by Terra Kelly
Danny and Shawna just looked at each other wide-eyed. He loved how their dance instructor seemed sexual even in her dance movements. Maybe this competition was a good thing after all.
“Hey, sweet Daisy!” Shawna said and knelt down to greet the dog. She looked up at Danny and asked, “So, she’s seriously five years old? She looks like a puppy.” He watched her stand back up to face him and had to calm his growing need.
He nodded. “Yup, five and full of love. I can’t wrap my head around someone giving up a dog at five.” Danny turned and headed into the kitchen to see what they had to eat. Opening the refrigerator, he remembered the chicken breasts he cooked for his lunches and decided soup would be easy. He turned with the container in his hand. “Chicken tortilla soup sound good?” He had a smile on his face, but it faded when he saw Shawna and Daisy on the couch together. Shawna had her body wrapped around the dog and was whispering softly in the dog’s ear. Danny never expected that the animal would be the turning point in finally bringing Shawna and him together. He honestly just wanted a companion at home—being alone sucked. Now, maybe two would become three…that sounded so much better.
Chapter 12
Shawna felt an overwhelming need to just hold Daisy and never let her go. Every time she looked into the dog’s eyes, she saw sadness. Brushing away a stray tear and glancing toward Danny, she had to laugh. He seemed frozen in place. With a light chuckle, she asked, “You okay? Something in the fridge gone south?”
Danny glanced at the container he had been holding and cleared his throat. “What? No.” Then he started to head her way. He sat on the other side of Daisy. “Did you have a dog growing up?”
She exhaled sharply and then sat up. “Well, ironically, we had a dog but never really cared for her like she deserved. I was too young to understand, but I see it now.”
Shawna closed her eyes for a moment and could see the little beagle as plain as day. She remembered the day when she vowed to give back, to ensure all animals were treated with care and kindness. There had been one of those intense commercials on the TV where they showed the animals abandoned and alone. That day she called her local animal shelter to find out about volunteering her time. Since then, Shawna had helped on several rescue missions, gave hope to many, and ensured the animals found the homes they deserved. She sighed. That had been her secret mission, but she had never shared her true passion with anyone ever…until today.
Shawna smiled. “I seem pretty secretive to you, don’t I?” She knew Isabel had wanted to know about her, but until today, she never felt ready to lay it all on the table.
Danny shrugged his shoulders and agreed. “I guess.” He sat back on the couch and turned to face her. “I’m sure you have your reasons.”
She wanted to lunge forward and hug him. Instead she stayed seated. “Yeah, maybe.” She smiled and said, “Growing up, we didn’t really do the animal thing. Just different beliefs and such, but there was an animal loving bug implanted in me from the start. So, my desire to help animals was probably always there but grew exponentially as a teenager. With my dancing life, getting an animal just didn’t make sense. Even today, I volunteer my time every week to give back in some way. But getting an animal of my own seems far off with my crazy schedule. As the years pass, though, I’m finding it more difficult to ignore my need for a companion.” She gave a half-smile. “So, there you go, a little piece of me.”
Shawna’s hand had been resting on the dog’s side; Danny reached forward and placed his hand over hers. He smiled. “You really volunteer at the shelter? I would love to join you one day?”
She nodded. “Really? That would be wonderful. We could go together and then head to dance class.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Two birds, one stone, right?”
Danny laughed. “Exactly.” He cleared his throat and asked, “Since you’re in confession mode, I have another question?”
Shawna put her hands up in surrender. “Uh oh, should I be worried?” She actually hated talking about herself. There were so many other fun things to talk about.
She watched him close his eyes and release a light laugh. “You from around here?”
Shawna stood up and headed to the kitchen counter. “Nope. Michigander.” She opened the container and then looked at Danny. “Want me to help make dinner?”
He stood and took the few feet separating them in about two strides. Taking her hand, he pulled her closer to his body. “So, you were a dancer growing up. You’re from Michigan. Huge animal supporter. I guess that leaves one more question.”
Shawna sighed. “Yeah, what’s that?” She had this feeling of dread mixed with some warm fuzzy feelings. How could those two emotions mix? It had to be Danny; he had to be mixing everything up.
Danny reached down and brushed her hair back, tucked it behind her ears, and bent to look right into her emerald eyes. “What about family?”
Shawna knew that had been coming but still couldn’t think of a good answer that would evade the question. She placed her hands over his and squeezed. Then she stepped out of his embrace, needing the space, and picked up the chicken. “Shouldn’t we make dinner soon?”
Danny smiled. “You’ve had enough for one day, huh?” He reached forward and grabbed the chicken. “Let’s see what else we have for the tortilla soup.” He bent down and lightly brushed his lips across hers. She stood there unable to move, but she could tell Danny had ignored her stunned reaction. Instead, he just started getting all the ingredients together for the recipe.
He was a good man. Now she wanted to trust him completely, but could she?
“Oh my goodness, so good.”
Shawna grabbed her bowl and headed to the kitchen to place it in the sink. “I may have just embarrassed myself by eating too much.”
Danny had been staring at her all through dinner, and now his eyes were locked on her as he made his way into the kitchen. He bumped up against her hip. “You and me both.”
Shawna rested her hand on top of the counter, leaned her body against the granite surface. Pointing her finger at his chest, she asked, “So, who taught you to cook?”
He sighed. “Actually, it was Mrs. Winters. When I moved out on my own, cooking was not my strongest suit.” He headed over to the fridge to grab two more beers. He held one up to see if she wanted it and she nodded. As he handed the beer to Shawna, he said, “Drew’s mom, Connie, is a pretty amazing woman. She saw that I needed some help, and she knew my family was not around. So, she invited me to cook with her on several occasions. It took about five times of cooking with her before she had me hooked. It wasn’t just her food but also the kindness she showed toward me. I’ll never forget it.”
Shawna watched his expression change, almost as if he had been transported back in time. She could see by the look in his eyes they were all good memories he held dear.
That warmed her heart.
She cleared her throat to get his attention. “So, are you feeling the need to exert some pent-up energy after all that raw honesty we both delivered?”
He burst out laughing. Reaching forward, he placed his hand on her hip and pulled her close to his body. “What do you have in mind, red?” he said in a whisper.
She liked when he called her red. Somehow she managed to skip that nickname all through school. Every time it rolled off Danny’s tongue, she felt a ping of need shoot through her body. She placed both hands on his chest and gazed at him. “Well, I would love to experience the ocean with you. Maybe we could go swimming?”
Shawna noticed his eyebrows shot up at the mention of the ocean. He placed his hands over hers and asked, “Even better. What about we practice some lifts?”
She leaned back and giggled. “Are you going all Patrick Swayze on me?”
Danny scowled. “Huh?”
Shawna gasped. “Don’t tell me you have never watched Dirty Dancing?”
He turned his head to the side. “You do know I grew up in a house with all men?”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh please. One of the many
women you dated had to have demanded it at one time?” Shawna was having a good time teasing Danny. “Or maybe Connie requested it on her movie pick night?”
Danny shrugged his shoulders.
She grunted, pushing off the counter to head to the living room. “Yeah, we need to remedy that problem and soon.” Sitting down next to the sleeping dog, she quietly asked, “Of course, if we practice any lifts, can I borrow a pair of shorts and t-shirt from you?” Shawna wanted to laugh at how his eyes switched so quickly to black. She took a swig of her beer and then asked, “Um, you do know I just said I would be wearing clothes, right?”
Danny gave her a shocked looked. “What? I didn’t say anything?”
Shawna rolled her eyes. “I can see that look, mister.”
He shook his head, turned, and headed down a hallway. She figured he was heading to grab some clothes for her to wear. As she sat there waiting for him to return, she glanced around the place. He actually had a pretty house. What caught her attention immediately was how the place was disorganized. Clothes sitting on the chair, dog toys everywhere, and dishes that needed to be washed. She knew the man she met had been no bullshit, he truly was calm, and relaxed. Shawna had read a study awhile back about how most people that didn’t stress about their home, also didn’t stress in their day to day life.
A part of her felt jealous—she seemed to always feel stressed. Maybe she needed to pull out from the Danny Winters playbook the section labeled, How to stay calm.
Just then, Shawna noticed Danny coming back out to the living room holding some clothes in his hands. She smiled. “For me?” Then she stood, and with both hands, she reached up and grabbed his head to pull him closer to her. When she started to kiss him, Shawna had plans to be strong and just quickly say thank you. But when their lips touched, she immediately felt an aching need to have more of him. Her mind played tricks on her and tried to sway her needs. Unfortunately, her desire to be wrapped in his arms had been far greater. Causing her to slowly start to lose all self-control she had been harboring.
How had one man managed to get under her skin so perfectly?
She grabbed the clothes from his grasp and threw them on the floor. Then she gave a sneaky grin and pushed at his chest, causing him to lose his balance and fall into the lazy boy directly behind him. Shawna stood in front of him, her body on fire. She let out a heavy sigh and finally gave up on all resolve. A part of her still felt scared. Memories of the men from the night club wanting to invade this special moment finally happening. She sighed, shook her head, and climbed onto his lap.
“I’m hoping I’m not wrong about you?”
Chapter 13
He let her words roll around in his mind for a moment. What had really happened to her to give her that much doubt? Whatever it had been, he planned to do right by her. Danny had cared for Shawna for too long to mess shit up.
He encircled his fingers behind her neck and pulled her face just inches from his own. In a whisper, he declared, “I promise to never hurt you, Shawna. As a matter of fact, I plan to do just the opposite and show you every day how much I care about you.”
Shawna leaned back away from his body. “So you’re in this for the long haul, huh?”
Danny sure the hell had been. There had been a time when he actually thought the possibility of finding someone that he connected with would never happen. Then he ran into her at Drew’s housewarming party, and that was all he needed to restore his faith.
His smile widened in agreement. “Hell yeah.” Then without warning he leaned forward, pulled her body close to his own, and stood up, lifting her with him. “Now, about that swimming adventure,” he said with a teasing tone.
Danny noticed Shawna’s eyes go wide. She began to protest as he made his way to the door. “Danny, wait, I need to change first.”
When they had arrived at his house, the sun was still shining bright, but now almost three hours later, it was too dark to see three steps in front of them. Perfect night to practice lifts and maybe some other fancy moves.
Shawna wrapped her legs tightly around his body and rested her head in the crook of his neck. Danny had to really keep focused as he made each step toward the beach. He let out a soft chuckle next to her ear. “The moon is not out tonight. Why do you need to cover up?”
She gasped. “Um, really?”
He shrugged his shoulders mocking her. “Um, really? Yeah, of course.”
When he finally reached the shores edge, he stopped and pulled her back away from his body. “Hey? I just want to get to know you more. Sex is not my end game. I promise.” He meant that, too. Especially because he had waited too long to finally have her near him; he had no plans to fuck that up. He gave her a devious grin and said jokingly, “But having the opportunity to see you in nothing but your bra and underwear…well, fuck, sign me up.”
He finally let her down to give her some space. Danny noticed how she hesitated for a beat and then she started to pull her dress up over her head. His body immediately reacted. She had on little lacy underwear that hardly covered a thing…and the prettiest bra. He loved how with the little bit of light that had been available, you could just make out her erect nipples peeking out from the lacy fabric. Damn.
She threw her dress down on the sand and then turned toward the ocean and started running into the water. She giggled. “Last one in is the rotten egg.”
Danny gasped. “What? No.” He still had on his jeans and tee but hated losing at anything. He started running toward her, but she was just too quick. He stopped with the water at knee level and watched her rise up and then dive in. When she surfaced about two seconds later, she immediately started lifting her arms to complete the butterfly stroke. He began to lift his shirt over his head and unbutton his jeans. Danny was blown away by her strength. That swimming stroke was not easy, even though top swimmers made it look like it. He stepped back out of the water to remove his wet jeans, which had been a difficult task. When he finally had the jeans off, he heard laughing a few feet away. He turned his head to see Shawna standing knee deep in the water. The tiny bit of light from the house on the beach cast a perfect glow over her gorgeous body. Holy hell. He quickly started heading her way.
Shawna had been shaking the water from her ears by moving her head from side to side. Then she slicked her hair back and wrapped it around into a tight knot. Danny knew at that moment he could easily get used to all this. Having her around, dancing, cooking, and just talking. She made him laugh, which he loved. He finally reached her and let only six inches separate them.
“You missed out,” she said. “It felt amazing out there.” She grabbed his hand and asked, “Do you like to do laps?”
Danny gave a half-smile and said, “I do. Probably not as much as you, though.” He really did tell her sex was not on his agenda didn’t he? What had he been thinking? Standing this close to her, with only thin lacy fabric separating them…he was screwed.
She rolled her eyes and started pulling him out farther in the water. She stopped when the water reached her chest. She turned to face him. “That should be perfect to lift me up. I think the deeper we are, the easier it may be.”
He looked around, curious if they truly were the only ones in the water. Off in the distance he could see some people jumping around in the water, but otherwise, they were alone. Good.
“Okay, let’s see how many times I drop you first?”
She burst out laughing. “Way to stay confident, firefighter.”
“Hey, at least I’m honest.” Leaning forward, he placed his hands on her hips. “On three, let’s lift up.” He noticed her let out a sigh and nod. “Okay, one…two… three!” He used all of his strength to bring her up and out of the water but fell short on getting her up above his head. Shawna gasped and moved, causing him to lose his strong grip on her hips. She had been up in the air one moment and then falling quickly into the water the next. Danny reacted quickly and pulled her up.
“Shit, are you okay?”
Shawna sputtered from all the water she had just inhaled. In between catching her breath, she chuckled. “Well, that went well.” She stood up and got ready for the next round. “Let’s do this.”
After the fifth try, they started to build that trust between each other. Danny would grab Shawna on her hips and hold firmly. Then every time on the count of three he would lift her perfectly in the air. The best part of the move, bringing her back down. She would slide down his body and wrap her arms around his neck to rest for a few seconds. They continued this for easily twenty to thirty minutes.
Finally, he had to stop. His arms felt like jelly, and he was completely exhausted. “That’s it.” Danny had her snuggled against his body. “I need to stop or I may start dropping you every time.”
“Well, we can’t have that,” she said and leaned forward to kiss his nose. “This was fun. Thank you.”
He shrugged. “I may have decided to do this for selfish reasons.” Nothing like raw honesty to make a relationship strong. “Well, I mean…for the dance competition,” he said with a slight stutter.
She giggled. “Of course.”
He started heading into shallow water so Shawna could stand without the water coming to her chin. Danny let her down, reluctantly. As they both made their way out of the water, he asked, “When do you plan to do some laps again?”
She tipped her head to the side. “What? Really?”
It had been his turn to roll his eyes. “Don’t sound so shocked. Yeah, I think it would be fun. Something different than always running sounds like a good switch up.”
Danny watched as she held her hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay. How about next Tuesday?”
“Sounds like a date.”
They both stood in the sand dripping wet, half naked, and at the moment…speechless. He glanced around and said, “It’s amazing out.” He wanted to take it back the moment he said it, but yeah, that couldn’t happen.
