“Nothing is going to happen to you,” Amy said quickly. “But if anything does, I promise I’ll do everything in my power to give Emma a happy life. You know what she means to me.”
“A person doesn’t have to be family to raise and love a child.” A strange undercurrent wove its way through Dan’s words.
“You’re right,” Amy said. “In fact, looking back, I’d take a stranger over my mother any day.”
Chapter Nine
Dan pulled Amy close and let the music wash over him. She’d done it again. Without even knowing it, she had managed to reassure him that he’d chosen the right course of action.
Tess’s parents were nice people but with their strong personalities and domineering ways they wouldn’t be the right ones to raise his sensitive daughter. Despite what his mother-in-law believed, family wasn’t always the best choice. Of course when he married Amy she would be family, part of his family. His arms tightened protectively around her. He’d make it good for her, too. She would never want for anything.
What about love?
Dan shoved the question aside. He could name a dozen couples who’d married for “love” and were now divorced. Besides, there were all sorts of love and levels of caring. While he would never lie to Amy and say he loved her when he didn’t, he’d show her in every way possible he cared. Because he did care. Very much.
The band’s lead singer launched into a romantic ballad and Amy snuggled close, the clean fresh scent of her hair teasing his nostrils. When she’d come down the stairs tonight, the sight of her had taken his breath away. He’d immediately noticed that she’d chosen the black dress from the other night…the one he liked so much.
For a moment he’d almost mentioned how happy he was to see it again. But just in time he’d remembered Tess’s opinion on wearing the same party dress twice and had kept his mouth shut. The last thing he wanted was to hurt Amy’s feelings. He couldn’t imagine a dress being more perfect and he’d been proud to walk into the party with her at his side.
“Thanks again for coming with me,” Dan whispered against her hair, his hand caressing her bare back.
“Thank you for the invitation.” She lifted her head and smiled. “I’m enjoying myself.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I’ve never been to an event like this. I wasn’t sure what to expect.” Amy glanced around the room. “I have to admit I was a bit nervous.”
Dan had thought as much. He’d felt the uncertainty in the hand that had clutched his arm when they’d walked into the ballroom. That’s why he’d stayed close. Other than getting her a glass of wine, he hadn’t ventured from her side.
When he’d come to parties with Tess, networking had been the name of the game. She’d go off in one direction and he in another. At the end of the evening they’d reconnect and maybe share a dance or two before heading home. That way of operating had become second nature and it had been the same with the women he’d dated after Tess’s death. He’d never considered doing it any other way. Spend an entire evening with a woman who had nothing on her agenda except him? Dan found himself enjoying the change.
He liked being with Amy and it felt good knowing she was content just being with him.
“Ready for a trade?”
Dan turned to find Jake standing in the middle of the dance floor, Bree at his side. But for all the attention he gave her, the statuesque blonde might as well have been a stranger. Jake had eyes only for Amy. Or rather…Amy’s breasts.
Dan tightened his lips. He hadn’t liked the way his friend’s gaze had settled on Amy’s cleavage earlier and he didn’t like it now. She tensed in his arms and Dan could feel her heart beating wildly. It was obvious she didn’t want to dance with Jake but Dan sensed she wouldn’t make a scene if he agreed.
It was equally obvious Bree didn’t share Amy’s reluctance. She stepped forward, in anticipation of the trade.
“Sorry.” Dan tightened his hold on Amy. “Tonight I’m a one-woman man.”
Without another word Dan whirled Amy away and they danced off across the hardwood, leaving Bree and Jake openmouthed and staring.
Dan could feel Amy relax in his arms. The tense look that had blanketed her features eased.
“One-woman man?” A giggle punctuated Amy’s words. “I can’t believe you said that. It sounds like a title to a country-and-western song.”
Dan grinned. The relief in her eyes told him he’d made the right decision.
“I meant every word,” he said. “Tonight I’m all yours. And you’re all mine.”
You’re all mine.
The possessive note to Dan’s voice sent a thrill up Amy’s spine. She’d never wanted to “belong” to any man, but tonight she found herself enjoying the feeling of being cherished and protected.
When Jake had wanted to change partners Amy had frozen, like a deer trapped in a headlight’s glow. The last thing she’d wanted was to be within ten feet of Jake—much less in his arms—but how could she voice that sentiment knowing Jake and Dan were friends? Especially with Jake standing right there.
But she needn’t have worried. Dan had taken control and Amy seriously doubted Jake would ask again. She heaved a contented sigh. This evening was quickly falling into the category of events that she would remember forever. Amy didn’t have many such memories, which made tonight even more special.
“You know what I’d like to do?” Amy abruptly lifted her head and gazed into Dan’s eyes.
He wiggled his eyebrows. “Dance with Jake?”
“Um, no.” Amy tried to keep her expression serious but his lighthearted teasing made that impossible. “I’d like a picture.”
Dan’s company had hired several photographers to provide guests with mementos of the evening’s festivities. They’d set up a couple of stations in the ballroom and had been busy snapping pictures all night.
The backdrop of fresh flowers they were using reminded Amy of something you’d see in prom pictures. Not that she had firsthand knowledge. When Amy had been in high school, she’d never gone to any of the dances. There hadn’t been money in her aunt’s house for fancy party dresses. Instead Amy had worked those nights, waiting tables, serving her fellow classmates.
Still, it wasn’t as if she looked back on that time with regret. Except…she’d secretly longed for a picture of herself all dressed up with a handsome male at her side.
“Pictures?” Dan’s gaze shifted to the nearest photographer who was just finishing up with a gray-haired couple.
The doubt in his eyes told her he wasn’t keen on the idea. Feeling gauche and unsophisticated, Amy quickly rallied, offering up a little laugh, pretending she’d only been joking. “I just thought it might be fun to show Emma. But you’re right. It’s a crazy idea.”
Crazy or not, Amy couldn’t keep her gaze from glancing in the direction of the camera one last time. She expected Dan to take the out she’d offered, but when she turned back to him he hesitated, his gaze lingering on her face.
“I don’t think it sounds crazy at all. I think it sounds like…fun,” he said, his eyes clear and very, very blue. A slight smile lifted his lips. “Kind of déjà vuish…like high school.”
Amy’s heart gave an excited leap, but she forced a nonchalant tone. “That’s kind of what I was thinking.”
The rest of the evening raced by. Amy got her picture taken with Dan—despite some ribbing from Jake, which Dan squelched with a single glance—then danced some more.
Amy’s intuition had been right. Jake didn’t ask to exchange partners again. Amy kept an eye on Bree and discovered the woman’s gaze seemed to be permanently fixed on Dan, a sad look in her eyes. Amy now knew exactly who Bree had come to see.
By the time they were ready to leave, it was after midnight. Amy stood off to the side, while Dan retrieved her shawl. Though normally she’d be in bed by now, Amy wasn’t the least bit tired.
She glanced at the pictures in her hand. The photographer had instructed her to face Dan an
d place her hands flat against his chest. After she’d done as he’d asked, he’d positioned Dan’s hands on her waist. Amy had been drowning in the deep blue of Dan’s eyes when the photographer had snapped the picture…
“Are you ready?”
Amy’s head jerked up. Dan stood in front of her, holding out her shawl. He was looking at her, not with the blatant invitation she often saw in men’s eyes, but with a combination of unmistakable interest mixed with a hint of uncertainty.
Amy shoved the photo back into the decorative folder and let him wrap the silky fabric around her. She glanced down at her watch. If she could believe her former classmates, a milestone evening was considered a failure if you went home before dawn. It was barely past midnight. “You know don’t you that if this was prom night, we’d never be going home this early.”
Like Cinderella faced with turning back into a scullery maid, Amy hated the thought of the evening ending so soon. They could at least grab a bite to eat and talk over a cup of coffee. “Want to stop somewhere on our way home?”
“Sounds good to me.” Dan’s eyes darkened. “I’m definitely in the mood.”
His comment didn’t make much sense until they were in the car and Dan started talking about the make-out point in his town.
“It was on a hill.” His lips curved upward in remembrance. “Overlooked a lake. The view couldn’t be beat. Not that we spent much time gazing at the moon.”
Amy’s smile froze. Dan wasn’t planning to stop for a burger. No, thanks to her ambiguous question, they were going to park.
Her body turned hot then cold at the thought of locking lips with Dan in the warm intimacy of the car.
“How about you?” Dan asked. “Where did you go?”
Amy took a steadying breath and wondered what he would say if she admitted that the only place she’d gone on prom night was back to her aunt’s apartment after a grueling shift at the restaurant.
She had her pride. She couldn’t let him know she’d been such a nerd. Her mind raced. Other than renting rooms at the hotel where the dance had been held, she couldn’t recall any of her classmates mentioning a specific place they’d gone to park. “Mostly back roads. No place specific.”
Dan turned off the highway onto a residential street. “A deserted road it is.”
Amy’s heart skipped a beat. She glanced out the window. The night was dark with only a sliver of moon. Large trees lined both sides of the road, their large, leafy branches arching overhead, creating an air of intimacy in the vehicle passing below.
It wasn’t long until the row of houses gave way to farmland and pavement turned to gravel. Still Dan continued to drive.
“How far are we going?” Amy asked.
“Not much farther.” Dan shot her a sideways glance. “Just enough so we won’t be disturbed. Of course, I seem to recall it was that fear of discovery that made the experience so exciting.”
His wicked smile fired her blood and for a second she forgot to breathe.
Dan wheeled the car to a stop at the side of the road, flipped off the ignition and the lights.
“This was a good suggestion.” Dan’s voice was soft and low in the stillness. “I was hoping we could go somewhere after the dance.”
“You were?” Though Amy tried to keep her voice casual and offhand, it came out breathless and a whole octave higher than normal.
Dan nodded. “Once we got home I knew there’d be no privacy.”
Amy knew he was right. Emma was a light sleeper. Odds were the little girl would be up and down the stairs before the baby-sitter was out the door. But they weren’t in Dan’s house. They were in the car. Alone. Just the two of them.
Feeling like a nervous schoolgirl, Amy shifted in the seat and faced him. A curious thrumming filled her body.
“I’m not sure my aunt would approve of me being here alone with you.” She shot him a saucy smile. If she’d been seventeen, Amy had no doubt she might have said something very similar.
“I’ve got an idea.” Dan tugged her wrap from her shoulders and flung it into the back seat. “Let’s not tell her.”
Though the temperature inside the car was comfortably warm, Amy’s skin turned to gooseflesh. She’d meant the teasing words as a joke and had been unprepared to have him play along.
Heat pooled low in Amy’s belly and she decided if Dan was interested in being seventeen for the night, she would go along.
“I’m not sure I can trust you.” Amy crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her bottom lip. “I’ve been warned about boys like you. You only want one thing.”
“That’s not true.” Dan’s voice remained sensuously soft and low. He trailed a finger up her arm leaving a flash of heat in its wake. “I don’t want just one thing…I want lots of things.”
His crooked smile was endearing but there was something in his tone, in the underlying seriousness lurking behind the playfulness that set up a fluttering in her stomach. He studied her for several seconds and she found herself holding her breath.
“I’d like to kiss you,” he said finally. “Is that okay?”
Amy chewed on her lip and tilted her head, pretending to ponder the question. “I suppose…as long as you don’t try any of that fancy French stuff.”
“You don’t like to French kiss?”
The shock in his voice made Amy smile. She wasn’t sure if it was the teenage Dan or the adult who was most distressed.
“I’ve never tried it.” Amy clasped her hands primly in her lap like a virginal teen. “Aunt Verna says that kind of kissing is bad.”
Amy had never discussed such a topic with her guardian, but she couldn’t imagine Verna thinking anything else.
“Hmm.” Dan slipped an arm around Amy’s shoulder and nudged her to him. “I don’t want to contradict the woman but French kissing is very good. Don’t take my word for it. Give it a try. Then decide for yourself.”
His arms closed around her. “I want you to know that I would never do anything to hurt you.”
Amy’s body was now pressed so tight against Dan that she could feel the heat radiating from his body. She drew a calming breath only to find herself immersed in the rich, spicy scent of his cologne. With her heart pounding, Amy moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. “I know—”
The words had barely left her lips when his mouth closed over hers. Slow and sweet the kiss teased and tantalized and the desire Amy had held in check broke forth and surged through her veins like a raging river.
She slid her fingers into his soft hair, pulling him closer, the uncontrollable fire burning inside her demanding more than slow and sweet. But Dan’s hands remained respectfully at her waist and his kisses, while intoxicatingly sensual, remained closemouthed and chaste.
When his lips left hers to scatter kisses along her jawline and neck, Amy groaned with frustration. He was doing as she asked, but couldn’t he tell she’d changed her mind? Dear God, did she have to spell it out to him?
His lips reached the curve of her neckline then moved back up.
Amy decided she’d had enough. A woman could only endure so much frustration. “I changed my mind.”
His mouth paused on her neck. He lifted his head. “You want me to stop?”
“Yes.” But when he pulled back, Amy realized with sudden horror what she’d just said. “No. I mean I want you to move on.”
Amy knew she wasn’t making much sense. But could she really be expected to think rationally with his warm breath caressing her neck?
“Move on?” He lifted a brow. “I don’t understand.”
“I want you to kiss me. Really kiss me.”
The puzzled look in his eyes told Amy she still wasn’t making herself clear.
“Ooh-la-la,” Amy said, her French accent worthy of a kindergartener. “Comprenez-vous?”
The dimple in his cheek flashed. “But your aunt—”
“Screw my aunt.”
Dan’s lips quirked upward but he wisely withheld comment. “Anythi
ng else you’d like me to do?”
“Maybe,” she murmured, glancing up at him through lowered lashes.
“You want it.” Pure male satisfaction filled his tone. A high school boy couldn’t have sounded more proud.
No need to define what it was. She’d experienced it on more than one occasion and though the experiences had hardly been memorable, having sex wasn’t something a woman forgot.
“Nice girls don’t go all the way,” Amy said, sticking to her virgin persona. “I just want to kiss…maybe fool around a little.”
Even in the darkness, Amy saw Dan smile.
“So everything but.” Dan pretended to mull over the idea. Finally he nodded. “That still gives us a lot of territory to cover.”
“Depends,” Amy said, being deliberately vague, keeping her options open. “I might decide to stop with French kissing.”
“I don’t think so.”
The arrogant undertone raised her ire. She sniffed. “Don’t be so sure.”
His gaze dropped. “What about these?”
Unexpectedly Dan reached forward and brushed the silky fabric of her bodice with the back of his knuckles. Her nipples instantly hardened beneath his touch. Amy gasped.
“Think how much fun it would be—” his voice turned deep and seductive “—if this dress wasn’t in the way.”
Amy didn’t even have to close her eyes to visualize the erotic scene. With her dress out of the way, he would be free to use his mouth and hands to the fullest.
Her breasts strained against the silky fabric and an ache filled the juncture of her thighs. She craved and wanted this man in a way that defied logic. Still, being half-naked in a car with a randy male was something a teenager might do, not a responsible adult. And yet, she couldn’t quite bring herself to refuse. As if Dan could sense her wavering, his lips closed over hers.
“Please.” He spoke softly against her mouth. “It’s prom night. We’re not children. We can do what we want.”
Amy had never been much of a rebel. The wildest thing she’d ever done was to dance in a conga line at a local bar on a friend’s twenty-first birthday.
Single Dad Needs Nanny Page 35
