Page 52 of Summer Heat
His voice was light and teasing, but it was a little too close to the truth for me. Instead of agreeing with him, I rolled my eyes. "You're ridiculous."
He winked at me. "You love me."
Warmth spread through my body as I imagined what it would be like if we were together, and this was our weekend to be alone. Would he cook for me or take me out to a nice dinner? Would we go for a swim or take a dip in the hot tub when we came home? Would he have sex with me on the rooftop deck or his bed?
The image of us on his bed together had my entire body heating up more.
"We'll have dinner, maybe watch a movie, and if you're good, I'll let you watch the stars with me on the rooftop deck." He winked at me.
"That sounds lovely." I shouldn't be freaking out. He wasn't even thinking about the other possibilities because he wasn't interested in me. He wasn't distracted by thoughts of me naked.
"Let's switch up the music." He turned off the playlist on my phone and hit Play on his. A slow, sultry song came over the speakers on the patio, ones I hadn't noticed before. Then he gestured for me to join him. "Come on. Let's work the nerves out. I want you to relax and have a good time."
I stood without any conscious thought and placed my hand in his. He tugged me closer. So close, I was surrounded by his sandalwood scent.
His breath stirred my hair, and my heart beat rapidly. His palm felt strong and steady under mine as he held me in a traditional waltz position. He moved us easily around the patio, impressing me with his skills. "How do you know how to dance?"
"Mom made me take a class when I was a kid. She thought it would help me focus or something. I don't know. But it made me popular with the ladies." He grinned down at me.
I chuckled. "I bet it did."
"To be honest, it was never hard for me to get female attention." His comment could be seen as arrogant, but to me, it was an admission. "The interactions were surface level, or at least that's how it seems to me now."
"You never had a long-term or serious relationship?"
"I've had arrangements with women where we'd meet up and go home together afterward, but we didn't meet each other's families or anything like that."
"That could be seen as a relationship," I said as he continued to guide me expertly across the patio.
He nodded. "It felt empty to me at the time. I wasn't content, and I'm thinking it's because we were missing the rest of what comes in a relationship."
"And what's that?" I could barely breathe because this was the deepest insight I'd had into him yet, and I didn't want to miss a single thing.
He slowed, gazing down at me. "I never cooked them breakfast. We didn't look at the stars on my rooftop deck. I certainly didn't dance with them on my patio."
I shrugged, trying to keep things light. "Well, yeah, because it's your secret rooftop deck, and you don't bring women to your home."
He raised a brow, continuing without acknowledging my comment. "I've never sung to their kids before."
I wanted to ask if he'd dated a single mom, but I had a feeling he was talking about me, and that made my throat tight. While we were playing house, he realized he should be experiencing this in a relationship, and he wanted it. "There's no reason why you can't find that with someone." Even if it hurt to admit that out loud.
An unreadable emotion passed over his face. It almost looked like it pained him to hear me say that. "I'm not the commitment guy that women are looking for."
I winced. "Maybe don't meet them at bars. Take your time to get to know someone and ask them out."
"What would be a good first date?" he asked, his voice lower, rougher even.
"I liked going to the restaurant. It was romantic. But I like to stay in too, especially with this as your view." I let go of his hand, gesturing at the ocean.
"Was dinner romantic with Maya there?" He sounded like he was genuinely interested in what I thought.
I laughed. "You're going to think it's crazy, but it was attractive how amazing you were with my daughter."
His eyes darkened.
"It's what prompted me to want to date again. To find someone who could like my daughter as much as me. Most of the guys I've gone on dates with before… Their eyes glaze over when I talk about Maya. They make excuses to not see me again. They don't include Maya in our dates."
"You're dating the wrong guys then."
