Page 488 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
She snorted. “Of course I did! You wouldn’t talk to me all night. You wouldn’t even look at me! And what did I decide to go and do? Drink eight Manhattans, that’s what.”
“Eight?” I asked in disbelief.
The valet brought my car around and Hugh and I struggled to get Tinsely in the passenger seat. Each time she sat, she clawed at us and tried to get back out of the car. Hugh held her feet inside while I put her seatbelt on.
“Yep, eight,” she slurred. “They went down so easy. I deserve the hangover. Maybe it will teach me not to be such a self-sabotaging, people-pleasing, worry wart.”
Hugh and I exchanged a look.
“Can I go back inside?” Hugh asked.
I sighed. “Yes. Go.”
He hurried up the steps.
“Hugh!” I called after him, straightening up and leaning on the roof of my car. He hesitated and turned back to me. I sighed. “Thank you.”
Hugh smiled. “No problem, boss.”
I looked down at Tinsely, who had become preoccupied with my cupholders.
Patting the roof of the car, I mumbled, “Let’s get you out of here.”
While I drove, Tinsely played with almost every control on the dashboard of my car. She adjusted the heat, cranked the seat warmers, rolled down the windows, opened the sunroof, closed everything back up while complaining about how cold it was, found the child lock feature, flicked through every possible radio station, found a Christmas song she liked, and cranked the volume.
She danced in the passenger seat and sang off tune until suddenly going quiet.
I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye as she clutched both hands to her stomach. “Oh no,” she breathed.
“Hold on.”
“I don’t think I can.”
“I think you can.” I pulled to the right, crossed a lane of traffic, and pulled onto the shoulder. I leaned across her and opened her door just in time for her to grab the handle, hang over the curb, and throw up.
She slumped back against the seat. “I’m such a mess. I’m sorry. This is so embarrassing.”
“You remember how plastered I got at last year’s staff party, right?”
She blinked drunkenly at me, struggling to keep her beautiful eyes open. Finally, she nodded weakly, closed her eyes, and smiled. “You took your tie off and wanted to use it to do the limbo.”
“I fell on my ass.”
She giggled. “You did.”
I put a hand on her knee. “Don’t be embarrassed. We’ve all had a night where we had one drink too many. You just need to sleep it off. Tomorrow is a new day.”
She sighed. “A new day.”
I didn’t feel comfortable taking her home and leaving her there with how drunk she was, so I drove her to my place. She didn’t even notice we weren’t at her house until we stumbled into my guest room and I began helping her take off her shoes. She sat on the end of the bed while I struggled with the teeny tiny buckles on her ankles. My fingers were too fat, and she was moving around too much.
Finally, she fell backward and stared up at the ceiling. “Everything is spinning.”
I managed to get her shoes off. “It will stop when you sleep.”
Tinsely didn’t protest when I tucked her under the covers. She snuggled into the pillows, and I stood up.
“I’ll grab you some water… and a bucket.”
