Free Dance Like Nobody's Watching (Summer Lake 3) by SJ McCoy

the kitchen. He'd
find whatever he was looking for eventually. She sat up against the
arm of the sofa and pulled a cushion towards her. Scot used a cushion
as a lap tray whenever she let him get away with it. Time for her to
take a lesson from her son. Dan came back and put a fresh coffee on
the end table beside her. He handed her the newspapers and some
napkins.
    “Thanks.”
    He nodded, his face full of concern. He went back
into the kitchen and returned with her breakfast. Hash browns,
scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, and toast were all piled high
on the plate. It was a ridiculous amount of food, but she almost
always managed to finish it.
    He grinned as he handed it to her. “Dig in.
I know you like to save the pancakes ’til last, so I left them
in their carton to keep warm.”
    How did he know she always ate the pancakes last?
She'd never understood when people ate them along with everything
else. She considered to them to be dessert. “Thanks, hero.”
    His beautiful smile lit up his face as he
disappeared to get his own breakfast.
    ***
    Missy sipped her coffee. She was stuffed! Dan had
cleared the dishes away and was sitting on the floor beside the sofa,
looking up at her. He still looked concerned.
    “Do you feel any better?'
    She nodded and yawned. “Sorry. Much better.
Now I'm just full and sleepy.”
    “Why don't you go back to bed, get some
rest?”
    “Mm. I would if I thought I could make it up
the stairs.” Before she knew what he was doing, he'd stood and
scooped her up off the sofa. She nestled in his arms. “Are you
going for super-hero status?”
    He smiled. “I don't think I'll ever make
that.”
    He already had, in her eyes. He tightened his grip
and carried her up the stairs and into her room. She let go of him
reluctantly as he gently set her on the bed. She couldn't help but
tease him. “You really only brought me up here to sleep?”
    He met her gaze. “Close your robe and get
under the covers, so I can say yes!”
    She looked down and realized her robe was gaping
open, almost completely exposing her breasts. She looked back up to
find him staring determinedly at her face, a tight little smile
playing on his lips. “I daren't look down, Miss.”
    She laughed and got into bed, pulling the covers
up to her chin. “There. We're safe now.”
    He cocked his head to one side. “Damn!”
    She turned on her side and patted the other
pillow. “Stay with me a while?” She watched the struggle
on his face. “Just ’til I fall asleep? It won't take
long.”
    He lay down facing her. With a little smile he
tucked the covers tighter under her chin. “Just to keep you
safe.”
    He was so sweet! He ran his fingers down her
cheek, his callused fingertips so very gentle. “Go to sleep
beautiful. Hopefully you'll feel better after a good rest.”
    Her eyelids were heavy and her stomach was full.
She wanted to lie there for hours, get lost in those big brown eyes,
but she was already drifting away.

Chapter Six
    Dan sat in the minivan and looked across at the
group of parents standing talking in the parking lot. Occasionally,
one of them would glance over at Missy's van. Each time they did, he
quickly occupied himself with his phone so they wouldn't catch his
eye. As so often happened, his determination to avoid unnecessary
social interaction was helping his business. While he sat there, he'd
discovered that the new text-to-voice app was really buggy. He'd need
to spend some time this week working on the digitized voice
production. When he typed the word 'set', the digital voice said
'sex'. 'Asset' sounded even funnier. He smiled to himself. Perhaps he
shouldn't try to fix it, but work instead on how to get it into the
hands of teen-aged boys. It was bound to go viral if he did.
    He couldn't wait to see one teenaged boy. The bus
should be here soon. Scot had called earlier, talking at a hundred
miles an hour about how they'd won. Dan had put his phone on speaker
and sat next to Missy on the