Dance Like Nobody's Watching (Summer Lake 3) (5 page)

She laughed. “I suppose so.”

“The way I see it, we need to make each
other that promise. We both need to talk to Scot, and I need to talk
to Olivia.” He felt better now. It was starting to look
logical. There were steps to be followed. A sequence of events. It
made sense. He looked across the table at her. Her eyes were light
gray, happy. She was smiling. She moistened her plump lips with her
tongue and everything started to spin again. He needed to hold her
face between his hands, kiss those lips.

“I'll make you that promise now, Dan.
Whatever happens, I will not let it affect Scot, or your friendship
with him.”

“And I promise you the same, Miss.” He
stood up. “Want to shake on it?”

She stood and shook his hand. She had a firm grip
and looked him straight in the eye. He kept hold of her hand and
pulled her closer. “Want to seal it with a hug?”

She hesitated. “We shouldn't. Not until
you're single.”

She was right, but he needed to feel her in his
arms again. He cocked his head to one side and gave her a pleading
look. “Just a little hug?”

She shook her head, but she didn't move away.

“You hugged me last night. How about we
recreate the moment? He pulled his T-shirt up and off. Her pupils
dilated as she looked at his naked chest. He reached an arm around
her waist and drew her to him. Her hands came up to his shoulders,
setting his skin on fire as she looked into his eyes.

“We shouldn't.”

“We're not. Not really. This doesn't count
as a new hug. It's just finishing off last night's hug that got
interrupted.” Shivers ran down his back when she buried her
fingers in his hair. Her full breasts pushed at his chest. He closed
his arms around her waist and held her tighter. “Not hugging.”

“Mm,” she murmured. “Not
hugging.”

He looked down at her upturned face, trusting eyes
searching his own, moist pink lips begging him to kiss them. He
lowered his head. She closed her eyes. He stopped with his lips a
fraction of an inch from meeting hers. He breathed in the scent of
her. She smelled like the beach. It was killing him not to close that
final tiny distance and kiss her. He could feel that she wanted him
to; she was pliant in his arms.

***

Missy opened her eyes. She was clinging to him,
pressing herself against him. Longing for the moment his lips would
come down on hers in the kiss she'd been daydreaming about for
months. But he'd stopped. His deep brown eyes met hers. She was
tempted to close the gap herself. Kiss him and to hell with it. But
it wasn't right. Whatever his story with Olivia might be, Missy had
never, to her knowledge, kissed another woman's man. She wouldn't
start now. Even though the man in question was Dan.

“See,” he said without pulling back at
all. “Not hugging. Not kissing.”

His lips were so close to hers, she could feel
them move. “Not kissing,” she agreed. “But I want
to.” She licked her lips and parted them slightly, bringing
them as close as she could without touching. His mouth mirrored hers.
She could feel his warm breath. He brought his hands up to cup her
face. She clung to his shoulders as he moved his mouth down over her
throat. Though his lips never touched her skin his breath fanned her
desire. He moved back up, gently blowing the side of her neck,
sending hot shivers racing down her spine. They were holding each
other so close she could feel his hard-on pressing into her belly.
She wanted him so badly she could no longer remember why they
shouldn't. He framed her face between his hands again. As his lips
came closer, she closed her eyes and held on to him, just to keep
herself upright. It wasn't his lips, but his nose, that met hers. She
opened her eyes and came back to her senses as he rubbed noses with
her.

“We shouldn't do this should we?” she
asked, hoping he might find it too hard to agree.

“Not yet, beautiful. But we will, won't we?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Yes,
honey. We will.”

The bar was crowded when they got there. Dan
smiled at her. “Want to stick behind me this time?”

Missy nodded. He stepped in front of her and she
took hold of the hand he held behind his back. She smiled as she felt
the calluses on his fingertips. All those hours on a keyboard had
left him with the same scars as Scot. She stuck close as he pushed
them a path through the Saturday night crowd. Dan stopped to let a
girl with a tray full of drinks pass in front of him. Missy was
jostled from behind until she was pressed up against his back. He
tightened his grip on her hand and looked back over his shoulder.

“Are you alright?”

She squeezed his hand. “I'm good.” She
was quite happy to be pressed up against him like this, especially
his muscular backside. She was tempted to slide her arms around his
waist, but she didn't. Next weekend. She'd be able to do that then.
When he was free. One week waiting was a small price to pay. He moved
forward again. She followed, wishing they'd been held up a little
longer. They found Pete and Holly out on the deck.

“Hey, guys,” Pete greeted them.

“Hey,” smiled Missy.

Holly caught her eye and grinned, shooting a look
at Dan and back then raising an eyebrow. “I'm glad you came. Is
Scot not back?”

“No, not ’til tomorrow night, by the
looks of it.” She smiled at Dan. “But I understand he's
having a great time.”

Dan smiled back, but said nothing. He didn't tend
to say much when they were all together.

“Jack and Em should be back soon,”
said Pete. “They stopped in, but Em wanted to run out to her
Gramps'. Ben's going to try to join us too, and maybe Michael.”

Missy felt bad. She'd completely forgotten to call
Michael.

Pete looked at Dan. “Did Jack get chance to
talk to you about Four Mile?”

Missy rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Hemming?
Do you ever think about anything but work?”

Holly laughed. “He does. I can vouch for it,
but only one thing.”

Missy put her hands over her ears. “I'd
rather hear about Four Mile! Sorry, Pete. Go ahead.”

Pete looked at Dan, “Women, huh?”

Missy watched the slow smile spread across Dan's
face as he looked down at her. “Yeah, women.” His eyes
twinkled. She really had to wait another week before she could kiss
him?

He looked back at Pete. “Yeah, Four Mile.
It's an interesting proposition. A fiber optic community. I'm not
sure it would make sense, financially. But you'd know that better
than me. Technically, it's feasible and it'd be an interesting
project.”

“Yeah, I'm not sure it'd work financially,
but I want to understand it better, to know whether it's even worth
crunching the numbers.”

Holly looked at Missy. “He's about to ask
start asking questions, I can tell. Come dance with me, sweetie?”

Missy looked at Dan. He had that look on his face.
She could tell he was engrossed, thinking about the technical details
of whatever it was they were talking about. She smiled. “Sure.
We won't be missed here.”

Pete caught Holly's hand as she stood. “Want
me to come, sweetheart?”

She leaned down to him, her long hair swinging in
a curtain, behind which she kissed him. “You're fine, Bigshot.
We'll be back.”

As Missy stood, Dan put his foot over hers. “Save
me a dance for later?” How she wished she could lean down and
kiss him, like Holly had just kissed Pete. She nodded happily and he
removed his foot.

“Holy hell, chica!” said Holly once
they'd pushed their way to a space on the dance-floor just in front
of the stage. “Last night you had Michael all over you, and
tonight it's Dan that's the lovesick puppy!”

As the song came to an end, Missy caught the lead
singer's eye. He smiled down at them and gave a little wave. She
liked Chase; all the band members were good guys. Holly watched the
exchange.

“Have you got some new pheromone perfume or
something? And can I borrow some?”

Missy laughed. “You don't need it. Pete's
like putty in your hands.”

Holly grinned, “Yeah, but he doesn't stay
like putty for long!”

“Sorry, Holly, but that is too much
information!”

“Well, that's better than
no
information!
What's the story with Dan? What's happened? It's obvious something
has.”

Missy grinned. “We're going to go on a
date!”

“You are?” Holly's eyes were wide.
“Oh, Miss, that's awesome!” Then she frowned. “Didn't
you say he had a girlfriend though?”

“Yes, but he's going to end it with her when
he goes back. After that we can go on our date. I'm so happy, Holly.
You know how much I like him.”

“I do. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed
for you, sweetie.”

As they danced, a couple of guys came to dance
beside them, trying to move in. Tourists, by the looks of them. Missy
looked up at Chase as the song ended. He winked and spoke into the
mic.

“Guys?” Holly nudged the guy next to
her. He looked up at Chase. “A word to the wise? You couldn't
handle the trouble that comes with these two. I'd dance away, if I
were you.”

The guy grinned up at him, apparently thinking
Chase meant the fun kind of trouble. Chase shook his head seriously.
He jerked his chin over to where Dan and Pete were standing at the
edge of the dance-floor

Holly rolled her eyes. “He does that all the
time. Thinks he's so intimidating.”

Missy smiled as the two guys moved hurriedly away
from them. “To most people he is.
Very
intimidating.”

Holly grinned. “I know, but right now I'd be
more scared of Dan. Look at him! He's like one of those silent ninjas
who's going to take people down with some crazy karate shit, before
you've even seen him move.”

Missy laughed. He did have a don't-mess-with-me
air about him when he was rattled. Apparently, right now, he was
rattled. She knew she shouldn't, but she liked it. She smiled at him
and watched his face relax as that beautiful smile spread. His eyes
only left hers when Jack and Emma appeared through the crowd and Jack
clasped a hand on his shoulder. As Dan turned to greet his brother,
Emma spotted Missy and Holly and waved. She pecked Jack on the lips
and started elbowing her way across the crowded dance-floor to join
them.

“Hey, girls! Isn't this great? I get back
early
and
we get Miss out for once. We need to make the most
of this, close the place down.” She waved up at Chase. He
smiled at her, then scanned the edge of the dance-floor, no doubt
checking for Jack.

Missy laughed. “He still likes you, Em, but
Jack put the fear of God into him.”

Emma looked more pleased than she should as she
denied it. “He doesn't. He's become a friend to both of us.
Anyway, do either of you know what's up with Dan? He was with Pete
and the two of them looked ready to kick some serious butt.”

“They thought the tourists were moving in on
their women,” said Holly.

Emma stopped dancing and stood still. “
Their
women? Dan's girlfriend isn't here is she?”

“No,” said Holly. “He's done
with her cos he wants to be with our Miss.”

Emma squealed and clapped her hands together. “Oh
Miss! Really? That's so cool! You're going to be my sister-in-law!”

“Slow down, Mouse! We're talking about going
on a date after they're finished, not getting married!”
Marriage wasn't on Missy's wish list.

Emma laughed. “That's what I said. And
Holly. And look at us now!”

“Yes, and I'm very happy for you. Getting
married, settling down and no doubt having kids soon. But I'm a bit
different, Em. I don't do things the way most people do. When you
reverse the order and you have the kid first, like I did, you settle
down by yourself and you get on with it. Marriage gets knocked off
the list.”

Emma smiled her sweet smile, the one that always
meant she thought she knew better and was so smug in the knowledge
she wasn't even going to argue about it.

“Forget it, hon,” said Missy.

“Yeah,” Holly grinned. “You
should know by now, Em. You can't convince people of things they're
not ready to hear. It didn't work with me, did it?”

“No, but you got there eventually.”

“And so will Missy. Come on. Let's go get a
drink.”

Missy followed them off the dance-floor. She loved
Emma and Holly, but they had no idea what life was like for her.
She'd raised Scot by herself, always had to work hard for everything,
and lived a very different life than they had. She couldn't expect
them to understand.

Ben and Michael had joined the guys at one of the
big picnic tables out on the deck. Missy headed straight for the end
of the bench and squeezed on next to Dan. She could do without
Michael stirring things up with his flirting tonight.

“Hey, ladies,” said Ben. “I
brought us a bucket of beer, thought that was easiest, but I can go
get whatever you like.”

“I'd love a beer,” said Holly,
plucking one from the ice.

Dan looked at Missy. She nodded. He grabbed one
and twisted the top off before handing it to her.

“Thanks, hero,” she murmured. He
winked at her before he turned back to the others.

“Are you starting to rejoin the living,
Miss?” asked Ben. “Getting you out two nights in a row is
a big deal these days.”

“I know,” she said. “But I think
I might be using up my quota. I'm not staying late tonight. I'm too
tired and with all the cleaning I've got lined up, you might not see
me again for months.”

“Okay, so there are two things we need to
talk about,” said Ben. “First, I'm thinking I'm not going
to give you any more contracts ’til you hire a team to help
you.”

Missy was horrified. She needed the money. This
trip of Scot's had been a big expense, and now she would have another
night's hotel cost on top. She couldn't afford to be paying other
people to do work she could do herself.