Holding Holly (Love and Football Series) Read Online Free PDF

get out of here tonight,” Holly said to him. “This isn’t good.”
    “Let’s worry about that later,” Derrick said.

Chapter Four
    H OLLY HAD BEEN shy all of her life. She was just fine when she was at work or school; she could manage to overcome her bashfulness long enough to talk with customers or ask her fellow students questions. Talking with members of the opposite sex she was interested in, though, was a whole other story. She was tongue-tied. She blushed herself into a coma. Most of the time she all but ran away; she envied other women who could talk and flirt easily with someone they were interested in. She wished she could be like them.
    Dating was a special kind of torture. She was bad at small talk. Plus, it was important to be a fun person on a date, or the person you were out with might decide he didn’t want a second date.
    Holly had lost her heart to Derrick—and his impish grin—two years ago in the Sharks’ cafeteria’s breakfast line. He teased her and talked with her whenever he saw her, but she told herself that he joked around with everyone. She wasn’t special.
    She still couldn’t believe he’d asked her out. She was going to have to make an extra effort tonight.
    “How’s the pizza?” he asked her.
    “It’s . . . it’s good,” she said.
    “Would you like something else to eat instead? You’ve only had a couple of bites.”
    She felt her face getting hot. “I’m not very hungry,” she said. It was hard to eat when her stomach was full of butterflies.
    He leaned across the table toward her and reached out to take her hand in his. Her heart felt like it would beat its way out of her chest. She was sure her palms were sweaty. He didn’t seem to mind. He looked into her eyes.
    “It’s just me, Holly,” he said. His dark eyes softened like chocolate in summertime. “I want to get to know you. Talk to me.” The huge diamond studs in his ears sparkled in the dimly lit restaurant.
    She nodded and swallowed hard. He stroked her hand with his thumb—a slow, deliberate movement across her skin.
    “You feel shy around me,” he said.
    Her voice sounded like the creak of a rusty hinge. “Yes.”
    His smile was dazzling. He was still stroking her hand, and she felt him grip it a little more tightly in his. “Here’s an idea, then. Close your eyes.”
    “Excuse me?”
    His laugh bounced around the quiet restaurant. “Let’s see if it works. Try it. I’ll make sure you’re safe. Take a deep breath too.”
    His suggestion sounded a little weird to her, but it was worth a try. She closed her eyes. She felt him lean closer to her. He smelled like clean skin and a whiff of what she imagined must have been very expensive men’s cologne. “So, Holly. Have you lived in Noel for a while?”
    “I don’t really live here,” she said. “I’m staying with my grandma until she’s feeling better. I have an apartment with two of Zach Anderson’s sisters. I’ll be back there before school starts again.”
    “What’s your major?”
    “Nursing.”
    “Ahhh,” he said. “That’s good. You’ll be able to fix me right up after a game, then.”
    Little did he know, she’d be thrilled to. She pulled in another breath. Surprisingly enough, closing her eyes while they talked seemed to help with her nervousness.
    “Don’t the trainers do that stuff?” she said.
    “They’re not as pretty as you are.”
    She could feel her face getting warm again, and she opened her eyes a little.
    “Uh-uh. Can’t look at me right now,” he said. “You’re going to remember you’re feeling shy, and you’ll stop talking to me.”
    She closed her eyes. He reached out with his other hand to touch her jawline with his fingertips.
    “That’s better. I could ask you a lot of questions about your family and your interests, and I’m getting to them all, but there’s one question I’d really like to know the answer to.” He was now holding her hand with both of his. He was still stroking her