Dance Like Nobody's Watching (Summer Lake 3) (11 page)

“There's your proof that that's not true.”
He gave her a mischievous grin. “It's just that you'll need all
your strength. You
will
be worn out by the time I'm done with
you.” She caught her breath as he ran his fingertips down her
bare arm. There was nothing shy or sweet about the way he was looking
at her now. Her insides melted. “Please go to sleep before I
have to show you what I'm talking about?”

She nodded. “Kiss goodnight?” She
asked hopefully. She'd been longing to kiss him, to feel his lips on
hers.

He shook his head sadly. “We both know it
wouldn't end with a kiss. Go to sleep, Miss, please? You need the
rest.”

“Okay then.”

She turned over and pressed her back against him.
He put an arm around her and pulled her closer. How was she supposed
to go to sleep when she could feel his hard-on pushing at her through
the covers? When she could feel his warm breath on her neck?
Impossible as it seemed, she could feel her eyelids starting to
droop.

***

Dan sat in the kitchen, nursing his second cup of
coffee. Missy had still been asleep when he came downstairs. He'd
hardly slept, just lain there holding her close all night, fighting
the urge to get out of his clothes and under the covers with her.
He'd known that if he did, there would only be one outcome. He wanted
so badly to make love to her. Had wanted her for months. At first
he'd thought it was just a fantasy, a physical attraction, albeit
stronger than any he'd known before. But as he'd gotten to know her,
spent more time with her whenever he came to see Scot, his feelings
had grown stronger, and deeper. He knew now he wanted to make love
with the woman, not just have sex with her body. He'd waited this
long. He knew now that it would happen, and sooner rather than later.
The obstacles to their being together were being dismantled one by
one. Olivia was out of the picture. Scot knew the score and was happy
about it. They'd both vowed to not let it affect him. Now, if she
could get this anemia addressed, get herself back to full strength,
there'd be nothing to stop them. He shook his head at the
ever-present pressure in his pants. That part of him didn't
understand the logic or the reason in waiting. It had one desire, and
in the early morning hours, it had almost convinced him that he
really shouldn't wait any longer. That was when he'd had to get up
and come downstairs.

He'd worked on his laptop for a while. Now he was
a little concerned about what time Scot would need to be up, and if
he should wake him—or Missy. He fixed himself a fresh coffee
and sipped it, trying to decide what to do. The decision was made for
him when he heard what could only be Scot coming down the stairs. The
kitchen door flew open.

“Mom, Mom, I....” Scot froze when he
saw it was Dan and not his mom sitting there. He hung his head.
“Morning,” he mumbled.

Dan was a little surprised by the sudden change in
him. Then he noticed the front of Scot's pajamas appeared to be
soaked. Ah! How to handle this without making it worse for the kid?
“Morning, champ.” He rubbed his eyes. “I'm nearly
awake. How about you?”

“Yeah.” Scot was still looking at the
floor.

“Do you have coffee?”

“Orange juice,” he mumbled.

Dan got up and poured him a glass of juice. “What
about breakfast?”

“No thanks. I have to.... Is Mom awake?”

“Not yet. What do you need, bud?”

Scot lifted his head just enough so that Dan could
see his eyes. His brows knit together. “I....” He lowered
his gaze again and stood there, clutching his glass in both hands.

Poor little guy. Like so many of the things Scot
went through, Dan remembered how this felt too. “Listen, bud.
When I used to do it, Jack would make me go take a shower while he
stripped the bed and put the sheets and jammies in the washer. You
think we should try that?”

Scot looked up at him. “You used to pee in
bed too?”

“Yup, sure did.” Dan nodded solemnly.
“Sometimes I would do it when I wasn't even asleep.”

“You did?”

“Yup. You know how the real world fades away
when you're coding? Sometimes I'd be so into what I was writing that
I wouldn't notice that I needed to pee—or even that I had peed!
I think it's the way our minds work. We get so involved with the
interesting stuff, we don't always pay as much attention as we should
to the everyday stuff.”

Scot nodded. “I used to do it when I was
awake too. I don't anymore though.”

“Me neither,” said Dan with a smile.
“What do you think, you want to go shower while I strip the
bed?”

Scot smiled and nodded. “Thanks, Dan.”

“No worries, champ. We smart guys have to
stick together right? Not everyone else gets us, do they?”

He held his fist out and Scot bumped his own
against it. He followed the kid upstairs into his bedroom. “Throw
your jammies out to me before you get in the shower and I'll stick
them in the washer with the sheets. And be quick so we can have some
breakfast.”

***

Missy came out of Dr. Morgan's office and smiled
at Dan, who sat in the waiting room looking uncomfortable, surrounded
as he was by gossiping women and coughing kids. He jumped up when he
saw her and followed her to the door.

“So what did he say?”

“That you and Michael are right. I need some
good food and some iron pills.”

Dan raised an eyebrow and gave her a knowing look.
“And some rest?”

“Yeah, that too.”

“So what caused it? Did he know?”

“Umm, a couple of things. It's kind of
hereditary. My mom was always on iron pills.”

“What else?”

Missy wasn’t sure she wanted to tell him.

“
What,
Miss?” He looked so
concerned it would be easier to tell him than to leave him worrying
it was something serious.

“Heavy blood loss.”

He looked horrified. “Heavy blood loss? How?
When?”

Oh, the poor clueless man! She couldn't help but
laugh. “Dan, you're supposed to be a smart guy. If I tell you
that the answer to when is a few days every month, I think you can
probably figure out the how!”

“Ah.” He gave her a shamefaced grin.
“I didn't think of that. Sorry.”

She laughed. “Not a problem. It makes it
easier for me to ask you to take me to the pharmacy.”

He held up a hand. “No need to tell me
anything more. I don't understand, but I don't need to.”

She smiled. Hopefully, at some point he might be
interested to know that Dr Morgan had put her on the pill. Not for
the sake of any sex life she might be hoping for, but in an attempt
to help with the anemia by moderating her period. “Okay, I
shall say no more.”

“Thank you.” He opened the passenger
door of the minivan for her. Before she got in, she reached up and
kissed his cheek.

“No, Dan. Thank
you.
I don't know
what I would have done without you this weekend.” She sat in
the van. “Or this morning, getting Scotty ready and off to
school. Getting me here. You've done so much. Thank you.”

“I'm glad I was here. Very glad.”

While he went around to the driver's side, she
knew that, as much as she loved having him around, she needed him to
leave soon so she could go to work. It would be a struggle. She still
felt exhausted, but she still had five cabins to clean today. Once he
climbed in she said, “I know that you've stayed longer than you
meant to already. Do you want to call Smoke and I'll drop you at the
airport?”

He looked across at her and cocked his head to one
side. “You really think I'm that clueless?”

She was shocked. “What do you mean?”

He rolled his eyes. “You think you're going
to get rid of me and then head up to the resort and start cleaning
cabins, don't you?”

She didn't say anything. She hadn't realized she
was so transparent, and she hated to admit that she had indeed been
trying to get rid of him. Yes, he was wonderful, she loved being
around him, but her priorities had to revolve around making ends
meet, not spending time with a gorgeous man.

“Not going to admit it?” he asked. He
didn't look angry, she wasn't sure what the look on his face meant.

She let out a big sigh. “Okay, I admit it.
Don't think it's because I want you to leave though. I really don't.
It's because I have to work. I need the money. I have to do this to
pay the bills. I know it's not something that occurs to the rest of
you, but it's a huge factor in my life, Dan.”

“That's not fair, Miss. You know where I
come from. I know all about struggling to get by.”

She did know that. He and Jack had grown up dirt
poor with an abusive alcoholic for a father. She nodded. “Yeah,
but it's not a factor for you anymore is it, Mr. Tech Genius? You've
made boatloads of money with your software. It's not like you have to
go out and scrub other people's toilets so you can feed your kid, is
it?” Oops! She hadn't meant to bite his head off. It wasn't his
fault. His gaze softened as he looked at her.

“You don't have to either. Please. At least
for this week, stay home. Rest. Get better?”

“I can't!”

“You can. You'll still get paid. I talked to
Ben last night. You'll still get a week's sick pay.”

How could that work? She wasn't employed by some
corporation. She didn't get any benefits, let alone a week's sick
pay.

“Think about it, Miss. It makes sense. It's
better to pay you to take one week off to get better now than it
would be to lose you for several weeks, or more, if you keep pushing
and make yourself worse.”

She frowned. What he said made sense, but it
didn't make sense that Ben should pay her to stay home and still have
to find and pay someone else to do all the work that she wasn't
doing. He started the van and pulled out while she was still trying
to figure out what to think, say, or do. “Where are we going?”

“I'm taking you home and you're not going to
argue.”

“You mean you hope I'm not!”

He laughed. “Nope. I'm
telling you
you're not
.
You're going to be a good girl and do as you're
told for once. You're going to go home and take a nice little nap
while I go get iron pills and groceries.”

She smiled. “Suitable ones?”

“Yes, suitable ones.”

How could she argue with him? “Okay, you win
and I do appreciate it, Dan. But seriously, don't you need to get
back yourself?”

He shrugged. “I don't want to.”

She laughed. “Now you sound like Scotty!”

He grinned. “Maybe so, but I don't really
need to either. Plus, I need to make sure you're not going to go
sneaking back to work as soon as I leave.”

“And how are you going to make sure of it?”

He shot her a quick look. “I could tie you
to the bed.”

Yep. Her body sure did remember what desire was!
“But if you did that, I hope you wouldn't leave?”

“No, ma'am. No way I'd be leaving.” He
reached over and gave her hand a quick squeeze. “See, that's
another reason you need to take the whole week off. We can't start
misbehaving ’til you're all rested and better.”

She looked at him. He was looking way too pleased
with himself. “Hmm. That could be a persuasive argument.”

“I could be even more persuasive and say we
can't start misbehaving until you've taken five full days at home to
rest—and don't think I won't know. If you do decide you're all
better and go back to work, you'll be delaying our date. And
everything that goes with it.”

Her stomach fluttered at the thought of everything
that might go with their date. “You drive a hard bargain,
hero.”

“I guess I do for a clueless geek, don't I?”

She laughed. “You're no clueless geek!
You're my hero!” She'd call him hero all day every day if she
could, just to see the way he smiled when she did. “You win.
I'll stay home all week and rest, but you'd better come back and take
me out on Friday night.”

He squeezed her hand again. “It's a date.”

“Sorry I haven't been over sooner, bud.”

Missy smiled. “That's okay, you've sent
enough minions over with food. You didn't have to do that, you know.
I'm not a complete invalid. I can cook for me and Scotty. I feel bad
enough that you're paying double to get the cabins cleaned.”

Ben shrugged. “Just smile and say, thank
you, huh?”

“Thank you. But honestly, you don't need to
have every meal sent over here. Make it stop now.”

“Sorry, Miss. No can do.”

“Why the hell not? I'm asking you to stop
it.”

“I'm under orders to ignore any requests
from you that would mean you do any work of any kind, cooking,
cleaning.” He grinned. “Lifting a finger, if it can be
helped.”

Under orders? What did that mean? It dawned on her
that there was only one thing it could mean. “Dan?”

“Yep.”

She felt the fluttering in her stomach. “He
asked you to do this?”

“No, not asked. I really am under orders. He
might seem like a mild mannered nerd on the surface, but I'm telling
you, Miss, there's a man of steel under the quiet exterior. And he is
most concerned about your well-being. I like him. It's obvious he
likes you. A lot!”

“I like him too, Ben.” Missy wrinkled
her nose. “A lot. We're going to go out on a date on Friday.”

“Only if you keep your word and don't go
back to work between now and then.”

“He told you?”

“Yep and he asked me to snitch on you if you
weren't getting your rest.”

She smiled. “That was sneaky of him.”

“I wouldn't say sneaky. He cares that you
should rest up and get your strength back. And I'd say he has a
vested interest in your being well enough to go out with him on
Friday night.”

He also had a vested in interest in her not being
too tired by the time they got home on Friday night, too. Not that
she was going to tell Ben that. “Between restaurant deliveries
for every meal and the fact that I'm not working, I feel much better
already.” She did feel better, less tired than she had at
weekend, but she still wasn't anywhere near one hundred percent. “I
do feel bad about you paying double to get the cabins cleaned
though.”