by lanie love
"No one that mattered." She says and now it is his turn to look away after finding out he matters to her. He leans in to kiss her, but stops short when he hears his father's voice faintly on the speaker system.
"Damn it." He groans. "The first dance will be starting soon." He has half a mind to skip it and he tells Sienna so, but she won't hear of it.
"You just spent a small fortune on this damn dance." She says, hurrying to get dressed. "No way are you going to miss it."
"I'd rather be doing other things with you besides dancing." He says, ready for a second taste of her.
"There's plenty of time for that later." She says, and then laughs at his eyes lighting up at the promise of more later.
"We get to do it again later?"
"If you want. I live right next door, you know."
"Right." He says, putting on his clothes with a new purpose now, because as long as he gets to be with her again later, he really would like to dance with her now.
YES! He mentally fists pumps at being the guy who is fucking the hot girl next door. He just has to be careful that Mr. Townsend doesn't catch him.
Cliff doesn't get intimated by anyone easily by any stretch of the imagination, but Roger Townsend scares the hell out of him with all that military training. He's sure the man has some special brands of torture just waiting to be used on him if he ever finds him sneaking in or out of his foster daughter's window.
He waits until Sienna slips on her shoes before taking her hand and leading her back up the lighted path to the house. They make it back just in time to hear Island asking all the couples to move to the dance floor.
"Everyone is staring at us." She says, holding onto his hand just a little tighter as they move through the crowd.
"They are staring at how hot you look." He says and laughs at her frown. It’s her way of telling him he is full of shit. Little does she know, he means every word.
He walks her right to the middle of the dance floor for all to watch. If they are all looking that hard, why not give them what they want to see. He carefully places her left hand behind his neck while cupping her right.
"I promise I won't move my hand." She assures him that she won't touch his burns.
He smiles down at her, placing his free hand around her waist and bringing her closer into him. She really didn't have to tell him that. He already trusts that she won't. He already trusts her with more than he's trusted anyone before.
"I can't make that same promise." He whispers in her ear and smiles wider at her eyes as they dance at him when his words sink in.
"You wouldn't dare." She tells him. He just smirks at her as the song begins.
Cliff recognizes it right away as one of his mom’s favorite songs.
"Relax." He tells her when he feels her body tense.
"I'm going to fall flat on my face in front of all these people." She says.
"It’s just you and me here. Nobody else matters. Just focus on me and trust me to lead you."
She inhales deeply.
"Okay." She says, letting it out and letting her body relax with it.
Letting him lead her, Cliff has her moving effortlessly across the dance floor and just like he asked, Sienna stays focused on him. Only losing it once when Malcolm spins his dance partner close to them.
"Way to go, Bro." He says, letting go of the poor girl that's stuck with him to give his brother devil horns with his hands while making one of the ugliest faces Sienna has ever seen, complete with his long tongue sticking out his mouth.
Cliff discreetly gives him the finger as he moves a laughing Sienna way from him. Only to come face to face with his parents. The way Beth is looking at them dance all watery eyed, you'd swear they'd just gotten married. For a moment, he wonders if Malcolm didn't go shoot his big mouth off, but he thinks better about that. Even Malcolm isn't that damn stupid.
“Here we go again.” He hears her tell his dad.
“Don’t you dare get that damn Edsel.” He says of the old car they have in the garage. He shakes his head at the two of them.
"Where did you learn to dance like this?" Sienna asks him, completely unaware of his parent's reaction to him being with her.
"Maryanne. She made me practice with her. She is convinced that every man should learn how to dance with a lady."
He nods at his parents before moving Sienna away, looking for a spot where they can be somewhat alone, only to nearly run into Trina, a stuck-up bitch of a cheerleader he shot down in high school who still wants a chance. She is clearly seething with jealousy and being led around like a mule by Tate. Unable to help himself, Cliff squeezes Sienna's ass as he kisses her full on the mouth.
He is making it clear to Trina that he's already been claimed by the most beautiful woman he has ever seen who is now in his arms, so she is shit outta luck. He can feel the heat coming off her pissed body from where he stands. A shocked gasp comes from somewhere on the floor and he believes it's from Beth. What he is sure is a delightful squeal can only be from Maryanne.
What he doesn't hear are the hearts of every girl close to his age breaking. Girls who attend the event year after year, hoping against hope that he would bid on them. What the girl he is now kissing has that is so special, they can't figure out. She isn't prettier and she sure isn't dressed better, but all they do know is that she clearly has Cliff. She is right where they all long to be. Their hearts break even more when Cliff, completely out of character, circles a giggling Sienna's waist, picks her up, and spins her around until they are both giddy with dizziness.
"You are a complete nut." She laughs. He puts her feet back gently on the dance floor, but she keeps her arms wrapped around his neck still anyway.
"You have no idea." He says and it is the God's honest truth.
He was a complete nut because he has just fallen in love with this girl and as crazy as it seems, he knows that he will marry her someday. He'll have to keep that to himself. If he dared tell anyone, they'd surely think he was certifiable. So, it will be his delicious secret until the time was right.
In his head, he is already making plans. He'll swallow his pride and get those damn surgeries, then he’ll talk to his dad about his dream of being a firefighter like his cousin, Nathan Jr. He knows he’ll support his decision once he tells him the reasons he left school. He’ll be the best damn firefighter in Orange County.
And then he will marry her.
He will give her everything her little heart will ever desire and he will do it gladly because he knows she loves him too. He can tell by the way she is looking at him right now. The warmth of her eyes makes him feel cherished. And he is right, Sienna does cherish him. She is, in fact, feeling everything that he is feeling, but she is unaware of the depths he is planning to go to make their lives happy.
And when it’s all said and done, one day many years from now when their kids ask them about how they met, they will reminisce about this day. The day their daddy outbid the loser he beat up in the seventh grade to win their mom's dance. Maybe they will leave out the part about the pool house until later when their kids are old enough to understand that they did it all for love.
The End
About the Author
Lanie Love lives, works, and plays in Los Angeles, California and manages to squeeze in a little writing in between. Her first novel, Haunted by You was published in August of 2018.
Visit her website: https://www.lanielove.com/
Find her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/330790514018424/?ref=bookmarks
Join her Newsletter: https://www.lanielove.com/newsletter/
Get Advanced copies of her upcoming books: https://www.lanielove.com/arc-requests/
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