Dragged to the Wedding(34)
“You are one crazy bitch,” Weston growled. Daniel had had quite enough of this man to last a lifetime. Plenty of guys like him came through the club, and Lala handled them with her usual aplomb and a healthy dose of embarrassment. This one was worse than most and refused to get the message. Daniel moved closer once again, bringing a knee up fast and hard. It was time to put Weston out of every woman’s misery. With a grunt, Weston slid down the wall, clutching his groin.
“And you don’t learn very well.” He turned away as a bouncer wove through the crowd. “You can escort him out, please. He’s had more than enough for tonight.”
“I’d say so,” the bouncer said, yanking a still-groaning Weston to his feet. “My sister tends bar here—would you show her those moves?” He flashed a grin and hustled a protesting Weston out of the room just as one of the stripper’s songs finished.
Daniel turned back to the table, picking up the glass of wine, and watched the festivities. Thankfully, the ladies were all engrossed by the jerky-looking stripper. This guy really needed dance lessons. He had one move, and it was so unoriginal.
As the stripper got close to Holly, Daniel drew nearer, standing between them. Holly seemed a little out of it, and with the way some of the other women were snapping pictures, he didn’t want anything to surface that she would regret later. “Come on, let’s get you some water.” Daniel guided Holly to the bar and ordered some coffee as well as a little food. “I think you’ve had more than enough to drink.” Holly was going to have one hell of a hangover in the morning. “Remember, you have dance class in the morning and the rehearsal dinner tomorrow night.” At this rate, Holly was going to be one hell of a mess and would never make it through either one.
“How come you’re so nicccce?” Holly wrapped her hand around the glass and tried to chuck the water the way she would a shot. Man, she was out of it.
“Drink a little coffee and have some of the pretzels. They’ll soak up the booze.” Daniel brought over bar snacks, and thankfully Holly ate a few of them.
“Why are you so niccccce?” she asked again, this time eating a little more. “You fixed my wedding dress and everything.” Holly stared at Daniel through bleary, half-lidded eyes.
“And you need to be able to stand up in the morning so I can fit it on you. Eat a little more and drink some of the coffee.” Daniel caught the bartender’s eye. “No more for her, and don’t let any of the ladies buy her drinks.” It looked like it was going to fall to him to get Holly home in one piece.
“My mother is such a pain in the ass.” Holly patted Daniel’s cheek, eyes really bleary. “She messed up my dress and the programs.” Tears began running down her cheeks. “She always has to interfere with everything.” Daniel handed her a napkin, and Holly dabbed her eyes. She was starting to look like a raccoon, with her makeup blotching and running around her eyes. “You’re really niccccce,” she added with a sigh.
“And I’m afraid that you had too much to drink.” The stripper was done and had left the building. The rest of the women were getting down to some serious drinking. Daniel was more than ready to call it a night. This sort of thing was not what he was interested in.
“Hey, Daniella, are your boobs real?” one of the women asked and then broke into a fit of giggles.
“No more real than yours,” Daniel shot back. There was no need to say anything further. It was going to be taken as an offhand, one-upmanship remark. Holly dissolved into a fit of giggles. Daniel shrugged and made sure she stayed on her stool. At least laughing was better than the tears.
“Howard and I tried to be good,” Holly said as she drank some more coffee. “Mom wanted me to stay pure before I got married, but pffft.” Holly swayed, but managed not to fall off. “That ship sailed a long time ago. And Mama has already asked me how long we’re going to wait before having kids.” She sipped some more coffee and Daniel half held her up. “Can you believe that? My own mother asked me, when I told her I was getting married...”
“What?” Daniel asked.
“She asked me if I was pregnant,” Holly said, speaking louder as anger set in. “My mom was asking me if I had to get married.” There was nothing like the drunken wheel of emotion. Spin and see what you get from second to second.
“You had to get married?” Rachel asked from behind them. “Really.”
Holly shook her head. “No. My mama asked that. There are no buns in this oven.” Holly rested her head on the bar, and Daniel realized a few seconds later that she was sobbing for no apparent reason.
“Holly, you’re drunk,” Rachel told her. “Come on out here and dance. It’s a party.”
Somehow Daniel figured the party was over for Holly. It was well after midnight. Daniel called James and explained where they were. “Can you come pick up Holly and me?”
“I’m on my way,” he answered without hesitation and hung up. Daniel did his best to get Holly to drink some more coffee. It helped for a little while and the crying at least died away. The partying continued around them, and Rachel managed to pull Holly onto the dance floor again. How she remained upright, Daniel didn’t know.
“Where’s Holly?” James asked as he hurried into the room. Daniel pointed, and James retrieved her while Daniel got his handbag. Holly made a huge show of saying goodbye to everyone, hugging all of them and making a huge fuss like she was never going to see them again.