Chasing Jillian: A Love and Football Novel by Julie Brannagh Page B

system, and he found a song he thought Jillian might like out of some girly stuff one of his former girlfriends had downloaded onto it. He got out of the car, left the door open so they could still hear, and held out one hand.
    “I believe this is my dance,” he said.
    Obviously, they weren’t going to tango. Before tonight, he hadn’t danced for a long time, but he wanted to dance with Jillian. He reached out and pulled her into his arms.
    He saw the color rise in her cheeks again.
    He noticed she didn’t move away. She didn’t resist him at all. Her hands rested on his forearms. He was close enough to see the pulse madly beating at the base of her throat as she looked up at him. The top of her head was barely to his shoulder.
    “When was the last time you danced with someone?” he asked.
    “Before tonight? Years.” She smiled a little. It must have been a good memory.
    “Put your hand on my shoulder. Let’s see if we remember how.” He thought he’d try some kind of old-fashioned waltzing thing, but all he could remember was junior-high-quality slow dancing. She seemed to remember it too.
    He felt her hands move over his biceps and gentle on his shoulders. There was less of Jillian than there had been the first time he hugged her. Her clothes were looser too. His arms tightened around her. She let him touch her, but she wasn’t plastering herself against him as another woman would have done. He was torn between thinking it might be a good thing that she held herself away from him and wanting to hold her closer.
    O NE DANCE WITH him, and then Jillian would pull herself out of his arms and get back into the car. She could dance with him and not get emotional about it. He was just another guy. She was not going to let herself get stupid over someone who was clearly only interested in her as a friend.
    His hold on her was gentle. He smelled good. She saw the flash of his smile when she peeked up at him. She’d felt shy with Carlos because she didn’t know him, but she didn’t have that problem with Seth. She wanted to move closer but knew she shouldn’t.
    She tried to remind herself that Seth probably had more than a few friends with benefits, even if he was between girlfriends at the time. He was a guy. He probably wasn’t celibate, and he and she weren’t romantic with each other. There was also the tiny fact that anything that happened between them was not going to end well.
    She was in more trouble than she knew how to get out of.
    A T FIRST, JILLIAN rested her head against his cheek. A minute or so later, she laid her head on his chest. They swayed together, feet barely moving, and he realized his heart was pounding. He’d never experienced anything as romantic as dancing late at night in a deserted city park to a song playing on his car’s sound system. The darkness wrapped them in the softest cocoon. He glanced down at her as he felt her slowly relaxing against him.
    It’s not the pale moon that excites me
    That thrills and delights me
    Oh, no
    It’s just the nearness of you
    He took a deep breath of the vanilla scent he’d recognize anywhere as hers. His fingers stroked the small of her back, and he heard her sigh. Slow dancing was even better than he remembered. Then again, he wasn’t in junior high anymore, and he was holding a woman in his arms, not a teenage girl. There was a lot to be said for delayed gratification. Dancing with Jillian was all about the smallest movements and letting things build. He laid his cheek against hers.
    “I shouldn’t be doing this,” she whispered.
    “Why not?” he whispered back.
    “It’s not a good idea.”
    “We’re just dancing, Jill.”
    And if things got any hotter between them, they’d be naked. She didn’t try to step away from him. If she’d resisted him at all, if she’d shown reluctance or fear or hesitation, he would have let her go and walked away. Her fingers tangled in his hair.
    They were just friends. He didn’t think he had those