Strictly Come Dating (The Kathryn Freeman Romcom Collection, Book 3)

by Kathryn Freeman

  And just like that, her irritation slipped away. ‘I’d hate it if you were in contact with any of your exes, too,’ she admitted.

  He took his phone out of his pocket and pointed to the list of people he’d been messaging recently. ‘Only ladies I’ve been in contact with this week other than my family are Belinda, Pauline and Shirley.’ He gave her a wry smile. ‘I’m clearly a magnet for the older woman.’

  It was a measure of how far she’d come, how confident he’d made her in her own sexuality, that the only feeling his quip elicited was laughter.

  While they’d been talking, two faces she recognised had come up alongside them: Rylan and Hayley.

  ‘Yo, Seb.’ Rylan, wearing a hoodie and grey tracksuit bottoms, greeted Seb with a half smile.

  ‘Afternoon, Rylan, Hayley. Are you both ready for later?’

  ‘Err, yeah, about that.’ Rylan shuffled his feet, his gaze dropping to the floor.

  The unexpectedly nervous-looking gesture made Maggie’s heart squeeze. The teen might act cocky most of the time, yet here was another side to him. By all accounts, Seb had been very similar when he’d been Rylan’s age: confident on the outside, full of insecurities on the inside. No wonder he felt a connection to the boy.

  ‘What Ry’s trying to say is he’s got nothing to wear tonight.’ Hayley levelled the teenager a dark look. ‘The dumb arse thought he could wear what he’s wearing now.’

  Rylan bristled. ‘Fuck off, Hayley. I ain’t dumb. This isn’t a fucking fancy dress competition.’

  ‘Right, but you watched the Strictly programme, Kiara and Zayne showed you what they’re gonna wear.’ Hayley chewed hard on her inevitable gum. ‘We’re gonna look stupid if you turn up like that.’ She waved dismissively at him.

  ‘Whoa.’ Seb raised his hand. ‘Let’s dial this right back. Rylan’s not being dumb, he’s being a guy.’ In that easy way he had, Seb took the tension out of the situation by winking at Hayley. ‘I’d be dancing in jeans tonight if my sister hadn’t stepped in.’

  Rylan smirked as Hayley gaped first at him, then at Maggie. ‘Seriously?’

  Maggie smiled. ‘Seriously. Men don’t always think. Or plan ahead,’ she added with a sly glance at Seb.

  ‘Can’t disagree with that.’ Chuckling, he turned to Rylan. ‘It’s up to you, mate. You won’t look stupid if you dance in what you’ve got on now. You’re going to smash it out there whatever you wear. Still, it’s a team effort, so Hayley’s wishes are important, too.’

  ‘Yeah, I suppose.’

  Hayley giggled. ‘Don’t look so scared, Ry. It’s not like I want you wearing anything weird, like a see-though shirt.’ She gave Maggie a wink, and Maggie couldn’t help but laugh. It seemed Seb wasn’t the only one fond of these two.

  Aware that a crowd had gathered around them now, all clearly needing to talk to Seb, Maggie squeezed his arm. ‘Look, I’ll sort something out for Rylan and Hayley. You go and be important.’

  Relief flashed across his face, but still he hesitated. ‘You sure?’ When she nodded, she swore his shoulders eased down a fraction. ‘You’re a bloody star.’

  ‘Not yet, but wait till we get onto that dance floor.’ She kissed his cheek. ‘Next time I see you, we’ll be ready to rumba.’

  His eyes went so wide, it was comical. ‘Did you just do a Michael Buffer joke on me?’

  Had she? ‘Maybe?’

  ‘Let’s get ready to rumble? His famous catchphrase when he introduces a fight?’

  ‘Of course. I knew that.’ He clearly didn’t believe her, because his eyes brimmed with amusement, the earlier strain now vanished. ‘Go, be brilliant.’ As he walked away, the relaxed demeanour, the easy stride were back in place. She’d helped do that, she thought proudly.

  And Seb had done that, she thought, equally proudly, when she turned to find Rylan and Hayley sniggering about what he should wear.

  It was going to be a hit. Earlier he’d wobbled like a… hell, a spinning blancmange. Thank God Maggie had been there to calm him down. She was so good at that: quietly yet firmly taking control of a situation. First his nerves, then Rylan and Hayley’s wardrobe calamity. Now, watching the first dancers step onto the dancefloor, he knew her confidence in him hadn’t been misplaced. He bloody could put on an event.

  Immediately he thought of his dad, and how much he wanted him sitting on the front row, next to his mum and sisters. Burning with the same pride he could see in their eyes. I hope you’re watching up there, Pops.

  The over-sixties dancers – Seb had put them on first, figuring they were the least likely to get stage fright – wowed. To see that generation strut their stuff, grey hair shining in the lights, arthritic joints and bad backs forgotten, heightened his already sky-high emotions. And that was before Shirley and Pauline came onto the floor. Not the most competent, but their sheer gusto, the delight they showed… He reckoned he wasn’t the only one having to blink a few times.

  Now it was the turn of the middle group, and Seb was waiting outside the ladies for Maggie – yeah, Strictly Come Dancing had big posh changing rooms; Strictly Local had youth centre toilets. Unless you wanted to take your chance on a back room without a lock. He’d changed in the gents.

  The door creaked open, and Seb nearly swallowed his tongue. ‘Jesus, Mags.’

  She grinned, giving him a twirl. The vibrancy of her face, the confident way she moved, the sparkle in her eyes. She radiated beauty, elegance. And sex. Oh yes, the seemingly endless legs, the cleavage peeking through the lace. The low, sultry back. They were all pure sex.

  ‘Our shopping spree last Saturday wasn’t wasted then?’

  ‘God no. Though how you expect me to dance with you, when all I want to do is push you against a wall and…’ He let out a ragged breath. ‘Please tell me I can at least go home with you when this is all over.’

  ‘Of course.’ She stepped towards him, then ran her hand down the silk of his black shirt, stopping at the third button. After undoing it, she took a step back and gave him a smile loaded with promise. ‘Now I see why Sarah took you shopping on Tuesday.’

  ‘Apparently jeans aren’t appropriate.’ He could hardly get the words out, his throat, his whole body, felt so tightly wound.

  She smiled. ‘I do like you in jeans.’

  ‘You like my bum in jeans,’ he corrected.

  ‘I do.’ She raised her eyes to his. ‘But black silk is now my favourite outfit on you.’

  ‘It’s not see-through. Turns out I don’t have the balls.’

  She laughed softly. ‘I’m glad. I don’t want all those other women out there seeing what I get to see.’

  He smirked, enjoying the possessive glint in her eye. ‘Are you sure about the third button?’

  ‘We’re about to perform a sensual, erotic ballroom dance.’ The smile she gave him was pure sin. ‘Trust me, I’m sure.’

  They waited by the double doors for Winston, compère for the evening, to call them out. ‘In case I forget, thanks for earlier, sorting Rylan and Hayley, and calming me down. I was a basket case.’ He jammed a hand through his hair, wondering how she was so collected while he felt those same nerves jangling again. Could he really do this? Last time he’d danced in this hall, Belinda had told him he’d been more wooden than a pine dresser.

  His heart jumped as he felt Maggie’s hand curl around his. ‘Whatever you’re thinking now, stop.’

  Okay then. Taking a deep breath, he squeezed her fingers. ‘You’re right. It’s just I’m only now realising that if I cock up, they won’t see how good you are.’ His eyes found hers. ‘And that would be a crying shame, because you’re bloody amazing.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Maggie’s laughter fluttered over him. ‘Only realising now, huh? That really is last minute.’

  ‘Yeah. We should have planned for this scenario. I blame you.’

  A pair of slender arms circled him, their hold surprisingly strong. ‘We did plan for it. That’s why we put in all the practice. Now all we have to do is go out and en
joy ourselves, because that’s what dancing is all about. Joy. And that’s one of many things you’ve given me, Sebastian Armstrong.’ Her breath warmed his neck as she reached to kiss him. ‘Now let’s go and show them what a real rumba looks like.’

  And they did.

  To the tune of ‘Aint No Sunshine’ – yes, they’d copied mercilessly from Strictly – Seb didn’t just dance the steps, he felt them. With Maggie looking at him the way she was, her hands running over his chest, teasing him, twirling away and then falling back into his arms, his nerves were forgotten, her sensuality, her vibrancy, carrying them both through.

  When the final note sounded, Seb looked at Maggie and didn’t try to hide how he felt. Totally swept away, not just by the dance, but by her. ‘I have no words to do that justice. To do you justice.’

  She gave him a tremulous smile and if he wasn’t mistaken she looked like she’d been squeezed through the emotional wringer, too. ‘Me neither.’

  The moment was broken as the crowd erupted around them, cat whistles in amongst the applause. Usually he’d lark about, bowing, hamming it up, but it all felt too much, his emotions too on the edge. Finding Maggie’s hand, he turned them towards the judges, where Belinda winked, thankfully dialling the emotion down a notch. In common with the TV show, the judges had their say – sexy, hot, x-rated, he’d take all the plaudits. Hell, he’d felt them all. The final vote on the performances though – a show of hands – was down to the audience, when all the contestants had danced. It was crude, but Seb figured if anyone was taking it that seriously, they’d come to the wrong place.

  As they stepped out of the hall, Alice caught up with them. ‘That was incredible, darlings.’ It was a reasonable imitation of the Strictly judges – the real ones, not the group who were out there now, happily bestowing compliments on everyone.

  Maggie glowed – there was no other way to describe her. Laughing, she threw her arms around his sister. ‘We killed it, didn’t we? I think it was the dress, in fact I’m sure it was. I felt so sexy in it.’

  He cleared his throat, about to tell her it was the woman inside the dress that had blown them all away. Before he could though, Penny and Tabby burst through the doors and threw their arms around their mum.

  They were followed by Paul, and the moment Seb caught sight of him, his euphoria took a nose dive.

  The girls chattered away to Maggie and Alice, words like ‘sick’, ‘awesome’ and ‘wicked’ a few he could make out. Paul stared stonily at him.

  ‘She’s quite a dancer, isn’t she? But then you must have known that.’ Bet you regret not dancing with now though, you prick.

  Paul shifted on his feet. ‘I was aware she danced, yes.’

  Maggie looked up with a start when Paul spoke. ‘Oh, hello, Paul. I didn’t see you there.’

  ‘I came to congratulate you.’

  ‘Both of us.’ Maggie’s gaze fell on Seb. ‘I couldn’t have done it without Seb.’

  There were degrees of awkward Seb could put up with, and then there was now. It wasn’t that he didn’t mind facing off Paul. He’d have continued to do so, happily, if he didn’t think the atmosphere was killing Maggie’s buzz and confusing the girls.

  ‘Right, well I’m going to check out the youth dancers.’ He forced a smile on his face. ‘I’ll catch you all later.’

  As he pushed open the doors back into the hall, Seb tried not to think about how Paul was now congratulating his ex-wife.

  The next couple on the floor were Kiara and Zayne, who performed a very classy waltz. Kiara looked stunning in what he’d been told was her sister’s prom dress, and Zayne wore his dad’s suit. It was a couple of sizes too big for him but nobody really noticed. Not with the way he led Kiara confidently round the dance floor. Seb didn’t need to look at Belinda’s proud smile to know how well they’d done.

  ‘No way are we beating that,’ Rylan huffed beside him. ‘The dude can actually dance. We might as well not bother.’

  Seb put an arm on Rylan’s shoulder and squeezed. ‘You’re not going out there to win. You’re going to show your mates, the people in the audience and, most important, yourself what you can do if you put your mind to something.’ He glanced across at Hayley who was standing on his other side. ‘Plus you’re going to dance with a, what do you call it, a really peng girl? So shit, Rylan, go out and enjoy yourself.’

  Rylan smirked over at Hayley. ‘Yeah, I guess.’

  Eyes shining, she gave him a small shove. ‘Yay Ry, did you just call me peng?’

  ‘Nah, Seb did.’ Rylan grinned at her. ‘But maybe he’s not wrong.’

  A moment later, Rylan and Hayley walked out onto the floor. The sight of their interlocked hands, the way they looked, so smart, so chilled, caused his heart to lodge in his throat. Maggie – the same Maggie who was probably still with Paul, but no, damn it, Seb wasn’t going to think about that – anyway, somehow she’d managed to find Rylan some dark trousers, a white shirt and even a bow tie. It meant he nicely matched Hayley, who wore a flirty black and white skirt, along with her inevitable huge hoop ear rings.

  As they waited for the music, Seb felt a rush of unexpected nerves. If Rylan tripped, if it went badly… would the kid ever forgive him for pushing him into this?

  The music began, and he held his breath. The jive was… enthusiastic he decided was the kindest way to describe it. But hell, it really didn’t matter. Not when you could see how much they were enjoying it.

  When it was over, Rylan fist pumped the air. Then, as the crowd cheered, he picked Hayley up and spun her around. After the judges had finished giving their glowing verdict – no way were they going to say anything but good things to these amazing young dancers – Rylan’s eyes found Seb’s and he flashed him a cocky grin. It said he’d done it, he’d pushed himself out of his comfort zone, dared to try. And hadn’t fallen flat on his face.

  Shit. Seb wiped at his eyes. He was going to bloody miss these kids when he left.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Maggie didn’t want to be in the TV room, playing happy families with Paul. Alice had discreetly disappeared, saying something about getting back to Sarah and her mum, and Paul had somehow persuaded her into this room, on the pretext of keeping the girls entertained. As if watching the dancing wouldn’t do that.

  How little he knew his own daughters still. And how little he knew his ex-wife, if he seriously thought she was going to listen to what he had to say about Seb.

  ‘I know I’m not one to dish out advice, considering my own confused situation with Isabelle, but do you really think you should be dancing like, well…’ He cleared his throat, glancing over at the girls, who were watching some random cartoon channel. ‘Dancing like that, in front of your children?’

  ‘Dancing like what?’ Oh, she knew, but she hadn’t realised what a prude he was, until now. ‘The judges said we performed an excellent rumba.’

  ‘That’s what it was? It looked more like foreplay.’

  Delighted, she laughed. ‘Then I guess we really did smash it out there.’

  It had been more than sexy, though. The moment the music had begun, the connection between her and Seb had been palpable, yet it had been when the dance had ended, that her heart had almost stopped. The look Seb had given her, the tenderness, the adoration in his eyes. Paul had never looked at her like that, nobody had. She knew now that whatever Seb planned on doing with his life, she meant something to him, as he did to her.

  It’s just she’d taken it a step further, and fallen headlong in love with him.

  ‘I don’t understand. This isn’t like you at all, dancing like that, taking up with someone so… unsuitable.’ Paul looked not only puzzled, but concerned. ‘Is it serious?’

  ‘That’s between us.’ Because she sensed beneath his prissy tone he was trying to understand, actually trying to be a friend to her, Maggie added. ‘Whatever the future holds, I don’t regret it. Seb’s given me back something you managed to take away for a while. Myself.’

&n
bsp; He flinched. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You chipped away at my self-confidence, without me realising it. And I’m to blame too, because I let you. Yes, I’m organised, yes, I like to plan and I’m naturally cautious, but you made me feel like these were bad traits. That I was dull. Well, guess what, the woman who just danced out there isn’t dull. She can let go, she can have fun. And more than that, she can attract a gorgeous twenty-seven-year-old man.’ One, she knew, had held the attention of every female out there tonight with his snake hips and his shirt unbuttoned enough to give glimpses of his ripped torso.

  It had taken her until now to realise Paul, for all the years she’d spent with him, had never really understood her. Seb, on the other hand, understood her more than she understood herself. You’ve spent so long having to be sensible, you’ve suppressed the part of you that wants to be a little crazy, a little wild now and again. How right his words seemed now.

  To his credit, Paul looked shamefaced. ‘I’m sorry, I never meant for any of this. I did love you, part of me still does, but as the marriage went on… I guess I felt hemmed in. Instead of talking to you, telling you how I felt, I took it out on you and lashed out.’ His eyes were bleak when they sought out hers. ‘The girls, they came too soon. I wasn’t ready to be a dad.’ His voice shook as he dragged in a breath. ‘If I’m honest, I’m not sure I ever will be.’

  Because she sensed he was struggling, Maggie placed a hand over his. ‘You can talk to me now.’

  ‘God, this is so hard to admit to.’ His chest heaved and when he spoke again, his voice sounded full of guilt. ‘I worked crazy hours, and when I’d finished, I wanted to play. To go out to the theatre, to eat out. Not watch blasted cartoons in front of the television. I love the girls, don’t get me wrong. They’re great kids. It’s just…’ He trailed off, shaking his head.

  ‘You don’t enjoy them,’ Maggie finished for him, remembering the day it had snowed. Seb’s first thought had been to take them all tobogganing. Paul’s would no doubt have been, could he still get into work. ‘It wasn’t just the girls though, was it? You didn’t want to do what I wanted to do, either, even before they came along.’