Dance Like Nobody's Watching (Summer Lake 3) (2 page)

Holly was the first to greet them. “Hey
guys. Seems like there are more members to the original Summer Lake
gang.”

“Yeah,” said Ben. “Meet Michael.
Missy's partner in crime. If me, Pete, Missy, and Em were the
gruesome foursome, then Missy and Michael were the terrible twins.”

Missy slid back into her own chair while Michael
stood to shake hands. “Nice to meet you. I'm sorry I didn't
make it to the wedding.”

“No problem,” said Jack. “We
didn't exactly give people much notice. I'm glad you're here now
though. I know Em will be thrilled to see you.”

Dan shook Michael’s hand and muttered a
greeting. He looked put out. She had to stop imagining that it was
about her. He had a girlfriend, for God's sake! Still though, his big
brown eyes were fixed on her and she knew that look well enough to
know there was a lot going on behind the serious face.

“Now we're all here, is anyone ready to
eat?” asked Ben, tapping his menu. “I'm starving.”

The others nodded their agreement and began to
study their menus. Missy knew what she wanted and looked around at
the others in amusement. They ate here often enough, they should know
the menu by heart, but they all had their heads down. Except Dan. He
was looking straight at her. She wished she could figure out what he
was thinking. She smiled at him and was rewarded with his slow smile
in return.

“Did you hear about the first round of the
robotics competition yet?” he asked.

“No, Scot hasn’t checked in. I'm
hoping he'll call, but he may forget.” Dan's eyes twinkled,
sending a shiver of tingling excitement through her. She could stare
into those eyes all day long. Preferably all night long when they
twinkled like that. “Don't tell me he called you?”

Long dark lashes lowered over his eyes for a
moment and his hand came up to his face, rubbing the stubbly scruff
she longed to feel against her skin. His slow smile spread. “Only
because he needed help to figure out some adjustments.”

“Yeah, right.” Missy laughed. “And
I'll bet the two of you talked for twenty minutes and he told you all
about what's going on?”

Dan smiled. “Well, yeah. We did and he did.”

Missy was happy that Scot was coming out of
himself, voluntarily calling someone. He had always been more
comfortable with computers than people. She didn't even mind that it
wasn't her he wanted to talk to. She loved that they were so close,
but knew it wasn't healthy for her to be his whole world. She
couldn't believe how lucky they both were that he had Dan. “Come
to the bar with me, and tell me what he said?” she asked.
“While this bunch decides what they're eating. They can add my
chicken sandwich to the order.”

“And my burger,” said Dan as he sprang
to his feet to follow her.

***

Dan had been so excited to tell Missy about his
phone call with Scot. He was thrilled that the kid had called, and
had asked him to tell his mom how well the team was doing. He'd been
glad that Scot was going off to the competition, but a little sad
that it meant he'd have no reason to be in Summer Lake this weekend.
When he'd talked to Jack yesterday, he had suggested Dan should come
anyway. Some brother time would be good. Some alone time with Missy
would be even better, if he could find a reason. She'd just given him
one. He knew he shouldn't be taking every opportunity he could get to
be around her, but he couldn’t help it. Seeing her with that
Michael guy had dampened his excitement. It had stopped him dead, but
it shouldn't have. It wasn't logical. He came up here to see Scot,
not Missy. It wasn't reasonable of him to hate seeing her with
another guy. She wasn't his and he was supposed to be with Olivia
anyway. Unfortunately the logic and reason he usually relied on
refused to kick in, in fact, it abandoned him when it came to the
feisty little lady in front of him.

His excitement had returned when she'd asked him
to come inside with her. As he followed her through the crowded bar,
his arm shot out just in time to stop a guy who was backing up and
about to step on her. The place was heaving. She turned around to
thank him and someone else pushed into her. She stumbled forwards. In
a moment she was pressed against him, looking up into his eyes.

His arms instinctively closed around her, holding
her to him. He could feel every beat of his increased heart rate and
knew exactly where all that blood was rushing as he held her even
closer than was necessary. Her full breasts felt warm and soft
against his chest. Her arms came around his waist and she laughed up
at him.

“My hero! You saved me. Thank you.”

With any other woman, he would think she was
mocking him, but he knew Missy wouldn't do that. She understood him.
Besides, from the way her pupils were dilated and from her increased
heart rate that he could feel matching his own, he'd guess she felt
this attraction the same way he did. But shit! What to do with it?
For a moment he looked down into her gray eyes, savoring the feel of
her in his arms.

“Whenever you need a hero, call me. I'll
save you any time.” Where the hell had that cheesy line come
from? With a smile he forced himself to let her go. “How about
you follow me?” He stepped in front of her and held his hand
out behind him. She took hold of it and stayed closed as he forged
them a path through the crowd to the bar. Miraculously, there was one
empty stool. He pulled it out for her to sit and stood close to
shelter her from the jostling crowd.

“It may take us a while to get served,”
she said.

He smiled. “That's okay. I'll catch you up
on Scot while we wait.” From the look Ben had given him when
they'd left the table, he'd guessed they'd probably have gotten a
drink sooner by staying outside and letting Ben take care of it. Dan
was more interested in getting a few moments alone with her than
getting a drink, though. And getting her away from that Michael guy.

“So what did he have to say?” she
asked. “How are they doing?”

“They're doing really well. They placed
first in their section in the first round. He wanted me to help him
get some modifications ready for round two in the morning. He said to
tell you not to worry if he doesn't call ’til late. They're
going to be working on the robot for another couple of hours yet. You
know how that goes.”

She laughed. He loved the way she laughed so much.
“I'll be surprised if he calls at all. I do know how it goes.
I've had his whole life to get used to it. And these last few months,
while he's been working with you, I can see it's not just a Scot
thing. You're just as bad.”

It was weird. When Olivia said stuff like that to
him, it felt like a criticism. When Missy said it, it made him smile.
It felt like she understood him and, even better, that she liked him
anyway. “It's called dedication, Miss. And you know, he gets so
involved in what he's doing, he forgets all about time.” Dan
had always been that way with his work, but now it was how he felt
when he was with Missy. Time disappeared when he was with her. He
felt guilty about making the comparison, but time dragged with
Olivia. She talked so much. About things that didn't interest him.
“You don't mind that he called me?”

She put her hand on his shoulder and smiled.
“Mind? Dan, you have no idea how glad I am that he called you.
Thank you so much. I mean, of course I want to talk to him, and I did
want to ask him about my laptop, but it can wait ’til he gets
back.”

“What's up with your laptop?”

“It's frozen up again. He put some partition
thing on it, and I keep doing something wrong. It only takes him two
minutes to fix it, but I can't figure it out for the life of me.”

“I could take a look at it.”

“That'd be great, if you get chance.”

“We could take a look after we've eaten if
you like?” What was he saying? He'd come to see Jack. He could
fix her laptop tomorrow. She was looking up at him. He had no clue
what she was thinking. Was he being too pushy? Should he take it
back?

“That would be wonderful, thank you.”

He grinned. Wonderful indeed. “Okay, well
let's get these drinks and go eat, shall we?”

***

Dan shifted in his seat in Jack's truck. No one
had been up for a late night of it. They'd said goodbye to the others
and Jack had offered to drop Missy off on the way home. Dan had been
trying to figure out what to say to Jack. He hadn't figured it out
yet, and now they were pulling up at Missy's place.

“There you go, Miss. Was good to see you.
Don't be a stranger. You'll have to bring Scotty up for dinner one
night when Em's back.”

“I'd love that. Thanks, Jack. Give Em a hug
for me.”

Jack grinned, “Oh, okay then. I think I can
manage that.”

Missy opened the door to get out. Dan had to say
something now or he'd be riding away with Jack and kicking himself as
he went. He looked at his brother. “I said I'd give Missy a
hand with her computer. I'm going to stay here. I mean in the RV.”
He hadn't known what reaction to expect, but it wasn't the one he
got.

A huge grin spread across Jack's face. “Great.
Give me a shout in the morning. I'm beat, and now I get an early
night without having to keep you entertained.”

That was a lot easier than he'd feared. He looked
at Missy, who had climbed down from the truck, then back at Jack. His
brother raised his eyebrows and gave him a knowing smile. “Call
me in the morning. We need to talk about this. In the meantime, have
fun, little bro.”

Dan grinned back at him. “Thanks, Jack. See
you tomorrow.” He climbed down and waved as Jack drove away
with a beep of his horn.

Missy fumbled with her key as Dan stood close
behind her on the doorstep. All the little hairs on the back of her
neck were standing on end. It was as if even they felt the tingly
excitement that had been coursing through her ever since he'd put his
arms around her in the bar.

“Do you need a hand?” His breath
tickled her ear as he spoke.

“Got it,” she said as she managed to
unlock the door and push it open. She hurried inside, needing to put
a little distance between them. She shouldn't be enjoying the feel of
his closeness this much. She knew he was seeing someone else. Yet
Missy wanted to feel his arms around her again, look up into those
big brown eyes, and kiss him senseless...for starters! “I'll
get my laptop. There's beer or wine in there, if you want anything.”
She ran up the stairs, laughing at herself for wishing she could drag
him up there with her.

“Would you like a glass of wine with me?”
he shouted after her.

“Yes, please.” She grabbed her laptop
from the bedroom and started back down the stairs. When she came into
the kitchen he was holding two glasses of wine, smiling at her. She
caught her breath. He was perfect. Tall, but not too tall for a
shrimp like her. Muscled, but more wiry than bulky. His green T-shirt
stretched over him, doing a very poor job of concealing the lean,
well-defined chest and shoulders it was supposed to be covering. She
met his eyes. They were twinkling again. Oh, boy!

“Thanks.” She turned away and set the
laptop on the table. Sitting in front of it, she jabbed at the
keyboard, trying to make the thing wake up. “See, I can't make
it behave!”

He put her glass on the table and looked at the
screen over her shoulder. “Be gentle with it. I think I'd
freeze up too, if you poked at me like that!”

She laughed. “I'd never poke at you. There's
no need. You always behave exactly the way you're supposed to.”

He reached over her shoulder and tapped a couple
of keys. She tingled all over as he leaned closer.

“What if I misbehaved?”

Was she hearing things? Letting her imagination
run wild? She turned her head and found herself face to face with
him. He cocked his head to one side, his eyes dead serious as she
looked into them. Damn! Why did she always want the ones she couldn't
have? She jumped up from her chair, not realizing he had his glass in
his other hand. He managed to cover himself in red wine as he moved
quickly out of the way.

“Sorry,” she gasped.

“No, I'm sorry,” he said, not meeting
her eyes. “I shouldn't have said that.”

She grabbed some paper towels and started dabbing
at his shirt. “It's okay, honey. I wish you would misbehave,
but we both know you're not going to. You have a girlfriend and I
have a son. Now let's get you out of this before it stains.”

He kept his eyes lowered as he pulled his T-shirt
up and over his head. Oh, this was cruel and unusual punishment, his
body was as beautiful as his smile! He was lean and hard with a
dusting of dark hair she wanted to sink her fingers into. And ink!
She'd never have pegged him as a tattoo guy. He stepped closer and
she dragged her gaze away from the string of Chinese characters that
ran down his side and disappeared into the waistband of his jeans. He
was so close now. Without conscious thought her hands found their way
up to his shoulders. His arms fastened around her waist and, for the
second time in one evening, she found herself pressed against his
chest. He smelled wonderful. Some musky cologne that made her want to
breathe him in.

“You wish I would misbehave?” His
voice was low. She watched his lips move, wondering what it would be
like to kiss them.

She reined herself in. “Dan, honey.”
She couldn't help but sink her fingers in his hair. “In a
different world, a different life, I think we could have great fun
misbehaving together. But you have your girlfriend to think about and
I have Scot. I would never do anything to hurt either of them.

His gaze softened as he looked down at her. “I
understand about Olivia, but how could we hurt Scot?”

Oh, such a typical man after all! Didn't care how
he might hurt a woman and didn't understand how he could hurt her
son. She let go of him and stepped away, angry now. “You....”
The sound of the doorbell cut off the choice words she'd been about
to lay on him. Who the hell could that be at this time of night? She
turned away from Dan and went to see, leaving him bemused and
shirtless in the kitchen.