As she inserted them, she glanced over her shoulder at Charles and gave him a shy smile. His eyes shone with love as he looked at his bride-to-be. This was way more fun than I thought.
“What’s the rest of it? Something old, something new. Something borrowed, something blue.”
“So the earrings are old and borrowed,” Arrianna said. “That leaves blue.”
Delphinia came to our rescue with a blue ribbon, which the girl tied into her hair. With only the blush of love tinting her skin, her simple dress, and flowing hair, Arrianna was the most beautiful bride I had ever seen. I had to choke back tears as she moved to take her intended’s hand and they turned to face the minister.
The ceremony was simple, elegant, and over too fast. We all played our parts, and Arrianna and Charles were one.
* * *
AFTER celebrating with a bottle of champagne I pilfered from Samson’s, the newlyweds wandered off, hand in hand, toward Bungalow Two. I’d made sure it remained theirs through the weekend.
Buzzed on life, I strolled through the Bazaar toward the hotel. With over an hour to kill before the ice-cream social, I didn’t want to puncture my good mood by showing up in any of the usual places. If a real problem cropped up, I had no doubt someone would find me. Until then, I intended to float on my cloud of good feelings.
I had just tucked into another virgin frozen piña colada, and was drooling over the new Louis Vuitton designs, when I caught a familiar face reflected in the window.
Teddie.
My heart rolled over and died. Terrific. I set my glass on the window ledge then turned to face him.
His eyes red, his complexion green, he looked like he’d just crawled out from under a rock. Apparently he’d slept in his clothes.
“I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
“My office can always find me.” I kept the hope out of my voice. He’d already disappointed me once.
“I wanted to say my piece in person, man to man,” Teddie said. “Besides, it’s very hard to eat crow over the phone.” He gave me a rueful shrug.
For a moment neither of us moved—the space between us yawning wide—an unbridgeable chasm.
“There’s no excuse for the things I said.” He held his arms toward me, imploring.
“Nor for the things I haven’t.” I stepped into him. With one hand behind his head, I pulled him to me, and kissed him deep and long, with everything I had.
He grabbed me tight and kissed me back.
When I found the strength, I pulled back just far enough so I could look him right in the eye, but I kept my body pressed to his. “Look, here’s the way it is. No matter how much I want to deny it, there’s something strong between us. Nobody affects me the way you do. I’d write it off to hormones or lust or... well, you get my point. But I know better. This isn’t any of that.”
His eyes widened slightly.
“I didn’t want to fall in love. I don’t want to be in love. For all its giddy pleasures, love exacts a toll. I don’t want to pay it. But, as usual, I didn’t get what I wanted.”
“You’d turn your back on love?” Teddies voice was quiet, hollow with defeat.
“Of course not. Just because I didn’t ask for it, and it scares me to death, doesn’t mean I won’t try for the brass ring. I mean, people have written odes to love, they’ve given their lives for love. Look at Romeo and Juliet, for chrissakes And Odysseus, what about him? He sailed twenty years, braving the world’s worst dangers. And why? To get home to the woman he loved! There must be something to this love thing. So, when given my shot, why would I turn tail and run? What do you think I am, an idiot?”
“Well, you’re not making a whole lot of sense,” Teddie said, his pinched expression relaxing a little.
“I know I’m babbling.” I resisted the urge to nibble his ear—I was hopeless, a doormat. “But I can’t decide whether I’m being a putz.”
“A putz?”
“My head tells me I should be reaming you out for last night. But my heart tells me to make you suffer a bit, then let it go.”
“Which way are you leaning?”
“I’m sitting on the fence.” I stepped back, putting a little distance between us. With his body pressed to mine, clearly my ability to form a coherent, concise thought was trickling away. Heart overriding head. If I let that happen, I wouldn’t like myself in the morning. “Perhaps you ought to have a go?”
“I only have an explanation—no excuses.” He ran a hand through his hair, which lacked its normal spikes—crestfallen like the look on its owner’s face. “You and Jordan Marsh have been grist for the rumor mill for a long time. At first, I didn’t believe it.
But you hear something often enough you figure there’s a grain of truth.”
“So you condemned me based on unfounded rumor and innuendo?”
He pressed his lips together then shook his head slowly. “No, I think it was finding the man himself in your apartment dressed only in a pair of gym shorts and looking like a guy’s worst nightmare, doing the whole ‘Honey, I’m home’ thing.”
“Well, there was that.”
“And it hit me, like a punch I never saw coming—losing you... I can’t imagine anything worse. Should you choose to, you could rip my heart out and I’d be powerless to stop you. I guess I got defensive.”
“You guess?”
“Okay, I acted like a total jerk. I admit it. I’m not trying to be smarmy here, but I really don’t know what I would do if I lost you.” He brushed the back of his fingers across my cheek. “Lucky, you’re in every melody I hear, every lyric I write. You fill my heart and feed my soul.”
“Steak in a hamburger world?” I quit fighting and let the hint of a grin curl my lips.
“Precisely!” Teddie didn’t look quite so green now. “Reza told you?”
“Yes. And you owe her one—that little admission from a disinterested party paved a whole section of your road to redemption.”
“Can you forgive me?”
“If you promise me one thing,” I said, enjoying the mix of emotions surging across his face.
“Anything.”
I grabbed him by the shirt and brought his face close to mine. “Later, when the day is done, I want you to open a bottle of very expensive brandy.” I kept my voice low.
His eyes widened as I ran a finger along his jaw. One corner of his mouth lifted. “Okay.”
“Then . . .” I nipped at his lower lip. “Warm me a snifter.”
“Jesus, woman,” he groaned. “What then?”
“Then, very slowly, very deliberately, I want you to show me just how much you love me.”
“I’ll make you beg.”
“Even better,” I whispered against his lips just before they captured mine.
The shoppers around us applauded.
* * *
AWARE only of my hand in Teddie’s, his shoulder touching mine as we sat on the bench in front of the piano in Delilah’s Bar, I thought about love—a gossamer, silken thread of joy. With a tensile strength to pull even the most stubborn, the most fearful of us through the quicksand of our own insecurities and stupidities, love was truly the tie that binds, a rare gift.
I relinquished Teddie’s hand. “Play something and tell me about your trip to California.”
“It was a whirlwind. Reza and I finished laying some tracks this afternoon at the Palms, so that should be done. I’ll work with her team on the mixing next week.” Without obvious thought, Teddie began to play a nice melody, one I didn’t recognize.
I watched his hands as they moved fluidly, lightly. Long-fingered, his hands were the hands of an artist, the keyboard his palette.
“Mr. O’Dell offered me a nice contract. He’s signed it, but before I did, I wanted Rudy to go over it. My knowledge of recording contracts is just enough to get me into trouble.” Unable to resist the call of the music, Teddie closed his eyes and swayed to the rhythm.
“Music feeds your soul, doesn’t it.” I said.
“Always has. I’d never found anything else that put me so at peace until I found you.”
“Where did you learn how to steal my breath away?”
“Simple words, spoken from the heart.” He finished his song with a flourish then looked at me. “Who’s your favorite singer?
Give me someone romantic, okay? I’m in that kind of mood, don’t know why.”
“Let’s go with an oldie, then. How about Tony Bennett?”
“Perfect,” he said. “Now shut your eyes.”
I did as I was told and rested my head on his shoulders.
Teddie began the intro to “The Very Thought of You.” When he began to sing, ï got chills—if I didn’t know better, I would swear Mr. Bennett himself was singing. Teddie’s impersonations always amazed me.
I sneaked one eye open and glanced at the other patrons in the bar. Most had stopped talking and were watching Teddie. When he finished, the bar erupted into applause.
Pulling me to my feet, Teddie gave a bow then moved me toward the steps. “Can we go home now?” he asked. The poor man looked dead on his feet.
“Unfortunately I’m so far from home, I can’t even see it from here.” At the bottom of the steps I steered him in the direction of the Kasbah. “Right now, my presence is required at a party. Want to come?”
“I’m not dressed for a party.” He hung back.
I took in his jeans, his crumpled shirt. “You’re perfect. In every way.”
* * *
THE door to Bungalow Seven was open when we got there, the party in full swing. Kids ricocheted off the furniture, the walls, each other.
Tortilla Padilla, half hidden behind a table overloaded with five-gallon tubs of ice cream, waved a scoop at us. “Welcome!” He gestured to his youngest daughter. “Maria José, your guest is here and she’s brought a friend.”
The young girl launched herself in my direction. Arms open wide, I squatted down then caught her as she jumped. Clutching her to me, I stood and laughed—a laugh that bubbled up unexpectedly from some happy place deep inside. Unable to resist, I whirled her around until she giggled uncontrollably.
When she sobered, she cast her dark eyes on Teddie. ‘‘¿Quien es?’’Who is that?
“Es mi amor. Se llama, Teo.” He is my love. His name is Teo. That’s the closest I could come to Ted.
“Teo,” the young girl whispered dreamily. I knew how she felt.
Maria José shimmied down my body, grabbed Teddie s hand in one of hers, my hand with the other, and led us into the fray.
Teddie, his eyes warm, shot me a grin over the girl’s head. “This is some party, mi amor?”
I knew he’d like it.
A shout from the door turned heads. Arrianna and Charles strolled in. Like bees to verdant flowers, the kids swarmed around them. When I’d introduced Arrianna to them yesterday, I figured the chemistry would work. She and Charles both knelt as the children each shouted for attention.
“Interesting way to spend your wedding evening.” I said, then smiled as they blushed.
“The night’s still young,” Charles countered with a grin. “But we had to be with the children, even if only for a little while. Arrianna . . .” He glanced at the young woman at his side, love in his eyes. “My wife has told me so much about them.” Happiness radiated off the two of them like heat off asphalt.
Young love, nothing like it. I felt like the Grinch when he realized he couldn’t steal Christmas and his heart grew three sizes.
“Sixteen children are a force to be reckoned with,” I said, as Maria José gave Arrianna a big hug.
“The Padillas have asked us to spend the summer in Mexico working with them,” Charles continued. “Apparently their foundation funds a children’s clinic. We can work alongside the doctors.”
The kids chattered in Spanish, and I helped bridge the language barrier.
As bellies filled with ice cream, the energy level and the decibel level rose. Somewhere along the way I lost track of Teddie. Before I could go look for him, Carmen motioned to me from the doorway, and I followed her down a hallway into the salon.
Seated at the grand piano, Teddie played, a bevy of children circled on the floor and Tomás sat next to him.
Teddie, a constant surprise, played and sang the theme song to Barney, sounding just like the purple dinosaur. Enraptured, not one of the kids so much as wiggled as they stared at him in awe.
Swaying slightly, Tomás watched Teddie’s hands as they moved over the keys.
When Teddie finished, he put his hands in his lap, then said to Carmen, “Watch this.” He nodded to the boy next to him.
With a little encouragement, Tomás began to play, his deformed foot swinging in time to the music, a smile playing with his lips, his brow furrowed in concentration.
Next to me, Carmen gasped.
When the boy faltered, Teddie was quick to show him the keys. Two passes through the music, the youngster had mastered the melody and started chording by ear. Periodically Teddie would show him what he was reaching for, but there was no doubt music resonated in the boy’s soul.
Carmen left, returning quickly with her husband and the other children. We all gathered around, witnesses to the magic.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“MS. O’TOOLE, do you have any more surprises for me this evening?” Teddie asked, as we opened the door to my empty office and stepped inside. Our good-byes to the children had taken over an hour, and we each wore various flavors of ice cream by the time we were able to disengage.
I grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling him to me. “I can think of one or two.”
“Here?” Teddie looked intrigued, but a little dubious at the same time. “What about all these windows?”
Leaving the lights off, I pulled him into my inner office and kicked the door shut behind us, locking it. “This couch has been yearning for a shake-down cruise.”
Pulling my shirttail from my pants, he started on the buttons,
taking his time. A smile worked the corner of his mouth as his eyes shone. “I like this side of you—a bit unexpected.”
Stopping him, I grabbed a clicker from my desk drawer, hit a button, and—like magic—window shades descended from a recessed track in the ceiling. “This is a private show.”
While he watched, I finished the buttons on my shirt, letting it drop to the floor. Kicking off my shoes, I stepped out of my slacks. At the look on his face, I was glad I’d picked the matching red-lace bra and bikini briefs with gartered stockings.
Running his hands down my arms, he lit a fire.
Hurrying now, I worked through the buttons on his shirt and pushed it over his shoulders, letting my hands wander over his chest.
With one hand he unhooked my bra then crushed me to him.
“Remember what you promised,” I whispered against his lips.
“To make you beg.”
* * *
WITH Teddie collapsed on top of me, my heart beating a staccato rhythm, I ran a shaky hand through my hair as I tried to catch my breath. Mr. Kowalski had indeed delivered on his promise... in spades. And the titillation of perhaps being interrupted had added a bit of unexpected spice. Who knew getting in touch with my naughty-girl side could be so... incendiary.
Echoes of an earthquake of pleasure Shockwaves still pulsed through me. Excitement sparked where his skin touched mine. Office sex had to be right up there with make-up sex.
“Woman, if that was my penance, I’m going to sin more often,” Teddie groaned, as he pushed himself to an elbow, his body still covering mine.
“If that’s what it takes, I might be willing to put up with it, but I wouldn’t push your luck.” I didn’t want to move, not ever.
He gave me a long, lingering kiss. I worked one leg from under him, looping it over his as he deepened his kiss.
Finally, I came up for air. “You better quit that, unless you’re ready for round two.”
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The torn look on his face made me laugh. “I’m willing to risk death, if you are,” he murmured against my lips.
Finding strength I didn’t know I had, I put my hands on his chest and pushed. “I think we’ve stretched our luck far enough already. Sooner rather than later, someone is going to bang on that door.”
As if on cue, I heard keys in the outer door.
With a sigh, he rolled off me then pulled me to my feet. Hugging me against him for a moment, he nuzzled my neck then let me go. Gathering our clothing a piece at a time we helped each other. Dressing Teddie was almost as much fun as working the other way—almost. We’d at least covered the essentials when a knock sounded on the door.
“Lucky? Are you in there?” Brandy asked, as she tried the knob.
“Give me a sec.” I lingered in a last kiss.
When I threw open the door, Brandy stood, arm raised, hand poised to knock again.
“Come in,” I said.
As she slowly lowered her arm, she narrowed her eyes, giving me a quizzical look. Then she looked around me, and her eyebrows shot up.
Shirtless, Teddie worked his belt back through the loops in his jeans. “Hey,” he said, as he shot her a grin.
A smile spread across her face as she looked from him to me and back again. “I’ve heard office nookie can be mind blowing.” She must’ve realized she was talking to the boss because she flushed crimson. “Sorry. That was inappropriate.”
I looped an arm around her shoulders and escorted her to a chair. “This job is a bitch; we all develop our own coping skills,” I rationalized.
“When I grow up, I want to be you.” My awestruck assistant looked at me, her eyes wide.
“Fine, but you’ll have to find your own man.”
She looked at Teddie. “Bummer.”
“Sorry, I’m totally taken,” he said with a wink.
“Enough banter,” I said, shutting them down. I’m the jealous type. You guys do not want to bait me.” I plopped into my desk chair. “So, where’s the fire?”
“Our DJ, he’s not happy with the setup in Babel. I used to date one of our local DJs so I have a working knowledge of the equipment requirements.”
Lucky Stiff (Lucky O'Toole Vegas Adventure Book 2) Page 26