Ultimate Heroes Collection

by Various Authors

  That had been the hardest to take, the fact she’d loved him all those years ago and he hadn’t had a clue. Jeez, what he would give for an ounce of her love now.

  Shaking his head, he turned into a gravel drive and pulled around the back of the secluded farmhouse, killing the engine and scanning the grounds with a practised eye, searching for the perfect location for the perfect shot, trying not to admit he was, in fact, searching for the perfect woman.

  And she was. In every way. It had just taken him longer to figure out than most. Now he had to prove it to her.

  Patting his pocket again and reassured by its contents, he stepped from the car and strode towards the farmhouse knowing that, whatever happened, he’d given it his best shot.

  ∗ ∗ ∗

  Tara had been right. This place was perfect.

  Abby climbed the stairs to the second floor, marvelling at the Old World charm of the empty B & B. The peasant style of the new designer who’d commissioned this shoot would look fantastic against this backdrop. She’d have to thank Tara when she got back to Sydney, especially as she’d been more than understanding at being blown off at the last minute.

  It would be hard enough facing Judd for the first time since she’d officially ended any chance of them having a future without having an audience and she’d needed the long drive out here to clear her head, marshal her defences and put her professional mask firmly in place.

  She could do this.

  She’d got over him the last time; she could do it again.

  Hating the lump of emotion lodged in her throat, she took a slug from the water bottle in her handbag as she wandered through some of the rooms, admiring the quaint furnishings and fabrics, gasping as she opened the last door on her left and stepping into what could only be a bridal suite.

  ‘Wow,’ she murmured, glancing around the room from the king-size mahogany four-poster bed draped in filmy silver gauze to the four-person spa standing elevated on a platform to capture the mountain views. Throw in the exquisite antique furnishings, the tiny embroidered cupids on the bedspread and the rose-moulded ceiling and the suite exuded romance.

  Right now, it made her feel ill.

  Turning her back on the inviting ambience, she angrily swiped at the tears that sprang so easily to her eyes these days and slammed straight into the guy who had put them there.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  ‘HEY, Abby.’

  Judd captured her hands against his chest, steadying her from falling.

  Abby stared at him, shocked by the treacherous reaction of her body wedged so closely against his: her heart pounded while heat streaked through her, an instant reminder of her foolishness when it came to this guy. Despite breaking her heart, he still had the power to reduce her to this.

  ‘Let me go.’ Her hands clenched into fists beneath his, ready to pummel his chest if she had to.

  Ahhh … his chest. For one, all-too-brief moment she savoured having her hands clasped against the hard wall of muscle, her palms itching to explore the smooth flesh beneath the shirt, just as she had on the island.

  ‘No. I’ve already made that mistake before and I don’t intend to repeat it.’

  ‘We both made mistakes. Letting me go was the least of yours.’

  She wriggled out of his grasp, torn between a desperate need to run out the door and a strange compulsion to spend just a few more minutes in his company. Not that she had much choice. She had to work with him on this job, so fleeing, no matter how much she wanted to, wasn’t an option.

  In response, he kicked the door shut with his foot, his eyes not leaving hers for a second. ‘Just hear me out this time, okay? Surely as my friend, you can give me that much?’

  ‘You don’t play fair,’ she muttered, whirling around to break his hypnotising stare.

  ‘I’m not playing this time and I want you to believe it.’ He spoke in a rush, as if he couldn’t get the words out quick enough. ‘I’m sorry for botching things up before. I owe you an explanation.’

  ‘You don’t owe me anything,’ she said, trying to push past him and open the door.

  ‘Please, sweetheart.’

  His whispered endearment stopped her and she silently cursed the power he still had over her.

  ‘Fine.’

  She crossed her arms and leaned on the back of a chair, doing her utmost to appear as if she didn’t care. ‘The only reason I’m still here is that we have to work together, so hurry up. We’ve got a job to do.’

  She couldn’t fathom the intense gleam in his eyes, as if he knew something and she didn’t, and she pushed off the chair, choosing to look out of the window rather than fathom what was going on in his head.

  ‘What I have to say won’t take too long,’ he said, joining her at the panoramic window.

  Heat radiated off him in palpable waves and, despite her best intentions, she almost leaned into him, craving the warmth of his embrace.

  ‘Get on with it so we can get out of here.’

  Despite her intention to keep her gaze focused elsewhere, her stare was drawn to his. Using all her willpower, she resisted the pull of his hazel eyes as they sucked her in, willing her to drown in their enigmatic depths.

  He reached towards her, and she instinctively shrank back, not willing to risk physical contact when his stare was doing enough damage to her equilibrium all on its own. ‘I didn’t tell you the whole truth on Sapphire Island. I knew right from the outset that I’d be staying around in Sydney for a while. I’d already decided before I took the shoot.’

  She’d been able to read him since their schooldays and in an instant knew he’d told her the truth. His sincerity was something she’d never doubted.

  ‘Then why agree to the fling if you knew you’d be sticking around? Why would you do that to us?’

  She swallowed, wishing she didn’t have to hear the truth in its entirety, but knowing if she didn’t, she’d never be able to move on with her life. ‘You knew that’s why I did it, because it wouldn’t be permanent and you’d flit off to whichever ends of the earth suited and we could resume our old friendship. Why would you risk that?’

  He had the grace to look sheepish as he turned away and leaned against the window frame, his gaze fixed on some point in the distance. ‘That’s a little more complicated to explain.’

  ‘Try me.’

  His head swivelled towards her in a second, the intensity of his gaze pinning her to the spot. ‘You really want to hear the sorry story?’

  She nodded, ignoring the ache that had seeped into her bones and drained her of any residual animosity. She was past hurting, past blaming—all she had left was to settle this once and for all and look to the future. A bleak future without the love of her life.

  He paused for a moment and cleared his throat. ‘You know about my past and how I’ve spent a lifetime trying to escape it, but the real kicker? I’ve done it because I’m scared, bloody terrified, in fact. What if my father’s weakness is hereditary? What if I turn out like him? So I run. I bury myself in work. I don’t let myself get close to anyone. Except you.’

  He reached out to her and took hold of her hand, and she didn’t have the heart to snatch it away. His shattered expression accentuated his words and she knew he was speaking from the heart.

  ‘I’ve depended on you, have done since the first minute we became buddies. You’ve been the one constant in my screwed-up world. After graduation night and that kiss I couldn’t risk mucking up our friendship for what I’d put down to basic teenage desire, so I ignored what happened, focused on our friendship, and it seemed to work till Sapphire Island.’

  He gripped her hand and she squeezed back, sending him a silent message to continue.

  ‘I’d already made up my mind to stick around Sydney for a while because the running thing had worn a bit thin. Then seeing you again sparked things off between us in a way I’d never anticipated, we became lovers and all I could think was how great it was.’

  He reached out and tilted
up her chin. ‘You feel it, too, right?’

  Abby sighed. This was the part where she told a big, fat lie and ended this once and for all.

  But she couldn’t lie to him. She never could.

  ‘It doesn’t make a difference what I feel,’ she said, shaking her head and breaking their tenuous contact. ‘I appreciate you telling me all this now, but it doesn’t change the fact you’ll probably still run some time soon and I can’t take that chance.’

  ‘I thought you might say that,’ he said, a surprisingly confident smile alleviating the concern on his face as he pulled a folded sheet of paper out of his top pocket. ‘Here, this is for you.’

  Abby unfolded the thick document, surprised to see a Finesse employment contract. She recognised it instantly, considering she’d turned one down.

  ‘I’m sorry, I can’t work with you. It’s just too painful,’ she said, holding the contract out to him.

  ‘Read it.’

  ‘Why? I’ve already turned down Mark’s offer. It won’t make any difference.’ ‘I think it will.’

  He continued to smile at her and it annoyed her beyond belief. So he’d unburdened his soul? Well, bully for him. It didn’t change anything. It didn’t ease the pain slashing her, swift and sharp and deep. And now he was trying to sweet-talk her into working with him? As if.

  Knowing he wouldn’t back down until she gave the contract a cursory glance, she scanned the document, her heart pounding as the fine print danced before her eyes.

  ‘But this is your contract,’ she said, flipping pages as her confusion mounted.

  ‘Uh-huh. Check out the last page, particularly terms and length of employment.’

  She quickly found the relevant section, read it and reread it, blinking several times in between.

  ‘But … but … this says you’re a Finesse employee for the next five years?’

  His eyes twinkled with triumph as he tapped the document. ‘That’s right. It’s all there in black and white.’

  Her pulse raced with the implication of what he meant, but she couldn’t comprehend it, let alone accept it.

  ‘Five years? No one signs an employment contract for that long. It’s crazy.’

  ‘Only if a person’s crazy in love and crazy enough to want to be with his best friend for ever and crazy enough to want to marry her and never, ever leave her side,’ he said, his eyes blazing with what could only be termed as love as he picked her up and swung her around and around till the room spun.

  ‘You are crazy!’

  She beat at his broad shoulders with her fists, unable to stem the tidal wave of joy sweeping through her body as the reality of what he’d just said, of what he’d just done by signing that contract, sank in.

  He held her tight as she slid down his body, waiting till their lips were centimetres apart before kissing her.

  ‘So come on, Weiss, put me out of my misery. Tell me you love me, too,’ he whispered against the corner of her mouth, his warm breath sending familiar shivers down her spine.

  Smiling, she traced the familiar contours of his face, stunned by the depth of feeling between them. ‘I love you, too.’

  He let out a whoop of joy and grinned, the same cherished smile she’d loved for ever.

  ‘I’m never going to leave you. Contract or not, you know that, right?’ He reached out and cupped her cheek, the tenderness in his eyes reassuring her as much as his declaration.

  Abby didn’t need convincing. In fact, she didn’t even need a piece of paper proving he’d be sticking around for the next five years.

  Judd loved her.

  She loved Judd.

  That was all that mattered, all that ever would.

  Life didn’t come with guarantees or time limits and she’d take every precious second with him she could get.

  ‘So you’re never going to leave me, huh? Never is a long time, Calloway.’

  ‘You better believe it,’ he said, kissing her like a man with a point to prove.

  EPILOGUE

  JUDD laid down his camera and strolled over to his subject, rearranging the folds of her dress.

  ‘Stop fussing. We’ve got loads of shots.’

  Abby swatted his hand away as he slid it under the skirt’s silky folds and caressed his wife’s shapely calf.

  ‘Can you blame a guy for wanting to look back on this day and remember it?’

  She rolled her eyes, stilling his hand with a playful slap as it crept past her knee. ‘I thought it was the bride who went to extremes on the big day. And don’t forget we’ve done this before.’

  ‘The fake island shoot doesn’t count and as I recall I didn’t take any photos that day.’ He trailed his fingers over her thigh, enjoying the widening of her eyes, the slight glazed look that flitted across her exquisite face, relishing her passionate responses to his touch. ‘Unless you count the ones I took when you were naked on our fake wedding night.’

  ‘You didn’t!’

  She sat bolt upright before leaping to her feet, horror replacing the look of desire he’d glimpsed a few seconds earlier.

  He laughed and swept her into his arms. ‘You’re right, I didn’t. Had you going there for a minute, didn’t I?’

  ‘You’re a bad, bad man.’ She wrapped her arms around him, her eager touch showing how quickly she’d forgiven him for his risqué joke. ‘First you leave me pining for you for eight years, then you strut back into my life and turn it upside down. The least you can do is give me a break and stop teasing me.’

  ‘Like that’s ever going to happen. It’s a part of who we are.’ He kissed her, relishing the slight tremble that shot through her body as she moulded against him. ‘Oh, I almost forgot your present.’

  She touched his face, her eyes glowing with love. ‘I already have it right here.’

  He dropped a kiss on her nose. ‘Thanks, but you must see this. I got it especially for you.’

  He took hold of her hand, trying desperately to keep from laughing as he steered her towards the back of the farmhouse. They’d returned to the quaint B & B for the quiet ceremony and intimate party where their guests could share in their joy.

  It had been a lovely day, with a few close work colleagues mingling with ease while Tom and Tara, their witnesses, did their best to appear nonchalant while glued to each other’s sides.

  ‘My present’s in there?’ She cast a suspicious glance at him as they neared the barn.

  ‘Sure is.’ He threw open the barn door and pulled her close. ‘Seeing as you’ve had a thing for me since high school I thought you might like to revisit some old memories. Particularly graduation night?’

  Abby laughed as he tugged her towards an old Ford Mustang, an exact replica of the one he’d had as a teenager.

  Running her hand over the gleaming red paint, she ducked around the bonnet and sent him a coy smile. ‘Okay, so I had a thing for you back then. Though if memory serves correctly, you kissed me that night?’

  His eyes glittered with promise as he strode around the car, pinning her against it with his body. ‘Mere details. What’s important is that we didn’t get further than that kiss and I think it’s time to remedy that. Care to take a ride to Pier Point before jumping in the back seat with me, Mrs Calloway?’

  Laughing, she reached up and wound her arms around his neck. ‘You’re such a romantic.’

  She kissed him, revelling in the knowledge that this man, her best friend, her lover and now her husband for real, still had the power to surprise her.

  His head descended, blocking out the filtered sunlight as he brushed her lips in a kiss that promised for ever.

  ‘And don’t you forget it.’

  All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.

  All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in
whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II B.V./S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

  ® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

  Harlequin Mills & Boon Limited, Eton House,

  18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR

  MEDITERRANEAN TYCOONS © by Harlequin Books S.A. 2011

  The De Santis Marriage © Michelle Reid 2008

  The Greek Tycoon’s Unwilling Wife © Kate Walker 2007

  The Sicilian’s Virgin Bride © Sarah Morgan 2007

  024-0211

  HOT-SHOT HEROES © Harlequin Books S.A. 2011

  Billionaire Doctor, Ordinary Nurse © Carol Marinelli 2008

  Her Celebrity Surgeon © Pamela Brooks 2005

  The Sheikh Surgeon’s Proposal © Olivia Gates 2007

  024-0411

  POWERFUL PROTECTORS © Harlequin Books S.A. 2011

  Keeping Baby Safe © Debra Webb 2003

  Defending the Rancher’s Daughter © Carla Cassidy 2005

  Protective Measures © Dana Marton 2006

  024-0311

  PASSIONATE PLAYBOYS © by Harlequin Books S.A. 2011

  The Demetrios Bridal Bargain © Kim Lawrence 2007

  The Magnate’s Indecent Proposal © Ally Blake 2008

  Hot Nights with a Playboy © Nicola Marsh 2008

  024-0511

  ISBN: 978-1-408-93634-4

  Harlequin Mills & Boon policy is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products and made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The logging and manufacturing processes conform to the legal environmental regulations of the country of origin.