Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Chance
As a single dad of a teenage girl who broke rules more often than she followed them lately, I didn’t get many evenings to myself.
On top of that, my job at the Rusty Anchor Brewing Company sometimes required working past five o’clock. I didn’t mind since I liked the people, the job, and the challenge of managing the brewery’s marketing efforts.
My social life was limited to early mornings at the gym and my Saturday nights with a group of dads who’d been hanging together since we were all single.
Some of us weren’t solo anymore. I probably always would be, at least until my daughter, Sam, was an adult and on her own.
In the meantime, she was a full-time worry and then some.
I hadn’t been with a woman for… Shit. I couldn’t say how long it’d been since I’d gotten laid.
A few hours of escape, of not needing to keep tabs on my fourteen-year-old, would be a luxury.
I loved that girl with all my heart, but she’d been struggling since we moved here a year and a half ago.
It got worse when she started high school last fall.
Tonight, though, it seemed things might be lining up in my favor.
Sam was spending the night at her friend Lacey’s house.
I’d verified with Lacey’s mother that the woman would be home so the girls wouldn’t be unsupervised.
That translated to being able to relax at this party and have a few drinks.
And maybe spend some time with the woman who’d caught my eye the second she entered the ballroom alone. Rowan.
The chemistry between us was fire, like nothing I’d ever experienced. Even before I’d gone cheesy and used my costume and boom box to get her to dance, I couldn’t seem to keep my eyes from seeking her out.
She was distractingly pretty, with chestnut-brown hair that reached below her shoulders and large, captivating brown eyes.
Her skin was flawless, lashes full and long, body slender and alluring even though she wore a non-revealing, narrow skirt that reached her calves, with a thick suede belt, tall boots, and a plain pink blouse for her costume.
We’d stood out in the frigid night kissing like teenagers until my balls threatened to fall off from the cold.
Then we’d laughed at ourselves, made our way back up the stairs, and she’d returned my jacket before we reentered the ballroom.
Once inside, she’d excused herself to go to the ladies’ room.
To avoid looking like a creepy dude, in case she was giving me the blow off, I’d had to give her that space.
My gaze had been on the door ever since, waiting for her to return, even as I took a ribbing from West, one of the only other singles left in the dads’ group, about disappearing with my mystery woman, as he referred to her.
I was all too aware she wasn’t mine by any stretch of the imagination. There was at least a fifty-percent chance she wouldn’t reappear at the door.
She’d seemed to be as into me as I was her, but I didn’t trust my judgment and sure as hell didn’t trust my game where women were concerned. I suspected she was out of my league, but that didn’t stop me from hoping for more time with her tonight.
The band was playing its last song of the evening, as they were packing up before midnight to let the DJ, Adrian Cormier, take over again. I didn’t know him well, but I appreciated that he’d done me a solid and played along with my movie song pickup plot to win a dance with Rowan.
“I’m gonna take off,” West said to the group that included Knox and Quincy, newlyweds Ben and Emerson, and me.
“Leave me as the fifth wheel,” I joked. “Thanks, man.”
“Your mystery woman’ll be back. I saw the way she was looking at you.”
“You’re really leaving before midnight?” Quincy asked him.
“Need to spell my babysitter,” West said, but I suspected he didn’t want to be by himself at midnight, watching all the happy couples ring in a New Year of love and bliss. I couldn’t blame him. I wasn’t sure how long I’d stay if Rowan didn’t return.
As if I’d summoned her with my thoughts, she came back into the ballroom at that moment. She paused, scanning the room. I saw the second she recognized me in the low light.
When she headed in my direction, I felt light as air. The crowd had thickened on this end of the ballroom now that the band was done playing, so I lost sight of her a few times. Then there she was, still coming my way, her eyes on me and a shy smile on her tempting lips.
I closed the last few steps between us and took her hand as the DJ started a song.
“Hey, princess,” I quipped, smiling warmly. “I was hoping you’d come back.
“I told you I would,” she said.
I didn’t point out that could just as easily be a blow off as a promise. “Would you like a drink? A dance?”
“I’d love some water. I’m parched.”
“It’s that dry, frozen air,” I said, laughing again because we’d gotten so carried away out there in twenty-degree weather.
“You’re lucky your arms didn’t get frostbite,” she said as we headed to the nearest bar.
“I’m lucky I had a beautiful girl keeping me warm.”
Once we’d shared a bottle of water, we headed to the dance floor. The music was too fast for slow dancing, but I could hold my own on the upbeat songs too.
Halfway through the first song, Rowan leaned close. “You’re good at this. I’m not worthy.”
I laughed. “You’re perfect.” I pulled her closer, and we swayed together, our eyes locked, both of us grinning. I hadn’t drunk more than two beers, but I was flying high because of her.
After a handful of eighties dance songs, the DJ said, “Hey, party people, the New Year’s about nine minutes away.
We’re going to slow things down for a couple dances to get you in the mood for your New Year’s kiss, so if you don’t know who you’ll be kissing yet, now’s the time to figure it out.
Don’t be caught alone at the stroke of midnight! ”
I didn’t have the chance to question Rowan.
She ran her hands up my chest, to the back of my neck, drawing me in closer, her pretty eyes sparkling as if she’d drunk twice as many cocktails as she had.
Knowing I was the cause of that sparkle sent my blood pounding through me.
I ached to see what other reactions I could elicit from her, preferably with her out of that sedate costume.
That was getting ahead of myself.
“Tell me something about yourself,” I said as we swayed to a Madonna slow song, trying to rein in my thoughts. I barely knew this girl and might be reading her all wrong.
She laughed quietly. “Like what?”
I shrugged. “What do you do for a living?”
A frown flitted over her face so quickly I wasn’t sure I’d seen right.
“I’m a high-school teacher,” she said.
“In Nashville?”
She bit her lip. “I’m between teaching positions.” She averted her eyes. A couple of heartbeats later, she met my gaze again. “I had to quit my position to care for my grandmother. She died recently of Alzheimer’s.”
The sadness in her eyes hit me in the gut. “I’m sorry,” I said helplessly. “That must’ve been really hard.”
She swallowed and nodded. “Let’s not bring the mood down.” She mustered a smile. “What about you? What do you do?”
“I’m in marketing,” I said, still trying to wrap my head around what she might have gone through recently. Quitting a job to be someone’s caretaker told me a lot about her character. I wanted to know more, but I didn’t want to cause more sadness.
“Is this how you spent last New Year’s Eve too?” She gestured to the party, then put her hand back on me where I wanted it.
“Truth? I don’t remember how I spent last New Year’s.”
More than likely, it was something to do with my daughter. I needed to quit thinking about Sam for a few hours, but when I spent most of my waking hours worrying about her, turning that off didn’t come easily.
I eased our bodies closer together and breathed in her sweet, feminine scent. “Tonight has the potential to be much more memorable,” I said, watching her for a reaction.
She arched her body deeper into me and clasped her hands at my nape possessively, telling me she was feeling the pull between us too.
As the second slow song played, a server came up to us offering flutes of champagne. Rowan declined, and so did I. I’d much prefer to have my hands on her than a plastic flute.
The DJ started the countdown.
Still entwined, body to body, Rowan and I kept our eyes locked on each other as we counted along. “…four…three…two…one…”
As the crowd yelled, “Happy New Year,” I fast-forwarded, taking her mouth in a too-eager kiss.
The instant our mouths connected again, my whole body came alive.
My blood pounded south as I ran my hands over her curves, aching to slip under her costume to feel her skin directly.
There was just enough of my brain left to remember this was a dance floor in a crowded party and being too forward likely wouldn’t win me any points with Rowan.
Our kiss went on as horns blew and people cheered and toasted to the New Year. This woman was more intoxicating than champagne any day.
Eventually Rowan pulled away from the kiss just enough to peer up into my eyes and ask, “Want to get out of here?”