God! I felt low—like a snake that slithers along its belly gracefully allowing its tongue to dart in and out like a poetic symphonic dance searching for prey. Even with the resumption of noise around us, I still felt like a witch being led to her death at the stake. Talk about an overactive imagination.
"Thank you." Tom whispered close to my ear as he led me to the back of the room, and I just nodded helplessly before leaning against the back wall in a state of shock. I had always dreamed of going on a date with Tommy—had literally replayed the same scene over and over again in my head until I had both sides of our conversation memorized. But now as I stood here I realized the truth of the matter. Dating for the two of us would never be easy. It would be like a small fire with the people surrounding us throwing kindling at us in order to watch the flames burn hotter and faster until everything was consumed.
I felt Tom's hand edge around my waist where he let it settle protectively as I looked back over the crowd watching almost in morbid fascination as the storm clouds brewed over Spiederman's face, and I shuddered. This was it for us. I could feel it. I had gone way too far this time. I felt Tom lean towards me, and I felt my body relax at his protective proximity.
"I didn't know you had already promised to purchase Spied when I asked you to do it, Jude." Tom said quietly as I kept staring forward toward the stage—shrugging my shoulders nonchalantly as his grip tightened.
"Why did you do it?" Tom asked almost in a whisper, and I knew without him even having to explain that he wanted to know why I had chosen to bid for him, ruining probably any chance that I ever had with Spied. And the only thing I could think of to say in reply were the three words he had thrown at me on my birthday that had literally turned my world both upside down and then right back up again that momentous day.
"You know why." I mumbled as he leaned back against the complex wall before exhaling softly.
"Yeah." He murmured as I smiled slightly at our moment of déjà vu. I was just about to make some witty, humorous remark to lighten the moment when he suddenly let his head roll to the side against the wall facing me.
"You're stunning tonight, Jude. I hope you know that when you walked into the room every man's blood pressure from the age of ten to the age of ninety hit the boiling point including mine." He said softly as I let my wide-eyed gaze meet his more casual one. There just wasn't anything I could say to that except 'well damn' and I wasn't going to ruin the moment that way. So I just smiled softly in thanks before turning away to peruse the room feeling my face burn with the heat of knowing I had turned him on.
The room rang with shouts as I looked up at the stage again, and to my utter amazement, I watched in silent amusement as Sadie bid suddenly on Liam and won. It's a good thing that dad had felt generous enough tonight to loan her money for the event.
"What the hell?" I said almost to myself as Tommy whistled under his breath before a voice behind us made us both laugh.
"Well, if it isn't a perfect match up between the 'got a boot stuck up my ass' executive and 'I'll keel over if I don't get my regular dose of lip gloss exposure' Barbie." Patsy said sarcastically as she sidled up beside us. I just shook my head at her and grinned.
"You were just afraid she'd bet on Jamie." I said in amusement as I watched her look at me snidely before shrugging. Tom snickered as we watched her squirm, and he handed her something from out of his pocket. Geez, the man must have withdrawn at least a hundred thousand dollars out of his account for this one night. It's a good thing he's well beyond millionaire status after his Boyz Attack days. Not to mention, producers don't do so bad themselves.
"Here 'dark woman of yore' go slay the dragons in this room and purchase your really twisted version of a prince. We all deserve a good night tonight." Tom said as Patsy looked up at him in disbelief. I felt my heart warm considerably as she pocketed the money with an ease that only came from the practice of finagling money out of people. I was duly impressed especially considering Tom had always had an 'I'm not sure about her' attitude towards Patsy since the tagging the building incident. Patsy grinned as Jamie's name was called.
"My thanks to you 'hunk of burnin love' producer." Patsy quipped as she stormed through the rest of the girls toward the stage—literally daring anyone to bid more than what she layed out on the table. And no surprise here—no one did. Dragging Jamie off the stage almost by the ear, I felt laughter well up inside me again as I let Tommy's fingers intertwine with mine. I just wasn't going to let regrets or fear ruin this night—this one last night pretending that Tommy and I could be more than just producer and artist. The rest of the pairings sped through the room rather quickly as we watched Wally and Kyle walk off with two beautiful blondes while Portia managed to snag Kwest and Spied joined up with a tall, gorgeous brunette. And I knew as he walked off the stage hand in hand with her that I didn't really and truly love him. I cared about him deeply, and it hurt to watch him flirt with another girl, but the painful pangs of jealousy that should have consumed me just didn't come. He looked at me then, and I saw the pain there—the anger that burned through his gaze and I wondered suddenly if tonight really would go all that smoothly.
"Let's go." Tommy remarked merrily as I realized rather belatedly that it was time to head over to the restaurant. I nodded quickly before letting him lead me out toward an empty limousine—feeling anticipation wash over me as he opened the door and motioned for me to enter first. Maybe I couldn't have my 'please commit to me forever prince charming' right now, but I did have this one night and I was going to make the most of it.
Author's footnote: You guys are freakin' amazing! When I turned on my computer this morning, I practically felt myself melt at the reviews. I'm so excited now at where I'm taking the story that even my toes tingle. I only wrote this one chapter last night, but with the amazing feed back, I can't help but want to burn the keyboard with my fingers today so as much as my work allows, I plan to post as much as possible so that I don't leave you hanging too long. Please keep reviewing. Your thoughts on my take help me so much on deciding how I should manage the twists and turns. Smiles to you all! R&R. Angel.