Say It With Sequins: The Rumba: HarperImpulse Contemporary Romance Novella by Georgia Hill Read Free Book Online

bringing him tight into her. She gazed up at him, willing him to kiss her. Where their bodies met, a heat burned, even through their thick winter clothes.
    “Far enough, I think,” whispered Harri but Julia knew he wasn’t only referring to the distance they’d come on the ice.
    “Better go back now, bach. Join the others.”
    Julia was shocked at how disappointed she felt. Not to mention the blow to her ego. “Okay,” she said slowly. “If we must.”
    They joined Trevor and his gang in the bar, where she and Harri spent the rest of the evening determinedly catching up on the alcohol intake.
    Did Harri really like her, Julia wondered, as the Quickstep being announced brought her back to the present. She sensed a reserve in him, something holding him back. On occasion, she was sure he reciprocated her feelings. She vibrated with desire every time he came near her and his continued neutrality made her dry-mouthed with frustration. Maybe, it was that he simply didn’t like her that way? The group were all very hands on; forever hugging and kissing one another. Callum, still in the competition and giving Harri a run for his money as the favourite, made the most of every opportunity to squeeze and stroke in nauseating fashion. Julia gave a shudder as she remembered how he’d pinched her bottom that very morning. If anything, Harri was more restrained than everyone else was and it was still causing problems in the infernal rumba that they were planning for the Christmas special.
    “You. Alright?” Jan asked in his customary aggressive manner.
    Julia sucked in a deep breath. If she were to stay in the competition and maybe, just maybe, find out what Harri’s true feelings were, she needed to concentrate. Being able to see Harri most days in the training gym was a powerful incentive. She looked up at Jan. “Fine. I’m fine. Let’s just get on with it.”
    Julia found herself backstage in what seemed like a matter of minutes, unable to believe what had happened. She had missed the dance off yet again and the judges had been forced to choose between Casey and Suni. Julia held her breath, hardly noticing that Harri had grabbed her hand and was holding on tight. A shout of relief echoed round when the judges voted for Suni. The whole gang, even po-faced Jan, leapt to their feet and cheered. Casey hadn’t been popular and everyone recognised Suni’s talent.
    “Thank God for that. Come here, lovely girl and give me a cwtch!” Julia found herself wrapped up in Harri’s powerful arms in a rugby scrum of a hug – the ‘cwtch,’ she assumed.
    “Ooh,” she managed as the air was squeezed out of her.
    Harri dropped her immediately. “Sorry, got a bit carried away.” His face was flushed Julia noticed and he seemed embarrassed.
    As one, the remaining contestants milled onto the studio floor and gathered round Suni, Casey and even Charlie and Carol.
    Julia found herself hugging Daniel Cunningham, Casey’s professional partner. He was a lovely man she thought, tall and lean with floppy blond hair. “I’m so sorry,” she yelled at him over the hubbub.
    He hugged her back. “We’d gone about as far as we could,” he said into her ear, his breath hot on her cheek. “Casey’s got a modelling contract in the States coming up. She wanted out anyway.”
    Julia drew back aghast. “You mean it was fixed? The result was fixed?”
    Daniel tapped his nose and grinned. “Can’t say, but she didn’t exactly have much time for training this week. Too busy on the phone – and it showed.”
    “But that’s so unfair on you!” Julia said in a shocked voice. She knew how much the competition meant to the professional dancers, it was the source of Jan’s eternal frustration with her.
    “It’s the way it goes,” Daniel shrugged with a sanguine smile and Julia couldn’t help but compare his reaction to that of Jan’s in the same situation. Her admiration for this calm man increased.
    He twisted his arms round her and