Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Charity
As soon as we come through the door, I am rethinking everything, my clothes, my shoes, my hair…coming here, listening to Sarah, all of it. Everyone looks so…classy and grown up and I have tinsel in my hair showing everyone how freaking young and dumb I am.
“Sarah, I don’t think I can do this. I’m going to go home.”
“No, you are not! We got all dressed up for this and you look like a Christmas treat someone can snack on. Stay long enough to have a drink with me.”
“Okay, but only one.”
We make our way to the bar set up along the back of the wall. People might look classy but they are already too far in the Christmas spirits to have any inhibitions left it would seem as a man comes walking up to Sarah and slurs his words.
“Who’s your friend, Sarah?”
“Nobody I’m going to introduce you to, Eric, so find some other girls to bother tonight.”
She keeps walking while the guy whispers under his breath what sounds like the word witch only, I think it had a ‘b’ at the beginning of it instead of a ‘w’. I roll my eyes at myself reminding myself it’s okay to say bad words when you aren’t in front of children. Sarah orders for us both and as soon as I take a sip I nearly choke.
She’s already leading us away from the bar before I can ask her what I’m drinking.
“Sarah, what is this?”
“Something with more Christmas spirit in it than Santa’s workshop.”
“Sarah, I can’t drink yet. I’m not twenty-one.”
“It’s an open bar, babe. They aren’t going to ask for your age.” She reaches for my arm - the one not holding the drink.
“Oh my God! There he is! Isn’t he the dreamiest thing you have ever seen?”
I turn but I can’t see, not over the heads of so many tall people. Not even in my heels.
“I like a man that’s big all over. Big hands to hold you, big arms to carry you, big mouth to cover your pu…”
“Sarah!” I hiss out her name and look around us but nobody is paying any attention. Thank God.
“I bet he could completely cover a girl’s…”
“I…Sarah, I’m going to get something else to drink where do I put this one.” And make you stop talking about things I shouldn’t be listening to.
“I’ll take it for you, babe.”
I thank her before trying to squeeze my way through the people to reach the bar again. More people have arrived and the place is more than a little crowded now.
“Oh, hey pretty lady, what can I get for you?”
I give him a smile since he maintains eye contact and doesn’t do anything creepy like look at my tits. “Can I have something non-alcoholic, please?”
“How about a virgin pina colada?”
“Um, okay. That sounds good. Thank you.”
He makes it and hands it to me. I turn just as someone comes up beside me and I nearly drop the drink.
“Careful.” A strong hand comes up to steady mine.
“Um, thank you.” I glance over to give the man who helped me a smile but all I see is chest. I have to look all the way up to meet his eyes which are an intense blue like something out of a fairy tale.
His eyelashes are so long and dark and make his eyes stand out even more. He could be a Disney princess with lashes like those. Only this man is no princess. There’s nothing soft or feminine about him…other than his lashes. His mouth tilts up into a grin and I realize he’s still holding my hand. Sort of. He’s still holding the back of my hand wrapped around the glass I am holding.
“I won’t drop it now.” I groan inwardly at the words that fall out of my mouth.
“That’s good to know.” He doesn’t let go though. In fact, he uses his hold on my hand to steer me away from the bar and where he wants me. “Let’s get out of the way of some of the…less stable dancers.”
I am about to protest and pull my hand away when he moves it to my lower back. “I don’t think…”
I pause from saying I don’t think it’s wise to go with someone I don’t know without knowing where I am being led. He surprises me by leading us no further than the nearest wall.
“I don’t recall seeing you here before. Are you here with someone?”
Curse my inability to make small talk. I can’t tell if he’s just being nice or if he’s asking because he’s trying to figure out if anyone will miss me if he takes me.
“Are you going to abduct me?”
Shit! What is wrong with me?
“Do you want me to abduct you?”
“No! I...,” No more Dateline for me!
His lips tilt up in a smile and the blue of his eyes look like they twinkle. Is he making fun of me?
“It’s a good thing.” I must look confused because he rushes to continue. “You being so cautious, especially with how beautiful you are. I promise you. I have no plans to abduct you…unless you ask me to.”
He holds up his hands in a surrender gesture and some of the rigidness leaves my spine.
“I, um, don’t do well at parties. I usually don’t go to…parties.” God, how can I sound any more like a loser?
“Me neither. I don’t like how fake everyone is.”
“Or how somebody will hit on you while leering at your bo…I should stop talking now.”
“Has anyone been bothering you here tonight?”
“Oh, no. I…I think someone tried to flirt with my friend, but she shut him down pretty quickly.”
“Who is your friend? Maybe I might know her?”
“Sarah Allen. She works in…,” I get bumped by a woman behind me and knocked into the mystery man standing in front of me. “Oh, crap. Sorry.”
He steadies me yet again, this time with his arm around me and a thunderous look on his face but his eyes aren’t turned to me. Those beautiful blue orbs are on the lady who bumped into me and just kept laughing and walking. “You want to dance? Maybe the dance floor will be a little less crowded.”
“Um, okay. I don’t really dance all that well.” He takes the drink I got none of and sits it on a nearby table.
“We’ll just shuffle around and talk then.” He sweeps me into his arms, and we start dancing around the floor with me following his lead the entire time.
“I didn’t realize how crowded the party would get later in the evening.”
His statement has me wondering if maybe he’s new here too. Maybe he doesn’t know many people either and that’s why he found the only person who was alone at this thing. I can understand wanting to find someone just as awkward. Not that the man dancing with me is awkward at all. In fact, he is quite the opposite.
He’s tall and confident and has a smile that could melt a heart in no time. I know it’s certainly making mine beat faster. And the way his arms are wrapped around me has me feeling a way I have never felt before. It’s a giddy feeling that makes my tummy do funny things and keeps me flushed. I’m trying to soak up the sensations while making sure I don’t make an idiot of myself but I’m afraid of so much. Of making said idiot of myself, of not ever feeling this way again, of this ending after one dance. What I’m not afraid of, what I don’t even notice is everyone watching us.