Page 23 of Single Dad's Second Chance

I hadn’t asked him to come, but he was there when I asked her to come here with me tonight.

Shame filled her eyes. Shock and horror swiftly followed. All too soon, she was letting the consequences weigh down on her.

We’d kissed.

We’d crossed a boundary that we shouldn’t have.

Of course, she was freaking out about it, but I wouldn’t. I would not take back a second of kissing her. I was only peeved that Owen had to show up here when he had.

“Henry,” Owen repeated, clapping a hand on my back.

I tore my stare from Mia, hating that she was backing up after the blissful surprise of my kiss. The perfect moment of surrendering to the chemistry between us. I’d kissed her on impulse, and so had she in return. And I wanted to do it again.

Owen’s hand on my back prompted me to turn and face him. I did, finding a worse surprise with him.

Owen hadn’t come here alone. He’d brought along Ann.

She narrowed her eyes at Mia, then blinked curiously at me. “Hey, Henry!” Without missing a beat, she morphed from an expression of confusion and irritation for Mia to an overly bright smile for me. She launched herself at me, arms out in an implied request that I catch her and hug her. I did, but not tightly. Jumping at me so awkwardly, she nearly pushed me backward.

“Hey,” I said to my friend who watched me with a curious smirk. “I didn’t know you were coming out here.”

Owen shrugged, glancing at Mia as she turned toward the table and sipped her drink. She didn’t make eye contact withOwen or me, seeming to use the cup of water as a prop to distract herself with. I bet she wished she could hide behind the damn glass with how she was shrinking away.

“I can see that.” Owen cleared his throat, shooting me a silly smile that suggested he was having way too much fun with this, finding me kissing my secretary.

I hated that he worded it like I was hoping no one would interrupt my evening with Mia. Like she was something I had to hide. She was—on the principle that I shouldn’t be kissing someone who worked for me. But I didn’t like the thought that Mia was inferior or shameful, something to avoid or hide.

Now that I knew how sweet her lips were, I wanted to kiss her until they were swollen. I wanted to feel her mouth on me everywhere. I wanted… her.

Again, I glanced at her, wishing she’d face me. Standing off to the side, she paid attention to the stage.

“I was looking for you,” Ann said, grabbing my arm and tugging so I’d turn from Mia. “At the office.”

I know. You’ve been looking for me with texts, emails, and calls as well.I supposed I shouldn’t have missed the thought that she would seek me out in person too.

“She came to the office,” Owen said, “looking for you, and I told her that I knew where you were.”

Asshole.Then again, I hadn’t had a chance to tell my friend that I didn’t want Ann butting into my life. Had he known, he’d back me up and help to keep this gold digger away.

“Since I knew you would be here, I told her we could meet up. But I, uh…” He winced, scratching below his ear. “I thought we’d find you here scoping out the talent on the stage. Not… doing something else.”

I willed him to shut up.

“Yes. The dancers,” Mia said, using an overly loud and sudden tone. “Wewerewatching the dancers. But hey. Um.”She shook her head, flustered as she grabbed her purse. Rushing to snatch it, she knocked over her glass of water on the table. Liquid splashed out on the table, flooding the surface while more flew out toward Ann, who shrieked.

“It’s just water,” I said, hurrying with Mia to mop up the spill with napkins.

“But—” Ann growled, wiping at her dress that was hardly wet from the spray to begin with.

“Um. I’m just—I’ll…” Mia held her hands out, as if warding the soggy napkins to stay put on the table. Without looking up at me, giving me a slight view of her blushing cheeks, she eased to the side. She moved with a clear intention of keeping the distance between us, an exaggerated buffer as she slipped through the nook our table and chairs were in. “I’ll just go.”

Dammit!“No.” I reached out for her, ignoring Ann’s curious frown. “Mia, you don’t have to go.”

“But, I, yeah.” She nodded, tossing me a quick smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Yeah. I shouldn’t stay out any later than this.”

But you often stay up late.I’d know because we texted constantly, daily and nightly, about anything and everything. Sometimes, it was about work things, but mostly, it was everyday sort of messages. She was always the last one to reply with a goodnight text, late into the night.

“Please stay,” I said, hating that she’d react to my kiss like this. That she’d react to her eager response to my kiss like that. I didn’t want her to feel like she had to leave. I wanted us to go right back to where we were, kissing when we had no right to.

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