Page 6 of Rory: His to Discipline

“Then why are you trying to provoke me?” Rory asked. “I have given you plenty of warnings and yet you still insist on misbehaving. I can only assume you need some attention and I am more than willing to give it to you.”

For a fleeting moment Tess wondered if he was right. Had she returned to the bar because she could not stand to see him dancing and laughing with another? No! She was back at the bar because she needed another drink and nothing more.

“I am not trying to provoke you,” she insisted, still trying to wiggle out of his arms and plant the heel of her tiny shoe into the arch of his foot, without much success. “I am trying to get drunk.”

“Why?” Rory asked, spinning her around easily. She was no less trapped, but he could look into her flashing dark eyes.

Tess huffed and attempted to put her little hat back in place.

“I am trying to dull the pain in my ass. In fact, I am trying to get rid of two pains in my ass. You and the one you caused. Now, please, let me go so that I may continue with my plan.”

Rory threw his head back and laughed.

“I don’t think so, sweetheart,” he told her smiling, apparently no longer concerned with being overheard. “One you earned and the other may never let you go. Come dance with me before I forget this is a public place and carry you right out of here.”

“Who made you my boss?” Tess asked sharply as Rory released all but her arm and started pulling her towards the dance floor.

“I found you,” he told her firmly. Stopping, he turned her to face him and tipped her head back with a finger under her chin. The look in his eyes was deadly serious and Tess’s jaw dropped when he continued.

“Sleeping on a park bench with no one to care for you, or keep you safe. Anything could have happened to you, and I did give you three chances to straighten up. Even sleeping in that dilapidated tin box you generously call a car would have been preferable to that exposed bench. But did you listen? No. It was obvious to me that someone had better give you a hand, in more ways than one. You needed me,” he whispered as his big hand cupped the side of her face softly, their dark heads touching as he bent over her. “And it seems I need you too,” he sighed. “Besides, you know what they say?”

“No, what do they say?” Tess asked breathlessly, unable to tear her eyes away from his gaze. The damn man was mesmerizing.

“Finders, keepers.”

Tess’s heart was thumping well out of beat with the slow melody the band was playing as Rory took her into his arms and began to glide across the dance floor.

* * *

The rest of the reception flew by. There was much dancing and laughter and many kisses, which Tess had come to expect whenever the O’Malleys got together. Caitlin, Lilly, and Rose snuck flowers from every centerpiece and wove them into necklaces, wearing them proudly. Children ran around giggling and squealing in delight and Tess managed to sneak off to the bar several more times in the confusion. Everything finally came to an end when Nick marched into a group of chattering females and scooped his bride into his arms.

“I believe it’s time to claim my bride,” he told the women with a grin and carried her out of the hall.

Cheers and good wishes followed them and Tess flopped into a chair, exhausted and slightly drunk. Within minutes there were only a few family members left. Mason had taken Rebecca home long ago, against her wishes, but home they had gone. Patrick and Molly were helping Colleen and Noah get the tired children herded out to their vehicle. Tess rested her chin on her hand and closed her eyes.

Rory found her there, sitting with her shoes off and her little hat hanging off one side of her head. Grinning, he cleared his throat roughly and one eye peeped open to stare at him tiredly.

“What do you want?” she inquired stiffly.

“Time to go home,” he informed her.

“I will not go home with you. I can find my own way,” she told him defiantly, closing her eye as if she expected him to disappear just on her say so.

“You’re drunk,” Rory informed her, smiling.

Tess thought for a moment. Slowly her dark eyes opened and she looked around at the staff beginning to clean up.

“So?” she questioned, not seeing the point in denying it.

“So, I’m not leaving you here to find your own way home. Damn, babe, you would try the patience of a saint.”

“You are not a saint, Rory O’Malley.”

“Exactly,” he told her, grinning as he put one of her shoes in each of his pockets, picked her up in his arms, snagged her purse and carried her out of the room.

Tess sighed and laid her head on his chest. Mmm, this is nice she thought, forgetting for a moment why she was angry with him. When Rory opened the door of his truck and almost tossed her onto the passenger seat, it all came back to her. Her bottom was still sore and the stiff crinoline hadn’t gotten any softer. Tess groaned and crossed her arms over her chest as Rory buckled her seatbelt.

Laughing, he got into the truck and they headed to his mother’s house.