“No…” he whimpered. “Jesus, you’re crazy.”
Daniel ignored the second part. “Was it your father? Did he treat women like they’re nothing?” When Weston didn’t answer, he added pressure on his throat. “It doesn’t matter who you got it from, I’m doing the teaching now. So listen good. When you approach a lady—and all women are ladies…always—you be polite, and when she says no, you have two responses, thank you or have a nice day. Let’s practice that. I’m saying no.”
Weston stared at him and Daniel squeezed down below. “Thank you,” he ground out. “Have a nice day.”
“Much better. And I’ll give you a hint, when you meet a lady that you like, you offer her a drink. And I’ll let you in on a secret. You ask her about her day, and surprise, surprise, you listen to what she has to say. You may learn something, and for god’s sake leave the cheese at home.” Daniel kept his voice level and calm as sweat rolled down Weston’s neck, his face as red as a tomato. “Now it’s time for you to leave this party. The appropriate response is good night, and say it with a smile.” Daniel pulled back, and Weston gripped his throat, huffing for air.
“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.