All of You (10 page)

Naturally, Nathan never paid the slightest bit of attention to it – what, with having a beautiful, funny, sweet wife he was madly in love with at home. Not that Nathan had paid any attention to it before Stella, either. Strip clubs just weren’t Nathan’s style.

Of course, Nathan didn’t have the fucked up issues with sex and control like Danny did.

Patron/stripper relationships were power exchanges, just like any other type of relationship. With most men, the stripper ultimately held all the power because she possessed what the men leering at her wanted and couldn’t have.

But tonight Danny would hold the power at the club, because he wasn’t going to want the woman he paid to grind on his lap, stick her ass in the air, and rub her tits in his face.

Nope, he couldn’t be as normal as all that. All Danny was after was a quick little display of his power over himself and the situation….to prove he was in control, regardless of the physical temptation.

He entered the darkened building, paid the cover charge, and headed straight to a private room in the back. Danny dropped onto the tufted, red, wrap-around bench, requested the tall blonde with huge, fake tits named “Chastity” he’d passed on the way in, and promptly got wasted on a bunch of straight-up Stolis, one after another.

Chastity turned out to be a great stripper: sexy moves, a convincing smile, and she tried very hard to charm Danny with her playful banter.

Unfortunately for them both, Danny wasn’t looking to be charmed tonight.

After catching Danny’s apathetic drift, Chastity resorted to grabbing his junk, obviously assuming he would have an erection…

He didn’t.

“What’s wrong, honey?” Chastity purred in his ear as she straddled him. She pressed her huge, fake boobs into his chest and then grabbed Danny’s hand and placed it on her right ass cheek. “You don’t like me?”

“I like you just fine,” Danny replied evenly. He turned his head when she tried to rub her tits against his face.

Chastity switched tactics, turning so she was now riding Danny’s lap reverse cowgirl style. She gave him a sly smile over her shoulder. “You got a wife at home you’re feeling guilty about? Or maybe you had too much to drink, huh?”

Danny watched her taut ass bounce up and down on his lap, grind against his limp dick, and slide across his thighs…

And felt absolutely nothing.

Not arousal, not disgust, not shame, and not guilt.

Just…
nothing
.

Perfect.

“I’m all set,” he said loudly enough to be heard over the music.

Chastity slid off his lap and turned to face him, arms crossed over her bare chest. She eyed him suspiciously. “You don’t want anything else?”

“Nope.” Danny stood and dug his wallet out of his back pocket. He pulled out a hundred dollar bill and handed it to her. “Thank you. And please don’t take any of this personally. It’s not you, it’s me. You were great.”

She slowly reached out and took the money from Danny. Without another word, he left the room, walked unsteadily through the main club, and stumbled out to his car. Danny started it and cranked the heat.

*

Kat’s phone rang,
scaring the crap out of her.

“
Who in the
…”

She glanced at the clock.

12:30 a.m.

She set down her book, leaned over, and grabbed her cell off the nightstand.

Danny MacDonough
.

All sorts of things raced through her brain during the five seconds it took to answer, none of them good.

Kat answered with, “Did something happen to Nathan?”

Danny snorted. “A man calls you in the middle of the night and you ask about another man?” Danny clucked his tongue. “Bad form, sweetheart.”

“Wait…
what
?” Kat’s brows dropped. “Danny, this is Kat. Ciaramitaro. Did you mean to call me?”

Danny laughed hoarsely. “Yeah, I did. Were you up?”

“Yes.”

“What are you doing?”

Kat paused. “Uh, reading.” And then she thought it only polite to ask, “What are
you
doing?”

“Nothing now.” He scoffed. “And you really don’t wanna know about earlier.”

He sounded drunk. Really, really drunk. And kind of sad.

Kat typically had zero tolerance for drunken idiots, but this particular drunken idiot was different. She wasn’t going to examine the exact list of reasons
why
he was different right now – he just was.

“What are you reading?” he asked.

“
The Book Thief
. It’s the story of-”

“Yeah, I know. I read it.”

Kat reared back. “You did?”

“Yeah. Saw the movie, too.”

“Huh…”

Kat hated to judge a book by its cover (pun intended), but she could
not
imagine Danny sitting at home, curled up with
The Book Thief
. Nor could she imagine him seeing it in a movie theater.

Not that he wasn’t intelligent enough to enjoy either, but Kat couldn’t picture him wanting to.

As if he could read her thoughts, he said, “I like to read, too, you know.”

“Yeah? What do you like to read?”

“Crime mysteries. Horror. Science Fiction. Occasionally some juicy Erotica.”

Kat couldn’t help it; she laughed. “You do
not
read Erotica.”

“No, I do not,” he replied, a grin in his voice.

A comfortable silence stretched on for a minute before Kat asked, “Are you drunk, Danny?”

He paused. “Yeah. I am.” Danny blew out a hard breath. “Sorry about this, Kat. I’m gonna feel like a real asshole tomorrow. I mean, I feel like an asshole now, but I’m gonna feel like a
huge
one tomorrow.”

“Seems like you’ve been drinking a lot lately.”

When he didn’t answer, Kat figured she’d pissed him off and he’d hung up.

But then he quietly said, “Yeah, I have.”

Kat was no Stella, but it didn’t take a whole lot of psychological insight to know there had to be a reason.

“Is something bothering you?”

“I’m sorry,” he blurted. “About earlier. I swear to God, I was only trying to help.”

Kat was too stunned to reply.

“Kat?”

“
I’m here
,” she croaked out.

“I know you can’t stand me and that you think I’m a huge fuck-up, but I just wanted to help you. It made me happy to help you.”

Kat was drowning in foreign waters here. She’d spend a good portion of the evening cussing Danny out in her head and trying to ignore the images his groping comments had conjured up.

Then he calls her, drunk as a skunk, and shows
her
, of all people, this shockingly vulnerable side of himself.

Kat had no clue how to proceed, so she went with the truth – even though it was a truth she found hard to admit, even to herself. “I don’t think you’re a huge fuck-up.”

“A small fuck-up?”

Kat exhaled another laugh. “No, not a small one, either.” When she added, “Well, maybe a very little one,” he laughed.

There was no way Danny would remember any of this tomorrow. Even without laying eyes on him, Kat could tell he was obliterated. No reason she couldn’t be as honest with him as he was being with her.

She took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. I felt very…well, weak, I guess. And I projected that onto you. I
was
grateful for your help, even though I was terrible at accepting it. I know you meant well.”

“So we’re both sorry. And we both forgive each other?”

Her lips curled at his –
ugh
 – adorable tone. “Yes. Definitely.”

“You don’t hate me, Kat?”

“No, Danny, I don’t hate you.”

“A lot of times I don’t realize I’m being an asshole. Was I an asshole to you, Kat? Did I offend you somehow? Because if I did, just tell me and I’ll say ‘sorry.’”

Kat’s damn heart hurt. Again.

Danny sounded more like an emotionally-wounded little boy than a cocky thirty-three year old police officer.

It was shocking. And it was tugging on heartstrings she didn’t know she had.

“You weren’t an asshole to me. And you haven’t offended me.”

Nope, you’ve always just been your gorgeous, charming, funny self and I hate you for it.

“Can I come over, Kat?” he asked softly…pleadingly. “So we can make up in person?”

If Kat had been standing, she’d have crumpled to the floor right then and there. Danny’s vulnerability mixed with some innate sexiness and that dash of cockiness was
killing
her.

She thought fast and said, “You can’t drive right now.” Another thought occurred to Kat. “You
are
home right now, aren’t you?”

“Nope.”

“Danny, you can’t drive.”

“I won’t. I already have a ride.”

Kat wondered with whom…and whether that
whom
was a man or a woman.

Not that it’s any of your stinkin’ business.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Yeah. I’m gonna call a cab. I’d call Nathan, but…” Danny paused. “Kat, don’t tell Stella about this, okay? Or Nathan? I need another lecture from Mr. Rogers like I need a fucking hole in the head.”

“I won’t mention it. I promise.”

Danny paused. “I believe you. I think you are a very honest person. And I really like that about you. Hell, I like a lot of things about you…did you know that, Kat?”

The tugs on her heartstrings became hard yanks. She knew he was drunk and didn’t mean any of what he was saying, but, damn, if those kind words spoken in that sexy voice weren’t making Kat all kinds of crazy.

“I didn’t know that, but thank you.” Kat cleared her throat. “So, hang up with me and call the cab company right now, okay?”

“Yeah. Okay. Thanks for talking to me.”

“No problem. Text me after you call, so I know they’re on their way.”

“Okay. Good-night, Kat.”

“Good-night, Danny.”

Kat ended the call and tossed her phone onto the bed next to her, staring at it.

A few minutes later, it chimed. Kat picked it up and read Danny’s text:

Called. Theyy’re comin. Talk later. By, kitty kat :)

Kat tossed the phone back on the bed…

And stared at it again for another long, long while.

Because she had absolutely no idea what to make of the last fifteen minutes of her life.

‡

“W
e got a
lot done.” Carlo held the door open for Kat, letting her walk into California Pizza Kitchen first and then following right behind. “Thanks, again, for taking me,
zia
.”

“No problem.” Kat stomped the snow off her boots and onto the gray, carpeted runner. “I’m glad you were able to find everything.”

“Well, I still have to get your present, but Mom can take me for that.”

“Don’t buy me anything, Carlo.” When he rolled his eyes, Kat pulled on his jacket sleeve. “Seriously. Save your money. You’ll be going to college in a few years…you’re gonna need it.”

“Community college and the police academy aren’t that expensive,” Carlo said. “The counselor at school said I might even be able to get some scholarships.”

“Yeah, well, let’s explore all career options before settling in on that,” Kat said, pulling off her gloves and shoving them into her pockets. “Both because you don’t want to give us all heart attacks and because, selfishly, I do not want to spend the next however many years listening to your mother chant the rosary and watching her rub that St. Michael pendant she bought when Nina graduated the academy.”

A young, pimply-faced kid about Carlo’s age –
Josh
, his nametag said – walked up to the hostess station, smiling. “Hi, welcome to California Pizza Kitchen. Two?”

“Yep,” Kat answered, nodding.

The guy grabbed two menus. “Great. Just follow me, please.”

As they trailed behind Josh toward the table, a wave of exhaustion washed over Kat.

And it was no wonder. She’d been up half the night reading and the other half tossing and turning after that…
interesting
…phone call from Danny. She’d worked half a day, picked Carlo up, and they’d been Christmas shopping at an outdoor mall in West Cleveland ever since.