Page 45 of Kissing the Debutant
“Of course. You wouldn’t be you without something sleek and modern and totally unexpected.” She laughed, the happy sound caught him by surprise. After weeks of working together, she was much more relaxed with him now than she was in the beginning. Yet the intimacy of the dance he was about to teach her had him worried she might withdraw from him again.
“All right, show me what you’ve got.” Lillian shook out her limbs, stretching her arms over her head. “Let’s do this.”
“Yeah, so…” Jack ran his hand through his hair, feeling suddenly nervous. “We’ll just move through it so you can see my part, and I’ll talk you through some of the high points of your part. Then we’ll start breaking down each segment piece by piece later this week.”
“Sounds good.” Lillian stepped closer.
Get it together, man.He took a deep breath, which was a bad idea when her flowery scent overwhelmed him.
Jack took her by the waist as the music restarted. He moved slowly at first, leading her through the steps, impressed when she was able to improvise and keep up with him.
“Here, we turn away from each other.” Jack turned his back on her, leaning his back toward her as she instinctively leaned away. “Perfect. Now turn back to me and push me away. Like you hate me.”
Lillian did as he said, putting her own spin on it, lifting her knee and arching her back as she gracefully pushed him away and fleden pointeinto a powerfulbourrée.
“Love that move.” Jack gave chase, pulling her back against his chest. “We’re keeping that one.”
Lillian laughed, whirling away from him as they made their way across the studio in an elegant and exciting tug of war of high emotions and deep sensuality. Jack marveled at her ability to follow his lead, picking up on his cues as if she already knew the choreography by heart.
He could almost feel her hate as she pushed him away, leaping back into a pirouette, leaving him without her yet again. True longing rose within him as he chased the unattainable perfection that was Lillian Preston.
A girl like Lillian would never be interested in a small-town guy like him, but that she understood the way his creative mind worked—that she understood exactly what he wanted to say through music and dance—opened his eyes to the possibilities between them. They were opposites. From different worlds, yet somehow, they spoke the same language.
As he pulled her close once more, overpowering the tension in her arms, they turned into a spin. His arms around her, Jack leaned into her frame, dipping her low to the ground. She arched her back, her arms poised perfectly over her head. Their eyes locked as the music came to an end, their faces mere inches apart, breathing the same air. He closed the distance between them, pressing his lips against hers. Lillian gasped in surprise, stunned for a single moment, before her arms wrapped around his shoulders, and she kissed him back.
With his arms beneath her, holding her in their final pose, he could feel her heart thundering against his chest. She tasted like strawberries and mint, her lips as intoxicating as her sweet floral scent.
“Well, that wasn’t in the script.” Mia’s voice startled them apart.
Jack pulled Lillian up to stand beside him, both still breathing hard, her hand clutching tightly to his.
“Don’t quit on my account.” Mia marched across the room. “I just forgot one of my cameras, so I’ll be out of your hair in two seconds, and you can go back to being too cute for words.”
Jack rolled his eyes at the Cheshire grin plastered on Mia’s face.
“Yeah, so… we should do that again,” Lillian said, taking a step away from him, dropping his hand.
“Yeah, you should.” Mia made a show of packing up the camera equipment she forgot.
“The… the dance, I mean.” Lillian’s cheeks flushed a beautiful shade of pink. “We should run through it one more time before we finish for the day.”
“Definitely.” Jack winked, making her blush to the roots of her hair. That was quickly becoming one of his favorite pastimes—making Lillian blush.
“I’m sure you’ll need lots of practice,” Mia added.
“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Jack turned on her, wishing she had better timing for her interruptions. He wasn’t at all sure how Lillian felt about the kiss, and he was anxious to give it another shot, but he didn’t want to scare her away.
16
Lillian
Jack kissed her and then nothing. All week they’d practiced and practiced some more, sharing secret smiles, and nailing every part of the dance like they were always meant to dance together.
But that was ridiculous. One kiss did not a fate make.
Lillian groaned as she rubbed her sore feet. “Again?” She looked up at the evil man that was Jack. “Shouldn’t we save our energy for when Mia gets here to film us?”
He shrugged. “Aren’t you supposed to be the tough ballerina? The one who wouldn’t let a little pain stop her?”
