Last First Kiss (18 page)

“I think so
,
too.”

“Hey,
I suddenly do feel like dancing. Maybe my body will need to work off the calories from
eating
this ice cream. How about being my date for the fundraising dance?”
He
looked at his watch. “The night is still very young.”

Sophie would have jumped at the chance
to go with Bob,
but she didn’t want to see Wade and Cathy together, dancing together, being happy together.

“Bob, I’m wearing a t-shirt and jeans.”

“And I’m wearing jeans and
a cowboy shirt. We’ll make a perfect pair.”

“I’m not much of a dancer.”

“Not a dancer.
Listen to this girl.
Do you remember who taught you all those fancy moves?”
He swayed his shoulders from side to side.

Sophie laughed recalling
Bob
letting her put her feet on top of his
at the Valentine’s dance when she was seven. It was the first one since she’d lost her
parents
,
and the theme
had been
dads
and daughters. It had taken all her nerve to walk down to the Linleys
’
house to ask him.

“Mr. Linley, would you be my dad for the Valentine’s dance this year?”

“Sophie
,
my sweetheart, I’ll be your dad whenever
you want me to be. I’d be very
honored to escort you
,
little lady.”

Sophie remembered she’d lost one of her front teeth the night before
,
and her dress being so
new had scratched her all night
,
and she’d ended up with bright red welts on her arms and legs.

“I still have that photo they took of me and you,” said Bob. “You looked so pretty.”

“With missing teeth and that awful frilly dress.”

“It was cute…you were cute.
So what do you say about
tonight?”

She was weakening
. S
he’d be with Bob
,
so
it wasn’t as if she’d be all by herself, sitting being tortured when Wade and Cathy danced by.

“Okay, you’ve twisted my arm.”

“Then let’s be on our way.”

They stood. He
put
on his cowboy hat before offering
her his arm.

****

Wade wanted to sit the next dance out so he could at least get
his bre
ath back
,
but Cathy insisted
he wait until after the next tune finished
.

At least it was a slow son
g. The place was getting hot
now that everyone seemed to have arrived
all
at once
. Cathy put her arms around him and made him pull her in close
r
. He’d decided they’d have their
talk
when
he took her ho
me tonight. She rested her cheek on his chest. H
e twirled her around. As he did so he caught sight of his dad. He only saw his back
,
but h
e recognized the shirt and
the brown leather
belt he’d seen him wearing earlier that afternoon.
Wade was happy that he’d decided to come along after all. He spent too much time on his own
,
and in way he wished he’d find a nice lady fri
end
who would be by his side as he grew older
.

Well, he’d found a dancing partner.
That was a good start.
Wade wondered who it was. He couldn’t see because his father’s ba
ck was still toward him
,
and
with his
dad
’s large size
, Wade couldn’t
see around him.
However
,
at that very
second he swung around
,
and Wade did a double take.

Soph
ie
.

His dad was slow dancing with Sophie. Not that he wasn’t allowed to
,
but what were they doing together? How did they get together?

Wade casually moved Cathy around so it didn’t seem like he was staring at Sophie and his father.

“Isn’t that your dad and Sophie?”

“Yes, yes, it is,” said Wade.

“What’s she doing here, doing with him?”

“That’s what I’m wondering…not that it’s
any of
my business,”
said
Wade.

“They look kinda cute
,
don’t you think? Look at the wa
y he’s holding her.
Wade
,
you might end up with y
our old girlfriend as your step-
mother. Wouldn’t that be funny?”

Wade
didn’t see an ounce of humor in it
. His dad with Sophie? Not in a million years.

However, he
could
only watch as Sophie
threw her head back and laughed
,
and then his dad laughed before giving
her a squeeze.

He’d seen enough. He was putting a stop to his father’s foolish beh
avior before it got out of hand and ever
yone in
Greenville
started gossiping about his antics with a girl young enough to be his daughter
.

“Let’s go over and say hello
,” s
aid
Wade.

“They probably don’t need us disturbing their time together.”

“It would be rude if we didn’t.”

He grabbed
Cathy’s hand and pulled her over to where Sophie and his dad were twirling around to the beat of the music.

Neither of them saw him approaching
,
which in Wade’s books wasn’t a good sign.

Wade coughed.

“Well, son, hello. I didn’t see you. C
athy, you having a good time?”
“
I was,” she said.

“I ran into Sophie at Nelson’s. We enjoyed a banana split
,
and then she
kindly agreed to come her
e
with me
;
and we’re dancing off some calories. Not that she needs to. She looks pretty good as she is,” said Bob.

“Sophie, seeing you’re here and that we haven’t danced for years, how
about it?” Wade put out his hand out
to her. “You don’t mind me cutting in, Pops?”

“Not at all. As long
as you give me my partner back straight after.
Cathy, it looks like it’s you and me.”

“Wade, just the one dance with Sophie okay
?”
she whispered in his ear.

She took Bob’s arm
,
and they walked away.

So
phie offered her hand to Wade
,
but instead he grabbed her around t
he waist and pulled her
in close. She took the cue and rested both her hands on his chest as they moved slowly from side to side.

Wade looked down at her. She wasn’t dressed half as fancy as the rest of the women here tonight
,
but she was
a million times more beautiful. She glanced up at him as if she knew he was observing her, mentally complimenting her. Those beautiful blue eyes stared back at him. The luscious pink lips he was
so
desperate to kiss again.
And yes, he was aroused
,
causing his cock to push
against her tummy.

“You know this is for you
,
don’t you?”

“What?” she asked.

“My erection
. I know you can feel it.”

“It’s not lef
t over from dancing with Cathy?”

He shook his head. “Just you, always you.”

“Oh Wade, what are we going to do?”

“Soph, I have the answer
. Wait here
,
and I’ll be right back.”

Wade made his way through the other couples until he found Cathy and his dad
,
who were now standing by the edge of the dance floor.

“You want your dance partner back?” asked his dad.

“I do, and Cathy, can we step outside and talk
?
”

She knitted her eyebrows together and didn’t seem to budge
,
so he took hold of her elbow and maneuvered her to the door
,
which he opened
,
then
nodded for her to walk through it. Once they were out in the foyer
,
Wade took a deep breath. This wasn’t easy
,
but then being in a relationship you knew you shouldn’t be in wasn’t simple either.

“Cathy, the last few months have been fun. I’ve really enjoyed your company and being around Max
,
too.”

He took another deep breath. He hoped he could do this without her getting upset…hurt
,
but
it needed to be done right here, right now.

“Cathy, there’s no easy way to say this
,
but I can’t be in a relationship with you anymore.”

“You’re breaking up with me, here at this dance
?
”

He nodded
.
No more words would come out of his mouth.

“It’s because of her
,
isn’t it?”

“If you mean Sophie, yes and no. She’s just made me realize that you and I aren’t right for
one
another. As friends
,
and yes, I do hope we can remain friends
,
but as lovers
,
no. I can never give you my heart
,
and that would be wrong of me to make you believe otherwise.”

Cathy looked at him, almost through him but didn’t say anything.

“I’ll get my dad to run you home.”

He was expecting her to say something
,
but instead she turned and headed to the ladies’ restroom.

Wade
walked
back in
to the dance
and
strolled over
to his dad
,
who was now talking to another one of the ex-cops there tonight.

“Dad, could you do me a favor and run Cathy home
?
She’s in the ladies’ restroom right now.”

“Sure, Wade, but is anything wrong
?
”

“I’ll tell you later
,
but right now I have to
go to
Sophie.”

Wade found her by herself on the edge of the dance floor.

Without saying anything he swept her into his arms and kissed her.

She pulled away. “Wade, are you sure we should be doing this? I mean Cathy
–
you shouldn’t be…”

Wade put his finger on her lips.

“I just broke up with her. And you’re right, let’s get out of public viewing.”

The
re was
a room at the back where
people were checking their
coats. A private office where they could go and talk. He didn’t want to rush her
,
but at the same time he wanted them to just get there without any interruptions and people stopping to talk to them.

He pulled her inside and switched on the light.

Wade opened his mouth ready to talk
,
but now they were on their own there was only one thing he could do and that was kiss her.

Sophie opened her mouth to him as soon as his lips touched hers. She flung her arms around his shoulders
,
and their bodies melted into one another. He backed her up against the wall as his tongue glided
over her bottom lip before invading
her mouth. They’d never kissed like this ever before
,
and he l
iked it
.

His cock pulsated.
All he wanted to do was make love to her
,
but this would be their first time
.
And
he didn’t relish the idea of them fucking on a tiled floor or a table top. However, as he felt her hard little nipples poking
into
his chest and then
sensed
her hands slide over his chest and belly, it was looking
like
their maiden
“
let’s go all the way
”
adven
ture would be happening very soon
.