Page 24 of Single Dad's Second Chance

I didn’t want her to go at all, but especially not because Ann and Owen were here.

“You don’t need me here.” She said it kindly, but I caught the underlying hurt in her tone. Now that Ann was here, a woman I was supposed to spend time with, she was ousted.

“But I—” I clamped my lips shut, catching myself from correcting her.

I didn’tneedMia here with me. But I wanted her. I valued her companionship. I wished to hear more of her critique about the dancers and her tips for what I should look for.

All I could do was watch her walk away, though, feeling as though I’d had a sample of a forbidden delicacy I’d never taste again.

As she left, I stood there rooted in indecision. I was tempted to run after her, to continue spending time with her, but then I was tempted to linger and see if that dancer—the one I wanted Mia’s opinion on—would show on the stage.

“Dammit,” I muttered as I grabbed my glass of water. I drank some, wishing Ann weren’t here. She’d instantly driven Mia away. And Owen. I shot him a stern look over the rim of my cup too. He just had to drag Ann here. Like I’d want her company.

I had to explain it all to him, how little I was interested. Next time he saw Ann popping in at the office, he’d tell her to leave, not encourage her and enable her to stalk me more.

“You all right, man?” Owen asked when a server stood at our area, taking Ann’s nit-picky order for a frou-frou drink.

I sighed, missing Mia and wishing I could rewind time to be with her—just her—again. Mia’s company soothed me at the same time that it excited me. I feltalivewith her, and everything else paled in comparison.

“Yeah,” I lied to him. It wasn’t his fault. He didn’t know how uninterested I was in Ann. But with the careful way he studied me now after Mia’s departure, I had a hunch he was getting the gist of how interested I was in Mia.

Broody and musing on my growing feelings for Mia, I barely paid attention when the show resumed. The dancer I wanted to see wasn’t up there, and without Mia here to offer helpful tipsand pointers about the show and the dance crew, I felt listless and out of it.

“I swear…” Ann scrunched her face, perfecting an expression of disgust as she shook her head at the stage. “These people, these women, have to besodesperate. Look at them.” She raised her hand to gesture at the stage and sneered. “They’re just like lowlife strippers. Dirty, without any shame or modesty.” She huffed. “Like hookers!”

I rolled my eyes, not in the mood to listen to her cattiness.

“I beg to argue,” Owen said, noticing my dark cringe. “They’re entertainers. We employ many excellent individuals atourclubs. Would you say the same thing about a Dunn employee?”

“Well. No.” She beamed a quick smile at me. “Everything a Dunn does is high-quality.”

“Then it’s no different. These dancers are entertainers. Not strippers or hookers,” he said.

I sighed, missing Mia even more. She was so critical of a judge, commenting on form and appeal, their fitness and skill sets. She was observant and wise, not quick to generalize and be bitchy with prejudices like Ann.

It didn’t matter how I was thinking about Mia. I always held her in high esteem. Sure, she had her flaws, but she was… perfect. For me.

I rubbed my face, aggravated with how badly I wanted her. I wasn’t sure if it was a consequence of finally daring to kiss her after years of dreaming about it. So many fantasies had formed in my mind’s eye of how she’d accept me as a lover, as her man, not her boss.

The reality of it was that my feelings would only continue to grow. I would pine for her. I would yearn for her far past this one first kiss tonight. And I had to wonder when enough would be enough.

I should’ve been on top of the world, so thrilled that she’d been eager to kiss me back. But I had to make my intentions clear. I wanted her to understand, full stop and without room for error, that I desired her. That she was never and would never be “just an employee” for me.

Sure, the rules at the office held me back. Those strict no-fraternization policies had been put in place because Jason’s mother—Mackenzie—had been a Dunn employee too. We’d started a workplace romance that ended with her getting pregnant. When she realized that she didn’t want a family with me, a forever with me, she took off. It made for many awkward moments until she left. When she ran off three days after Jason’s birth—to sleep with the CFO of a rival company overseas—she’d not only abandoned me and Jason, but she’d also shown the need for rules inouroffice.

That situation ended poorly, but the attraction and closeness Mia and I had cultivated over years wouldn’t result in a similar implosion.

Right?

She couldn’t feel so right, so perfect for me, and be wrong for me.

Life couldn’t be that cruel. Mia couldn’t be the one woman I wanted to call mine and not be a good fit.

“Doesn’t look like ‘your’ dancer is here,” Owen commented as Ann happily slurped at her frou-frou cocktail.

The show was nearing its closing number, but I hadn’t really paid attention. Bereft with Mia’s absence, I’d spent the rest of the night thinking about her.

But my friend’s wording bothered me. That dancer wasn’tmine. The only person I wanted to be possessive about was Mia.

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