He signed for the drinks while one word penetrated her brain.
She.
He’d said she.
So who was this mystery woman he held in such high esteem that he would leave his much-loved wildlife and return home? Something he’d avoided doing at all costs once he’d finally escaped Pier Point.
Taking a sip of her drink, she aimed for nonchalant.
‘Do I know this friend of yours?’
‘Probably. Paula does loads of work for Finesse.’
‘Paula, as in Australia’s top supermodel? Yeah, we’ve worked a few shoots together. She’s nice. I didn’t know you knew her?’
He continued to swig his beer, oblivious to how green she was at the thought of Paula having such an influence on her best friend.
‘We met in South America. I was shooting anacondas and took a short break in Rio afterwards where Paula was doing a bikini shoot.’
‘You never mentioned it,’ she said, aiming for casual yet knowing it sounded lame. Since when did he have to tell her if he met someone new?
He shrugged, drawing her attention to the breadth of his shoulders; yet another thing that hadn’t changed much. In fact, all that hefting camera equipment around had broadened his shoulders to spectacular proportions and she briefly wondered if they still felt as firm, as solid, as they had that one night when her hands had gripped onto them for dear life while his lips had wrought havoc on hers.
‘Paula’s a great girl. We have a lot in common.’
‘Oh?’
She barely managed to restrain herself from wrinkling her nose, the stab of jealousy nothing new. She’d been envious of the few lucky girlfriends he’d had, relieved when they hadn’t lasted beyond a week or two.
Pitiful, considering she’d dated extensively—in the vain hope of proving to herself and him that she’d got over him—had always confided in him about her dating disasters and they’d spent hours laughing over her exes’ bad points.
So why did the thought of Judd hooking up with leggy Paula leave a sour taste in her mouth? Had to be the extra dash of lime in her drink.
Yeah, right.
She knew exactly why. The women he’d dated had meant nothing to him yet he’d left his precious travels to return home for the first time in eight years for Paula? Not good.
‘Yeah, we’ve both travelled the world and love doing it, we both hate being tied down to one place and we share a passion for ice-cream sundaes.’
How sweet. Not.
‘Ice cream? You’re kidding me? Paula the Pretzel eats ice cream?’
His eyes narrowed as he cast a speculative look her way. ‘It’s not like you to be bitchy. What gives?’
Abby shook her head, wondering if the heat on the island had melted her brain. Judd was her best friend, she hadn’t seen him in eight years and here she was giving him grief over a favour for a friend. ‘Nothing. Just tired, I guess.’
His face relaxed, and before she knew what was happening, he placed a finger under her chin and tipped it up.
‘Sounds to me like you’re jealous.’
‘In that case, you need your hearing checked.’
His touch confused her and it shouldn’t. She’d been there, done that and had the T-shirt to prove it—before she’d folded it up and stored it along with her giant crush when he’d left town.
More than a little disconcerted by the erratic beat of her pulse, she tried not to react as he leaned towards her, glimpsing tenderness in his eyes before he planted a brief peck on the end of her nose.
‘I’ve missed you, Weiss.’
His aftershave wafted over her, an expensive musk blend that suited him. He’d never worn the stuff in high school yet had smelled just as good.
And she should know. She hadn’t washed the top he’d given her the day after the dance for almost a month, preferring to wear it to bed every night and dream of him.
The sad thing was she still had it folded neatly in the back of her underwear drawer, a memento of the one time she’d thought they might have a chance at more than friendship.
She pulled away quickly, annoyed by the flashbacks to a time long-gone, and saw the surprise flicker across his face. ‘We talk all the time. How could you miss me?’ ‘Talking over the phone isn’t the same as this, is it?’ He smiled and reached for her hand, the warmth of his fingers enclosing hers more than welcome despite the hyper reaction her body was having in response to seeing him after all this time. She’d missed their physical contact: the playful pinches, the casual hand-holding, the bear hugs. They’d been inseparable in high school.
Judd was right. Regular phone contact had nothing on this, the shared affection of two close friends chatting as if they’d never been apart.
‘It has been a while.’
‘Hey, what’s eight years between friends?’
‘True,’ she said, twirling the lime wedge in her glass with the straw, wondering why she felt so edgy around him all of a sudden.
This was Judd.
Her best buddy.
Why the strange feeling that something had shifted between them? After all, she’d handled her crush, relegated it to the backburner, enjoyed their long-distance friendship more than she could’ve thought possible all these years.
She’d matured, grown up. So what had shifted in the last few minutes to leave her feeling edgy and panicky and much too aware of Judd as a sexy guy?
Eager to change the topic and break the sudden intimacy that had enveloped them, she said, ‘How’s the job going? Is the wild world of primates and big cats everything it’s cracked up to be?’
‘It’s better. You should try it some time.’
He dropped her hand, turned away and picked up his beer and she wondered why his smile faded as if she’d just put her foot in it.
‘Doubt it. Besides, if this shoot is perfect Mark mentioned a major deal for me.’
‘So this job is important to you?’ ‘Of course.’
She didn’t add, It’s what drives me these days.
Though she loved being a fashion stylist it just wasn’t enough at times. Her closest friend spent his life travelling the world and she never saw him while the rest of her social circle consisted of work colleagues and acquaintances hell-bent on partying their way through life. And she’d let go of the conga line a long time ago.
Abby didn’t understand the emotion that played across his face at her response—it almost bordered on disappointment. His job obviously meant everything to him, too. Why else would he have spent the last eight years leading a nomadic existence?
‘Here’s to us and doing a good job over the next week.’
He raised his glass towards her, along with her hopes.
A week. A whole week spent in the company of her best friend, the one guy known to bring a smile to her face and whom she’d missed terribly over the years if this strange jittery feeling was anything to go by.
‘I’ll drink to that.’
As their glasses clinked a tiny crack appeared in hers and she hoped to God a similar thing wouldn’t happen to their friendship.
Maybe she’d been pushing herself too hard lately.
Maybe it had been too long between dates.
Maybe she just needed a day or two in Judd’s teasing company to put the smile back on her face.
But whatever was causing the tiny trickle of tension between them, she needed to get over it. Judd meant the world to her and there was no way she’d jeopardise their friendship.
For anything.
CHAPTER TWO
JUDD ran a hand over his face and stared at his reflection in the mirror behind the bar.
Yeah, same eyes, same nose, same chin.
Then why had Abby stared at him as if he’d suddenly sprouted horns when he’d surprised her a few minutes ago?
He’d assumed she’d be over the moon to see him and, though she’d seemed happy, he could tell something was bugging her.
It might have been a few months since they’d tal
ked, but he knew her almost better than he knew himself. Their closeness scared him at times—after all, she was a woman and women usually had expectations.
However, Abby was different. She didn’t want anything from him. She was happy just being his friend, and if she ever demanded anything more, he’d run, just as he had eight years earlier.
‘Preening in front of the mirror, Calloway? Some things never change.’
He swivelled to face Abby as she returned from the Ladies and resumed her seat at the bar, struck all over again by how incredible she looked.
They’d been e-mailing pics to each other over the years so he’d known she hadn’t cut her hair and still favoured casual clothes over the designer stuff she worked with, but seeing her in the flesh had him in a spin he hadn’t expected.
Those pics didn’t do her justice considering her sexy new bod: toned legs, tiny waist, cute butt and great boobs. Her athletic high-school figure had developed curves in all the right places and he’d be blind not to notice, friends or not.
‘I never preened back then,’ he said, sporting a mock offended expression she didn’t buy for a second, considering they’d always sparred like this. If she hadn’t bought it back then, there wasn’t a hope in Hades she’d buy it now.
She quirked an eyebrow. ‘Oh, yeah? I distinctly remember a certain high-school jock flexing his muscles in front of my full-length mirror after he joined a gym. And another time when you bought that atrocious flannel muscle shirt and that time you—’
‘Okay, okay. Give a guy a break.’
He held up his hands to ward her off and she swatted them away, her casual touch having a strange effect. Her playful pat seemed to linger, the warmth from her palm tingling against his skin.
He gritted his teeth, hoping the flare of awareness didn’t show on his face.
He’d thought he was past all this with her.
He’d thought wrong.
Surely eight years’ absence should’ve dulled the attraction?
‘You’ve got a memory like a damn elephant. I’d hate to think what else you remember.’
‘You’d be amazed,’ she said, her voice surprisingly low as she raised her glass in his direction, an enigmatic smile curving her glossed lips.
His beer glass halted halfway to his mouth as he registered with shocking clarity that Abby was flirting with him.
They never flirted.
Teased, ribbed, confided but never, ever flirted.
Friends didn’t flirt. At least, they never did. Over the years, it was as if that kiss on grad night had never happened and he wanted to keep it that way.
Then what was with his urge to flirt right back, to see where this new flicker of heat burning between them could lead?
‘Well, well, well. Looks as if you’re working real hard, boss.’
The booming voice of his assistant, Tom Bradley, rang out a second before he slapped him on the back and he beckoned Tom forward, unsure whether to be relieved or annoyed at the interruption.
‘I’m in the middle of a business meeting,’ Judd said, sending Abby a wink that said ‘right back at you, babe’, noting her faint blush with satisfaction. His best friend liked to dish out the flirting stuff, but it looked as if she had a little trouble taking it. ‘Meet Abby Weiss, fashion stylist extraordinaire.’
Tom’s goofy expression had Judd shifting his barstool closer to Abby’s before he realised what he was doing.
‘Pleased to meet you,’ Tom said, pulling up a stool.
‘Likewise.’
Abby shook Tom’s hand, a perfectly natural, polite, normal thing to do.
However, there was nothing perfectly normal about the absurd stab of jealousy burning like acid in his gut as he explained, ‘Abby and I went to school together.’
Tom sat bolt upright, sending him a ‘what the …?’ look. The Abby? Your best mate Abby?’
He nodded. ‘The one and only.’
Tom’s head swivelled between the two of them, his grin giving way to a knowing smile. ‘Isn’t this just great? The two of you get to work and play together.’
Abby laughed. ‘I’m not sure whether to be flattered Calloway has been talking about me or driven to find out exactly what he’s been saying.’
‘Oh, it’s all good,’ Tom said, gesturing to the barman for a beer before turning his attention solely on Abby. ‘Though he never told me how gorgeous you are.’
‘Why, thank you, kind sir,’ she said, batting her eyelashes in an exaggerated display of coquettishness, joining in with Tom’s chuckles, while Judd tried to ignore the insane flicker of jealousy that shot through him again.
Damn, he must be more jet-lagged than he thought. He’d heard about Abby’s boyfriends before, had poked fun at them, had teased her mercilessly. So why did the thought of Tom lusting after her annoy the hell out of him?
‘So you two have been mates for ever?’
‘Uh-huh,’ Judd said, thankful the big guy had turned off the charm.
He’d seen women flock to Tom, with his Nordic good looks and six-four frame, and he had no idea how Abby would react to his assistant if he set his sights on her.
Why do you care?
A prickle of awareness raised the hair on the back of his neck as he took in her big blue eyes, genuine smile, long brown hair and lush curves, knowing exactly why he cared, but too damned scared to admit it.
‘Have you two ever been more than friends?’
Abby made a strange sound somewhere between a snort and a guffaw before quickly hiding a smile behind her glass while motioning for him to answer.
Tom’s question instantly resurrected memories of the one time they’d kissed, an event he had no intention of repeating.
It had been far too dangerous the first time around.
He’d felt too much, enjoyed the feeling of her body responding to his far too much. He’d put it down to overactive hormones at the time. What eighteen-year-old wouldn’t take the opportunity to kiss the school’s resident Miss Personality?
However, he’d been totally unprepared for the depth of feeling that had swamped him after the kiss and the response he’d glimpsed in her eyes had sent him running—and he hadn’t stopped running since.
Sending Tom his best ‘shut the hell up’ glare, he said, ‘Listen up, Mr Curiosity. Can the questions and move your ass. We need to be down at the beach in less than an hour for the first shoot, so go grab the equipment and I’ll meet you down there.’
‘Yes, sir!’
Tom rolled his eyes at Abby before snapping him a mock salute. ‘Nice meeting you, Abby. Looking forward to working with you.’
‘Same here.’
Judd waited till Tom moved off before leaning across and whispering in her ear, ‘So, have we?’
Her baby-blues widened ever so slightly as she registered what he meant, but chose to play dumb. ‘Have we what?’
‘Been more than friends?’
‘You tell me,’ she fired straight back at him with a toss of her gorgeous hair.
He laughed and sat back, at ease with the way they slipped into their bantering ways, feeling increasingly stupid about the way he’d reacted to Tom’s light flirtation with her.
‘I guess you don’t ever think about that sensational kiss on grad night, huh?’
‘You guessed right,’ she said, her fingers plucking at the edge of her skirt before she stilled them when she caught him looking. ‘And it wasn’t that great.’
‘Liar,’ he murmured, placing his hand over hers, vindicated by the slight tremor of her hand beneath his, all too aware of her bare leg mere millimetres from his curious fingertips.
Would it feel as smooth as it looked?
Would her skin be warm and soft or cool and firm?
Would touching her leg be a prelude to more?
‘Okay, you got me. You’re the best damn kisser I’ve ever had. There. Does that satisfy your humungous ego?’
She squirmed away and he lifted his hand, shaken by how close he�
�d come to caressing her, by how damn much he wanted to.
‘It would if I thought you meant it,’ he said, forcing a chuckle as he tried not to stare at her breasts and the evidence of how she’d responded to his touch despite acting immune.
Damn, what was wrong with him?
They’d got past that kiddie kiss, had been best buddies for eight years. Why had he turned into Mr Hormone the minute he’d laid eyes on her?
Draining her drink, she slammed the soda glass a little too loudly on the bar before sliding off her stool. ‘As much as I’d like to stay and flatter you, I’ve got work to do. See you on the beach shortly.’
‘You got it, boss.’
‘And don’t you forget it,’ she said, sending him a saucy wave over her shoulder as she sashayed out of the bar, leaving him with a spectacular view of her lovely legs and the way her short skirt flipped around her thighs, as if teasing the observer to discover the hidden delights beneath.
And, boy, did he have a sudden hankering to go exploring …
Swiping a hand across his eyes in the futile effort to wipe her sexy image from his mind, he picked up his camera bag and headed out the door.
He didn’t need this.
He didn’t need any complications in his life. Was that what this new, flirtatious Abby was, a complication?
Damned if he knew.
Abby sorted through several bikinis and sarongs, matching style and colour with efficiency. The latest animal prints, from leopard spots to zebra stripes, were everywhere following the catwalk craze in Paris and Milan a few months earlier and personally she loved the funky twists on an old favourite.
Holding up a flirty bra with matching boy-leg knickers bathing combo, she smiled. She thrived on this, the freedom to combine her artistic eye with practical savvy on what looked good for each season. And if the feedback from Finesse’s readers was any indication, they appreciated her keen eye for fashion as much as Mark did. Why else would he hint at some major deal?
She wondered what Judd would think about how far she’d come. He’d always teased her about her interest in clothes, calling her Barbie just to get a reaction, and she’d obliged every time, their arguments as much a part of their friendship as sharing their hopes and dreams.
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