Dance Like Nobody's Watching (Summer Lake 3) (25 page)

Dan shook his hand again. “Thanks, George.
We'll be sure and stop by before we leave.”

“Enjoy yourselves. It was a real pleasure to
meet you, Missy.”

“Thank you. You too.”

Dan led her to the elevator where he swiped his
card in the slot.

“Private floor?” she asked.

He nodded.

“Poor dumb country boy, my ass!” She
laughed as the elevator doors closed behind them.

Dan grinned. “I told you. I never claimed to
be dumb.”

“Well, you can't claim poor or country
either, can you?”

“I guess I can't anymore, but it's where I
come from. It's what I am, Miss. I learned all this stuff cos it's
what you do when you're living the life I was trying to live. I never
really got the point of it before, but I do now.”

“Yeah? What's the point of it now?”

He put his arms around her. “I want to share
it all with you. It's fun with you. Seeing you enjoy it makes me
enjoy it.”

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. She
looked around as he took her hand and led her over a bridge across a
reflecting pool. “I think you're going to enjoy our suite.”
His smile was so sexy and so sweet as he added, “In many ways.”

***

Dan closed the door behind the butler and turned
back into the suite to find Missy. She was out in the atrium. She
turned to him, eyes wide.

“It's sooo beautiful, and we've got our own
fountain out here, Dan! Come see.”

He grinned as he took her hand and she led him to
the fountain. He didn't remember ever coming out here in all the
times he and Steven had stayed in this suite. Beautiful hadn't meant
much to him until he'd met Missy. Before he'd only noticed the upload
speeds he could get inside, and the video and audio quality on the
huge TV and sound system. Now he noticed that the fountain really was
beautiful, as were the flowers out here, but he only noticed them
because of how happy they made Missy. And she was truly beautiful.

“We have a great view of the main fountains
too, see.”

As she stood looking out at the famous fountains
shooting up into the air, Dan stood behind her and slid his arms
around her waist. As they watched, a wedding party came into view and
posed for photographs with the water dancing behind them.

Dan lowered his lips to her ear. “Would you
like to get married here, Miss?”

He felt her tense; a few moments passed before she
replied. “I've never really thought about it. It's not
something I thought I'd ever do.”

Hmm. Apparently he hadn't phrased that right. He
tried it again. “Would you like for
us
to get married
here?”

She spun around to face him. “Danny, what
are you saying?”

Her eyes widened. Why did she look so shocked?
Then it dawned on him. He was supposed to ask her
if
she
wanted to marry him first. Damn! He didn’t want to mess it up.
He hugged her to him. “Nothing, I just wondered, that's all.”

She rested her head against his chest and hugged
him tight. That was good, right? He'd figure out a way to ask her
properly before he brought it up again.

***

Missy felt as though she was living in a dream,
sitting on the patio overlooking the fountains. They'd had a
wonderful dinner here earlier. The show had been spectacular, she'd
never seen anything like it. She felt like a million dollars in the
dress Dan had given her. She smiled across the table at him, he
looked
like a million dollars. Gorgeous! She felt all the
tingly excitement bubble up, remembering his question about if she'd
like to get married here. At first she'd thought he must have been
asking a general question, like you'd ask a friend—would you
rather get married in church or in Vegas? But then he'd said, for
us
to get married here! Part of her wanted to ask him what he'd
meant, if he was asking her to marry him—if he was, that part
of her would say yes in a heartbeat. But another part of her was more
cautious. She knew she loved him and believed he loved her, but
marriage wasn't about the hearts, and flowers, and great sex type
being
in love
. Marriage was about the long-haul, getting
through the tough times together type
love
. She knew they
could do the hearts and flowers—and the great sex, but would
their differences tear them apart instead of drawing them together
when they hit life's storms? You could never really know ’til
it happened, but she had Scotty to think about, so she needed to be
sure. Besides, who was she kidding? He hadn't actually asked her. It
had probably just come out wrong and that wasn't what he meant at
all.

She looked up to find him smiling at her. “Thanks
so much, Danny. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a night as much as
this.”

His smile widened. “I know I haven't, Miss.
And this is just the beginning, we can do this whenever we want.”

Wouldn't that be wonderful? To be able to do this,
with Dan? To think that her life could be like this, and that she
could share it with the amazing man sitting across from her? She was
at a loss for words. She gasped as the fountains shot up into the
air, seeming to dance to the music, sparkling in the light-show that
accompanied them. This night could not be more perfect.

Dan's eyes twinkled at her. “I know it's a
bit early, but Happy Birthday, beautiful.” He held out a
jewelry box.

She caught her breath as she took it. “Thank
you!”

He grinned. “Open it. See if you like it
before you say that.”

She opened the box and tears filled her eyes when
she saw the necklace inside. It was a delicate silver chain, with a
pendant made up of two linked hearts side by side. A smaller heart
threaded through the bottom of the other two, so that the pendant
looked like one big heart made up of three smaller ones. She felt a
tear spill over as she smiled at him.

“I think you know what I mean?” he
asked, his head cocked to one side.

She nodded. “It's you, me and Scot, isn't
it?”

He nodded.

“Danny, it's gorgeous.
You
are
gorgeous. Thank you so much.”

He smiled and took her hand. “Happy
Birthday, Miss.”

“It's not for another week, but it's already
the best birthday I've ever had!”

***

Missy clung to his hand as the plane took off from
McCarran. He was getting used to having his fingers crushed whenever
they flew. He kind of liked it. It reminded him how strong she was,
in so many ways. Last night had been awesome. He'd even enjoyed the
show, and not just because Missy had enjoyed it so much, either. His
original plan had been for them to stay the whole weekend. But they
had to get back for Scot. That was okay. They'd come again soon, he
was sure. He liked the idea of getting married here. Missy seemed to
love the place so much. He'd talked to George this morning and he'd
said the Bellagio did packages where they took care of every little
detail. He liked that idea too, so that Missy wouldn't be able to
overwork herself setting it all up. He bit his lip; he had to figure
out how to ask her first though.

Another reason they needed to get back today was
that Missy's brother was coming at some point this weekend. He was
feeling a little wary about Chance. He knew he'd be under some
scrutiny and he hoped it would work out okay. It sounded like Chance
was a man to be reckoned with. He was understandably protective of
his sister and nephew, but Dan felt the same protectiveness towards
them, at least that was something he and Chance had in common. It
didn't sound like there would be much else.

Smoke's voice filled the cabin. “You can
unbuckle now, if you want, but we may be in for a bumpy ride this
morning. I'll let you know if you need to strap back in.”

Missy finally released her grip on his fingers.
“Sorry, hero” She looked apologetic as he shook his hand
trying to get some sensation back. “You'd think I'd be getting
used to it by now.”

“I don't mind. I like it, you know that. And
you'll have plenty of chances to get used to it. How about coming to
San Jose with me this week? I want to get some more gear and clothes
from my apartment and I need to talk to Leanne, hopefully see Ryan.”

Her smile disappeared. “I'd love to, but I
can't.”

He thought he knew what she was going to say, but
he had to ask. “Why not?”

“Scot's in school.”

He bit his bottom lip. She was avoiding it. “I
know. We could leave after he takes the bus and if we go on
Wednesday, he won't be finished at chess club ’til six. We'll
easily be back by then. So, what do you say?” He felt bad
pushing the issue, but it had to be done.

Her eyes were dark gray now. “I have to
work.”

There was the real problem. “You don't
though, do you, Miss?” he asked gently.

“Yes, I do!” she shot back.

“Miss, we need to talk about it.”

She let out a big sigh. “I don't know what
to say though, Danny. Or what to do.”

He knew she'd arranged for one of the girls from
the resort to cover for her so they could leave early yesterday.
There had been so many little things he'd wanted to do last week, but
hadn't brought them up because he knew she wouldn't take the time
off. “We need to figure out what we're going to do though,
don't we?” He put an arm around her. “You work too hard.
You're still worn out and I don't like to see you doing all that when
you don't need to.”

“I do need to, though! I have bills to pay,
a son to take care of.”

“But I can take care of you both, if you'll
let me.”

She shook her head. “I know you want to be
my hero and part of me wants to let you, but I've always made my own
way in life. Who would I be if I gave up my job and let you pay for
everything? I wouldn't know what to do, or who I was. It would change
things between us, too, and I don't want that.”

She did have a point. He did want her to give up
her job, not worry about money, let him take care of it, of her and
Scot. But Missy wasn't exactly the stay-at-home housewife type. She
was a doer, strong and independent, that was part of what he loved
about her so much. “As I said, we need to talk about it. I know
you don't want to be a kept woman.” He hoped for a laugh, but
didn't get one. “There's got to be some compromise between that
and you killing yourself every day cleaning up after other people.”

She pursed her lips, but at least she nodded; it
was a start.

“How about we both think about it. See what
ideas we can come up with and we'll talk about it tomorrow night,
after Scot's gone to bed?”

He was liking the ritual they'd started of going
up to their room when Scot went to bed. A couple of nights they'd sat
in the hot tub, talked and watched the stars. A couple of nights
they'd sat in the armchairs by the fire and talked. He'd found and
ordered online a big sheepskin rug, so that soon they'd be able to do
more than just talk in front of the fire.

“Okay,” she said. “Let's do
that, but please, Dan, don't expect me to come with you this week. I
have a lot of work already lined up and I won't let people down.”

Dan nodded. He respected that.

The intercom crackled, then Smoke said, “Sorry,
guys. I'm going to have to ask you to strap in.”

Dan grinned and let his seat-belt all the way out.
He attached it to Missy's buckle. “There,” he said,
putting his arms around her. “All strapped in.”

She smiled up at him. “Thanks. I feel safer
now.”

As she snuggled against him, he knew she meant it.
If only she'd let him make her feel safe in all the other ways he
wanted to, too.

“Have you talked to Laura lately?” she
asked.

“No. We've been playing phone tag. Have you?
Is she coming for your party?”

“I hope so, but we've been playing phone tag
too. Her last message said she wants to, but she's not sure if she
can get up. It's quite a drive from the Bay area isn't it?”

Dan put a hand to his face, annoyed with himself.
He'd been using Papa Charlie and Smoke's services a lot lately, but
he forgot, he was the exception, not the norm. Laura couldn't do
that. She'd never ask Jack if she could use the plane, there was no
way she could afford the fuel.

“What's wrong?” asked Missy.

He smiled as an idea came to him. “I don't
know if you've noticed, but I think Laura and Smoke like each other.”

Missy laughed. “It's kind of hard not to
notice.”

“And I'm guessing Smoke's coming to your
party?”

Missy nodded.

“So, how about when I go to San Jose, I
drive back so I've got the Jeep. That way Smoke can stay over there
and they'll get some time together then he can fly her up for the
party?”

“That's a great idea. Do you want to talk to
her, or shall I?”

“How about you talk to Laura and I'll talk
to Smoke?”

Dan did intend to talk to Laura himself, but that
wasn't anything he wanted Missy to know about yet.

Dan circled his arms as he ran. He'd thought about
skipping his run today, but since Missy had said she was going to her
dad's after she collected Scot from Michael's place, he'd decided he
may as well fit it in. He needed to figure out how to get his gym
equipment up here. He missed it, but in the meantime, his run had
become an important part of his day. The days were getting cooler now
and the breeze off the lake made him feel alive in a way sitting in
front of a keyboard and monitor never had. He'd discovered a few
routes that gave him a good hour's run. The one he'd chosen this
morning was less challenging. He'd followed the cycle path along the
lakeshore and out of the resort before looping down to the old road
by the river that would lead him back into town and home. He'd
already come to think of their house as home. He hoped that Missy and
Scot would too.

He picked up his pace as the old road climbed a
little. There were hardly ever any cars out here, but he kept to the
edge anyway. At the top of the rise he could see a big black pick-up
truck parked in the shade under the trees. As he approached a man
stepped out, leaving the door open and standing in Dan's path, arms
folded across his chest. His eyes were shadowed by his black cowboy
hat. Dan slowed to a jog, not sure what to make of this. The guy was
taller than him by a good few inches. He was probably thirty pounds
heavier too—thirty pounds of solid muscle. From his
intimidating stance, it didn't look like he was after a friendly chat
either. Dan slowed to a walk as he got closer, trying to make out the
face under the brim of that hat.