Strictly Come Dating Read online

  ‘What about street dancing?’ Dark-haired Zayne’s eyes flicked towards the exceptionally pretty Kiara, and Seb had to smother a grin. It wasn’t hard to work out where the boy’s thoughts were travelling.

  ‘We could do that, but how many people are going to turn up to watch?’ Seb wondered if the kids were right and he did have a screw loose. He’d never have thought of this a few months ago. ‘Look, I suggested ballroom dancing because of the programme on the TV. You’ve heard of Strictly Come Dancing, yes?’ They all muttered yes, so he pressed on. ‘Well, it’s watched by millions, so I figured we could tap into that popularity. Pitch this as like a local Strictly, and get people to enter to win a prize. We can ask local ballroom dancing teachers to be the judges.’ Silence. ‘You’ll get lessons, so it’s a chance to learn something new.’

  ‘Yeah, like how to foxtrot,’ Rylan said disgustedly. Sticking his chin in the air, he held his arms out and started to pretend to dance. ‘Who wants to fucking foxtrot?’

  He had a point. Still, Seb had only had one lesson, and yes, he suspected it had more to do with his partner than the dance, but already he was looking forward to the next one. ‘Have you watched the programme? Ballroom dancing isn’t what you might think. It’s athletic, it’s clever, it’s fun. It’s sexy.’

  ‘Can’t be. My gran does it,’ Hayley piped up. She always wore big hoop earrings, and had a matching big personality.

  ‘Well, good on your gran. You can persuade her to enter,’ Seb countered. ‘Dancing’s for everyone. Every age, every background.’

  ‘Why do we have to do it?’ Kiara shrugged. ‘I mean, I see it might be fun to learn, but you don’t need us to take part if you get loads of other entries.’

  ‘My idea is to have three age groups,’ Seb explained. ‘Strictly teens, Strictly adults and Strictly over sixty. None of you has to enter, it’s up to you, but I’d like you all to give the lessons a go. Some of you might enjoy it and want to take part. Others might prefer to help behind the scenes. We’ll need both if this is going to work.’ In fact the more he thought about it, the more he wondered if he was biting off more than he could chew. Still, it felt bloody good to be actually doing something again, something rewarding, and being paid for it.

  ‘What about you?’ Zayne looked over at him. ‘Are you going to do the lessons?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘And you’re entering?’

  ‘I hadn’t thought that far,’ Seb replied honestly.

  Zayne grinned. ‘Well, we ain’t if you don’t.’

  ‘Yeah, Seb.’ Rylan started to laugh. ‘You can’t make us do it if you don’t.’

  He wanted to argue he wasn’t making anyone do anything, but they were all looking at him expectantly now. ‘Fine. I’ll enter. But I’d like to see some of you doing the same. And before you ask, you can pair up girl with girl, boy with boy, or girl with boy. It’s up to you.’

  They all started looking at each other, and pointing. Then Rylan held out his hand to Zayne and as they pretended to dance together, the room erupted with laughter.

  Hayley, standing on his right, turned to face him. ‘Who’s gonna be your partner?’

  Seb’s answering smile was totally unconscious. ‘I’ve got someone in mind, but I don’t know if she’ll be up for it.’ Or if it’s wise to ask her.

  Hayley started to giggle. ‘Oooh, is she fit? Have you got the hots for her?’

  Yes, and maybe. Okay, yes and yes. ‘You don’t have to have the hots for someone to enjoy dancing with them.’

  ‘Yeah but it’s kind of sexy if you do,’ Kiara said quietly.

  Seb watched as her eyes fell on Zayne, who was still larking around with Rylan. Clearly he wasn’t the only one thinking of a potential dance partner. Trouble is, while he could now definitely confirm that dancing with someone you fancied was sexy, he also knew it wasn’t always a good idea. Like, for example, if they were too classy, or too wary, for a quick fling, yet you weren’t in the right place to date. Or if they saw you only as the brother of their friends… Memories of his ill-fated comment in the car flooded back to him.

  Shit, he’d told her he liked her. Unsurprisingly, she’d deflected this in the same deft way she’d deflected his previous attempts at flirting, quickly turning it into an innocuous, bland like. It hadn’t been the way he’d meant it, but he supposed it was something they could both continue to live with without too much embarrassment.

  It brought him back to his original quandary. Now he’d started dance lessons with her, it was surely rude not to ask Maggie to enter the competition with him. Hell, who was he kidding, after last Wednesday he couldn’t think of dancing with anyone else. Yet if she agreed, a big if, could he really continue to spend all this time with her and not fall for her? Not want to do more than thank her for the dance at the end of the evening? He’d not been lying when he’d told her he might stay in the UK longer than he’d originally planned. Though he yearned for a return to the sun and the reef, there were other attractions for him now, far closer to home.

  What had started out as a simple crush on her was becoming more, and the realisation excited him and scared the crap out of him in equal parts.

  Strictly Saturday was at Alice’s that week. Maggie knew she’d arrived before Sarah and, she presumed, Seb, because the hostess cornered her the moment she stepped foot inside.

  ‘Come on, spill the beans.’ Alice watched as the kids disappeared into the TV room before adding, ‘What’s happening with you and my brother?’

  Maggie felt the blood drain from her face. ‘God, Alice, nothing’s happening.’

  ‘No?’ She frowned, then let out a dramatic sigh. ‘That’s such a let-down. Not least because I owe Sarah twenty quid now.’

  ‘You made a bet on whether I was… whether Seb and I were…’ The blood rushed back into her face, the sting of it leaving her feeling heated and flustered.

  ‘Shagging? Having a fling?’ Alice let out a loud belly laugh. ‘Of course not. But I did put twenty quid on him asking you out. He seems pretty smitten.’

  Could her face get any hotter? ‘He’s not.’

  ‘No?’ Alice took hold of her hand and led her into the kitchen. ‘He looked after the girls for you, then he went all that way by bus to your dance lessons. Sarah said he was being supportive, but I think there’s more to it than that.’

  ‘There isn’t.’

  Alice smiled as she let go of her hand and went to open the fridge. ‘As your friend, I’ll take your word for it and not point out the obvious colour to your cheeks. Now, what do you want to drink?’

  The doorbell rang, and Alice smirked. ‘Do you want to let them in? I say them, because I’m pretty sure my brother, who did nothing but take the piss out of our Strictly sessions a few weeks ago, will be with Sarah.’

  ‘Only because it’s something to do before he goes clubbing.’

  ‘Perhaps. Or perhaps this is the main attraction and he only goes clubbing to put us off the scent.’

  Maggie groaned. ‘Oh God, you’ve turned into a crazy person. No, scratch that, you’ve always been crazy. I’m going to go and let in the sensible, mature, level-headed twin.’

  ‘And her brother,’ Alice shouted down the hallway.

  Maybe he won’t show, Maggie thought as she went to open the door. Then sighed as her stomach dipped in disappointment when she saw Sarah. Only for it to flip when she saw Seb’s tall frame standing behind her. He’s going clubbing, she reminded herself, taking in his collared shirt and smart jacket. But then he smiled, and her insides did that fluttery butterfly thing that’s written about in books, yet rarely happens in real life. It had happened to her once before. Ten years and one divorce later, she should know better than to trust it.

  ‘Can I have a word?’ Seb asked once Maggie had hugged Sarah and given Seb an awkward kiss on the cheek. He glanced over to his sister when he realised she was taking an active interest. ‘Sticky beaks can go into the kitchen. This conversation is for dancers only.’r />
  Sarah quirked a brow, gave them both an amused, rather too knowing look and wandered away.

  ‘Dancers?’ Maggie tried not to inhale the invigorating maleness of his aftershave, or stare at the way his broad shoulders filled out the grey jacket. ‘You’ve only had one lesson.’

  ‘True.’ He shifted, resting his arm on the wall above her, making her conscious of his height. Again she felt that squirmy sensation in the pit of her belly which totally wasn’t her. She was too sensible for all of this. ‘But I’m going to be having more lessons. With you, I hope.’

  ‘Well, you did say you’d paid up until the end of the year.’

  ‘I have.’ He caught her eye and gave her a surprisingly sheepish smile. ‘I’ve also, kind of, agreed to put on a ballroom dancing competition at the centre, open to the general public to enter.’ He cleared his throat. ‘And I’ve sort of convinced some of the kids to take part, and Belinda to give them lessons.’

  Maggie gaped at him. ‘Wow. That’s, well…’

  ‘Insane?’

  ‘I was going to say very brave of you.’

  He chuckled. ‘I’ll take that. The thing is.’ His eyes left hers and he shook his head, straightening up. ‘Hell, this is harder that I thought.’

  It was this, the sweet vulnerability behind the confident façade, that made him so easy to like. ‘Whatever it is you want to say, it can’t be harder than me asking you to take care of my kids last Monday.’

  ‘Nah, that was an emergency. Of course you had to ask. This is, well, it’s more of a favour.’ His eyes met hers. ‘The kids said they’d only enter the competition if I do, too. So I’m looking for a dance partner.’

  ‘I see.’ She was a logical choice, but it didn’t mean she was the right choice. Entering a competition would mean practice. She had a job, and children. You’re scared of being alone with him. No, she told the inner voice. She was simply being practical. ‘Obviously if you’re going to enter a competition, you need someone with few commitments. Hannah might like to do it. She loves watching the dancing, and she did say she wanted to learn.’

  That bright blue gaze wouldn’t leave her alone. It was as if he could see her mind working. ‘Hannah’s great, but it’s you I’m having lessons with, Mags.’ A pause, as his eyes skimmed her face before settling back on hers. ‘You I want to dance with.’

  Her heart jiggled and bounced, and Maggie had to fight to keep her composure. ‘It’s Maggie. Mags are something you read in a doctors’ waiting room.’

  He laughed softly. ‘God, I love it when you go all prim and proper on me. So,’ he smiled down at her, ‘is that a yes, Seb, I’ll be delighted to be your dance partner in the very worthy fundraising event you’re putting on at the youth centre, which I’m thinking of calling Strictly Local, by the way.’

  Despite her reservations, a smile tugged at her. ‘I like the name. And when you put it like that, it’s hard to say no.’

  ‘Hard, but I’m going to say no anyway, or hard so I’m going to give in gracefully?’

  She’d been wrong. It wasn’t hard to say no to him. When he looked at her like he was doing now, all sexy eyes and playful smile, it was impossible. ‘The graceful bit.’

  ‘Excellent.’ He rubbed his hands together and nodded towards the television room. ‘Now let’s go to Blackpool.’

  The show had already started when they slipped in, thank God. It meant no time for Sarah and Alice to voice the questions they were clearly burning to ask.

  ‘This place has seen the best of the best,’ the announcer stated. ‘The world champions have all danced here, in the Blackpool ballroom.’

  The opening group dance was typically upbeat and then Claudia and Tess made their entrance, looking amazing in gold and silver outfits. After the judges had been announced, Bruno leapt to his feet and waved his arms theatrically. ‘It’s always magic in Blackpool.’

  Across the room, Seb cleared his throat. ‘I thought it was always blowing a gale and piss… pouring down with rain.’

  ‘Shh.’

  The exchange between Seb and Tabby caused a surprising warmth in Maggie’s chest. Seb’s ‘whispered’ comments, and Tabby’s answering remonstrations, were fast becoming part of the Saturday night ritual.

  She wasn’t just being polite when she’d admitted to him the other day that she liked him. Her gut told her he was one of the good guys. The fact he was also young, without direction, without roots, and totally unsuitable for a thirty-seven-year-old mother to have a small crush on shouldn’t take away from his core appeal. And as long as her crush remained her secret, it wasn’t harming anyone.

  ‘Now that’s what I call a jive.’ The judge’s verdict brought Maggie’s attention back to the show. ‘The flicks and kicks were superb, though the sashays could have been a bit later.’

  ‘Umm, I thought that,’ Seb drawled from across the room. ‘Those damn sashays are a killer, aren’t they?’ His eyes lifted to hers. ‘We’ll have to watch them if we decide to jive.’

  Oh no. Suddenly everyone’s eyes were on her. Not just Sarah and Alice, but all the children, too.

  ‘Decide to jive, when?’ Alice, as usual, was the first to say what others were thinking.

  ‘I’m organising a ballroom dancing competition at the youth centre to raise funds,’ Seb answered mildly. ‘We’re calling it Strictly Local and you guys are welcome to enter.’ The grin he directed at his sisters was full of mischief. ‘Now shut up, will you? I’m trying to watch.’

  Alice huffed, then balled up her napkin and threw it at him. He caught it casually in his left hand, smirking before turning his attention back to the television.

  Maggie felt her friends’ eyes on her for several minutes afterwards and knew she’d receive a full grilling once their brother had left.

  Chapter Eleven

  Seb was shrugging on his coat when he heard a key in the lock and Sarah walked in. She took one look at him and raised her eyebrows.

  ‘Going somewhere?’

  ‘Putting on a coat would seem to suggest that.’ She stared at him with the expression he knew she must use in her business deals; I know you’re up to something so I’ll just wait it out, sucker. Though maybe the last part was just for him. ‘I’m heading to the bus stop.’

  Removing her coat, Sarah placed it neatly on the peg. ‘Let’s make this easy, shall we? It’s Wednesday, so I know that’s the day Maggie goes to her dance lessons. The question is whether you’re big enough to admit that last week wasn’t just a one-off. Or whether you’re going to carry on evading and avoiding me and Alice when we try to quiz you on it.’

  Ouch. Those people who thought big sisters were all kindness and support? It was a load of bollocks. They could be mean and meddling when they wanted to be. ‘Fine, I’ll be continuing with the dance lessons. I need all the practice I can get now I’ve been forced to enter the competition at the youth centre.’

  ‘That explanation would work, if you hadn’t started the lessons the week before you had the idea for the competition.’ Sarah narrowed her eyes. ‘Whatever you say next, remember I’m smart and I’ve known you all your life.’

  Crap, why was lying to his sisters so damn difficult? ‘Okay, okay. I’m going to the dance lessons because I want to dance with Maggie.’ He swallowed. ‘I like her.’ That bloody word again. He wondered which way Sarah would interpret it.

  His sister’s face softened. ‘I know you do, you muppet. The way you started joining us on Saturdays, but then spent more time watching Maggie than the television, was kind of a giveaway.’

  He winced. ‘That obvious?’

  ‘To me and Alice, yes. To Maggie, no, because she has absolutely no clue how gorgeous she is.’

  He smiled at that, because Sarah was spot on. ‘Is there a subtle underlying message in there, along the lines of she’s too gorgeous for me? Because if there is, I hold my hands up to knowing that.’

  Sarah placed a hand on his cheek. ‘No, there’s no underlying message you dummy, because yo
u’re gorgeous, too. You’re a great catch for someone.’

  ‘Just not Maggie.’

  Sarah bit into her lip. ‘I don’t know, Seb. She’s older than you, she’s got kids, a career she loves, financial security. She’s settled. You’re still figuring out what you want to do. Hell, you don’t even know where you’re going to be in two months’ time. It doesn’t seem the best fit to me.’

  It was exactly how he saw it, too, but to hear the same thoughts echoed back to him from his sister, someone he really respected, hurt. ‘I hear you. And you don’t have to worry, I’m not about to do anything stupid.’ Well, apart from the moment he’d come scarily close to kissing her. ‘I’d better get going.’

  Sarah smiled, her eyes still on him. ‘You might not be right for her, but you are good for her, Seb. She told me last week how much better it was dancing with you than the other guys.’

  So, he was at least a better fit than short, balding middle-aged men. Good to know.

  He arrived at the dance class a few minutes late. Again. Blasted buses. Mind you, he’d never been a punctual sort of guy. Mainly because he hated watching the clock. Life was for living, not being tied down to dates and times. Another thing that made him unsuitable for Maggie, because as he knew from the Saturday night Strictly gatherings, she was a stickler for timekeeping.

  If he ever did have the balls to ask her out, they wouldn’t make it past the first date. He’d turn up late, and she’d ditch him.

  Peering through the window of the studio door, he spotted Maggie talking to two of the old dears he recognised from last week, Shirley and Pauline. Belinda seemed to share his unpunctual gene as she wasn’t there yet. Maybe she’d had bus trouble, too. The thought of the frightfully elegant Belinda on a bus made him chuckle to himself as he opened the door. Immediately Maggie looked up and gave him a nice smile. One that made the trek on public transport worthwhile.