Page 10 of The Friend

“Taking a bath,” she said, examining her wrinkled fingertips, savouring the luxury of a long soak.

“With bubbles?”

“You bet.”

“Mmm…kinky.”

Rolling her eyes at Judd’s faux growl, Abby sank further into the suds. “You’re depraved. Now, was there a point to this phone call or do you like bugging me for the hell of it?”

His familiar laughter rippled over her and she hoped the unexpected goosebumps skittering along her arm had more to do with the only part of her skin not submerged and less to do with an uncharacteristic reaction to her best friend’s intimate chuckle.

“I could make a national pastime out of bugging you, but I was wondering what you’re doing for dinner? Do we eat with the work crowd or can we sneak off and play hooky?”

“I’m all for hooky,” she said, eager for some one on one time with Judd. If they only had a week together she’d make the most of it, every precious second.

“Great. I’ll meet you at the Ocean Breeze restaurant in an hour?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“And Weiss?”

“Yeah?”

“Wear something sexy.”

The dial tone hummed in her ear and Abby glared at the phone. She should know him by now. Judd always got the last word in, usually designed to drive her mad.

He might’ve got the last word in, but he’d asked for it, and if there was one thing she liked more than ribbing her best friend, it was gaining the upper hand.

He wanted her to wear something sexy?

She rose, sending water droplets flying everywhere, and reached for a towel.

Her best buddy was about to get a lesson in being careful what he wished for.

Chapter Five

Judd had never been a party guy.

Give him the plains of Africa or the jungles of South America any day. Sahara winds, Amazonian deluges, Asian typhoons…he loved the elements and the freedom, always had.

He never felt whole unless he had a camera in his hand, capturing the animals that had held him enthralled since he’d opened his first textbook at school and seen a huge, scary gorilla with bared teeth staring back at him from the page.

It had been his dream to photograph animals from that day on. A dream that had evolved, developed, morphed, and landed him here, smack bang in babe heaven.

Taking a seat at a table near the bar, he watched some of the models shimmying on the dancefloor and knew that partying definitely had something going for it. This exclusive resort was a walking advertisement for the hottest women on the planet and he wouldn’t be male if he didn’t notice and appreciate the luscious scenery.

On cue, Abby walked into the room.

In a flash his memory transported back to the night of the high school dance and the precise moment he’d laid eyes on her in her first formal dress—blue satin with the tiniest of straps andoutlandish puffy skirt—tottering down her porch steps towards him in ridiculous heels. With the dress outlining her body, glossy brown hair piled high with a few curling tendrils framing her face, and her blue eyes glinting with a hint of mystery in their depths, she’d taken his breath away, the vision imprinted on his brain forever.

Friends weren’t meant to look like that.

What had he done? Fired the usual barbs all night, teasing her mercilessly while she stared at him with her beautiful eyes, sucking him in deeper and deeper as the hours passed, until he couldn’t think straight.

By the end of the evening he did the only thing any hormonal, eighteen-year-old guy would have done.

He kissed her.

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