Page 35 of Fake It For Love (Faux Love)
“You think you’re funny,” he sneered. “You think you’re some hotshot rich guy and you can talk to me like that.”
“I’m just trying to tell you there is nothing to worry about.”
“As if I would be worried about you stealing my woman,” he shot back.
Arguing with an intoxicated person was futile. I wasn’t sure why I was attempting to prove he was being a fool. That was evident. Anyone watching would be able to see that. I just didn’t want to be a part of the scene. “Look, Norah is nice, but I’m not interested,” I said. I turned to Norah. “No offense.”
She smiled. “None taken.”
“I have someone,” I said again.
“Where is she?” Tony shot back. “Did you make her up? Is this another one of your little fantasies?”
I grabbed Claire’s left hand and held it up. “Does she look fake to you?”
Claire jerked her hand from mine. Tony and pals fell silent. It was like they were trying to find the oxygen in the air. Mouths opened and closed. No one said anything. I defiantly stared at him and dared him to say something. He looked at Claire, then Norah. Norah folded her arms across her chest and smiled. “Yes, Tony? You were saying?”
Claire looked at me over her shoulder. She was pissed. Understandable. I looked back at Tony and waited to see what his next move was. Gabe grabbed him by the upper arm. “Let’s go get a drink,” he said.
“We’ll look out for him,” Derrick said to Norah.
Norah, clearly irritated, stepped forward. “I don’t think so. You guys have done a bang-up job so far. Tony, we need to go back to the room and finish our vows.”
I kind of felt bad for the guy. She snatched his hand and stomped away. Everyone was still staring at us, including Tony’s buddies. Claire turned to look at me. I saw the fire flash in her eyes. I felt like I just jumped in the same boat I shoved Tony off in. I was in trouble.
“I’m sorry,” I blurted out before she could say anything.
“You could have warned me,” she muttered.
“Yeah, I should have,” I said. “I just, I don’t know, I reacted. Shit was spiraling. I didn’t want it to get out of control.”
“I get it,” she said. “It looks like we’ve developed an audience.”
“Want to get out of here?” I asked.
“Out of where?”
“Here. This place. Come on, I want to show you something.” That was when I realized we were both wearing next to nothing. “Meet me in the lobby in five minutes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was thinking you might want to throw on some shorts or something,” I said. “If you don’t care, that’s fine with me.”
“You assume I’m going with you,” she retorted.
I leaned down with my mouth close to her ear. To all the people watching, it looked like I was whispering sweet nothings into my lady’s ear. That was what I wanted it to look like. “You are going with me,” I said. “You know you want to. Or you could stay here and be bombarded with questions from everyone watching right now.”
She sighed. “Would tennis shoes be appropriate for this outing?”
I grinned. “Perfect. See you in a few.”
I grabbed my shirt and sunglasses and quickly walked back to my room to change into different clothes. I wasn’t sure what I was doing, but when the going got tough, tough guys like me donned our wings and went flying.
