Chasing Jillian: A Love and Football Novel

by Julie Brannagh

  “Oh! Oh!” She looked a little panicky as she lost her balance again. “Sorry.”

  “You’re doing fine,” he reassured her. “Take it easy. It’s a stretch, so it’s okay to go slowly.”

  She wasn’t one of the super-fit guys he spent all day with. He saw color rising in her cheeks from embarrassment. She seemed to come to some decision while he still held her upper arm.

  “Okay. I’ll see if I can pull my leg up a little higher,” she said.

  Seth took a deep breath. He recognized the slight vanilla scent she always wore. It reminded him of how she felt when he’d touched her arm—warm and soft. Most of the women he knew spent a fortune at the fragrance counter. He’d bought his share of perfume for women he’d been with too, despite the fact he’d never liked it much. He mentally shook himself. He needed to get his head back in the game. She’d run like a scared rabbit if she had any idea he’d had yet another steamy dream about her.

  Jillian gave up on stretching one leg; she shifted to the other, and she almost lost her balance again. He caught her around her waist. Her breasts brushed against his forearm, and he felt the shock of static electricity—and an unmistakable stirring in his shorts.

  “Oh, God. Oh no! Sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” He set her back on her feet, but he didn’t let go. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine. We should walk.”

  “Yeah.” He dropped his hands to his side and moved away from her reluctantly.

  SETH’S HANDS FELT branded into her sides, and she was tingling in more than a few places. Damn! She walked away from him; he caught up to her in a few quick strides. It was the strangest feeling she’d ever had—he’d caught her, he’d held her close, and her head rested in the middle of his chest. He finally set her back on her feet and walked away from her, but not before she saw something in his eyes that made her wonder.

  What was going on with him? He’d sought her out. He’d walked with her. He’d made sure she had exercise clothes and correct shoes. He’d asked her for her address the other day; she gave it to him, but she never dreamed he’d actually use it. He showed up at her apartment very early this morning, inviting her out for a hike. And breakfast.

  She concentrated on taking careful steps. The path slanted down; they’d end at a small platform to get the full effect of the falls. Maybe she could take a few pictures or a short video with her cell phone camera.

  “So . . . ” Seth said, “did you go out last night?”

  “Nope.”

  “What about the boyfriend?”

  “Out of town. No date,” she answered. She saw his mouth twitch with repressed laughter. “Did you have a date?”

  “The guys were giving me crap about fixing me up, but I told them no.” He turned to face her, walking backward. She reached out for his forearm.

  “I’m afraid you’ll trip.”

  “No such luck, Jill,” he joked. The slight breeze had blown droplets of water over his skin. He grinned at her. “Back to the subject. Why didn’t you go out with friends? It would be nice to get out and have some fun.”

  “Maybe you should ‘get out’ and ‘have some fun’ yourself,” she told him, complete with air quotes.

  “Maybe I should stay home with CB. It’s safer there. I’ll cat-sit while you go out,” he said.

  This was the strangest conversation they’d had yet. She knew it was better for both of them if she told him she was dating someone else. After all, those who weren’t on the prowl for companionship (so to speak) could be friends with a member of the opposite sex, without all the stickiness involved in unrealistic expectations and feelings that would never go anywhere. Seth probably wasn’t sure they were friends yet, but she was. Even if he woke her up at insane hours to go hiking and teased her, she liked him. Well, she liked what she knew of him. He made her laugh. Plus, he was gorgeous.

  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 k
itchen. 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.

  SETH 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.

  JILLIAN 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

  SETH TOOK JILLIAN’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?”

  H
e 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?”

  SETH KNEW JILLIAN 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.