“He didn’t see much,” he said with a shrug.
She stopped mid-search to shoot him a homicidal glare. “He saw plenty!”
“He won’t say anything,” he said, knowing his brother well enough to know that he would have absolutely no problem keeping his mouth shut. The men in his family might be assholes, but they were assholes that didn’t believe in humiliating women.
“It doesn’t matter!” she snarled, returning to her search.
“Why is that?” he asked, tilting his head to the side to get a better view of that beautiful ass that he loved so much as it swayed back and forth with her efforts to reach something beneath the bed.
“Because it doesn’t!”
“I see……,” he mumbled absently as he reached down and dropped the sheet to the floor and grabbed his boxers. “Would it make you feel better if I beat the shit out of him?”
She stopped mid-search and her shoulders slumped with relief as she said, “Yes, yes it would.”
*-*-*-*
“You do realize that there was a buffet right next to the hotel, right?” she asked as he pulled open the door to the restaurant for her.
“We’ll hit that the day before we leave,” he said, holding the door for her as she walked inside.
“Why exactly are we doing that?” she asked, waiting for him by the door.
“Because I have a strategy,” he announced as he took her hand into his and walked with her down the corridor.
“You have a strategy for buffets?” she asked, sure, hell, hoping, that she’d misheard him.
“Yes.”
“I see,” she murmured, suddenly having a bad feeling about this. “Maybe we should-”
“That bastard!” Danny bit out as they turned down the small hallway and spotted Darrin standing in line.
“I think I saw a pizza place down the street,” she said, tugging on his hand almost desperately to get him to stop.
She really didn’t feel like facing his brother after he’d caught her with her mouth on-
“I was here first,” Darrin said with a glare that was thankfully aimed at his brother, because at the moment she really wasn’t sure that she could make eye contact with him or handle him acknowledging her in any way.
“Too bad,” Danny said, ignoring her attempts to escape and pulling her in line right behind Darrin.
“You know the rules.”
“Yes, I do, but since you haven’t even paid yet this buffet is still up for grabs,” Danny said, getting in his brother’s face.
“There are plenty of buffets in this city,” Darrin said, standing his ground, “why don’t you go to one of them?”
“We’re not going anywhere.”
“Umm, I don’t mind grabbing pizza,” she offered, not at all surprised when the men ignored her.
“When you fuck this up, and you will, you better not take me down with you,” Darrin bit out, staring his brother down.
“I’m not the one who’s going to fuck this up,” Danny said, almost nose to nose with his brother now.
Sighing, she glanced over her shoulder, calculating the cost of a taxi ride back to the hotel when a throat cleared. “How many?”
She looked back to find the cashier eying the two large brothers nervously.
“One,” Darrin said tightly just as Danny bit out, “Two.”
Sighing, she rubbed her temples and accepted the fact that it was going to be a very long night.
*-*-*-*
“Tinkerbelle?”
No response.
“Sweetheart?”
She shook her head, but at least it was a sign of life. “Sweetheart, we have to leave. They’re closing up now.”
Squeezing her eyes shut tighter, she shook her head. He sighed as he knelt down in front of the booth and reached for her only to have her cringe away from him. He sighed heavily as he dropped his hand.
“Look, I’m really sorry,” he said, having absolutely no idea what to say to make this right for her.
“J-just give me a minute,” she said, licking her lips as she hugged her knees tightly against her chest.
“Sir? We’re closing up,” the waitress, one of the few waitresses who hadn’t run screaming when the shit hit the fan, said, shifting nervously next to him.
“We’re leaving,” he promised her with a smile that he hoped would reassure her that he wasn’t about to lose it like his brother and-
“Please leave now,” the waitress whispered, shifting back away from him.
Sighing, because there was nothing that he could say or do to fix this, he nodded as he reached for Jodi, who thankfully didn’t put up a fight when he scooped her up in his arms and carried her towards the door. She grabbed onto his shirt and held on for dear life as she buried her face against his chest and released a shaky breath.
“Promise me something, Danny,” she whispered against his chest as her grip on his shirt tightened.
“What’s that, Tinkerbelle?” he asked, kissing the top of her head as he walked down the sidewalk towards a line of waiting taxis.
“Promise me that it was all just a bad dream.”
“Of course it was, Tinkerbelle,” he said against the top of her head, wondering if a few shots of tequila would help her suppress the memory of what happened here tonight.
Chapter 30
“Morning!”
“Kill. Me,” Danny groaned as he turned over onto his stomach and released a muffled groan against the carpet as he tried to push himself up and promptly failed.
“Rough night?” she asked, biting back a smile when Danny turned to glare at her through bloodshot eyes.
“You did this to me!” he snarled accusingly as he blindly reached up and grabbed a pillow off the bed.
“Me?” she asked, frowning in confusion as she looked around the room, taking in the empty liquor bottles, beer cans and-
“I hate you both,” Darrin groaned from where he lay beneath the coffee table, making her wonder how she’d missed him.
“Exactly how much did the two of you drink last night?” she asked, a little startled when both men shot her accusing glares.
“How much did we drink last night?” Darrin repeated in disgust.
“Not half as much as you did!” Danny snapped, blindly reaching up and grabbing the blanket off the bed.
“I didn’t drink last night,” she muttered thoughtfully, although now that they mentioned it, she really couldn’t remember all that much about last night.