The Total Package (19 page)

When “All I Ask of You” from
The Phantom of the Opera
started to play, Dani began to choke up. Every emotion she had was intensified courtesy of her new still unacknowledged buzz. They had chosen the very song that Dani had used in every imaginary wedding she envisioned, the groom in her dreams always remaining the same. With that first arching crescendo about sharing one love and one lifetime, she began double fisting the quiches off Tyson’s plate to keep from bawling. She was starting to feel dizzy and was sure it had nothing to do with alcohol. She stopped another server, this time with mini salmon cakes and devoured six of them while they watched the happy couple sway and spin. Her feet had gone numb.

It was so depressing. Tyson was attentive and charming, always considerate of just how deep her feelings for him had run at one time. How deep they still were. And they were here, together. To start their New Year off with his friends who welcomed her right into their lives, taking her into their confidences as if she were already one of them.

By the time the song ended, Dani had made a decision. She was going to tell him. She was going to tell him tonight. He deserved to start his New Year off as happy as his friends. She would drive him right back to Philly, introduce him to Brendon, and they could live happily ever after.

They sat down at a nearby table and Tyson left to get them more food. He came back with a vast array of choices, and they shared off the same plate. It was so romantic. Dani took a minute to get caught up and fully enjoy it, secure in the knowledge that it was only going to get better. At one point, she leaned over to give Tyson a kiss on his cheek. He didn’t protest, but it put him on alert that she was starting to act a little out of character.

Chase made the toast, and during it, Tyson lifted his champagne flute, but when it came time to drink, he switched it out for his club soda. Dani caught Amanda putting hers to her lips but was sure Amanda didn’t swallow any of it. And that was a lead she should’ve followed. But instead, Dani drank hers in one gulp.

And if she really knew anything about drinking, she would’ve known that once she added the champagne to the mix, things were going to go rapidly downhill.

The music started up again and Tyson rose, holding out a hand to her. “Dani, would you like to dance?”

She didn’t care if her feet were nothing more than bloody stumps when it was over, this was one dance she had no intention of missing. She placed her hand in his.

Once she was on her feet, he moved his hand to the small of her back to guide her past other couples to an open spot on the dance floor. Fingertips that lightly aligned with her vertebrae sent jolt after electrifying jolt up her spine. He could’ve easily led her off a cliff. He really did have magic hands. And all she could think about was them roaming all over her.

They got to the dance floor, and with the magic hand still on her back she turned to face him and placed her hand into his free one. The fingertips gently guided her closer to him and then they tightened ever so slightly as they began to dance, slowly.

“Are you having a nice time?” Tyson asked, looking down at her.

“A wonderful time.” She sighed giddily, and he pulled her even closer, his pinky a respectable inch away from what would be considered her backside.

“Good. I’m glad. I think both Holly and Amanda have taken a real shine to you.”

“I had no idea you were such good friends with Chase Walker,” Dani commented, her words starting to sound much more spirited. And why wouldn’t they? She was secure in the arms of the only man she would ever love and he was gushing all over her. She felt free and ecstatic.

“We have a lot in common,” Tyson said.

“You do?” Dani couldn’t hold back the laughter.

Tyson caught on a few moments later and gave her a smile before clarifying. “We both rose above scandals that tested us.”

Dani kept laughing, glancing over at the Walkers, who were also still on the dance floor. “That’s
very
interesting.”

“Dani Carr, just how much have you been drinking?”

“Just a bit,” she replied, leaning into him. “Why do you ask?”

“Because you’re getting very cheeky,” he whispered into her ear.

“Cheeky.” This time her laugh had a snort-like quality to it. “That’s so appropriate, considering what Chase is known for.”

Tyson rolled his eyes but his grin got wider. She never ceased to amaze him. “I had no idea you were so fascinated by Chase Walker’s extracurricular activities.”

“And what if I was?”

“Then I would know you were drunk,” Tyson replied with his eyebrows disappearing into his hairline.

“Maybe I am. And I think such a serious infraction deserves a good spanking,” she retorted, and his hand on her back went lower to rest perfectly on the center of her bottom. Not so respectable anymore, but all the more electrifying.

“I sometimes hit people for a living, darlin’,” he drawled. His lips brushed against her temple and his hand steadied her when he felt her knees wobble. “I’m not into doing it for pleasure. You’d pretty much have to throw yourself over my lap and demand it.”

Dani took her hand out of his and wrapped both her arms around his neck and pulled his lips to hers. She kissed him right in the middle of the dance floor. Her lips were soft and sweet, just as he knew they would be. His arms crept around her waist, and he lifted her to her tiptoes. He opened his mouth to steal the air right out of her lungs. But he could taste it. The alcohol was heavy on her breath. Whatever was happening between them was going to have to be put on hold. He pulled away and set her back on her feet, looking at her with a mixture of disappointment and longing.

“Let’s get out of here. I have something very important to tell you,” she proclaimed a little too loudly. And her words were beginning to run together, another sure sign that her sobriety clock was now ticking.

“More important than your sudden spanking fetish?” he teased while taking her hand to help her off the dance floor.

“Much.” She nodded at him, already forgetting what they were talking about as she watched his face come in and out of focus.

With his hand securely at her elbow to steady her, he made their good-byes to the wedding party, taking special interest in the way Holly was studying Dani. The look on her face was clearly one of concern as Dani gave everyone a firm handshake followed by an overly affectionate hug. She thanked each one of them for inviting her.

“No matter how it looks right now, I think she’s a keeper,” Holly told him as she hugged Tyson good night. She averted her eyes after being met with Tyson’s narrow-eyed stare. Amanda didn’t seem too shocked by Dani’s behavior either. That gave him a small sense of relief. Whatever his date was up to, the girls appeared to have been in it together, although he never would’ve pegged Dani Carr as someone who succumbed to peer pressure. Chase merely smiled and shook his head.

“Why don’t you come back down, after you put her to bed,” Logan said knowingly.

Tyson walked Dani slowly to the elevator, with her snickering quietly at every stumble she took. Not only did he not want to let her go, he knew if he did, there was a good chance she might fall flat on her face. She hadn’t actually made a scene, but he wondered if that was only the luck of the draw. He watched her in the elevator as she held on to the rail for dear life once it started ascending.

Even drunk she was enchanting. They got off on their floor and started down the long hall.

After wobbling on her stilettos and nearly falling for the second time, Tyson forced her to give up on the walking. He crouched down, wrapping his arm around her thighs, just above her hemline. He lifted, than tossed her over his shoulder.

Dani didn’t protest, giggling instead at the view presented to her. Her gaze drifted down to settle on his tight round buttocks that flexed as he strode with her down the hall.

“Lower me farther down your back. I want to bite your butt,” she gurgled, then giggled again. Her arms flailed trying to grab it.

Little did she know, he was appreciating a similar view. Only his was much better, eye level to be exact. But he was sober and too much of a gentleman to take advantage of her suggestion, at least in public.

But oh, how tempted he was.

Tyson set her down in front of her door and waited patiently while she continued to twitter and fumble in her tiny handbag for her room key. After a failed attempt on her part to get the key to swipe in the lock, he took it from her and opened the door. She stepped in and kicked off her shoes. One flew through the air, knocking over the desk lamp on the other side of the room. Dani went over and painstakingly stood the lamp back up before retrieving the shoe from the desk where it had landed and reprimanded it.

“Stupid shoe, thanks for the blister.” She tossed it again. This time it came to rest perfectly inside her small suitcase, which was open on the ottoman in front of the room’s armchair.

“She shoots, she scores!” Dani quickly raised both her arms high in victory and her dress hiked up. The only thing standing between Tyson and a peep show was the sheer black control top of her panty hose.

And as much as it pained him to do so, Tyson remained in his spot just inside the entrance to her room and chivalrously concentrated on the curtains. He crossed his arms over his chest and let out a cough-laugh combo to remind her he was still in the room at the same time she felt the cool breeze between her legs.

She was too sloshed to be self-conscious. The only thought running through her mind was that the love of her life was standing in her room looking every bit as hot as she felt.

“Like what ya see?”

“Always have,” he confirmed, checking to see if her dress was pulled back down. Not quite far enough, but it would have to do.

“So what are you going to do about it?”

“Tonight? Absolutely nothing.”

Dani blew him some raspberries and stumbled her way over to her suitcase. She fished around and pulled out the lacy lavender teddy she had packed just in case the occasion arose. It had been part of a very different plan. She held it up by its spaghetti straps and dangled it, then swished it from side to side to make it look like it was dancing in front of him. “Oh yeah? What do you think about
this
?”

“I think it’s very sexy.” That was his monotone reaction as he finally moved away from his post near the door. He picked up her other discarded shoe on the way over to her and dropped it into her suitcase, followed by the teddy he had no trouble taking out of her hands. “Got any pajamas in there?”

Dani searched around the suitcase again and this time came up with her only slightly less erection-inducing baby-doll nightgown. “I’ve got this?” She threw it on the bed and began swaying provocatively to some imaginary music, her dress still showing more than it was covering.

“Well, it’s a start.” He sighed right before she presented her back and started vigorously twerking.

Damn, even three sheets to the wind, she was good at it.

He looked away and ran a hand through his hair as she took off the dress and slipped the nightgown over her head. As torturous as it was, he took it as a good sign that he was at least getting a step closer to the end of this episode.

And then she touched him, brazenly running her hand up the front of his pants, stopping just short of his zipper.

There is only so much a red-blooded man can stand. He took her hand and placed it firmly at her side before taking her by the shoulders and giving her a little shake. She went still.

“Look at me, Dani,” he commanded and waited until she obeyed. “You’re going to hate yourself in the morning as it is. And I made a promise to myself that the next time we shared a bed, the only high involved was going to be from a rush of endorphins. That applies to you too. I’m flattered, I really am. And I want you bad, but not like this. Do you understand?”

Dani stared at him through dilated pupils and blinked. Her head lolled back a little bit. Then she went ramrod stiff and clamped a hand over her mouth. She wrenched herself from his grip, making a quick albeit clumsy rush for the bathroom. She fell to her knees when she got there, all erotic notions left in the ether.

The next sounds Tyson heard were the night’s festivities coming to a lurching, gut-twisting end. He shook his head in amusement while listening to her alternate between moaning and violently retching. He waited for a break in the action and the sound of the toilet flushing, then went into the bathroom to find Dani with her face hovering over the toilet, too afraid to move, waiting for the next round of protest from her stomach. He took a washcloth off the vanity and ran it under cold water.

“How much did you drink, Dani?” he asked, just to make sure she wasn’t in danger of alcohol poisoning and in need of an ambulance.

“Five shots. No, wait. No, maybe six. And some champagne.”

“Mixing is never advisable,” he said amiably, confident he could handle the fallout without embarrassing her further. How had she managed to consume so much in so little time? He couldn’t have been gone for more than ten minutes. But now wasn’t the time to interrogate her.

“Fireball is so deceiving!” Her wail echoed from inside the commode.

“I know.” He tried to commiserate but bit back a smile. He sat on the edge of the bathtub and began to pat her face with the cool damp cloth. Or at least, the side of her face that wasn’t pressed up against the toilet seat. “That stuff is really whiskey. It likes to slam you out of nowhere. Of course, by anyone’s standards, you were there to party.”

“I’m a hot mess.” She had begun to sound more like herself, but nowhere near back to normal. They both knew the worst was yet to come. And she couldn’t explain the reasoning behind it. She had made a promise. “I’m so sorry. This isn’t really me. It just sort of happened.”

“That’s okay. I got you. You owed me one.”

“Yeah.” She moaned, leaning back away from the toilet and onto her haunches. She began to wipe her own face with the washcloth. “Only when it was you, there wasn’t the overwhelming stench of vomit-encrusted salmon in the air.”