to tie your own shoes?”

  “I don’t want to,” Kyle said.

  “I’ll do it, buddy,” Lola said. Kyle ran over to her. She snuck him a smile as she fixed his shoe. “You know how to do this, don’t you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So I’ll tie this one, and you can show me how you do it on your left shoe.”

  “But that one’s not untied,” he said.

  Lola reached down and yanked one of the laces. “There you go.”

  “Lola,” he cried out, raising his arms in the same exasperated way his dad often did.

  “Come on,” she said. “Your daddy’s been bragging about this all week. But I never believe anything until I see it with my own eyes.”

  Kyle made a face but swapped feet on the bench and went to work. “I got it,” he said, brushing her hands away when she went to help. After a few tries, he hollered “I did it” and took off back to the other kids.

  “You’re good with him,” Brenda said to her.

  “When you grow up without brothers or sisters, everything kids do is entertaining,” Lola said.

  “Well, you’re welcome to take him any time and see all the entertaining things he does.” Mark laughed. “Love that little shit, but can’t say I’m not glad school starts next week.”

  Brenda turned to Johnny. “Wasn’t she good with Kyle?”

  Johnny half rolled his eyes.

  “Aw, come on,” she said. “Indulge me.”

  “Our answer’s still the same,” he said. “Kids cost money. Right, babe?”

  She almost said they were figuring it out. The night before might not have come up again, but Lola hadn’t forgotten anything. Her eyes were now widely open to their inaction. As long as they were ‘figuring it out,’ she and Johnny weren’t doing much of anything. Her chest was tight.

  “There’s never a good time,” Brenda said. “Mark and I were still living at my mom’s when I got knocked up. You just have to go for it.”

  “Maybe Lola’s waiting for Johnny to propose sometime this century,” Mark said.

  “With what, a fucking cucumber?” Johnny asked, visibly irritated.

  “Why not?” Lola asked. “I don’t need anything fancy.”

  Johnny’s fork stopped halfway to his mouth as his eyes cut to her.

  “We could do it here in the park,” she said, sitting up a little straighter. “Maybe Mitch would donate some beer to cut down on costs. It could be a small thing, friends and family only.”

  Brenda clasped her hands together. “That’s a great idea,” she exclaimed. “We’ll find you a vintage dress for next to nothing on Melrose.”

  Lola wasn’t the type to get swept away. She’d never thought much about her wedding day like the girls she knew, but the idea of something simple brought a smile to her face. “That sounds nice, doesn’t it, Johnny?”

  “Sure,” he said as he forked a watermelon chunk. “Tell you what. We’ll pick up a lottery ticket on the way home and if I win, that cucumber’ll have a big, fat diamond on it.”

  Someone laughed uncomfortably.

  Johnny chewed, looking around the table. “What? It was a joke. Except maybe the lottery ticket. Now that is a good idea.”

  Lola blinked at him. “The lottery?”

  “Since when do you play the lottery?” Mark asked.

  “Since today. Might as well. Not like my life is going anywhere.” Johnny squinted into the distance, just beyond Lola. “Brenda, be a doll and pass a lemon square over here.”

  The table got even quieter, but Lola barely noticed. She didn’t care about a wedding, but she didn’t like the way he’d just dismissed her and their life together.

  She ignored Johnny the rest of the meal, which wasn’t hard since he kept to himself. After, she cleared off the picnic table alone so the other women could get their kids ready to go.

  “Need help with that?” Johnny asked from a few feet away.

  She glanced up at him. “What was that just now? Were you trying to embarrass me?”

  “No, just myself.” He stuck his hands in his back pockets. “Mission accomplished,” he joked.

  She tossed paper plates into a large garbage bag. “I don’t care about a wedding. I thought the park was a nice idea, but that’s all. I don’t need it.”

  “I know you don’t need it. You never need anything or anyone. But you deserve more than this crap.” He gestured at the dirty table. “I want you to have a nice ring and a Hawaiian wedding.”

  “Hawaii?” She rested the bag on the bench. “What are you talking about?”

  “When we were younger, you said you wanted to go to Hawaii one day because it sounded romantic. Remember?”

  “No,” Lola said. “I never think about Hawaii. We could get married at the Pomona Swap Meet for all I care.” She tossed some plastic silverware and resumed cleaning. “We don’t have to get married at all, Johnny. We’ve been fine without it this long. But I’ll tell you one thing—we’re not doing it in Hawaii.”

  “Why not?” he asked.

  “Why would you even want to?”

  “Last night got me thinking about how we never splurge,” Johnny said. “You were right yesterday when you said time off would be good for us.”

  Lola shook her head, grabbed a beer bottle and poured the remains onto the grass. “I think you should forget about last night.”

  After a beat, he asked, “Have you?”

  She dropped the bottle in the bag and picked up another. She didn’t like lying to Johnny and hadn’t forgotten about last night. “No, but I’m trying.”

  “Yeah, well. I don’t blame you. I’d feel pretty special if someone thought my dick was worth half a mil.”

  He clearly had a bone to pick with her. Lola wanted to get to the root of what bothered him, but not when he acted like that. She picked up the garbage bag. On her way past him, she said, “I don’t know what your problem is, but you’re being a real jerk.” She walked briskly to the nearest trashcan and dumped the bag in it. When she turned around, he was behind her.

  “You’re right,” he said. “It was a lame attempt to be funny. I’m sorry.”

 
She crossed her arms. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong? Otherwise I need you to take me home so I can get the laundry done before work tonight.”

  He looked at his feet and slowly rubbed his hands together. “The thing is, part of me hoped that whole thing last night was a joke. It wasn’t. I looked Beau up this morning while you were in the shower.”

  Lola pursed her lips. She wasn’t angry because he’d done it, but because all day, during any moment she’d had alone, she’d been fighting herself not to do the same thing. “And?”

  “He could probably buy Hawaii if he wanted. He really does have that kind of money, and apparently he’s got lots of women to choose from.” Their eyes met, and Johnny frowned. “It’s intimidating that a guy like that wants my girlfriend.”

  Lola’s shoulders loosened. The moment either of them started to feel insecure about their relationship was the moment they opened it up to problems. “You’re looking at it wrong,” she said sympathetically. “You have something he wants but can’t have. In fact, maybe the only thing a guy like that can’t have. That should make you feel good.”

  “Except that it doesn’t. He’s a millionaire. I’ve been working since I was seventeen with nothing to show for it. I’m an asshole. And I suck at football.”

  One corner of Lola’s mouth rose. “You’re the best one out there.”

  “You have to say that because you’re my girlfriend.”

  “True, but it doesn’t mean shit. Those guys are terrible.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah. We’re pretty bad.”

  “You should all stick to video games.”

  He pretended to look hurt. “Geez, you don’t have to drill the point home.”

  She uncrossed her arms. “And you aren’t an asshole. I bet in order to get to that level of success, Beau had to step on some people. You’d never do that. You’re a good person, Johnny. That’s what matters in the end.”

  He considered that a moment. Lola saw their friends heading for their cars. Thinking the conversation was over, she started to walk away, but Johnny said, “He’s a venture capitalist.”

  Lola paused. “What?”

  “Beau. He invests in tech startups, but before that, he built a website that sold for millions.”

  “Oh.” Lola wasn’t impressed. She was more concerned with why Johnny was still talking about it.

  “According to the article I read online,” Johnny continued, “it took him like a decade to do it. He would build a website, but either someone else would beat him to it or he couldn’t get investors. He didn’t give up, though, even when the market crashed. Took him seven times before something finally stuck.”

  Lola’s throat was dry. That only reiterated one of the few things she knew for sure about Beau Olivier. “He’s persistent,” she said.

  “The company that bought his website ended up squashing it or something, so it never saw the light of day. Now he’s co-founder of Bolt Ventures.” Johnny shrugged. “Did all that, and he never even went to college.”

  Lola knew that already, but she didn’t see the point in mentioning it. Despite her curiosity about Beau’s background, the less she knew the better. She changed the subject. “Johnny, unless you’re planning on going commando tomorrow, I need to do laundry today.”

  He furrowed his eyebrows. “I could’ve sworn I just did it.”

  “That was two months ago,” she cried with a burst of laughter. “Where do you think your clean clothes come from, invisible fairies?”

  Johnny grinned and waved her off. “Hey,” he said. “Come here.”

  She took a few steps, put a hand on her cocked hip and narrowed her eyes playfully. “What?”

  “I’ll take you to Hawaii one day. Or wherever you want to go. Even if it’s the goddamn Pomona Swap Meet. I promise.”

  Lola dropped her arm from her hip and sighed. He’d flinched when he’d said Hawaii. She didn’t know how to make it any clearer to him that Hawaii meant nothing to her. But as she was on the verge of starting up the argument again, she stopped herself. His eyes weren’t as hard as they had been the last few hours, and she didn’t want to provoke him. The back and forth was beginning to drain her.

  Instead, she said, “I appreciate that, but I don’t need to go anywhere. I’m fine as long as I have one thing.”

  He spoke before she could say you. “Clean underwear?” he guessed.

  She rolled her eyes and smiled. “Yes. As long as I have that.”

  Later, at the Laundromat down the street, Lola unloaded clothing from her basket into a washer. All three of the functioning machines at her complex had been occupied, which was why she normally avoided doing laundry on the weekends. She straightened up and rubbed her lower back. She’d never owned her own washer and dryer, but that was certainly something she’d be willing to splurge on with her five hundred grand. She covered her mouth at the thought and checked to make sure no one was around, as if she’d said it aloud.

  She grabbed Johnny’s jeans and emptied change from the pockets into a baggie like always. Lint and a movie stub went in the trash. The last thing she pulled out was a white business card with corners rigid enough to break skin. There was a phone number and a company name. She flipped it over. It was as vague and mysterious as the man it belonged to. Across the front was only his name, printed in stiff, sharp letters.

  Beau Olivier.

  Chapter 6

  Vero whistled low, craning her neck to see through the neon maze that was Hey Joe’s front window. “Check out those wheels.”

  The door was propped open for the seventy-degree weather. In the early-evening dusk, a man in a suit got out of an Audi. Lola and Johnny, crowded behind the bar with Vero, looked at each other.

  “Let me handle this,” he said.

  “What’s going on?” Vero asked. “Is it the money guy?”

  Lola’s gaze snapped between Veronica and Johnny. “You told her?”

  “Personally, I would’ve accepted the offer,” Vero said, a teasing smile on her face. “Wonder how he feels about redheads.”

  “It’s prostitution,” Lola said.

  “I prefer to think of it as a trade.” Vero opened her hand toward the door. “You got something I want,” she pointed at her crotch, “I got something you want.”

  “So you sleep with him then,” Lola said.

  “Honey, for that much I would. I don’t care how he looks.” She leaned over so Johnny couldn’t hear. “But damn if that man didn’t look good.”

  Lola shook her head. “He looked like trouble.”

  She laughed throatily. “You know Vero gives it up to trouble for free all the time.”

  Lola willed herself to look away from the door. It’d been days since Beau had been there. She hated to admit she was still thinking of him. There had to have been a reason he picked her, but she went in circles trying to figure it out. Had there been others? If so, what was the common factor between them?

  She tore her eyes away to focus on Johnny. He watched the door with more intensity than he’d looked at her with in days. A few hours earlier, an unusually large table of male customers had ordered round after round. He’d joked with them that if they doubled their bill by the end of the night, he’d throw in a complimentary lap dance from the waitress of their choice. “Come on, I’m joking around” had been his defensive answer to her glare. Johnny didn’t joke around like that, but he hadn’t really been himself since the picnic.

  Lola held her breath when the man walked in. She and Johnny exhaled at the same time. “It’s not him,” Johnny said in a way that almost sounded disappointed. Johnny leaned over the bar. “Can I help you?”

  In the light, the man was clearly not Beau. His arms were too short for his wrinkled suit jacket and his belly strained the buttons of his dress shirt. “Wow,” he said. He narrowed his eyes up and around, stopping at the framed black-and-white photos of musicians on Hey Joe’s stage. “This is even more authentic than it looked on the Internet. Not like the dives you see in
Brooklyn where all the stuff on the walls came from a website or boutique.”

  Vero was refilling the bar caddies. Johnny picked up a jar of olives she’d asked him to open earlier and knocked the lid hard against the edge of the bar. Everyone jumped and turned to him. He twisted off the top and passed it to Vero without removing his eyes from the man. “What can I do for you?”

  He held out his hand for Johnny, who just stared at it. “Hank Walken,” he said, jovial and unaffected by the brushoff.

  “Jonathan Pace.”

  “I’m looking for Mr. Wegley.”

  “Mitch isn’t around right now. What’s this about?”

  “Heard this place is for sale. You guys worked here long?”

  “About twelve years,” Johnny said.

  “How’s business?”

  The man was smarmy. Lola would set the building on fire before a guy like that got his hands on Hey Joe. “It sucks,” Lola said. “In fact, the whole block sucks.”

  Hank nodded. “Interesting.”

  “Interesting?” Johnny asked.

  Hank scanned the wall behind them. “Yeah,” he said absentmindedly. “It’s got a lot of potential. Would do well with some sprucing up.”

  Johnny and Lola exchanged a look. “Sprucing up how?”

  “I’ve done my homework. This place has history. Foot traffic. Repeat business.” Hank checked under the lip of the bar as if he expected to find something there. “That’s not showing in the numbers, though. It needs a fresh touch. Something special. Maybe a rooftop bar or a lounge area or something.”

  “This is more of a local joint,” Johnny said.

  Hank’s eyes went to a pool game happening in the corner. “I picked up on that.”

  “It’s the complete opposite of a lounge.”

  “There’s your problem.” Hank pointed at Johnny, grinning. “You’re not thinking outside the box, son. It’s all about the angle. We give it a cool, hip, rock ‘n’ roll vibe. Get some young celebrities to make appearances at the reopening. We’ve already got the rep, but a new look and a little rebranding could do wonders.” He nodded thoughtfully to no one in particular. “I’ve flipped bars before. Five minutes in here, and I’m seeing a lot of missed opportunities.”