When Hearts Collide (Complete)

~ Chapter 25 ~

                    “You know, you look good and sun kissed.”  Jackie looked over her shoulder at Bobby and shook her head.

                “Is that some type of line?”

                “Well it could be to say you look really good.”  He took a step back and made a show of looking her over.  “Or it could be saying that those shorts highlight the tan that you got.”

                “Damn Bobby, are you always flirting?  Or do I just get like something special?”

                “Nope, I do tend to flirt a lot, but rarely do I mean it, unless it’s you.”  Bobby turned around and rested his back on the bar as he looked at her.  “But all of that was true.  You look great in those shorts and you got a nice tan going on.”

                “And I should believe you, why?” she asked as she turned and looked at him.

                “Because I usually won’t keep telling a woman how great they look.”  Jackie twisted her lip at that.

                “You are good.”  Bobby leaned closer and dropped his voice so only she could hear.

                “Oh, Jackie, you have no idea just how good I am, but I promise you, you will know.”  He couldn’t stop the grin that appeared on his face at the blush she got.  He always thought that charms like that wouldn’t get to him, but it did, at least on her.  And he could tell that he was going to make it a goal of making her blush.

                “Uh, excuse me you two.”  Bobby turned and looked over his shoulder at a smirking Buzz.  “Jackie, since we have a slow moment, I started on the inventory and wanted to get your thoughts knowing the game is going to be on this weekend.”

                “Oh s**t, I totally forgot about that.  Yeah, give me a minute and I’ll be back there to look.”  Buzz nodded and then turned and walked back to the bar outside.  “If I go, will you be okay?”

                “Yeah, it’s steady enough right now.  And if it happens to pick up then I will just holler back for you.”  Jackie paused in what she was doing and he watched, confused by what she was thinking.  But she turned around and stopped by him as she started walking away.

                “You can always holler out my name you know, I actually enjoy it.”  And with that, she walked away, an extreme sway in her hips for only him it seemed.  Bobby licked his lips and bit back a groan, not needing everyone to know how hard he became by those words or that little sway.  And thinking on all of that, he would have to wonder how he would make it working with her sometimes for she was really good at getting under his skin.

                “I talked to Troy.”  Bobby smiled as he turned and looked at Buzz.

                “Yeah, what did he have to say?”

                “Said he texted you but you hadn’t responded.  Actually, you hadn’t even opened the text yet.”  Bobby sighed and then rested his arms on the bar and leaned on them as Buzz took a seat on the other side.

                “Yeah, I saw the message, just didn’t open it.”

                “What did it say, Troy didn’t tell me that.”

                “Guess I’m free to go back to Miami, seems some s**t went down with the guy and he won’t be getting out to do anything to me.”  Buzz looked at Bobby, the unspoken question loud and clear.  “I know what you might think of me man, with my past and all the s**t Tory has shared but there is just something about Jackie that makes me want to be better, to be different, I don’t just want to f**k her.”

                “I know you don’t, just like I know you don’t want to hurt her.”

                “How do you know that?”  Buzz stood up as a group of men came in.

                “You knew about Jackie’s kids, you have to know I sent you in that office that night for a reason.  And even knowing what you saw, you still tried to get close to her.  As I told you, Jackie deserves someone good for her, and even if you don’t stay and though I know it would hurt, you would be amazing for her.  You would show her just how sexy and loveable she is, something Greg stopped showing her a long time ago.”  Bobby watched Buzz walk off, his thoughts wrapped up in many ways.

                One, in how he got set up, however, he should have known and maybe he did know, just didn’t want to think about it.  Two, Bobby leaving, even though Buzz was okay with him doing something like that, Bobby wasn’t.  There was a reason why he hadn’t opened the message from Troy and it was because he just didn’t want to think about it.

                The third thought was having a fling with Jackie.  Though he tried thinking he could get away with that at the start, he always knew that Jackie was different and that he would want more.  And how f*****g odd that thought was for him when he never thought about things like that.  And then there was the fourth thought,…which Bobby stopped focusing on when someone kept screaming at him.  Well, at least kept crying out ‘asshole’.  And given that Greg stood before him, he was going to assume that Greg was calling him an asshole.

                “What?” Bobby asked, snapping back to focus on the man.

                “Where is Jackie?”

                “Not here at the moment, did you want something?”  Greg looked over at Bobby and Bobby stiffened.  Not that he was afraid of the guy, because he wasn’t, but by the look Greg was sporting, Bobby was sure he was about to hear s**t he didn’t care to hear.

                “When will she be back?”            

                “I’m not her keeper, like you like to think you are, so I don’t really know.”

                “Listen here you little f*****g punk, I don’t know who you think you are, but you are nothing to me, or to Jackie.”               

“Well, how would you know?  You aren’t part of her life anymore so you shouldn’t know anything.”

                “I need to know what she’s doing because it could affect my kids….”  Bobby’s laugh shut him up pretty fast.

                “Oh, that’s rich!  Now you care when you can’t even be bothered to talk to them, ask about them, or spend time with them.  But the moment their mom is happy is the moment you need to know?  Oh yeah, real f*****g rich there.”

                “And what the f**k do you know about my life huh?  Bet you are some type of f**k boy who does nothing but sleep around and wouldn’t even know what a good woman was if she landed in your f*****g lap.”         

“Now that is bull s**t because I noticed Jackie right away and she’s an amazing woman who managed her own place and takes time for her kids.  It’s just so bad that you are too damn blind to see what you missed.”

“So, you are the type to go for sloppy seconds huh?  What I don’t get is why some little f*****g young thing who could probably land any female would want someone like Jackie?  She’s older and her age is showing, along with her weight.  You could do so much better than her.”  Bobby glanced over Greg’s shoulder and saw Jackie there, trying hard to fight back the tears.  Without thinking about what he was doing, he jumped over the bar and grabbed Greg’s shirt quickly, fisting his hand and punched Greg in the nose, bringing him to his knees.

“I would rather you didn’t say s**t like that since it’s not true.  Jackie is one of the sexiest and gorgeous women I know and it’s your damn loss on letting a woman like her go.  Now, if you need to talk to Jackie, I suggest you call because if I see you around her again, I’m going to do more than just break your nose.”