Ballroom Blitz Read Free Page B

Feather—”
    “Jon. If I’m gonna be stomping on your feet, call me Jon.”
    Such a charmer. “Okay, Jon. Start with your right foot. Step. Together. Good. Now, step back. No. Stop. You don’t have to alternate feet.”
    He froze. “I don’t?”
    “No.” When their eyes met, her belly dipped. “Now, try it with Raven.”
    She turned and addressed the class, grateful for a diversion from the engaging man. “Let’s add faster music.”
    She and Seth wandered through the couples separately. Most had mastered the basic steps. When Maggie glanced over to see Jon and Raven’s progress, she half expected that once the music began their rhythm issues would work out. But music had made it worse.
    Raven looked ready to cry. Jon looked defeated. Not good.
    Seth caught her eye and they headed back to help.
    “Heya, teach, back so soon?” Jon said nonchalantly. “I thought I had the hang of it until that pesky music screwed me up.”
    “Have you tried counting to keep the beat? One, two, three, four?” Seth asked.
    “Of course.”
    “Let’s see how you’re keeping time.” Maggie clasped Jon’s hands, feeling that magnetic pull again. “Bring your partner toward you on every other beat. Like this.”
    Jon tried it, but he kept coming in a beat late, on the third beat, instead of the second. Every time.
    She bit back a groan. He might be a fascinating combination of self-deprecating and charming, but the man could not keep time.
    Raven threw up her hands. “See? I told you. It’s not me, Uncle Jon. It’s you.”
    “I’ll remind you, darlin’ niece, you roped me into this class. And I warned you I was sadly lacking in dancing skills,” he said tightly.
    “But dancing is about rhythm. That should be easy for you. Don’t you count when you’re playing?”
    “Yeah, but it’s not the same. I don’t think about it. I just do it.”
    “Excuse me,” Seth said. “Playing what?”
    “The drums.”
    Maggie’s jaw dropped. “ You play the drums?”
    “Yep.” Jon’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you so shocked?”
    “Because you have absolutely no sense of rhythm.”
    Jon threw back his head and laughed. “Doll face, you are the first woman who’s ever said that to me.”

Chapter Three
     
    Maggie blushed.
    Raven said, “Eww, Uncle Jon!”
    Seth smirked. But he rallied to Jon’s defense. “Regardless, Mr. White Feather, it’s obvious you don’t have rhythm when it comes to dancing . So for now, it’s best if I work with Raven.”
    Bonus. That’d pair him with the very sexy Maggie Buchanan for the remainder of class and Jon was all over that.
    “…and you will watch us and learn.”
    Jon’s gaze snapped to Seth. “Excuse me? That sounded like I’ve been benched.”
    “Only briefly. For tonight.”
    He looked at Maggie, but she’d floated off to help another couple.
    So Jon had to stand there, propped against the wall like some second stringer. Studying another guy’s feet, arms, hips and ass moving was fucked up on several levels. He’d never get this formal dancing shit, which was why he’d always limited his dancing to the slow type or the mattress type.
    His focus strayed to Maggie, performing some cha-cha move that shook her ass enticingly. Way too enticingly; his brain conjured images of them doing a little mattress dancing, her perfect butt in his hands, his pelvis doing a slow bump and grind into hers as he tasted that pretty pink mouth.
    A throat clearing caught his attention and Seth looked at him pointedly.
    Jon shot him a sheepish grin. But he did manage to pay attention for the remainder of class. Raven was getting a lot out of the one-on-one instruction, including heaps of praise from Seth. And his niece’s beaming face reminded Jon why he was here in the first place.
    Raven was so anxious to leave after class finished that he couldn’t shake the niggling feeling he’d somehow embarrassed her. He hoped the second night would go better than the first.
     
     
    But the second