Dance Like Nobody's Watching (Summer Lake 3)

Dance Like Nobody's
Watching

Missy and Dan – Summer
Lake Book Three

SJ McCoy

A Sweet N Steamy Romance

Published by XSHi
Publications

Copyright 2014. SJ McCoy

Cover
Design by Kari Ayasha of
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to Cover Designs

Editor:
Kristi Cramer of
Kristi
Cramer Books

All
rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in
a database or retrieval system, without prior written consent of the
author.

This
book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are
figments of the author's imagination, fictitious, or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons
living or dead is coincidental.

Missy heaved the vacuum cleaner into the back of
her minivan and sat down next to it for a minute. She was worn out.
Another cabin cleaned, another day done. She stared out at the late
afternoon sun sparkling on the lake and smiled. She might be
exhausted, but she was paying the bills. If she kept picking up
cleaning contracts the way she had been doing, she might soon be able
to hire someone to help. It was the tail end of the busy tourist
season now though. Maybe it would be best to wait ’til next
year, even if it did mean she had to keep working every minute she
could. At least every minute that she wasn't with Scot.

He was away overnight with the Robotics Club. They
had made it to state finals. He'd been so excited to go. Missy had
wanted to chaperone, but had decided to be brave and stay home when
she'd heard him chattering with his friend about how cool it would be
to be off on their own. He was growing up. She didn't want to be that
mom who was always hovering. Still, it was hard.

She closed the back of the minivan and got in. The
cabin she'd just finished cleaning was way up in the foothills on the
Eastern shore of Summer Lake. It would take her a good half hour to
get back down into town. For once she would have an evening home
alone. It had been so long she wasn't even sure what to do with it.
She'd been so tired lately, she had an idea that it might involve an
early night.

She jumped when her cell phone rang and the sound
came through the car speakers. She'd never had one of those hands
free set-ups, never really wanted one, but last weekend Scot and Dan
had rigged something up so that her phone synced with the stereo
system. She swiped to answer.

“Hello?”

Holly's voice filled the van. “Hey, Miss.
How you doing, sweetie?”

“Hey, Holly. I'm good, thanks. How about
you?”

“Great. Listen, will you meet us for dinner
at the Boathouse? The guys are all pumped up after a big meeting
about Four Mile. Em's in LA this weekend and I could use some female
company to dilute the testosterone.”

Missy laughed. “So, the three musketeers are
full of themselves, are they?”

“You would not believe the way they carry
on. They're driving me crazy! Say you'll come down. I don't want to
be the lone female and besides, I haven't seen you in weeks.”

Missy sighed. She’d been working so much she
hadn't had much chance to catch up with her friends lately. “Sorry,
hon, but Scot's away tonight and I've got dinner for one and an early
night with my name written all over them.”

“You don't have to stay late. Just come for
a while. Do us both a favor. Please?”

Missy thought about it. She had to eat and she
sure didn't feel like cooking just for herself. “Okay then, but
I'm not staying long. What time?”

“Yay! We're heading down there in a few, so
as soon as you're ready.”

“Okay, I'll get there when I can. It'll be
good to see you.”

“You too. See you there.”

Ah, well. It would be good to see the gang. It was
a pity Dan wouldn't be there. She had to stop thinking like that
though. He had a girlfriend. She was lucky that he spent as much time
as he did with Scot. The two of them spent most of their weekends
writing computer programs and building robots. She smiled to herself.
She was grateful that Dan had taken such an interest in her son. Scot
had come out of his shell these last few months. What she had to do
was stop hoping that Dan would take an interest in her, too. She'd
never seen the appeal in the sexy nerd type ’til she'd met
Jack's younger brother. She sure understood it now. Unfortunately for
her, his business partner's sister had always seen the appeal and had
laid claim to him years ago. She wrinkled her nose. What could she
expect him to see in her anyway? A single mom who cleaned other
people's houses to scrape out a living. It was pointless to keep
daydreaming about him.

She pulled out onto the South Shore road and
joined the traffic heading into town. Tourist season might be winding
down, but the weekends were still quite busy. There would no doubt be
quite a crowd at the Boathouse tonight. She pulled into her driveway
and smiled at the sight of Dan's huge RV parked behind the house. It
was massive. It probably had more livable square feet than her house
did. Hell, it was probably worth more than her house. These days all
Dan used it for was to store computer equipment that he and Scot were
working on.

After a quick shower, she sat in front of the
mirror putting her makeup on. Normally she wouldn't bother with much
for a night like this, but those dark circles under her eyes needed
some help. She chuckled to herself, wondering if it was physically
possible to apply mascara without sticking your tongue out. Impressed
with the lift her makeup gave her, she decided to wear the new top
her brother had sent as an early birthday present. Once she was done,
she was pleased with the result. No one would ever guess how tired
she felt from the way she looked. She closed up the house and set out
to walk the five minutes to the resort.

“Hey, Miss!” As she entered the
restaurant, Ben called to her from behind the bar. “Come here,
would you?” He let himself through and gave her a hug. “I
haven't heard from you for days, bud. I was starting to get worried,
and I've missed you in here.”

Missy smiled. “I've missed you too, hon, but
if you keep sending me places to clean—and don't you dare
stop—this is how it's going to be.”

“Yeah, we need to talk about that. I don't
understand how you're doing it. I thought you would have hired people
on by now. Have you figured out how to clone yourself or something?”

She laughed at that. “I wish! If I could do
that though, you know you'd be seeing more of me in here.”

Ben put an arm around her shoulders. “Well,
you're here now. That's what counts. I'm glad Holly talked you into
it. Come on, she's out on the deck with Pete, and you're never going
to believe who's with them.”

He started walking her through the bar. She was
grateful that he kept his arm around her. At her height, it could be
difficult to push a path through a crowd. Since everyone in the place
knew Ben as the owner of the resort, they made way for him to pass as
they smiled and waved in greeting. When they reached the deck, she
really couldn't believe her eyes. Holly and Pete sat talking with one
of her favorite people in the world.

“Michael!”

At the sound of his name, he jumped up from the
table and picked her up off her feet to spin her around. She laughed
as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Little Missy! You've still not had that
growth spurt then?” As always, his Australian accent reminded
her of how far this friend had drifted from Summer Lake.

She slapped his arm. “Good things come in
small packages. Now put me down!”

“No chance, darl'.” He spun her around
again, making her dizzy. “You're the best little package I've
got my hands on in a long time. No way am I putting you down just
yet.”

“Michael Morgan, put me down!” She
laughed and beat her fists against his chest as he wrapped both arms
around her waist.

“Can't make me!”

“Can too!” She wriggled ’til he
loosened his grip. She looked up into laughing green eyes as he let
her slide to the floor.

“Missy Malone, you are still the bossiest
little critter I ever met.”

She laughed. “You can bet your ass on that
one, buddy.”

Ben looked at Holly. “Can you imagine what
it was like going to school with this bunch?”

Holly laughed.

“Yeah,” said Pete, “Especially
these two. Missy Malone and Michael Morgan. Double trouble in the
middle of roll call.

“Hey, it was all her,” laughed
Michael. “She was the ringleader. I just tagged along behind
like a lovesick puppy.”

Missy pushed him. “You! You were the one
that caused all the trouble.” She turned to Holly. “Watch
out for this one. Causes trouble wherever he goes, he does.”
She looked back at Michael, “Anyway, what the hell are you
doing here? Did they kick you out of Australia?”

She noticed his eyes darken for a moment, an
almost imperceptible shadow crossed his face before he laughed. “Nah,
I just got bored of it. Was feeling homesick. Missing you, critter.
And thinking about how much fun we had here as kids, I thought it'd
be good for Ethan to spend some time here too.

“Oh, my God! Ethan's with you?”

“He is, he's with my folks tonight, but I'd
love to get him and Scotty together.”

“Oh, we have to. Scot won't be back ’til
late tomorrow night though. How long are you here for?”

She watched Michael exchange a look with Pete
before he replied. “That's a real good question, Miss.
Hopefully it's for good.”

“What? You're moving back here?”
Michael had been a great friend, one of the gang, from kindergarten
through high school. He'd gone to college in Australia and lived
there ever since, though he came back at least once a year and
brought his son, Ethan with him.

“I'm thinking about it.” That shadow
crossed his face again. She'd have to get him on his own and ask what
was going on. She knew him too well to question him in front of
people. “We'll definitely be here ’til the holidays, so
you'd better get used to it.” He picked her up again and swung
her around.

“Put me down!” she laughed.

Michael plopped her down into a chair and drew up
another for himself, as close as he could get it. “I'll put you
down for now, critter, but we've got some catching up to do.”
He winked at her then looked up at Ben. “So, is this everyone?
You said Em's in LA?”

“She is, but her husband Jack is on his way.
He went to pick up his brother Dan at the airport.”

Missy felt the familiar tingle of excitement at
the mention of Dan’s name. “I thought Dan wasn't coming
this weekend?”

“So did he,” said Pete, “but
with Em and Scot out of town, the Benson boys decided to get some
brother time in. Jack sent Smoke to fly up to get Dan in the company
jet this afternoon. In fact,” Pete peered across at the parking
lot, “I think Jack just pulled up.”

Missy leaned over the railing and craned her neck
to see if she could see the truck.

Michael wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled
her back into her seat. “Careful critter, we don't want you
falling into the lake now.” He laughed.

Missy laughed with him. “Okay, just keep
your big hands to yourself, mister!” She scooted her chair
further away from him, but he just moved his own so he was right next
to her again, a big grin on his face. He rested an arm along the back
of her chair.

“I'm just looking out for you, darlin'. I've
missed being your bodyguard.” He raised his eyebrows and cast
an appreciative glance over her. I could get used to guarding that
body.”

“Michael Morgan, you are one big flirt! It
never worked on me. What makes you think it's going to work now?”

He dropped his arm to her shoulders and pulled her
towards him. “Now, my little critter, I've got all the time in
the world to work on it. You know you won't be able to resist a
sustained charm offensive.”

“Pete!” she laughed. “He's
picking on me already. Make him stop!”

Pete laughed. “Sorry, Miss. I never could
make myself heard once you two start up. I'm staying out of it.”

“See. Not even perfect Pete is going to
stand in my way. There’s no escaping it. We were meant to be
and I'm back to claim what's mine. He pulled her from her chair and
into his lap. As she laughed and tried to get away, he planted noisy
kisses on her cheek and the top of her head. Even though it was only
Michael, it felt good to have a man's arms around her again. She just
wished it was...Dan! As she wriggled to escape, she saw Dan and Jack
approaching the table. Jack smiled, amused by their antics. Dan's
face was completely still, his eyes fixed on her. He cocked his head
to one side. She loved it when he did that. It was so damned sexy.