Page 38 of Kissing the Debutant
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Jack
All Jack wanted was for Lillian to let go for one night. He assumed the setting of the all-ages club would loosen her up enough that she’d grow comfortable dancing with him.
What he hadn’t expected was for her to show up looking likethat.
Lillian was always beautiful with her pale skin and dancer’s body, but there was usually something holding her back, some look in her eye that made her seem distant.
As the night wore on, he saw that look fade away, witnessed her actually enjoying herself—not like she’d admit it.
The song ended, and she stood staring at him, her chest heaving, and one corner of her mouth twisting up into a reluctant smile.
Dang. He ran a hand through his hair. Beautiful wasn’t the right word for Lillian Preston.
Mesmerizing. Yeah, that was more like it.
She came from a completely different world than Jack, and when they finished his video and her competition dance, they’d part ways and go back to their respective lives. But for these moments when they weren’t focused on solo goals, they were in this together. Their deal was a pact tying them to each other.
Lillian’s lips moved, but he didn’t hear her words. “What?”
“I’m thirsty.”
“Oh, I’ll get you a drink. Water?” She didn’t seem like the kind of girl who’d guzzle down a soda.
She shook her head. “I can get it myself.” Turning on her heel, she walked toward the bar.
Jack chased after her, pushing through the crowded dance floor. She couldn’t help herself, could she? She had to do everything for herself and couldn’t accept him being nice. “You go find Wylder and Mia. It’ll only take a minute.”
Steel entered her gaze as she looked sideways at him. A new song started up, pulsing through the club. “I’ve got it.”
He didn’t know why he couldn’t back down, why he didn’t just turn around and let her get her own drink. Maybe it was because for a few moments while they’d danced, tonight had felt like more than an exercise in letting loose, more than dance partners trying to get comfortable with each other.
Someone bumped into him from behind, spilling sticky soda over his shoulder before mumbling an apology and continuing on his way.
Lillian’s gaze softened. “Are you okay?” She reached out to touch the wet streak on his shoulder but curled her fingers in before they made contact.
Someone jostled into her, shoving her closer to him. He grabbed her arm. “Come on.” Pulling her from the crowded dance floor, he didn’t release her until they had space to back away from each other. Under the bright lights, his sticky polo shirt was more evident.
Lillian’s brow furrowed as if she was debating with herself. Releasing a breath, she jerked her head toward the bathrooms. “Come on.”
He should have stayed behind, should have protested as she pushed open the swinging door marked “ladies” and checked to make sure no one was in there. A redhead exited, barely glancing at Lillian before settling viper eyes on Jack. He averted his gaze, uncomfortable with her stare, until she walked past them.
“Coast is clear. Come on.”
And that was how Jack found himself in the ladies’ room with the last person on earth he’d expected to care about his wet shirt or him in general.
Lillian pulled paper towels free of the dispenser and wadded them up before turning on the faucet and wetting them. She didn’t meet Jack’s gaze until she turned and pressed the wet paper towels to his shirt. “Being wet is one thing,” she said, her voice low, unsure. “But you don’t want to be sticky.”
There were so many things he could have said to that, but he couldn’t speak as she dabbed the paper towels along the collar of his shirt and up the back of his neck.
“If that guy hadn’t been so tall, you wouldn’t currently have soda in your hair.” She smiled up at him, a completely unguarded and un-Lillian like smile he wasn’t prepared for.
“It was all part of my plan.” His mouth hooked up into a half smile. “Find the tallest guy in the club, get him to not only dump his soda, but splash it up into my hair, and end up alone in the bathroom with the prettiest girl in the club.” His brain short-circuited as the words left his mouth. He’d been trying to make a joke, but it came out sounding suspiciously like a confession instead.
She pulled her hand away, and he instantly missed it.
What was happening? Only days ago, Lillian was the frustrating girl who couldn’t take direction. But from the moment he’d realized her life wasn’t all puppies and rainbows, he’d wanted to show her it could be. That not everyone saw her as a means to an end like her mother.
