Come Down Under

by Parker, Weston

  Jude was just incredible. He made me feel like a precious princess and a vapid sex goddess all at the same time. Before we’d gotten together, I never would have thought he could be the attentive, adoring boyfriend type, but he so was.

  Well, he wasn’t my boyfriend. Not officially anyway. We hadn’t put a label on our relationship, but I was okay with that. I didn’t need a label on it if I had him, and I did have him.

  For now anyway.

  Strangely, it turned out that he wasn’t as much of a slut as the tabloids made him out to be. In fact before me, he hadn’t slept with anyone for months.

  While he was a surprisingly good partner outside of the bedroom, he was a fucking dynamo inside it. The guy had stamina like I’d never seen before, somehow he knew exactly how far to push me, and always put my pleasure before his.

  But he also opened up to me, made himself vulnerable about his past and how much he wanted me, and somehow still managed to maintain absolute confidence throughout it all. It was uncanny, but it was also pretty much a dream come true for me.

  I’d always had a bit of a thing for the bad boys, the hot cocky types who had hearts of gold buried deep down inside. Which was exactly how Jude was.

  Sometimes, I wished we hadn’t agreed to keep things under wraps, but we had. And we’d done it for my sake.

  Not even Shane knew about us. He seemed to suspect something, but he hadn’t brought it up to either of us yet.

  Then again, he’d had a lot on his plate these past few weeks, same as the rest of us. Jude had won against Audrey in court, but Shane had picked up the reins whenever he hadn’t been able to be around.

  Maybe now that it was over, he would corner one of us. We’d have to figure out what to tell him when he did.

  At least the court case was over. Jude had to agree to pay more alimony to Audrey, but it was a small price to pay in his mind. The worst of all was that Luke hadn’t even seen his mother since. Audrey had fallen off the grid once she’d gotten her money, leaving her son in the rearview mirror.

  It was disgusting that she’d done all of it just to get more money out of Jude. She’d had no regard for Luke in any of it at all. The impression I’d gotten was that she also really didn’t care about the anguish she’d caused as long as she got her money. Last I’d heard, Jude suspected that she and her next victim after him were off on an island tour of the South Pacific. A friend of a friend had told him they wouldn’t be back soon.

  I shook my head at the thought and was then promptly reminded that I wasn’t alone and should’ve been working. “Rose? What’s wrong? Why don’t you agree that we should run the campaign separately?”

  I blinked, mentally giving myself a shake and refocusing my attention on my co-worker. We sat on the couches in the pause area, drinking coffee and having a brainstorming session.

  Jennifer was a blonde girl with big blue eyes and a brain the size of a continent. She frowned at me, pausing with her coffee mug poised to take a sip. “Rose?”

  “Yeah.” I gave her an apologetic smile. “I’m here. Sorry, I zoned out for a minute. No, I don’t disagree. I think we should keep the campaigns for the two apps totally separate.”

  “Good,” she said but then cocked her head. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I’m fine really.” I sipped my latte and waved at another co-worker when he walked in.

  Jen twisted around in her seat to see who I was waving at, then narrowed her eyes in suspicion as a coy grin spread on her lips. “Jimmy? Is that who had you zoning out?”

  “No,” I protested, but my cheeks flushed. Obviously not because she was right about Jimmy but because she was spot on about it being a guy that had stolen my attention away from work. “He’s just a friend.”

  “But there is a guy, right?” she asked, scooting forward in her seat. “Please tell me there’s a guy. Who is he? Do I know him?”

  “Do you know who?” Jimmy asked as he dropped into the couch beside hers, pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose.

  “The guy Rose is seeing,” she said, keeping her gaze on mine.

  Jimmy looked surprised but rubbed his palms together as he eyed me, too. “There’s a guy? Who is he?”

  “There’s no guy.” I scoffed, but I was pretty sure my cheeks were turning redder and redder. “Don’t we have marketing campaigns to plan?”

  “We do, but that can wait. You must be really into this guy if he can pull you away from our fantastic company. I mean, this is just riveting conversation.”

  “It truly is.” I rolled my eyes, leaning back in the armchair I was on and propping my ankles underneath me. “So riveting, in fact, that we should be getting back to it.”

  “Soon,” she said. “Tell us about the guy first. Is it that hot, nerdy coder who’s working on our new online shopping platform?”

  “Nope.”

  Jimmy snapped his fingers. “I know. It’s not a guy. It’s Jen, right?”

  “Please.” She flipped her hair and sniffed. “If Rose was into me, she’d have told me. Right?”

  “Right,” I agreed. “Besides, it can’t be you. You just got engaged.”

  She grinned, lifting her hand and wiggling her finger to show off her brand-new jewelry. “If my fiancé wasn’t the greatest guy ever, I’d totally have given you a shot, Rose.”

  “Thanks.” I laughed and gave Jimmy a shake of my head. “You were way off base with that guess, bud.”

  He pouted, but his eyes were alive with humor behind his huge glasses. “A guy can dream, right?”

  “The only thing I’m dreaming about are those passes Jude supposedly has for Sick on Friday night,” Finn, another one of our co-workers who looked more like a pro surfer than a techie guy, said as he joined our little group.

  “What’s Sick?” I asked.

  His sapphire eyes snapped to mine, his jaw slackening as he pressed his hand against his chest. “What do you mean, what’s Sick? It’s only the sickest club in the city right now.”

  “Why would anyone want to go to a sick club?” I asked, my tone teasing as I raised a brow at him. “Also, that has to be the most terrible name I’ve ever heard.”

  He rolled his eyes, then tapped Jimmy on the shoulder. “It’s not sick as in flu. It’s sick like the synonym for cool. Ask ol’ Jimmy here. It’s one hell of a party.”

  “Sure,” he agreed, glancing at his friend. “But what makes you think Jude has passes for all of us? He’d have to take the whole regular Friday night crew. That wouldn’t be easy to get.”

  Finn punched him playfully in the arm. “Do you really think any club wouldn’t bend over backward for our fearless leader?”

  “Speaking of,” Jennifer interjected, lowering her voice. “He’s on the floor.”

  All four of us looked up to see Jude and Shane striding into the room. My heart did all kinds of flips and flops at the sight of him. So damn gorgeous.

  He caught my gaze and subtly inclined his head toward the busier cafeteria section of the pause area. It was almost lunchtime, so it was fast filling up over there. Whenever Jude had something he wanted to say to me and we were outside of the office, he chose either a really busy place or tried to catch up to me in an empty conference room or something.

  The memories of what we’d gotten up to in those conference rooms quickly warmed the space between my legs. I cleared my throat and dragged my eyes away from my sexy lover to focus on my friends and coworkers.

  I truly felt like I was part of the team here now, like I was more than just the intern. I laughed with these people all the time and we had so much fun together, both during office hours and outside of them. I really wanted to be able to tell them about my relationship with Jude, but I couldn’t.

  “I need to run something by him for a minute,” I said as I got up and set my latte down.

  “Ask him if he got those passes,” Finn said, his eagerness clear as a bell in his tone.

  “I’ll do that.” I doubted there was any truth to the rum
ors, though. If Jude was planning a wild night out, I was sure he’d have told me.

  Shane said something to him, then took off in the direction of the restrooms just as I crossed toward them. Jude’s brilliant eyes tracked every move I made, flashing with heat, possessiveness, pride and other softer emotions before he wiped them all clear.

  “Hey, Oxford,” he said when I was finally in front of him.

  My hand brushed the back of his in a discreet but totally necessary touch. Sometimes, I felt like I needed to feel his skin against mine more than I needed to breathe. “Hey, boss.”

  I heard him blowing out a sigh that sounded almost relieved before I took my hand away. Then again, Jude had been pretty forthcoming about being as affected by me as I was by him, so he’d probably needed that touch almost as much as I had.

  “I wish we didn’t have to protect your internship here,” he whispered, the guards falling away from his eyes for just a moment as they met mine. “I want to kiss you so damn bad right now.”

  “Same,” I admitted, rolling my lips into my mouth while trying not to think about his. “Thanks for putting up with the secrecy.”

  “I’d put up with a lot more than that for you,” he replied, still whispering. “Tonight at six, your hotel room?”

  “Sounds good to me.” I already felt my pulse spiking and my body coming alive in anticipation. “I can’t wait.”

  “Neither can I.” His pupils dilated, and he swiped his tongue across his bottom lip, sending a shiver of desire running down my spine. “I’ve had something delivered to your room. Put it on before I get there.”

  A surprised giggle escaped me. “A gift?”

  “For me, yeah.” His lips inched up into a naughty smile. “I’ll see you later.”

  “See you later,” I echoed, starting to turn back to my friends when I remembered Finn’s request. I grabbed Jude’s hand and held on to it for a second more than was strictly necessary before letting him go. “Is it true you have passes to Sick this weekend?”

  His brow furrowed, and he glanced over to where they were sitting. “No, why?”

  “Nothing.” I waved my hand, embarrassed when I followed his gaze to find my coworkers looking at us with confusion etched into their expressions. “Finn heard a rumor. That’s all.”

  Jude ran a hand through his hair and sighed quietly. “I didn’t have passes, but I think I might have to get some now. They’re staring.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I won’t say anything to them and they won’t spread rumors about me without asking me about it first.”

  His head tilted, those emerald eyes blazing into mine. “You sure?”

  “Positive.” I held his eyes for another beat before giving him a wave I wished could have been a kiss. “See you later.”

  “See you.”

  My embarrassment followed me all the way back across the room, my neck and cheeks heating when their curious gazes never left me. “What?”

  “Nothing.” Jennifer glanced across my shoulder to where I could still feel Jude watching me. “Ready to get back to work?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Let’s take our lunch up to the conference room.”

  “We’ll meet you guys there in a minute,” she said to the guys, who were part of the team we were working with for the afternoon.

  Finn nodded. “Yeah, we’ll be there. Did he say anything about the passes?”

  “Oh, uh, no,” I lied. “I’ll check with him again later.”

  “Okay.” His face fell, but he shook it off and grabbed Jimmy to go get some food.

  Jennifer didn’t ask me anything on our way up, but she kept sneaking glances at me. I shifted the focus of our small talk to her engagement and upcoming wedding, and that got me off the hook.

  For the rest of the afternoon, I tried to keep working without thinking about what Jude and I were going to get up to later. Keeping my concentration on the work to be done instead of the man we were doing it for was difficult.

  It was definitely no easy feat with his name coming up all the time and his face dancing around in my brain, but I managed, mostly because I knew that the day would soon be over and it would be more than my fantasies of him keeping me up tonight.

  Chapter 30

  JUDE

  “Thanks, Nathan,” I said, impatiently waiting the other guy out while he wrapped up the video conference we were on.

  He droned on and on while I spun my chair around and stared out at the harbor in the distance.

  This day needs to end now.

  The afternoon felt like it had been four years long, but in reality, it had only been about four hours since lunch. Close of business couldn’t come soon enough, though.

  When I’d told Rose I couldn’t wait for tonight, I’d really meant it. I was looking forward to some one-on-one time with her before I had to head home for the evening. Unfortunately, we didn’t get as much time alone together as I would’ve wanted, but that was the cost of keeping a relationship secret when there were as many variables to account for as we had to.

  Rose didn’t want to lose her internship, and I didn’t want her to. Plus, I didn’t want her to have to deal with the fallout of dating me. She’d be all over every magazine in Sydney within twenty-four hours. Not only would she be dragged involuntarily into the limelight, but Oxford wouldn’t look too kindly on her if something like that happened.

  But that didn’t mean it was easy.

  I didn’t get to sleep next to her or wake up with her nearly as often as I wanted to. We were always sneaking around and locking doors. Hell, I couldn’t even tell Shane what we were up to.

  “Jude?” Rose’s voice cut into my thoughts.

  When I looked up, she was standing in the door to my office with her purse slung over her shoulder. “I’m done with the development meeting, so I’m ducking out for the day. Do you need anything else before I leave?”

  Yes. You. She looked so beautiful standing there with tendrils of her dark hair framing her face after escaping from her bun, her face almost devoid of makeup at this time of day, and her sexy black skirt suit.

  “No,” I said after staring for a second too long. “You go on. Good night, Rose.”

  “Good night, Jude,” she replied, sending me a flirty little wink before turning around and letting the door swing shut behind her.

  It opened again almost immediately and Shane stuck his curly head in. “Knock, knock. Can I have a minute?”

  I pointed at my headphones. I’d muted the microphone while Nathan wrapped up, but I was technically still on the call. “I’m in a meeting and I’m heading out as soon as it’s done.”

  As if those words had somehow prompted Nathan, he finally bid us the fuck farewell. I yanked the headset off and let it drop with a clatter to my desk. “Why does that guy always feel the need to fill all the time he’s been allocated?”

  Shane shrugged and chuckled as he walked into the office. “Because it’s the time he was allocated. He’s allowed to fill it. Some people live for meetings.”

  “Yeah, the rest of us actually have to work to make our money,” I joked, but there was some truth in there. “What’s up?”

  I logged off of my laptop and closed the lid, gathering my stuff even as I waited for my best friend to reply.

  “I came to go over some PR stuff with you. Are you in a hurry to leave?”

  “Yeah, actually. I am.” I stood up and lifted my jacket off the back of my chair. “Is it urgent?”

  Instead of shaking his head and leaving my office, he frowned and walked farther inside. “Why are you in such a rush?”

  “None of your business.”

  He raised both his eyebrows, slipping his hands into the pockets of his jeans while lowering his head to one side. “Does it have to do with Oxford?”

  “I said it’s none of your business.” Sliding my drawer open, I picked up my keys and wallet before closing it again. “So, this PR stuff you wanted to talk to me about. Can it wait until tomorrow?”
r />   “Sure.” He sighed. I looked back at him just in time to see him scratching his jaw. “I hope you two are being careful.”

  My heart stammered over its next beat. Were Rose and I really being that obvious?

  As if he’d read my mind, Shane rolled his eyes and answered my unasked question. “I’ve known you too long not to know there’s something going on with you and Rose.”

  I opened my mouth to object, but he held up a hand with a fast shake of his head. “Just hear me out. I already know. You don’t have to lie to me.”

  “I’m not lying to you.”

  He exhaled heavily. “Look, just don’t be stupid, okay? The girl has a lot to lose and don’t forget that she has to go back to England in a few months. Do you really want to make saying goodbye harder than it has to be?”

  No, I didn’t. But it was too late now. Instead of admitting it, though, I brushed him off. “We’re just friends, mate. It’s not serious.”

  “Okay.” He chuckled. “If you say so.”

  “I say so.” It wasn’t an outright lie, either. We were friends, and it was still new, so it wasn’t serious.

  Shane’s gaze followed me as I walked around my desk to take my leave for the day. I saw from the flicker of doubt in his eyes that he didn’t believe me, but I didn’t try to convince him.

  The harder I tried, the more suspicious he would become. It had been a long time since I’d kept something from Shane. We didn’t gossip, but he usually knew about anything significant happening in my life. It felt strange to be hiding this from him now, especially in light of how significant my relationship with Rose felt, but it wasn’t my call to make.

  One day soon, though, Rose and I would have to talk about bringing him in on it. He managed my public relations, after all. There was every possibility we’d need his skills if word of our relationship leaked, and if we did, he’d be in a better position to curb the damage if he had a heads-up.