There were a multitude of tables arranged willy-nilly around the dance floor, but they were all taken. Sawdust and peanut shells littered the floor, while jeans-clad waitresses dipped and wove with deftly balanced trays through the swarming crowd.
She was overdressed, Daisy thought. Jeans seemed to be the dress code, on men and women alike, though every now and then she spotted a short skirt paired with a halter and cowboy boots. Todd would have sniffed and pronounced such an ensemble “tacky.”
Daisy had kept on the pumps and the khaki skirt, and the sleeveless white shirt with the first two buttons unbuttoned. The gold anklet drew attention to her slim, bare legs. She looked cool and classic, not quite the usual thing at the Buffalo Club.
“Well, hello!” A hard male arm clasped around her waist and swung her around. She found herself blinking up at a smiling dark-haired man with a beer bottle in his hand.
“Hello,” Daisy replied. She had to almost yell to make herself heard.
“Are you here with someone?” he asked, bending so his mouth was close to her ear.
Why, he was flirting. The realization zinged through her. This was a pickup! A man was actually trying to pick her up!
“Some friends,” she lied, because it seemed prudent to do so. She didn’t know him, after all.
“Would the friends mind if you danced with me?” he asked.
Because he was smiling and his eyes were friendly, she said, “Not at all,” and with a grin he set down his beer, took her hand, and led her to the dance floor.
My goodness, that was easy! Daisy thought giddily as she slipped into the man’s arms. He held her close, but not so close that she would have been embarrassed. For a moment she was terrified her dancing skills would desert her—after all, it wasn’t as if she’d had a lot of practice—but he was fairly smooth and she found that, if she didn’t think about it, her feet seemed to do what they were supposed to do.
“My name’s Jeff,” he said, again putting his mouth next to her ear so she could hear him.
“Daisy,” she supplied.
“Have you been here before? I don’t think I’ve seen you, and believe me, I would have noticed.”
She shook her head, just to feel her hair swing and settle. “First time.”
“Don’t let it be the last—” He broke off, turning his head to glare in annoyance at a man who had tapped him on the shoulder.
“May I break in?”
“No,” Jeff said rudely. “What the hell do you think this is, a prom? Go away. I saw her first.”
The other man, lean and blond, also clad in the de rigueur jeans and T-shirt, grinned. “C’mon, Jeff, don’t be selfish.” Deftly he unhooked Daisy’s hand from Jeff’s and spun her away from him.
Daisy looked over her shoulder at Jeff, her eyes a little wide as she wondered what would happen. Jeff grinned and shrugged, then motioned to the table where he would be.
“Are you friends?” she asked the blond man.
“Yeah, we work together. I’m Denny, by the way.”
“Daisy,” she said again.
The love song ended and the band immediately swung into a foot-stomper. Lines formed, and Denny pulled Daisy into position. “Wait!” she protested frantically. “I don’t know how to do this!”
“It’s easy,” he yelled back. “Just follow my lead.”
The line dance involved some stomping and whirling, and she managed to stomp and whirl not too far behind the rest of them. She and Denny bumped into each other at one point and she began laughing at herself. She was so out of place here, in her old-money classic clothes, surrounded by jeans and tube tops, but this was fun. She hadn’t been here ten minutes yet, and already two men had come on to her. That was more attention than she’d had in . . . oh, thirty-four years.
The line dance ended, and the band segued into another slow song, for a breather. Denny had barely gotten his arm around her waist when another guy cut in on him, and he surrendered her to yet another man. This one was older, probably in his fifties, with a close-cropped gray-and-brown beard, and not much taller than she was. He could dance, though. He grinned at her, said, “My name’s Howard,” and expertly twirled her. Daisy laughed, giddy with excitement and joy as their hands caught and he twirled her back into his arms.
Howard didn’t mind showing off his expertise, so Daisy polished up her rusty skills as fast as possible and did a credible job, she thought. She was nowhere near as good as he was, but at least she didn’t stumble, and she didn’t step on his toes.
After Howard came Steven, and after Steven was a guy named Mitchell who had big brown eyes and a shy smile. By that time Daisy was breathless and more than a little warm. “I need to sit this one out,” she gasped, fanning herself with her hand.
Mitchell slipped his hand under her elbow. “I’ll get you something to drink,” he said. “Beer? Wine?”
“Just water, for now,” she said as she walked off the dance floor and looked around for a place to sit. The tables were just as crowded now as they had been five dances ago.
“Ah, c’mon, have some wine,” Mitchell cajoled.
“Maybe later. I’m really thirsty now, and water’s best for that.” Besides, she had to drive home.
“A Coke, then.”
His big brown eyes said he wanted to buy her a drink, and she was thwarting him by insisting on water. She relented. “Okay, a Coke.”
His shy smile bloomed. “Wait right here,” he said, and plunged into the crowd.