Faces of Bucky Barnes - More One Shots

9. It Takes Two

Ever since Jillian's ex, Brent, had announced he was leaving her for her personal trainer she had tried her best to move on.  It hadn't been easy as Karin was everything Jillian wasn't.  Tall, blonde, fit and tanned versus short, brown haired, a little plump and likely to burn if she was out in the sun for longer than 15 minutes.  Already plagued with self-doubt after gaining weight in the first two years of their marriage, Jillian's self-esteem took a hit when Karin, the woman who said she would do all she could to help her get fit, betrayed her instead. 

Standing in front of the door to the bar where she agreed to meet her other friends, Jillian decided she wasn't ready and turned around to leave, only to walk into the most beautiful man she had ever seen.

"Whoa, darling," he grinned, gently grasping her arms as she shrieked from the impact.  "You're not going in?"

"No," she blushed.  "I changed my mind.  I can't...."

"Well, that's a shame," said the man, his blue eyes flickering to her lips.  "A pretty lady like you makes this place better.  You're not standing a guy up, are you?"

"No, I'm just not ready to put myself out there yet."

"Well, I don't think you're going to make a clean getaway," he noted, pointing to her friends who were at the window screaming at her with excitement.  "Friends of yours?"

Jillian rolled her eyes.  "Never saw them before."

He chuckled then opened the door for her, waiting for her to enter before him.  With a sigh, she entered and went towards her friends as he waved to some people at the back.

Her friend Marla pulled her into the booth.  "Who was that?"

"I don't know," replied Jillian.  "I literally walked into him when I changed my mind about coming in here."

"That is one gorgeous man," gushed Marla, to the consensus of the others.  "He was checking you out.  He still is."

It was true.  He was sitting in the booth at the back with a full view of Jillian and her friends.  Whoever was talking to him seemed to be asking him questions, but he kept looking over to Jillian repeatedly.  When the band started playing and couples began drifting onto the dance floor Jillian smiled as her friends were asked to dance until she was left alone at the booth.  Taking a sip of her beer she looked out the window, feeling the hurt of being ignored. 

"May I have this dance," said a familiar voice and she turned her head back, seeing those blue eyes gazing at her.  She said nothing at first and the man offered her his hand.  "If you take my hand, I'll lead you to the dance floor and we'll kind of sway back and forth.  That's usually how this works."

Blushing, she took his right hand, feeling the calluses on his fingertips.  When he offered his left hand for her to take, she noticed he wore a leather glove.  Before she could say anything, he began to move but he didn't sway.  Instead, he guided her around the dance floor, his hands gently pressing and pulling her in the direction he wanted to go.  At first, she didn't know quite what to do and her natural instinct was to try and anticipate which way he was going.  Several times she bumped into him, until he grinned and lowered his face close to her ear.

"Sweetheart, you have to let me lead you," he said, loud enough for her to hear over the band.  "I won't steer you wrong.  Honest."

He smiled then and Jillian thought she had died and gone to heaven as he was so damned handsome.  "I'm sorry," she said.  "I'm not much of a dancer.  My ex-husband didn't like close dancing."

"That's terrible," said the man.  "It's the best way to get to know someone."

As if to prove his point he brought her closer to him when the band shifted the tempo of the song to something slower and more romantic.  At that point she became aware of his aftershave which smelled of sandalwood, cedar and citrus.  He lowered his face close to her ear once again.