He leaned in and whispered in my ear, “You have my permission to touch me anytime.”
I didn’t get to respond because Penelope cleared her throat so loud I thought she might have coughed up a lung. “You’re abandoning us for the night?”
“We can go out for a late drink when I return from the dance.” Miles tried to placate her.
“Wait.” I thought of something Chloe might find important. At her age, embarrassment was the worst and Miles’s dancing was, let’s say, unconventional. “Do you know how to dance properly?”
Miles wickedly grinned before taking my hand and pulling me to him. Okay, I know I just said I would never place myself in his arms again unless I knew he was sure, but for the record, he put me there, not the other way around.
He held my right hand out while his free hand rested on my back. He stepped forward and back then twirled me around before bringing me in very close to his body, proving he had some moves. “You’re not going to dance like that with Chloe, right?” I asked, breathless.
“That move was for her mother only. I will treat her as if she were my own daughter.” He released me.
He was seducing me with his words. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek without even a second thought. “You don’t know what that means to me.”
Miles rested his hand on the cheek I kissed. “I think I do.”
I was about to get lost in his eyes, but Penelope was tsking and tapping her boots so loudly against the wood floors, it was going to give us all a headache. “So, what are we supposed to do while you’re out playing father dearest?” she spat.
Oscar clapped his hands together. “We will help the lass get ready of course. She will be the belle of the ball.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Mileswasn’tlyingwhenhe said he had talented friends. Oscar and Molly came to the cottage and made my daughter feel like she was a movie star. Penelope opted to stay in the main house to pout and drink. Fine by me. She wasn’t really invited anyway.
Molly had Chloe slip into a smock before they seated her in front of the vanity in the master bath. There they went to work on her. Molly did her makeup, giving her a natural look that only enhanced her beauty, while Oscar wanded, curled, and twisted her hair into perfection. When he was done, she had a lovely low bun updo with tiny blossoms placed sporadically throughout her hair.
Once I had her all to myself and got her into her dress, I couldn’t hold the tears back. I stood in awe of her. “You are so beautiful.”
She looked down at her dress and heels then stared at herself in the full-length mirror in my bedroom. “I feel like a princess.”
“You look like one too.” I wrapped my arms around her from behind. “Are you sure you don’t mind that Miles is taking you?”
She didn’t even have to think about it. “I’m sorry grandpa’s sick, but I’m glad Miles can take me. He’s treated me more like a daughter than my own dad.”
“He’s a good guy.”
“Mom,” she looked at me through the mirror, “are you and Miles dating?”
“No,” I answered quickly.
“Oh,” she said, disappointed. She turned and faced me. “How come?”
“Honey, he’s my boss.”
“Yeah, but he’s more than that. He and Henry are like our family now.”
I smoothed her cheek with my hand. “In some ways, yes.”
“I can tell he makes you happy.”
“No one can make you happy.” I kissed her brow.
“That’s not true,” she stated boldly. Miles was right, she was cheeky, and I loved it. “You make me happy and I know I make you happy, so why can’t you admit Miles makes you happy?”
“It’s complicated.”
“No, it’s not. You both like each other.”
