Chasing Jillian: A Love and Football Novel (6 page)

Seth and Jillian walked along in silence for a few minutes, which eventually proved to be too much for him.

“So, when am I going to meet him?”

“Meet who?”

“Your casual-thing boyfriend.”

“Never,” she said. “We’ve only been seeing each other for a short time. I don’t need you scaring him off.”

“Why not? You’re dating someone; I’d like to meet him.”

“You wouldn’t like him. He hates football,” she said. “He’s into ballet.”

His mouth opened and shut, opened and shut, like an outraged goldfish. Laughter rose in her throat again. It was all she could do to control her mirth. She glanced away from him. It was beautiful out here. After all, most people were still sleeping at seven o’ clock on a Saturday morning. She took a deep breath of air newly washed by cascading water. The sound of the falls hitting rocks in the pool below with incredible force was soothing.

“You’re shitting me,” he said.

“Nope,” she said.

“I’d introduce you to someone I was dating,” he said.

“Why? That’s very nice, but really, it’s not necessary—”

“We’re friends, aren’t we? Friends do those kinds of things for each other,” he said.

“When did we become friends?” she teased.

“Oh, we’re friends,” he said. “We spend time together. I met your kitty. I still can’t believe you named her after a dessert, but hell, whatever does it for you.”

“Okay—friends. You’re going to let me pass judgment on your dates too?”

“Why not?” he said. They stepped onto the observation platform, and he nudged a pebble off of the edge with one foot. The falls looked close enough for them to reach out and touch. The breeze draped her with a veil of water droplets too. “This was worth the drive, wasn’t it?”

“Yes. It was.” She reached into her pocket to grab her phone.

“It’s selfie time,” he said and pulled his phone out of his warm-ups pocket. He turned his back to the falls and reached out one arm to pull her into his side.

“Really?”

“Smile,” he said.

She probably looked like hell, but his arm slid around her shoulders, and he laid his stubble-covered cheek against her own. She breathed in the woodsy smell of the soap he liked and his shampoo.

“Say cheese,” she joked.

He snapped the picture and said, “One more.”

She held up her camera too. “I want one.”

“You just want to put it up on Instagram,” he teased, but he grinned again, and his arm tightened around her shoulders. He jammed his phone back in his warm-ups pocket, and they turned toward the falls once more.

She wasn’t sure what to say and was even more unsure of what to do. Maybe she should keep it light and revisit the conversation they’d been having before he actually put his arm around her shoulders. He’d do the same thing with anyone else. She pulled breath into her lungs, hoped her racing heart wasn’t visible on her face, and she grinned up at him.

“So, back to the conversation. What if I don’t approve of the woman you’re dating?” she said.

“Well, then, I’ll dump her.”

Jillian burst out laughing.

He wagged one finger at her. “I have to make sure you’re with a good guy.”

“You don’t have to do anything. I’m fine,” she said. The lack of coffee was catching up with her. She was a little hungry, but if he wanted to stand there all day, she’d do it. “Why would you think you have to check out someone I’m going out with anyway?”

Seth turned to look at her. He held her eyes, and she felt a shiver run up her spine. Despite the roar of the falls, the immense clearing they stood in, birds wheeling overhead, and a million other things to see, smell, and feel, she couldn’t concentrate on anything else but his face.

“I just do,” he said.

Chapter Seven

A
FEW DAYS
after visiting Snoqualmie Falls with Seth, Jillian arrived home from work and dropped her purse and car keys onto the little built-in desk in her kitchen. She loved fall, but the cooler weather made her want to hibernate. She let out a long sigh as CB raced out of her room with a long piece of TP stuck to one of her hind legs.

“Unrolling the toilet paper roll again?” she asked.

The kitten let out a
prrt
and wound around Jillian’s ankles. Jillian could add cleaning up her no-doubt-trashed bathroom to a long list of tonight’s household chores. She needed to wash a load of clothes before she was forced to show up commando at the office. She could stand to run the vacuum around, and she could only imagine what waited for her in the bathroom. CB was adorable, but a bored kitten usually meant a mess. It might also be nice if she composed a shopping list before she stepped foot in the grocery store.

She would have preferred spending the evening in a hot bath with a great book or settling in for a long, chatty phone call with Kari. It was the team’s day off. She hadn’t seen Seth for two days now. She’d stopped reminding herself to quit longing for a glimpse of him; it was pointless. She’d printed off the pic of them she’d snapped with her phone at the falls. She’d stuck it to the front of her refrigerator with a magnet. So much for that whole “forget about him; he’s out of your league” thing.

Jillian heard the chirp of a text and grabbed her phone out of her bag. She let out a happy squeal as she realized it was from Seth.

HEY. WHAT ARE YOU DOING RIGHT NOW?

She was sure he’d be dazzled by an evening of housework and grocery shopping.

JUST GOT HOME, she responded. PLAYING WITH CB.

He answered seconds later. LET’S GO DO SOMETHING. I’LL BE THERE SOON.

She reached out to grab the picture of Seth off of the refrigerator door and stuck it into the silverware drawer.

S
ETH GLANCED AT
his phone as another text came in.

WANT TO PLAY GAMES WITH MCCOY AND ME TONIGHT? Derrick Collins wrote.

GOT PLANS. NO CAN DO, Seth responded.

His phone made the sound of another person joining the convo.

MAN UP AND TELL HER YOU’LL SEE HER TOMORROW BRO, Drew McCoy texted.

YOU’RE ABOUT TEN MINUTES TOO LATE, Seth told them.

THE MYSTERY WOMAN AGAIN? Derrick texted. SOUNDS SERIOUS. WHO IS SHE?

Seth grinned down at his phone, shut it off, and stuck it in his jeans pocket. Two minutes later, he was in the car and headed to Jillian’s place.

J
ILLIAN SAW THE
headlights of Seth’s Escalade through her living room windows as she tried to shove the dirty laundry spilling out of a small alcove in her kitchen behind folding doors. She wasn’t having a lot of luck. She’d spent fifteen minutes cleaning up the mess CB had made in her bathroom, with toilet paper dragged into the shower. She’d swapped out her office clothes for jeans, a sweater, and flats, and she thought she could clean up a bit before Seth arrived. It wasn’t going to happen.

She heard his knock at the front door. “Come on in,” she called out.

CB launched herself at Seth as he closed Jillian’s front door behind him. “Hey, kitty,” he said. The kitten rubbed her face on his clothes. “Is she always like this?”

“Pretty much,” she said. “How are you?”

“Great,” he said. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine.” She wished she had something more interesting to say to him at that moment, but she heard the telltale creaking of folding doors and a soft
splat
as the dirty laundry she’d crammed into the alcove spilled out onto the kitchen floor. Shit.

“Looks like laundry day,” he said.

“You might say that.” She turned her back on the laundry. It was super-embarrassing that her dirty clothes were all over the kitchen, but there wasn’t a lot she could do about it at the moment. Maybe she should stay home tonight and get herself and her life together. “It’s so great you’re here, but I have a million and one things that need to get done,” she said. “Maybe we should—”

“We’ve both gotta eat,” he said.

“I know that, but we . . . I . . . ”

“It’s my day off. You’re not ditching me to do laundry, are you?” he asked playfully, his enthusiasm becoming contagious. CB was now licking his face. Why was her cat more affectionate with him than she was with Jillian? “I’d like to think I’m much more fun than the laundry.” He bent to put CB back down on the floor and straightened up. “Come on. You’re getting out of here for a few hours. Remember when you told me you were going to show me around town a little? It’s time for you to pay up.”

Before Jillian knew it, she was standing in the corridor outside her front door, purse in hand, and Seth was locking the front door behind them.

“Let’s go,” he said. He dropped her keys back into her hand, took her elbow in his fingertips, and towed her out to his Escalade. “It’s either this, Jill, or I help you with the laundry and the cleaning. You don’t want that.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not good at it.” He unlocked the passenger door for her, ran around the front of the vehicle, and threw himself into the driver’s seat. “We’ll get something to eat, and then I have a surprise for you.”

“Why are you doing this?” she persisted. He just laughed. She rolled her eyes and blew hair off of her chin.

“I heard about this place a few weeks ago. I think you’ll like it.” He pulled onto the freeway leading to Seattle. “We’ll have fun.”

“Am I dressed appropriately for wherever we’re going?” she asked.

“Absolutely. We’ll be there before you know it.” He took the exit to Capitol Hill. A few minutes later, he pulled into the parking area below an unfamiliar building. “Okay. Stick with me, and nobody will get hurt,” he joked.

They climbed a flight of stairs to the street, moved through an old-fashioned revolving door, and walked into the building.

“Where are we?”

“You’ll see.”

Chapter Eight

S
ETH TOOK
J
ILLIAN’S
arm as they crossed the lobby of the building and climbed the steepest staircase she had encountered in quite some time. The decorating scheme of the space was Art Deco, dominated by black, burgundy, and chrome. Walls on both sides of the stairs were covered in antique advertisements, photos of performers, and show posters. At the top of the stairs, they turned a corner. Jillian stood in a dimly lit restaurant with tin-topped tables; an old-fashioned carved, heavy wooden bar; and gleaming hardwood floors, and the whole thing looked out over a ballroom.

“We’re at the Millennium Ballroom, snoopy. We’re going to have dinner and a private dancing lesson,” Seth said.

“Dancing?” Jillian tried to pull away from him; he still held her arm. “I don’t know how to dance.”

“Of course you don’t. You told me you wanted to learn, didn’t you? Now, come on. I’m hungry, and our dance lesson doesn’t start for a little while.” A hostess approached them. “We have a reservation for two under Taylor. May we be seated toward the back of the restaurant? Thanks.”

“Why are you doing this? I don’t understand.” He propelled her forward with his fingertips at the small of her back. “You’re going to make me dance in front of a bunch of other people?” The hostess diplomatically ignored Jillian’s comments and sat them at a table in the shadows. Menus were put in front of them.

“We all need to start somewhere,” he said. Seth gazed at the bar for a moment and focused on the hostess again. “I’d like a Fat Tire, and Jill, you need a drink. What would you like?”

“I’m not sure.”

“How about some ice water until my guest decides what she’d like to drink?”

The hostess walked away.

Seth leaned closer and spoke in a low voice. “I know this scares you. It’s not the end of the world. We’ll have some dinner; we’ll try dancing. I think you’ll enjoy it.”

“Seth, I guess I’m confused. Why are we here?” The water glass and Seth’s beer arrived. He held up his glass to her and took a swallow. “Isn’t there someone else you’d rather spend your day off with?”

He thought for a moment. “No.”

“Don’t you want to go out with someone who—well, someone who’s available? I know there’re so many women who want to date you, and well, you’re here with me.”

“Really?” Seth reached out to grip the hand Jillian had on her water glass. “I have fun with you. I like your company. We’re having dinner; we have a dance lesson, and you’re out of the house for a few hours. Are you ashamed to be seen with me?”

“No. No! Of course not.”

“Well, then. Why don’t you figure out what you’d like to eat for dinner, and we can coax the server over here to order?”

S
ETH KNEW
J
ILLIAN
spent most of her weekends at Treehouse, when she wasn’t making sure John and his cronies were comfortable and well fed in the team’s luxury suite at Sharks Stadium. He also knew she did errands or household chores on weeknights. She didn’t talk much about herself. When he tried to ask her questions about what she liked to do when she wasn’t at the office, she
started asking him questions. Over the past couple of weeks, though, he’d managed to get Jillian talking about a few of the things in life she’d never tried but wanted to. One of them was learning to dance.

He knew he’d invited her to do something that she found a little scary. He’d already discovered that when he suggested trying something out of her daily routine, she was a bit hesitant. She’d have so much fun, she’d forget about her initial misgivings.

He’d tried to find out more about her boyfriend. Whenever he asked, she’d clam up and change the subject or make jokes. He hadn’t seen any photos or male belongings in her place. Either this guy was a first-class absent asshole, or Jillian had her own reasons for making sure he didn’t think she was alone.

He felt a strange possessive surge. It might make him a jerk, but Seth had to admit he didn’t want to share her attention with anyone else. He hadn’t had a female friend for a long time. Jill and Lauren kept him from drowning in the sea of testosterone that was his life.

He glanced over the menu but was distracted by movement out of the corner of his eye. The couple on the dance floor must have been professionals. They moved through a tango as one—fluid, graceful, and very sensual. Jillian couldn’t take her eyes off them, and he saw longing in her expression. She leaned forward in her chair.

She was about to learn to dance. Dinner could wait.

He got up from the chair and held out his hand. “May I have this dance?”

A soft flush crept over her face. She nodded at the dance floor.

“We’ll learn together,” he reassured her.

She was still blushing. She glanced down at her hands clenched in her lap, but she smiled and put her hand in his.

The couple had finished their dance, and the woman called out to them in a Spanish-accented voice. “Our previous appointment canceled. Would you like a lesson?”

Jillian responded before Seth could open his mouth. “Yes. Would you teach me?”

“I would love to,” her partner said.

He held out his arms to her, and Jillian walked into them. Seth felt a sharp stab of something in the middle of his chest and ignored it, along with the urge to march over there and grab her away from him. Where the hell did this come from? The woman extended her hand to him, but he paused for a moment so he could hear what the man was saying to Jillian.

“She will be fine,” the woman told him.

“I’m not worried about it.”

He heard her soft, musical laugh. “Of course you’re not. That’s why you can’t take your eyes off of her. Do you dance?”

“Rarely.” He was still straining to hear what the man was telling Jillian. “It might be fun to learn.”

“You will be dancing with her before you know it. Come with me.”

J
ILLIAN WAS LISTENING
to her partner. “What’s your name, señorita?”

“I’m Jillian.”

“My name is Carlos.” He gave her a dazzlingly white smile. Carlos was probably about six feet tall, with black, slicked-back hair, eyes the color of hot chocolate, and a well-trimmed mustache. Seth was all bulging muscles and height. This guy was in great shape too, but his body was long and lean. “You don’t dance?”

“I don’t know how.” She closed her eyes for a moment. She’d wanted to dance for as long as she could remember, but she felt clumsy. “I want to, though.”

“There are many steps to the tango, but right now, we’ll dance a little, just so you will see what it’s like. I want you to pay attention to the shifts in weight. In other words, you will feel the
changes in steps before your feet do. The tango requires all of you—brain, heart, and body. I would like you to follow my lead.”

She looked up into his eyes and the warmth of his smile. “What if I can’t dance?”

“Everyone can dance. If you can walk, if you can feel the music in your heart, you can dance.” He slid his arm around her waist and took her hand in his. The music started, and at first Jillian felt stiff and awkward. She wasn’t sure where to move or what to do. Obviously, she didn’t know the steps. He murmured into her ear, “Relax. Feel the music. What does it mean to you?”

It wasn’t the first time in her life she’d been held in a man’s arms, but the intimacy of being so close to a man she didn’t know was a bit overwhelming. She closed her eyes to concentrate, feeling the movement of his body and a strong arm around her. To her amazement, she moved. Her body was fluid. What had started out as a walk became dance steps and the sensation of flying across the dance floor.

“I . . . I’m dancing,” she said with a gasp.

“Yes. You are.” The song ended; another began. “Let’s try again.”

Jillian felt the ballroom floor beneath her feet and the feeling of her hand enveloped in his, and she smelled the citrusy cologne Carlos wore. The beat of the music matched Carlos’s feet. He whispered the names of the steps in her ear as he danced. He moved her as if she weighed nothing, as if she was as accomplished and graceful as his partner. When she relaxed enough to follow his lead, they moved together without her even trying. The dance was sensual, but even more, being rocked in someone else’s arms was soothing. She forgot her nervousness in a rush of joy and confidence.

The music ended, and they came to a stop.

“Okay, Jillian. Let’s work on a few of the steps. How’s that?”

She opened her eyes. He still held her. “Yes, please. I’d like that.”

She glanced around. Seth was several feet away. He caught her eye and grinned at her.

“You will dance with him soon,” Carlos said.

“He’s probably much better at this than I am.” The words came out in a rush. “He’s a professional athlete.”

“Jillian.
Cara
. You are too hard on yourself. You were dancing. He had a tough time.” He let out a sigh. “He’ll dance too, but it will be harder for him until he can lead. Let’s practice a little more.”

Carlos moved Jillian through unfamiliar steps. He spoke into her ear the entire time—lyrical Spanish words she didn’t understand.

“Does it bother you if I close my eyes?” she asked him. She couldn’t figure out why she felt so shy or why the intimacy of being held in his arms unsettled her a bit. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her, and she was safe. She needed to relax.

“No, it doesn’t bother me. You can feel the steps as I push and shift my weight. Keep trying. You’re doing a great job.” She heard footsteps behind them, and Carlos stopped. Seth must have tapped him on the shoulder. Carlos brought her hand to his lips. “I will see you again,” Carlos said. “More lessons?”

“Yes, please.” She smiled up at him. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome.”

He nodded at Seth, and he and his partner moved into each other’s arms again.

“Did you have fun?” Seth asked.

“It was amazing. I danced, Seth. I didn’t fall over my feet or step on his toes. Did you see?” She was babbling, and she didn’t care. “This is so much fun. I had no idea! I never thought I could do it—”

“Would you like some dinner?”

“Yes. I want to dance some more afterward. Could we dance some more?” She touched his arm. “Will you dance with me?”

He seemed a little surprised. “Sure.”

She was so excited that she hadn’t even asked him if he’d enjoyed himself. “How did your lesson go? Do you like this? Was it fun for you?”

He sat down at their table and signaled the server. “It was fine. What would you like to eat?” he said.

A group dance lesson was starting on the dance floor. Jillian was immediately fascinated with the movement of the dancers, the colorful swirling of the women’s skirts, and the laughter. Seth was still glancing around for the servers. It was probably rude, but the food was the last thing on her mind right now.

Jillian was practically bouncing in her chair from excitement. She saw other people walking out to the dance floor and joining the circle around several dance instructors. In other words, it was okay to join in, and she wanted to.

His voice was low and amused. “I’ll bet you want to go out there and see what they’re doing.”

“I’m dying to,” she said. “If you’re hungry, though, I can wait.”

“You can wait, hm? Are you sure?”

She shook her head, and his laughter rang out. “Come on. Let’s get out there.”

It felt so natural to slide her hand inside his much bigger one as he led her through the seating area, which was getting more crowded by the minute. He squeezed her hand as he maneuvered around tables and pushed empty chairs out of their way, and her heart rate picked up. She hoped her hand wasn’t sweaty. Her entire arm tingled. They were steps from the dance floor when Jillian heard someone call out, “Go Sharks!”

Seconds later, she and Seth were surrounded by people who were waving pens and any piece of paper they could get their hands on and calling out questions.

“Are you Seth Taylor?” a woman in a brightly colored dancing costume asked.

“You’re my favorite Shark. Could you sign this ‘to my favorite Sharks fan’?” another person said.

“If I knew you hung out here, I’d come here more often. My wife dragged me,” a big guy in a Sharks ball cap told him.

“It’s really great to see all of you, but my friend would like me to join her for the dance lesson,” Seth said.

“She won’t mind waiting a few minutes, will she?” the guy in the ball cap said.

“My little brother would just die if I didn’t bring him home an autograph,” the woman in the dancing costume said.

“It won’t take you that long to sign a few autographs,” someone else said.

J
ILLIAN PULLED ON
his hand. “Go ahead,” she told him. “I’ll wait.”

“Are you sure?” he said. The excited smile on her face was fading as the crowd grew. In other words, she was doing her best to be patient while he dealt with well-meaning fans who didn’t understand that he might want to enjoy his evening out.

“I’ll be fine,” she said. She squeezed his hand one more time and moved away from the crowd to take a seat at one of the now-empty tables.