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

She opened the front door. “Michael!”

“Hey critter!” He held up a bottle of
wine. “I told you we needed to catch up. No time like the
present.” He stepped inside and grinned at her. For once, Missy
was speechless. What game was he playing? Showing up at this late
hour and coming in without waiting to be asked.

“I'll be on my way then.”

She turned to see Dan, still shirtless, face
unreadable, standing in the kitchen doorway. Oh, for God's sake! What
had she ever done to deserve this mess?

“Sorry.” Michael had the good grace to
look embarrassed. “I didn't realize. Didn't mean to come
barging in and interrupt.” He looked from Missy to Dan.

“No worries. There's nothing to interrupt.”
Dan came out with his T-shirt in his hands. He nodded at Michael,
then fixed her with hurt brown eyes. “Good night, Missy.”
Then he was gone.

“Damn! Sorry, critter,” said Michael.
“I had no idea there was anything going on between you two.”

Missy rolled her eyes. “There isn't.
Whatever that just looked like, there really isn't.” Right now
she wished that she'd stayed home tonight. She let out a deep breath
and looked at her old friend.

He grinned. “But you wish there was, right?”

She wrinkled her nose at him. “There's no
point. He has a girlfriend and I have Scot to think about.”

“Ouch. He didn't strike me as the cheating
type, but you know, those quiet ones can be the worst. Want a glass
of wine and you can tell me all about it?”

Missy couldn't believe the way this whole night
had turned out. “Why the hell not?” It wasn't like she
was going to be able to sleep any time soon for thinking about what
had just happened with Dan. “But there's really nothing to
tell. You said you wanted to catch up. You can tell me why you're
really here. Come on.” She went into the kitchen. “Let's
have that drink.” She looked at her laptop. Her home-screen
waited patiently for her for the first time since Scot had left.

***

Dan let himself into the RV and flopped down on
the sofa. How had all that just happened? There was nothing logical
or reasonable about his behavior back there. The only restraint he’d
shown had been not following her upstairs when she'd gone to get her
laptop—and that had been a struggle he'd almost lost! What had
he been thinking? He hadn't been thinking at all, had he? Wh
at if
I were to misbehave?
Had he really said that out loud? What was
happening to him? What was Missy doing to him? He closed his eyes and
covered his face with his hand.

Ever since he'd first come up here to meet Scot,
he'd been attracted to Missy. She was so beautiful. Inside and out.
Her long dark hair. Her steel gray eyes that lightened when she
laughed and darkened when she got angry. And man had she been angry
with him when that Michael guy arrived. He couldn't for the life of
him figure out why though. Maybe he should have stayed put and waited
for Michael to leave? With so many confusing emotions involved, he'd
followed his instincts and walked away. It was too late to go back
now. All he could do was try to figure out why she'd been so angry.

He knew he had to break things off with Olivia. He
wasn't looking forward to that. He bit the inside of his lip at the
thought. Yeah, that wasn't going to be pretty. He should have stuck
to his guns last year. She wasn't even interested in him, really.
These days she only wanted to talk to him about the business—at
least the money side of it. She didn't understand or care about his
work. He couldn't remember the last time she'd even smiled at him.
She was too busy telling him and Steven what to do. They'd had some
fun in the early days, but that was three years ago. Even then, she'd
never lit him up the way Missy had from the first time he'd met her.

Missy said she wouldn't hurt Olivia, he understood
that. He didn't want to hurt Olivia either, not that he thought he'd
hurt anything but her ego. What he didn't understand was why Missy
had said she wouldn't hurt Scot. How could their seeing each other
hurt the kid? He'd already asked Dan a few times if he was going to
date his mom. He chewed on his lip, trying to puzzle it out. People
could be so confusing, with the weird emotional significance they
attached to things. He'd be the first to admit that he could be quite
clueless, but he usually understood and appreciated where Missy was
coming from. He shifted on the sofa and folded his hands behind his
head as he stared up at the ceiling.

Missy had said she'd love it if he misbehaved. He
smiled at that. She was attracted to him too. He knew it, could see
it, had felt it the two times he'd held her to him tonight. His smile
faded; but that Michael guy was there now. She'd been sitting on his
knee earlier, and now he was sitting in her kitchen, where Dan wanted
to be. He jumped up from the sofa and went to peer through the
blinds. The kitchen light was still on. He didn't know if that was
good or bad. This was too confusing.

He went to the bedroom, the one he and Scot had
set up as a workshop. Sitting down, he fired up the computer. Time to
get back to a world that functioned purely on logic and reason, a
world he understood and felt comfortable in. He opened up a file of
code Scot had been writing and smiled. It was brilliant. He opened a
new file and his fingers flew over the keyboard as he typed code of
his own and wrote the program that would allow Scot's idea to work.

*
**

The banging in his head sounded like drums, or was
it thunder? He opened one eye and saw the letter 'P'. He sat up and
stretched. He'd fallen asleep at the keyboard again. The banging
hadn't stopped. He pushed the sleep out of his eyes, wondering how
long it would take.

“You awake, bro?”

Ah! It wasn't inside his head. “Almost,”
he shouted back. “Come on in. It's open.”

He emerged into the hallway as Jack let himself
into the RV. He was carrying two coffee cups and a large grocery bag.
He looked Dan over and raised an eyebrow. “You know some day
you're going to end up with a permanent imprint of the letters, 'A',
'S' and 'D', on your left cheek.”

Dan rubbed his eyes and nodded. “Yeah. I
guess. I was working.”

“I gathered.” Jack smiled. “Want
to tell me how the rest of your evening went?”

Dan took the coffee his brother held out with a
grunt of thanks and went to sit at the table. “I don't know.”

“You don't know how it went?” Jack sat
down opposite him. “Or you don't know if you want to tell me?”

“Both.” Dan took a slug of his coffee
and waited for the caffeine to hit his system. Jack was looking at
him expectantly. “I screwed up. I'm not even sure how or why.
Then that Michael guy showed up looking to share a bottle of wine
with her. So I left.”

“Whoa,” said Jack. “How do you
think you screwed up?”

“Well...I kind of ended up without my shirt
and with my arms around her.” He could see a smile playing on
his brother's lips.

“And?” Jack prompted.

“And then she got mad at me about Olivia and
Scot. And then that Michael arrived. And I just got out of there.
And....”

Jack held up a hand. “Slow down. What has
Olivia got to do with anything?”

“Missy said she'd never do anything to hurt
Olivia or Scot. I understand we can't start seeing each other while
Olivia is still my girlfriend, but I don't see how we could hurt
Scot, do you? Am I missing something? I really like the kid, he
really likes me!”

“Okay, first of all, Olivia is still your
girlfriend?”

Dan put his hand to his face and chewed his thumb.
“Yes, but....”

Jack scowled at him. “Then what the fuck did
you think you were doing last night, Dan? I can't stand the girl
myself, but you have to end it with her before you can think about
starting anything with Missy.”

“I know! I just can't think straight at all
when I get around Missy. She shorts out all my circuits.”

Jack smiled. “I can see that, and it looks
like you have the same effect on her.”

“Hmm.” Dan drank some more of his
coffee. “I was hoping so, until I saw her with that Michael guy
last night, and then he showed up at her house later.” He
chewed on his thumb some more.

“I think he's just one of the gang,”
said Jack. “They're all so close, you know. For a while there,
I was jealous of Ben with Emma, but they're just really good friends.
I'm sure it's the same with Miss and Michael. And anyway, you've
still got Olivia around. What's the deal with that? I though you
broke it off with her last year.”

“I tried.”

Jack shook his head. “Tried?”

“Yeah, she didn't want to break up. She said
we didn't have to see as much of each other. I think it's more about
Prometheus than about me. She likes being in charge of the business.”

Jack shook his head again. Dan knew that look on
his face. It meant he disapproved, and somehow expected Dan to know
why. He didn't. “What?”

“You need to get that woman out of your
company and out of your life. She doesn't understand software, she
doesn’t understand you. She just wants the money, and the
control over her brother.”

Dan hung his head. “Yeah, Steven's been
pretty stressed about her lately. She's been talking about some deal
that will make us all a lot of money. As if we needed more. I manage
to avoid her most of the time, and I get up here weekends.”

“And you still call her your girlfriend?”

Dan pulled a face. “That's what she calls
herself. I just agree cos it's easier than arguing. But as soon as I
see her, I'm going to tell her. Even if I don't get a chance at
anything with Missy, she's made me realize that I'm capable of
feeling major attraction for a woman. I didn't think I worked that
way.”

Jack grinned. “Then we need to see that you
do get a chance with Missy. I don't think it's about how you work, or
what you're capable of. It's about finding the one person that makes
you feel that way. Why don't you take a shower, and I'll make us some
breakfast.”

Dan smiled. “You brought food?”

“Sure did, little bro. Western omelets, home
fries, and pancakes will all be ready by the time you're showered.
After we've eaten, I want you to come back up to the house with me.
I'm working on the plans for the Four Mile development, and I want to
run a few things by you, if I can.”

“Sure.” Dan smiled to himself as he
went to get a shower. He loved getting to spend time with Jack and
felt proud that these days he had valuable contributions to make to
his brother's property developments.

The smell of food drew him back to the kitchen
before he bothered to get dressed. He secured his towel around his
waist and sat at the table. Jack put a plate in front of him. “There
you go, more fuel for all that muscle you're building. I gotta say
you're looking pretty ripped.”

Dan grinned. “Yeah, that gym thing is great,
thanks. I never saw the appeal in it. Never figured out why you spent
all that time pumping iron, but it's addictive, isn’t it?”

Jack laughed. “It sure is. I'm glad you got
into it. I've been trying to figure out what I can set up at Em's. I
might get the same one I sent you, since you're getting such great
results.”

Dan held up his arm and flexed his biceps. “I'm
liking it,” he said with a grin. “I want to get Scot
interested too. It's a great way to make sure you do something other
than sitting on your ass staring at a screen all day.”

“You're getting really close to him, aren't
you?”

Dan put his fork down. “I am. I love the
kid. But, Jack, what do you think she meant about hurting him? I
don't understand.”

Jack brought his own plate and two fresh coffees
to the table before he sat down. “The way I see it, Missy is
grateful for everything you're doing for Scot. She's probably afraid
of messing that up. I'm guessing she thinks that if you two start
dating and then break up, it would affect your relationship with
him.”

“How?” Dan didn't see it.

“Well, with most guys, when they stop seeing
a woman, they don't have anything more to do with her. They certainly
don't keep hanging out with her kid.”

“But that's separate.” Dan frowned.
“What I do with Scot is for Scot, and for me. Not for Missy.”

“I know that, and I think Miss does too, but
maybe she sees it as too much of a risk.”

Dan ate his omelet in silence. Once it was gone,
he looked up. “So, what am I supposed to do?”

“About Scot? I don't know. But there's not
much point dwelling on it until you tell Olivia that you're over.
Whatever might or might not happen with Missy, you need to finish it
with Olivia, get her out of your life.”

Dan nodded. “I'll call her. Tell her I want
to see her tomorrow night when I get back.”

“Good. Why don’t you go do that and
get dressed while I clean this up? Then we can get up to North Cove.”

“Okay.”

Dan locked up the RV and followed Jack out to his
truck. He fastened his seat belt and looked back at Missy's house,
wondering what she'd be doing today. The front door opened and
Michael stepped out. Dan froze in his seat, Missy was laughing in the
doorway. Michael turned and hugged her and she reached up and kissed
his cheek. Jack pulled away. Missy looked over at the truck. For a
moment her gaze met Dan's, she looked even paler than usual, then
Jack turned the corner and she was gone.

Dan stared straight ahead. His head was full of
white noise. Michael had spent the night with her? He didn't know
what to do with that thought. Couldn't process it.

“What's up?” asked Jack.

“Did you see that?”

“See what?”

Dan could feel the tension around his temples.
“Nothing.”

Missy leaned against the door frame. “Blimey,
are you okay, critter?” Michael looked concerned. “You
just went white.”