Page 14 of Secret Love (The Single Dad Playbook #2)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

MOVES LIKE HENLEY

TRU

The minute Henley takes my hand, I know I would go with this man anywhere. His large hand engulfs mine and I’ve never felt so protected, yet so desired, when he walks out on the dance floor confidently and then manages to smoothly flip me around so my back is against his chest. For a second, I wonder if he needs to catch his breath like I do, but the next thing I know, he twists me around until I'm swinging out and then twirling back against his chest. He dips me back and we stare at each other, suspended. When he lifts me up, we share a smile.

Oh, game on.

“ So, you do have the moves,” I say.

“Hmm.” He grins, his eyes dancing.

He looks so dangerous right now.

We lose track of time as we move and it's not just a simple sway back and forth. It is steaming hot, sexy dancing . Like he was made to do this.

I can't believe this guy plays football. Granted, I’ve never watched a game in my life, but he makes me want to start.

It's the most fun I’ve ever had dancing. I've never danced with a man who could keep up with me, so the most enjoyment I’ve had is dancing with friends in college or by myself in dance studios. This …I could get addicted to this.

We dance until it seems like we're the only ones left on the floor, and we still keep going. When the music slows down much later, he pulls me against his chest and rocks me back and forth.

“What do you think?” he asks. “What do I need to work on?”

“Not a single thing,” I tell him, and I mean it.

Sadie and Weston walk up then and stop in front of us.

“You guys look great out here,” Sadie says. “Oh my goodness, you need to show me how to dance like you. I've always wanted to be able to move like that, but never could.”

“You move just fine, Chapman,” Weston says, pulling her against his chest.

“I agree. You were great out here,” I tell her.

“Not like you guys were,” she sings. “Hey, girl, I think I'm gonna head out in a little bit. Are you ready pretty soon?”

Henley clears his throat. “I can take her.” He looks at me. “I can take you home if you’d like.”

I smile. “That'd be great. Is that okay, Sadie?”

“Sure!” She grins happily.

“What do you think, shall we dance a little longer? Or are you ready to go?” Henley asks after we've said bye to everyone.

“I’ve loved this so much, but I am exhausted,” I admit. “I’m not used to staying up this late.”

He laughs. “Neither am I. The guys talked me into coming out tonight against my protests. But damn, am I glad I did.”

“So am I.” I smile at him and we make our way toward the exit.

He holds his hand out and I take it, my stomach doing its own little dance.

“I guess I'm glad now that we came in my truck.” He laughs. “Those guys are something else. I guess they all piled into Sadie’s compact SUV.”

I crack up, imagining it. “That thing isn't big enough for all of them.”

“They are a bunch of circus clowns, so I guess it works.” We both crack up at that. “Maybe they took an Uber, who knows? Penn probably went home with that brunette he was dancing with, so that would be one less brute.”

The drive to my house goes surprisingly fast. It's about half an hour to get there. We talk about Cassidy and the steps she’s been implementing at school. And we talk about what his schedule is like when football starts back up. It sounds like a whole other life than the one he has right now. I'm reminded of what he said about Bree not expecting to be married to a professional football player.

“Did you not play football when you were dating Bree?”

“I did. But so many don't make it. Her dad played…got picked up by a team, but never made it off the bench. I think she just thought it was a passing dream, that I wouldn't get very far and it wouldn't last long. And then she'd have a nine-to-five husband. And well…it didn't go that way.”

“I’m surprised she wasn't so excited for you. It seems like a really big deal. I mean, understatement of the century .” I laugh awkwardly and he joins in. His laugh is big and gravelly, just like him. “Clearly, I know nothing about sports, but…the Super Bowl? That's kind of huge, right?”

He laughs again and wow, I really like making him laugh.

“You’re kind of adorable,” he says. “In a complete and utterly fucking perfect way.”

Oh, I can't even breathe for a few seconds. I just stare at him and he glances over at me like he didn't just shake my world upside down. He smiles and looks back at the road.

I swallow hard and thank him in a raspy voice. I don't even know what to do with myself. I’m floored by this man. When we pull up to my house and he idles in the driveway, I want to invite him in. It feels too soon, but I feel more than ready. The Cassidy thing is hanging over my head, but God have mercy, I want him so much.

He turns to look at me. “I’m going to walk you to your door,” he says, his voice like velvet. “I’d really like to kiss you too, but I’d understand if you're not comfortable with that.”

That feeling of fire licking up my body? That's what Henley’s words do to me. I nod and realize when he gets out of the car and walks around to my side, that I didn't really make it clear what I wanted. He holds his hand out and I take it, climbing out. We walk slowly to the front door, and when we reach it, I turn to face him.

“I’d really love for you to kiss me,” I whisper.

His lips are on mine before I’ve even gotten the words all the way out. Warm, full, soft lips that send me floating in the clouds. Firm and dominant yet yielding. My mouth opens to his and I let him inside. A little groan escapes my mouth when I taste the cinnamon from the gum he’d been chewing. My body feels swept away and yet anchored with the way he holds me. I’m greedy. My hands try their best to reach everything they can, his chest, his neck, his back, his hair. All so good. I tug on his hair and he breaks away, both of us breathless.

“Tru,” he whispers, “that was?—”

“Incredible,” I finish.

“I’m trying to think of an even better word, but yeah, speechless.” He leans his head against mine. “Thank you for an amazing night,” he says. He gives me one more quick kiss and then backs up, still watching me.

Our eyes are hungry, but we grin at each other like fools.

Finally, I turn to unlock my door. When I step inside and turn, he still stands there, smiling at me. He puts his hand over his heart.

“You’ve given me a lot to think about tonight,” he says.

I smile and go inside, collapsing against the back of the door. A feeling of utter elation in my bones.

When Monday rolls around, I have no idea what to expect from Henley Ward. I've been both relieved and disappointed that he hasn't reached out to me since Saturday night. But the overwhelming feeling leans toward disappointment. He has my number. I thought I might get a text or something to clarify what to expect when I get to his house this afternoon. We’d already set up a time for today, so there was no need for him to reach out over the weekend really, except maybe to talk about the kiss we shared .

I’ve had an impossible time getting my mind off of that kiss.

It basically rendered me useless yesterday.

I did laundry and cuddled with Earl, watching sappy movies and imagining Henley as the hero in every single one of them. He's much better looking than all of them put together, so it wasn't hard to do.

When I pull up to the gate, a guard waves me through, giving me a friendly smile. I gasp when I see the beautiful chalet at the end of the driveway, the lake shimmering in the background. The mountains surrounding Silver Hills are one of my favorite things about the town, but this lake, it's spectacular as well. Henley lives on the same lake as Weston and Sadie, but it was too dark to really enjoy it when I was at their place. This afternoon, the sun highlights the water and when I park the car and get out, I stand there for a moment, just taking it in.

“It's a nice view, isn't it?” Henley says.

I turn around and he’s standing a few feet away. He's in jeans and a white T-shirt, bare feet. I've never seen anything sexier.

“It's stunning,” I say, looking back at the water.

“I’ve thought about you so much since Saturday,” he says softly.

I turn to him, surprised that he's going there. “You have?”

“Oh yeah, I have.” He nods, his smile luring me in like he’s telling me a secret.

“I’ve thought about you too,” I admit.

“What have you—” he starts, but a little voice interrupts.

“Hi, Miss Seymour,” a little voice calls.

I turn to see the smallest Ward daughter. She looks so much like Henley, I can't get over it.

“Hi, you must be Gracie,” I say.

“Yep,” she says. “I’ve seen you at dance before, but we’ve never met.”

I nod. “I’ve seen you too.” I smile and she smiles back.

“Cassidy said you're a really nice teacher and Audrey said you dance really good,” she says.

“Well, I’ll have to thank your sisters for saying that. I’m enjoying teaching both of them. Will there ever be a time when I see you at dance class besides coming in to get your sisters?”

“No, probably not.” She sighs dramatically. “I’m more of a softball kind of girl.” She adjusts her hat. It's white with a teal horse and says, Colorado Mustangs.

“I like your hat.”

“Thanks. It's my dad's team. Sometimes I get cool things from the team, right, Dad?”

“Yep, it’s one of the perks, peanut.” Henley grins and tugs on her braid.

“Well, it's pretty great. That horse is cute,” I say.

Henley snorts. “Yep, exactly what the league was going for,” he says softly.

I cut my eyes over and he sobers, trying to not laugh.

“Very cute,” he says in a serious voice.

Gracie giggles.

I laugh and we walk inside.

“Wow, this place. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Uncle Bowie says this is really his house. Why does he say that again, Daddy?”

“Because it has authentic Austrian murals and hand-painted elements all over the place, and Uncle Bowie grew up in Austria,” he says.

“I didn’t know that.” I study the mural in the living room and the huge arch-shaped window with the lake on the other side.

“He’s been in the States since he was twelve but still has extended family in Austria,” Henley says.

“That’s so cool. I bet he did want to switch houses when he saw this.”

It’s so pretty and cozy while still being massive.

“He prefers a more modern look, but when he’s homesick, he comes over.” Henley laughs.

“It’s beautiful, Henley. Really beautiful.”

“I have Sadie to thank for a lot of this. She’s been so helpful, making it feel this?—”

“Cozy?” I fill in.

He smiles. “If that’s how you see it, I’m glad. It’s a big house, but I didn’t want it to feel cold or like we have to be careful where we put our feet.”

Instead of the black leather I’ve come to expect from a bachelor, it’s so refreshing to see neutrals with pops of muted color here and there. The woodwork and windows are such masterpieces, it would take away from the architecture to have anything distracting from it.

We walk into the living room and Audrey waves from the couch.

“Hi, Audrey. Good to see you today. How's your week going so far?”

“Not bad, I'm almost done with my homework already.”

“Wow, good job.” I smile at her and she returns it shyly.

She’s so pretty. I think she looks like a perfect combination of both Henley and Bree, and Cassidy looks most like Henley.

“Cassidy's in the kitchen. She was trying to get done before you got here, but she hadn’t finished all the dishes yet.”

“I had a little snack ready after school,” Henley says. “There’s still some left…would you like some pepperoni bites?”

“I’ll never turn down pepperoni bites.”

“Me either!” Gracie says.

“Come on back, let's get some food in you,” Henley says.

Gracie and Audrey both follow us into the kitchen and look at me in alarm when I gasp.

I put my hand on my throat and laugh. “I’m sorry. It’s just…this kitchen! Some of the cabinets have turrets? What? ”

They all look at me with wide eyes and smiles.

“Hi, Cassidy. Sorry, I’m gonna need a minute before I can function like a normal human being.” I overexaggerate my deep inhale and they all laugh.

“We love this kitchen too,” Cassidy says.

“ And there’s a spiral staircase,” Gracie yells.

Henley’s eyes widen with her volume.

“We’re excited you’re here,” he says. “Girls, Miss Seymour is here to help Cassidy work, so we’ll need to give them some privacy. But she needs to eat first, right?” He grins at me. “Right?”

“I do,” I say, smiling back. “I’ll eat quick and then we can get to work,” I tell Cassidy.

She nods and smiles sweetly, turning to hand me the plate of pepperoni bites.

“Thank you. I’m getting the royal treatment here.” I take a bite and hum. “Delicious. Oh, this is so much better than the sad sandwich I ate for lunch.”

“She likes pepperoni bites. Noted,” Henley says.

I swallow hard. Oh, this is bad. This is very bad.

My face is an open book.

How am I supposed to hide my staggering crush on this man in front of his girls?

Fortunately, Earl chooses that time to make his presence known. He pops out of my hood and lets out a long, plaintive meow. The looks on their faces…priceless.

“THERE IS A KITTEN ON YOUR BACK!” Gracie yells.

“Oh, did I forget to mention I’d be bringing a guest?” I’m still laughing as they crowd around me, petting Earl.

“I knew, and he still managed to catch me off guard,” Henley says, chuckling. “Oh, he is…the perfect little sidepiece for you.”

“ Dad! Gross!” Cassidy is mortified. “Sorry, Miss Seymour, my dad can’t possibly know what sidepiece means.”

“And you do?” Henley lifts his eyebrows and smirks.

I press my lips together as I try not to laugh. And fail.

“Remind me to cut off all reality TV for you,” Henley tells Cassidy.

“ Dad ,” she groans and looks at me apologetically.

Distraction always works in the classroom, so I try it now, taking Earl out of my hood. Another round of gasps and adoration makes me laugh.

“That kitten is the cutest thing ever,” Henley says. And under his breath, I think I hear him say, “I’m so screwed.”