Of Love and Deception (17 page)

“Well?” Lori broke Daniella's musing.

“Oh yeah.” Daniella danced around in front of the mirror. “I want this one, but with a few alterations.” She lifted the panel to show the saleslady.

Before they left the bridal shop, Daniella gave details. She wanted a particular type of lace and diamond sequins. The dress had to be sleeveless, but with bowed shoulders, the body form fitting to the waist, and a fluffy bloom flowing with light lacy ruffles from the waist.

“Oh yeah, I want to keep the long train, but the kicker… the front section from the knees down needs to be completely detachable.”

Daniella stepped into the dressing room, shrugged the dress, placed it on the hanger, and slipped back into her own clothes.

“Here, let me help you.” Jill collected the dress and carried it to the register.

“One more stop, Daniella.” Lori gave Daniella a hip bump. A devious smile spread ear to ear. “We gotta go to Dr. G's for those silver balls still.” She turned toward the sales associate. “Unless you carry those here? They're metal and you pop them between your li—”

“No! They don't have those, Lori! Let's go.” Daniella flushed. “You're such an ass.”

They high stepped out of the store arm-in-arm like the Three Musketeers. 

The first day of shopping for a wedding dress turned out to be a positive one. She'd have the dress she desired and they'd also managed to pick out bridesmaids gowns, minus Meg's. Accessories, wedding set up, cake—yeah, it was all good. Cari's boutique, which Daniella's mother owned, would do all of the arrangements.

Daniella was exhausted, but she had no time to lounge. She had plans with Lori and Jill to meet up with Cruz, Meg, and Falcon at Guitars, a country bar with a mix of modern hip-hop music.

~~~

The bar was packed.

Daniella smoothed her blue denim mini-skirt, assessed her white blouse, tucked it in and made sure none of the buttons came unbuttoned. The V-neck dipped low enough, and she didn't need to enhance her cleavage with her shirt wide open. She wore a pair of flat, white cowgirl boots.

The trio strutted in, raising their heads and ignoring the catcalls as they passed a long table full of men. 
Probably college boys.

Feeling pretty sexy, Daniella couldn’t wait to see if Cruz agreed. She'd know by the way he'd look at her. If his eyes traveled from head to toe, with a slight grin, he'd approve. If not, he'd survive. Her eyes darted in every direction, in search of Cruz. Then she heard it.

“Oh, Lexus. Stop sucking up to him! You know he's engaged.” Meg shouted the words, as if announcing the winner of the Kentucky Derby. “Why, what would his fiancé think if she saw you grabbing his crotch?”

Daniella turned toward the voice, and the moment her eyes fell upon Cruz, her heart sank. She froze as she witnessed Cruz's flirting. The floozy whores hung all over him, and he smiled like a playboy. “How could he?” She fumed. The burn, the sting, the ache in her chest pissed her off. Her stomach rolled at the thought of what 
Lexus
 might be doing with her hands under the table. 
His crotch!

“Bullshit. That… is bullshit!” It took a lot of effort to hold back the tears threatening to spill.

“Maybe he can't get rid of them?” Jill suggested.

“What are you going to say?” Lori asked.

“Nothing. Just keep walking. I'll pretend I don't see him standing, smiling, and flirting with the two blondes. And Meg. Look at her pushing herself up against him as if he belongs to… her? What the—I can't watch this.” She turned a different direction.

“I think she spotted us,” Jill said.

Daniella shot a glance back toward Meg, and 
her!
 “Sure as shit. Bitches.” She continued to watch as Meg drew patterns up his arm and—

“Bloody whore! I'll beat her to a pulp, Daniella. I swear.” Lori strode their direction, pounding a fist into her palm. “She did it on purpose, kissed his cheek and all. And that other girl… Lex
ass!
 Why those dirty crotched whores!”

Before Lori could get far, Daniella grabbed her. “No, let's just go right out to the dance floor. I'm going to get downright hot and dance in a way I know he won’t approve of.” Daniella held her head high. He had caught sight of her, but did she care? His pathetic calls for her brushed past her ears and she glared at him. “Oh, now he pushes 
them
 away. What. Ever.”

“Dang, Daniella! You go girl! Hell, let's just take the stage, eh?” Jill grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the stage.

Once on stage, the DJ announced the next song. 'She's Country' by Jason Aldean lit a fire under the crowd and flooded the dance floors. The trio glanced at one another.

“Ah, shit. You know what this means, Jill.” Lori grinned.

“Stay back or get smacked with her hair?” Jill pulled back. “Yeah, already aware Daniella's gonna swing those hips and flip her hair after going down low and coming back up. One hit was enough for me.”

“It's starting! Come on, let's go girls!” Daniella raised her hand. All gave a hi-five. The song was a favorite. Even better, Daniella knew the attention she was about to draw, purposely, as she'd done many times before. She had her own special line dance for this song. It was nothing dirty… really… okay, maybe just a little too provocative, but it would certainly piss Cruz off.

She was a Georgia peach, alright, with sexy swinging hips. Already the whistles were blowing. Daniella fed into the attention, and her version of the line dance was anything but simple. She crisscrossed her legs and shifted her upper body, head swinging side to side, and swiveled her hips. Dancing—her natural talent.

Was she showing off? You bet. Let Cruz suffer. She hazarded a glance in his direction. Yep, he was pissed. His expression—tight lipped with his arms crossed over his chest. He even slapped Meg's hands away, snarled some words at Lexus that couldn't have been nice because she threw her head back, nose in the air and stomped off.

To pepper the situation, Daniella shot him an in-your-face look, then turned away, threw one arm out, and then the next, and lip-synced the 'hell raisin sugar' lyrics. Oh, was it ever going to be a lovely night. The glares from Cruz stung, and she wasn't even looking at him… directly.

After the song ended, Daniella shoved her engagement ring into her pocket and strutted in the opposite direction of Cruz's table. She wasn't about to go to anywhere near him. Not with those females, who'd obviously came back, sitting there acting all hot. Instead, she did a little bit of flirting. Why not? Isn't that what Cruz was doing, before he noticed she'd arrived? 
Sure as shit, he was.

“Oh man, Daniella. He's coming this way. What do you want to do?” Lori asked and pulled at her arm.

“Head toward the bathroom, quick!” Spurred by the nerve-racking chase, Danielle's heart twisted with a dull ache. Didn't matter how she observed or handled the situation, seeing Cruz chumming with those wenches, especially Meg, really hurt. She was supposed to be the only one he paid attention to, not some douchebag bimbos.

Ten minutes went by. “I think we're safe to go now,” Daniella said. Lori stepped out first and Jill second.

As Daniella exited, an abrupt yank startled her. “What the hell is wrong with you?” Cruz squeezed her wrist, flickers of fire lighting his eyes. She'd never witnessed this side of him… well, maybe once, but he certainly wasn't this angry. The shock kept her from speaking and appeared to aggravate him more.

“Why are you doing this? Avoiding me?” He pulled her toward the exit. Once outside, Cruz shook her. “Well?”

Instantly startled by his reaction and aggressiveness, Daniella raised her hands to block her face and curled into herself; old memories flooding her. The alcohol probably brought it on since she hadn't dredged up her past since she'd met Cruz.

Blake grabs my face, he shakes my head and shouts, drops of spit hit my skin. “You're going to forget this. Forget what you saw. Then it will be you and me, and our happy little lives together. Got it?”

Before I can answer, he shoves me so hard, I fall back, hit my head against the wall and crumble to the ground.

“I'm calling the police,” I cry as I struggle to free my cell phone from the buttoned pocket of my blazer.

He crouches down, rips the phone from my hand and smashes it against the wall behind my head.

 “Call the fucking cops, bitch, and I promise you'll regret it. Now knock your shit off and come to bed with me.” He stands, drags me up with him by my hair, and hauls me back into the bedroom.

 I kick, scream, and claw at him. I shove my elbow into his stomach, his grip weakens and I try to run, but he catches me by the arm, and throws me against the bed.

 The wind escapes my lungs when his foot connects with my back. Before I can breathe again, he flips me over and then...

Cruz's deep voice brought her back to the present. “Stop it, Daniella. You act like I'm going to hit you. Have I ever hit you? Now look at me and listen, please.”

No, but neither had Blake until I caught him in my bed with that whore.

He glided his fingers down her cheek and under her chin, lightly lifting her head so she'd have to look at him. Heat rushed past her neck and settled in her cheeks.

Daniella wiggled a finger at him. “You have your own set of groupies. Yeah, that was the first thing I saw when I walked through the front door.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Seriously. You're mad over what? A few friends chatting with me?”

“Chatting? Really, Cruz? Is that what you call it when pretty little bitches hang all over you?” Daniella's heart burned with fury. Pain, of course, was part of the burn.

“You're really taking it out of context. It was one sided, and I didn't want to be rude. I figured once you stepped in they'd leave me alone and believe me when I said I was engaged.”

Did he really expect her to believe that was all there was to it? “Sure. That's what they all say. Harmless… my ass. I heard Meg ask 
that girl
 what she thought I'd do if I saw her grabbing your crotch! What the hell was I supposed to think?”

His eyebrows knit together. He didn't speak, only pressed her against the brick wall, each hand placed on either side of her head.

Unable to look him straight in the eyes, Daniella dropped her head and hugged her chest. Part of her wasn't sure about the whole Meg and Lexus scene, and she didn't actually see Lexus touching his crotch. Come to think of it, she'd actually saw Lexus' hands cupped around her drink. And Cruz hadn't been facing her; he'd been conversing with Falcon. 
Why the hell didn't that register before now?

Cruz reached down and un-weaved her left arm. Daniella lifted her gaze, glancing up at him as he examined her hand. Sudden feelings of regret washed over as she knew what he was about to say.

“Where's your engagement ring?” His tone of skepticism and the downward arch of his brows proved his worry.

Daniella didn't have the heart to answer him. She yanked her hand from his grip and pressed it back against her ribcage.

“Well?” he persisted, jabbing a finger at her chest.

She refused to answer.

He threw his hands up. “Damn you. Since you can't answer me, I guess we're done. Obviously you're ashamed to show you're taken and prefer the attention you'd get less of had you had a ring on your finger.” He placed two fingers under her chin and forced her to look at him, but she shifted her stare to the pavement away from his unwavering eyes. Cruz did nothing more, only dropped his hand, shook his head, and then went back inside.

What had she done? Was she wrong for being upset over his flirting? Or was it a charade Meg put on? Or maybe she thought too much into the whole situation. But even if Cruz hadn't initiated it, he went along with it. Didn't matter. It hurt just the same. Daniella slid down the wall and hugged her knees.

After fifteen minutes of pouting, she decided to go back into the bar.

“Good gad. What happened?” Lori asked as she led Daniella over to a table opposite of Cruz and company.

“It's over. I don’t want to talk about it… just get me a drink, anything will do.” Daniella sniffed back the tears and craned her neck in attempt to see Cruz. His backside was the only view she'd get. Falcon stood next to him and patted his shoulder. Was Falcon supporting the idea of their break up? Or maybe he was comforting him? Meg had a smug smile and appeared to be pleased over the situation. She didn't miss a chance to slip her arm around him. At least Lexus and her sidekick were no longer around.

“Chug it down girl!” Jill nudged Daniella and held her own shot of Tequila with lime and salt.

“Cheers!” Lori held her shot glass up.

Daniella and Jill did the same. “Cheers!” they said in unison. Though what to cheer for, Daniella wasn't certain.

Several shots and several dances later, Daniella had had enough. Half buzzed, she weaved through the crowd and headed back to their table, with a continual need to search for Cruz. Another party occupied the table he'd been at. She scanned the bar, but there was no sign of Cruz, Falcon, or Meg. Guilt ridden, she pawed at her pocket and pulled the engagement ring out, placing it back on her finger. Was it really over? Did Cruz seriously end it all? Emotions flooded her, and all she wanted to do was to go home, crawl in bed, and mourn in private.

14 - Wedding Bells and Cowgirl Boots

The following morning, Daniella woke with a throbbing head and a horrible ache in her throat. She slid out of bed and crept down the hall to the kitchen. After downing a glass of water and an aspirin, she crawled back in bed. Every joint ached, and her skin burned feverishly. She noticed a rash around her ankles and wrist, but could do nothing about it. It took a lot of tossing and turning before she finally fell back to sleep.

The cycle seemed endless. Moaning, sleeping, moaning and sleeping. Daniella wanted to get up to get a drink, and retrieve her phone, but she had no strength to move. Every joint and muscle ached, and she was delirious. Her skin burned but she shivered with chills.  She wondered if she were hallucinating when she heard voices outside of her apartment. Oh how she wished her mom would make that unannounced visit she so often did at the worst possible times. Cruz was through with her, so that wasn't a possibility. She wanted to go to the hospital, but the aching pain in her body restricted her to the bed.