Page 21 of Truth or More Truth (Throwback RomComs #3)

twenty

. . .

I want to kiss Melissa so badly right now it physically pains me not to do so, but I don’t want our first kiss to be in front of a few hundred people.

Not all of them are paying attention to the two of us, but when I glanced around before I first pulled her into my arms, I noticed most of the rest of the wedding party’s eyes were glued to us, and I knew exactly why.

But right now, I only have eyes for the woman in my arms, whose body I’m currently supporting while we both consider the potential impact of what we just revealed to each other.

Deep down, I know this is a bad idea. There’s a reason I don’t get close to women, especially those I really like.

My life is not conducive to a relationship—especially not a long-distance one—and I can’t imagine how it ever will be.

I don’t want to hurt Melissa, but I also don’t think I can stop whatever is happening between us.

“As soon as this song is over,” Melissa murmurs when she regains her ability to hold herself up and begins swaying again, “we’re finding ourselves a quiet corner,” she pauses, “of an empty room.”

I let out a belly laugh. That was not what I expected her to say, but I’m all for it. Except for one thing.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you,” I say, and I don’t miss the brief flicker of dismay in her eyes, “but I’ve already promised the next dance to another lady.”

Confusion fills her gaze for a second before a smile spreads across her face. “Of course. You can’t disappoint Emily.” She peers over her shoulder. “You think she’s watching us?”

I chuckle. “There’s no doubt in my mind she hasn’t taken her eyes off us, and I’ll be getting an earful from her in a minute about what she thinks she’s seen.”

One of Melissa’s hands slides up into my hair, and her fingernails lightly scratch my scalp, sending electricity down my spine. “And what do you think she thinks she’s seen?” she asks flirtatiously.

“A man who has stopped fighting his feelings,” I readily admit, “but who is also very much fighting his desire to kiss you right here and now.”

“Thanks for fighting that,” she says. “Not that I don’t want you to kiss me, but I’m afraid we’d get a rousing round of applause from our friends if we did it here and now.”

I glance away from Melissa for a second and then back. “Wendy looks like she’s about to pull half the muscles in her face, her smile is so big.”

Melissa giggles. “I believe that one hundred percent.”

As the song draws to a close, I reluctantly release her waist, but then I take her hand and lead her back to our table. “Don’t go too far,” I whisper in her ear as I straighten and smile at Emily.

Wendy intercepts me as I take a step away from Melissa and toward the little girl.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Wendy demands.

I shrug. “I promised the next dance to another lady.”

“B-but—” she sputters.

I give Andrea a questioning look, and she nods her head, giving me permission to dance with her daughter. Then I hold my free hand out toward Emily who, as expected, is watching Melissa and me with wide eyes and an even wider grin. She skips over to me and takes my hand.

“You kids have fun!” Melissa says.

There’s nothing I can do to stop the urge to kiss Melissa’s cheek, so I lean down and press my lips just shy of her mouth, and Emily squeals in response before dragging me out onto the dance floor as “Hey Baby” starts playing.

She stops in her tracks, turns to me with giant eyes, and says, “This is my favorite! How did they know?”

I hide my smile, not wanting her to know I talked to the DJ and requested the song just for her.

“I guess it’s fate!” I twirl her around and take both of her little hands in mine.

“So, Miss Emily, how are we going to do this?” I ask.

“Do you want to stand on my shoes, do you want me to pick you up, or do you want to dance on your own two feet?”

She holds her arms up. “Pick me up, please. It’ll be easier to talk to you that way.”

Of course she wants to talk.

“Your wish is my command, my lady.”

Emily giggles as I lift her up, and once she’s settled on my right hip with her right hand in my left, she waggles her little eyebrows at me.

“I saw you dancing with Miss Melissa. You liiiiiike her!”

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t,” I hedge, trying to act nonchalant as I dance her across the floor.

She gives one firm nod. “You do. I know these things.”

“Do you?”

“Yep. I’m good with love stuff.”

My lips twitch. “Love stuff?”

“Uh-huh. I can tell when people are in love because they get this funny look on their face. Like this.”

I do my best not to laugh when she widens her eyes multiple times and grins maniacally.

“That’s what love looks like, huh?” I ask.

“It is.” She pauses. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“I love secrets.” Too much, especially when I’m the one keeping them.

“Promise you won’t tell aaaaanybody?”

“Pinky promise.” I wrap my pinky finger around hers.

Emily giggles. “You know how to pinky promise?”

“I do. ”

“How do you know?”

I cock my head at her. “Can you keep a secret?” Somehow I think she can and honestly, I’m tired of keeping Kelli a secret from people who mean something to me.

I’m going to tell Melissa about her just as soon as I can get her alone.

But I can’t chance having Emily say anything before I do.

Melissa needs to hear it from me. “You can’t tell anybody, okay? ”

“Yes, tell me, tell me!”

“And then you’ll tell me your secret?” I ask.

“I pinky promise I’ll tell you my secret!” She giggles.

“I know how to pinky promise because my little girl taught me.”

She looks at me in awe. “You have a little girl?” She looks around. “Where is she? Is she here? Why wasn’t she sitting with us?”

“I do have a little girl. Well, she’s not so little anymore, but she was little not very long ago. And she’s not here. She’s with her mom in California.”

Emily purses her lips as she digests this information. “Her mom isn’t your wife?”

“No.” I wonder how many more questions I’ll get about this.

“That’s okay. My mommy isn’t my dad’s wife, either.”

I don’t know much about the situation with Emily’s dad—just that he’s not in the picture at the moment.

“Does that make you sad?” I ask her.

“No.” She shakes her head. “I haven’t seen him since I was a baby, so I don’t miss him. But I wish I had a daddy who wants to live with me and who loves me more than anybody in the world except my mommy. He can love her more.”

My heart breaks for this little girl, and I hope she gets her wish someday soon, and I tell her as much. “I want you to have a daddy who loves you and wants to live with you, too.”

Emily asks me bluntly, “Is your little girl sad that you’re not married to her mom?”

“No. She lives with me part of the time and knows I love her more than anybody in the world. ”

She gives me a contemplative look. “But maybe someday you’ll love Melissa more than her?”

I shake my head. “No. I’ll never love anyone more than I love Kelli.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t love someone else in a different way and just as much as I love Kelli.

Loving your child is a different kind of love than loving someone you want to marry.

” I feel the need to add, “Your mom will always love you as much as or more than anyone else. You know that, right?” I don’t know Andrea well, but I know enough to be sure what I’m telling her daughter is true.

“Yeah.” She sighs and leans her head against my shoulder. “But I still want a daddy.”

Tears prick behind my eyes as I hold Emily tightly against me. “I know,” I say as I press my cheek to her soft hair.

We dance in silence for a few seconds before I say, “Hey, you never told me your secret.”

Emily’s head pops back off my shoulder. “Oh, yeah!” She looks around in what I assume she thinks is a stealthy manner and then whispers, “You know that love look we talked about?”

She makes the hilarious face, and I stifle my laugh yet again.

“Yeah?”

“I saw Mr. Shannon give that look to my mommy when she wasn’t looking.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Oh, you did?” This kid is perceptive. I saw the same thing, though Shannon made sure Andrea didn’t see it. Apparently he didn’t pay as much attention to where her daughter’s focus lay.

“Yep.” She pops the “p” as she says it.

“Did you tell your mom?” I ask.

“Nuh-uh.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t think he wanted her to see it. When she looked at him, his face went like this.”

She gives me the most serious look she can muster, and this time I do laugh.

“So you’re keeping Mr. Shannon’s secret?”

“I am, but he doesn’t even know it. ”

“Do you like Mr. Shannon?”

Emily’s head bobs up and down, making her red curls bounce. “I do. He’s nice.” She thinks for a minute before continuing, “I think I’d like it if he was my daddy someday.”

“I bet he would make a great daddy.” I truly mean it, and for both Emily’s sake and Andrea’s, I hope he doesn’t keep fighting his feelings.