Let's Dance (The Winters Family Series: Book Four 4)

by Terra Kelly

  Danny noticed Shawna pop another fry in her mouth, and then she moaned, “Shit. Are you serious?” Turning toward him, she pleaded, “Honey, we may need to just take up dancing as our thing. Their food sounds damn amazing.” She sighed. “Just thinking about it makes me gain like ten pounds.”

  He laughed. “Dancing can be our thing. Don’t they make a lot of barbecue foods? That would be perfect down here.”

  Drew nodded. “Yup, with their own spin on it all. Their brisket chili brought a few tears to my eyes.”

  Isabel agreed. “Oh shit yeah, and Alyssa’s desserts she makes…out of this world.”

  Danny looked toward Shawna and agreed. “Yup, dancing will just be a regular from now on.” He had a weakness for good barbecue, which would be dangerous having a family member with a cafe. He turned toward Joshua and asked, “So when’s the big day?”

  Josh smiled. “Anxious now? Mom mentioned she is putting together a big party sometime in April. She’ll probably call you.”

  They all continued to chat for about another hour. Danny’s beer was almost gone, and he really needed to get some rest. The dance classes were starting to wear his ass out, and he had a few more months of intense training. He glanced over and noticed Shawna starting to nod off. Leaning closer for her ears only he asked, “Want to get out of here?”

  She perked up. “Please. My place is closer.”

  He knew Shawna hated staying at her place, because it was so tiny. He didn’t mind her place and actually loved the view. Danny pulled her close. “That sounds perfect. Less driving and more sleeping wins for me tonight.”

  After they said goodbye to everyone, they headed out to the Jeep. Danny helped her up into the vehicle and then stood there for a moment and just looked at her.

  He lightly squeezed her knee and headed to his side of the Jeep.

  Chapter 18

  As they pulled up to her place, Shawna blinked her heavy eyelids. “If I fall asleep on you, don’t hold it against me.” Between the dance classes and performing at Burlesque Me Tonight, her body was wearing out. She held her hand up and said, “Oh, and if I eat in my sleep, don’t hold that against me. I have not been this hungry…ever.” It had felt like she had been on a seven-day eating challenge of non-stop shoveling food in her face. She knew it was because of all the workouts…but man, holy wow.

  Danny started to get out of the Jeep, but turned back. “Should I take a video of any of this?” he said jokingly.

  Gasping and jumping out of the vehicle, she ran over and teasingly pushed at his chest. “What? No!” Shawna started to head to the front door, but stopped in her tracks. “Wait, maybe it’s not a bad idea. Then I would know what calories I shoveled in my pie hole while sleeping.” She shook her head and started up the walk way. “I have never let myself consume this much food, ever…and I’ve been a dancer all my life.” She opened the door and sighed. “Speaking of food, want to eat something? I only had your fries tonight; I didn’t have time to grab an actual dinner.”

  Danny seemed to be quiet during her whine fest. He grabbed her hand and spun her around. Then he had her spin back against his body. “Red,” he said in a gentle sweet tone. “If you want to eat the whole refrigerator you will hear no judgment from me. You’re a freaking hard worker. Stop beating yourself up. Now, what do we have for dinner?”

  Shawna went limp in his arms. “How do you always know what to say?” Leaning up, she threw her purse on the couch and then gasped. “Daisy? Where is she?”

  He turned his head to the side and sounded confused. “Where? She’s with the Winters. I asked them if they wanted to help me take care of her when my schedule gets messy. They never hesitated in saying, yes. Daisy loves it over there apparently.” Danny grabbed his phone from his back pocket and pulled up a couple of pictures that Connie had sent earlier. “Here. Daisy is allowed on everything, even Jim’s lap while sitting in the recliner chair. Oh, and here’s this one. She apparently loves people food.”

  Shawna melted right there on the spot. She sighed. “Oh my goodness, I love her so much…and I love Connie and Jim even more now.” She made her way into the kitchen to see what she could throw together for a quick dinner. In the cupboard, she still had her wild rice, and she knew there were a few vegetables to add to the rice. Turning toward Danny, she excitedly said, “How about my healthy version of rice and beans?”

  “Sounds perfect,” he said as he sat down on a chair by the little table.

  Shawna loved healthy recipes, especially since she always had to monitor her weight. She was not obese by any standards, but she did have to pay attention to her weight since she was so short. When she didn’t feel like making a big meal or wanted something simple, this recipe always satisfied her need.

  She spent some time preparing everything, and as she cut up the vegetables, her eyes were fighting to stay open. Hunger would win the fight in the end, because going to bed on an empty stomach sucked.

  Finally, about forty-five minutes later she had dinner in a pot and carefully carried it over to the table. She smiled. “It’s not some award-winning meal. I just can’t sleep when my stomach grumbles non-stop.” She plopped down in the chair and grabbed a bowl to hand to Danny. “You want a little?”

  Danny nodded. “You think I would turn down your food? Never.”

  Shawna felt a sense of calm wash over her body. For seven days now, Danny had spent every evening with her, dancing or just hanging out. A few of the nights they only had the two hours together, but she still had the chance to hold him. Isabel had told her over lunch a few days ago that it was just the honeymoon phase. She told her to give it some time, and then see if he’s really the one. She knew her friend had to be right, but it still felt amazing to have such a sexy companion in her life.

  She held the spoon and declared, “Let’s call this recipe, Shawna’s healthy rice and beans. Not fancy, but it works.” Then she dug her spoon in and inhaled the first bite. She moaned around a mouthful. “Hey, I did good.”

  Danny laughed. “You sound shocked.” Then he took his first spoonful and stopped for a moment in mid-chew. His eyes went wide. “No, Shawna’s freaking delicious healthy rice and beans.”

  They both burst out laughing at that recipe title. “I’m not sure we can put that name in a cookbook, though,” she said.

  After enjoying a lovely meal together, they both seemed to be struggling to stay awake. Shawna threw the leftovers into a container and then grabbed Danny’s hand, dragging him to her bedroom. As they made their way to the little room, she said, “We’ll tend to dishes tomorrow. I need to sleep right now.”

  Danny nodded. “No argument here. I’m surprised I didn’t doze off just now while eating.”

  Shawna walked up to him and placed her hands on his chest. Then she started to push him into the room. When his legs hit the side of the bed, she reached down and pulled his shirt up over his head. Then she smiled and pushed him back onto the bed. Of course, she had no plans to sleep with him tonight, but it was fun to tease. She could see he was staring at her through heavy-lidded eyes.

  Teasingly squeezing his leg, she said, “Hey, don’t worry, just curl up and sleep. This princess needs her beauty sleep, too.” She stripped down and curled up under the covers. Danny never missed a beat. He stripped the rest of the way down and joined her on the bed. Shawna turned her head back to look at him for a moment and gushed, “Thank you for the amazing week.”

  Then she fell asleep before her head fell back against the pillow.

  “Mhmmmm…I don’t want to get up,” Shawna moaned and snuggled deeper under the covers.

  Danny let out a light laugh. “We could play hooky?”

  Shawna glanced up. “Um, no, Kenzie needs me today. We have a big shipment coming in this morning.” She stretched and then wrapped her body around Danny. “But trust me, the temptation is there.”

  Danny bent and kissed her lips. “Can I just take a quick shower?”

  She giggled. “Really? You want to
take a shower in my tiny make-shift contraption?”

  “Not only do I plan to take a shower, I plan to make you join me, too,” he said teasingly and started to get up.

  Shawna would do anything on the planet to take a shower with that tall glass of water getting out of her bed…but in her stupid shower? Well, there would be just no way. She sighed. “Fine. We may have a few war wounds when we’re finished.” More like large black and blue marks all over their body.

  He just shrugged his shoulders and said, “I’m up for the challenge.”

  Since they were already naked, they just made their way into the bathroom. Shawna started the water and worked to get it to the right temp. She looked over her shoulder and asked, “Super hot?”

  “Um, well, hot, just not scalding.”

  Shawna held her hand out, motioning for him to get in first. The shower was standing only and maybe at most three feet by three feet. Small. Since Shawna was little herself, this adventure would be interesting.

  Danny stepped in and started laughing. “Okay, why the hell do you have such a small place?”

  “I told you, the ocean view.”

  She said it so matter of fact. It had been the truth; she really did love sitting on her patio with a glass of wine. Stepping in behind him, she started to laugh, too. “Okay, are you sure you want me in here?” He turned and pulled her close and bent to kiss her needy lips. Of course, right when he bent down, he bumped his behind into the shower wall. Shawna rolled her eyes and lightly laughed. “Never again.”

  For the next ten minutes, Danny would lift his arm and bump Shawna in the nose. Shawna tried to add shampoo to her hair, but every time she moved, she would elbow Danny in the side. They managed to get cleaned up, but it had been a mystery how they successfully achieved the task.

  As Shawna stepped out, she demanded, “Nope, not doing that again, no matter how much you beg me.”

  Danny sighed. “Okay, okay, only at my place from now on.”

  Shawna bent over to towel dry her long hair and laughed. “Why didn’t we record that shit show for later?”

  Danny took the few steps into the bedroom. “Because I would rather not have to admit I was wrong.” Shawna giggled and started blow drying her hair. She had to straighten it every couple of days—a very cumbersome task. She decided to just give it the quick dry method and throw it up in a messy bun for the day. They would be lifting boxes at the boutique anyway, so having her hair off her neck would be a warm welcome.

  When she finally finished getting ready, Shawna turned the light off and headed into the bedroom. She stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed Danny looking at a photo. She scowled, feeling a little uncomfortable. “What are you doing?”

  He looked up and admitted, “I’m sorry. I bumped some of the papers off the desk and this fell, too. Is this you with your family members?”

  Shawna was not in the mood to talk about her parents today. She gave a half–smile before answering. “That’s my parents and me at one of my dance competitions.” She took the few steps toward him and carefully took the image from his hand.

  She could tell he was probably confused.

  “Do you talk to them?” he asked.

  She huffed. “Oh no, they wouldn’t want to talk to me.”

  Danny stepped up beside her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Are you sure about that?” he said next to her ear.

  Shawna let out a nervous laugh. “Um, yeah, they made that clear five years ago.” She moved out of his embrace. “I never lived up to their expectations, so what’s the point?” She patted his chest and tried to sound happy. “Besides, I’m probably better off. I don’t think my parents ever really cared about me. Well, if they did they had a funny way of showing it.” She sighed. “Hey, I’m going to be late, so I’m going to jam out. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

  She didn’t even give Danny a chance to say anything else on the subject. Instead, she just threw on her shirt and jeans, grabbed her purse, and headed out.

  When she was about a mile down the road her tears fell. She cursed under her breath. “Damn them.” If she could have it different, she would. But her parents made it clear they did not want anything to do with her if she walked away from her lawyer career. Of course, each year that passed it got harder and harder. Her parents were not getting any younger, and shit, neither was she.

  Chapter 19

  Hopping in his Jeep, he decided to make a quick stop at the police station to see Grant. Danny tended to go see him whenever he needed to talk about something personal. After trying to talk to Shawna about her parents, he had the urge to help in some way, but knew he could be stepping over the line. Grant had always been the voice of reason, and would give those level-headed answers they all needed at times.

  The police station was only about ten minutes from Shawna’s house. The busy part of the day had already passed, so he zipped through each stop light. He was looking forward to talking to Grant as he started to head up the steps to the front door. Just then he heard his name called out from behind him, and turned to see Grant getting out of a squad car. Danny raised his hand in a greeting and headed over toward him. They grabbed hands and then pulled each other in for a big hug. Danny stepped back and said, “Just the person I was looking for, got a minute?”

  Growing up, Grant had worked hard at ensuring his brothers could collectively agree on things, or talk about something in a civil fashion. So when he became a cop it had been no surprise to anyone in the family. He nodded. “Sure, I was just getting back from a case. Want to go grab some coffee?” Grant asked and started heading away from the station.

  Danny laughed lightly. “Yeah, coffee would be great.”

  Grant punched his arm at the statement and demanded, “Don’t you start on that shit.”

  Danny put his hands up in surrender. “Who me? Never. Hey, I like coffee just as much as the next guy.” It had been that old joke everyone loved to pin on cops. Coffee and doughnuts, a cop’s fan favorite. Of course, joke or not, it wasn’t that far off from the truth.

  Danny followed along beside Grant feeling a little apprehensive to say his question out loud. He seemed to be having an inner battle going on in his mind, especially since he waited so long to be with Shawna. Finally, he just decided to let it all out. “Okay, I’m probably being silly, which is why I’m here to see you. I know from a few things Shawna has shared with me, she doesn’t talk to her parents. Actually, she hasn’t talked to them in several years it sounds like. I guess a part of me wants to help, and the other says, stay out of it.” He noticed how Grant suddenly stopped walking. He quickly said, “You know me, and you know my past. So of course you understand why it’s so important to me.”

  Grant turned his head to the side and asked, “Why get involved? Has she indicated anything, like maybe how she would love for you to help reconnect them?”

  Danny shook his head. “No, she just avoids the subject all together.”

  They were just about to the coffee shop. “And how long have you both been together?” Grant asked with a smile.

  Danny sighed. “Just a few months.”

  They walked into the coffee shop, and since it was not busy, they didn’t have to wait to order. Grant ordered two tall regular coffees and then headed over to an empty table. He sat down and let out a heavy sigh. “Danny, this may not be a good idea trying to mend other people’s wounds. You know that.”

  Danny sat down opposite him. “Maybe. Or maybe she just needs someone to show they care, and want to be there for her.”

  Grant laughed. “Do you really feel you know her that well to make that judgment?”

  Danny bent his head and looked back at him. “Well, only through Drew and Izzy. They have shared so much, but Shawna and I haven’t had really deep conversations yet.”

  Grant shrugged his shoulders and demanded, “Then stay out of it for now, it’s not for you to decide. If she wants your help, she’ll ask.”

  The server at the cafe
had just brought them their coffee with some creamer and sugar. Danny liked his black, so he took a much-needed sip. Finally, he said, “You’re probably right, which is why I needed to talk to you. It’s hard knowing she does not talk to her parents, especially because she shares such fond memories growing up and all that she accomplished with her dancing.” He gave a half–smile. “At least they were there growing up. There has to be more of a relationship between them, and it just needs that little bit of a push.”

  Grant had always been a stoic man, so he never showed any emotion. He just leaned forward and slapped Danny’s knee. “Just don’t be the one that pushes. She will come to you when she’s ready. Don’t let this relationship tarnish because of your own baggage.”

  “My own baggage,” Danny said and laughed.

  “You know what I mean? You had parents who chose to not make you a part of their lives. We don’t know why Shawna’s family is not a part of the picture.” Grant started to get up. “I need to get back. Want to meet for a drink later at The Clam Bake? Say around seven thirty?”

  Danny nodded. “Sure, but it will have to be more like eight o’clock. I have something until then.”

  “What, the dance class I keep hearing about?” Grant asked jokingly.

  Danny rolled his eyes and started to head out. “Whatever. I’ll see you later.”

  As Danny made his way back to the Jeep, on impulse he pulled out his phone to call Izzy. She actually answered on the first ring. “Hey there, handsome. What’s shaking?”

  He loved how happy Isabel always seemed. It had always been hard being grumpy when near her. He laughed. “Hey, Izzy. You got a sec?”

  She went quiet and then said, “Um, I guess. Should I be worried?”

  Danny reassured her quickly. “No, why would you ask that?”

  Isabel burst out laughing. “Babe, you are dating my girl and calling me. Something’s up. Spill it.”

  Letting out a heavy sigh, he admitted, “Okay, so I do have a question, and I’m hoping you can help me with it.” If there ever had been a time to feel unease, it was clearly that very moment. He cleared his throat before speaking. “Um, I was wondering if Shawna has ever mentioned her parents to you?”