“Well, I’m off to the restroom,” Judi told me. I don’t know if she was upset or not, but she had no reason to be. We were friends who were only part-time lovers, and she had announced an end to part-time loving. I had pretty much warned her that I was out there on the Miami nightclub scene to be me, and that included showcasing my skills with the ladies.

While Alex and Candace chatted me up for themselves, I scanned the crowd for other women who were game for my attention that night. I figured I would have some salsa in my love life. The Latinas were feeling me in there. There were a few white girls looking, but the catch of Miami were Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican girls. I had done my research, but I decided to ask to make sure.

“So what are you both Cuban?” I asked Alex and Candace.

“She’s all Cuban, but I’m Cuban and Dominican,” Candace answered.

“Oh, a double dip, huh?”

“Whatever that means.”

Mario Rome rejoined us.

“Hey man, this is a good night. Look at all the lovely ladies in here. Usually we have to hold the guys outside for a while. Looks like we can let ’em in early tonight.”

That was another perk of the more exclusive nightclubs. They tended to be more populated by women, making the pickings of established men much easier.

“Hey, let’s hit the VIP room,” Mario told me.

I still wanted to chill with Alex myself. We both looked at each other and knew.

“I’ll be here,” she told me, grinning. She knew I wanted her. She touched my hand again and had me sold. But there were never any guarantees. The night was still too young.

I told Mario, “We have to wait for Judi. She just ran off to the bathroom.”

I figured I could slide Alex my number just in case I didn’t get a chance to make it back to her that night. In my fast-moving profession, with flighty models and their entourages, I learned to get it while it’s hot, or lose it to the next man.

Mario looked at me and frowned. He said, “Candace can bring her back. She knows everybody here.”

Then it dawned on me that Mario may have had his own ties to the lovely Latinas. Latinos were sometimes clingy that way. Nevertheless, he did walk them over to me. But was the introduction for his benefit or mine? They didn’t act attached to anyone. Then again, if Candace would walk Judi back over to us in the VIP section, Alex would most likely accompany them. So I would find a way to slide her my number later.

“Okay,” I obliged Mario with a nod. I gave Alex one more look before I moved on behind him.

“So, what’s the story with those two?” I asked my friend as soon as we walked away.

Mario turned and grinned at me. “I knew I would get you open with them.”