Page 20 of The Friend

Judd sat back and folded his arms. “Bring it on, tough girl.”

She grinned as a waitress placed dessert in front of him, watching him eye the huge chunk of chocolate mud cake as if he hadn’t eaten in a month. “I think I’m safe. If you keep eating like that, you won’t be able to move let alone catch me.”

“A moot point.” He forked a large piece of cake in one mouthful. “I’ve already caught you.”

“You wish.”

They’d always traded quips like this and their friendship had thrived on it. If this is what working with him would be like for the week ahead she had nothing to worry about, burgeoning crazy crush or not.

He chuckled. “I agreed to help your poor snivelling hide. The least you can do is humour me.”

“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “If you’ve finished stuffing your face, want to take a walk? I need to do a last minute check on the location again.”

“Yeah, no problems.”

“By the look of your expanding waistline, you need a walk.” Grinning, she thrust the schedule into her bag, slung it over her shoulder, and aimed a pinch at his waist. “Make that a marathon. Let’s go”

“Thanks for the ego boost. Not.”

He sidestepped her pinch, shrugged into his jacket, and guided her to the door, his light touch in the small of her back making her all too aware of how things had shifted between them.

It wasn’t the word play. They’d done that a million times before, their barbs getting more outrageous until one of them usually called truce.She’dchanged. No matter how many times she tried to dismiss that kiss last night or the way it madeher feel—wanton, desired, special—she couldn’t, and with Judd teasing her as his usual, she needed to dampen her wild hormones.

“Any time. Come on, we’ve got work to do.”

“Don’t you ever lighten up?”

She sent him a withering glare. “You play your part in this shoot today and I’ll lighten up later.”

“Sounds promising.”

She sent him a coy glance from beneath her lashes and he laughed as she’d expected.

“You’re hopeless, Weiss. Trying to act the big, tough boss isn’t you. You forget, I’ve seen you in your underwear.”

“I was seven years old at the time and the whole class had to strip off to check for leeches down at the creek.”

He shrugged, draping a friendly arm across her shoulders as they strolled along the deserted beach. “Minor detail.”

Abby tried not to stiffen at his casual touch. However, her damn hormones were coming out to play in a big way and no matter how many times she told herself this was Judd, her best buddy, slinging his arm across her shoulders in a purely reflex action he’d done many times before, her body wouldn’t listen. Instead, her shoulder muscles twinged, bunched, and ached with tension while she silently hoped he wouldn’t notice a thing.

“What’s up?”

He stopped at the exact spot they’d chosen for the shoot—a small secluded cove with the whitest sand, bluest sea, and fringed with lush, green palm trees—and turned her to face him, searching her face for answers to questions she couldn’t contemplate let alone respond to.

The beauty of the location faded into oblivion under the intensity of his stare and she swallowed, knowing things would get a lot more complicated if she told the truth, yet unable to give this man anything but.

They’d always been honest with each other; it was one of the many strengths of their friendship, and no matter how much she wanted to deny it, her crazy behaviour around him would only get worse over the next week. She had no doubt the longer she spent with Judd, trading quips, swapping banter, doing the casual touchy-feely thing, the harder it would be to pretend she only considered him as friend material.

Why not bite the bullet and go for broke now? He’d probably see through any pathetic excuse she came up anyway.

“Why don’t we sit down?” She sank onto the sand and patted the space next to her, all too conscious of his strong, muscular thigh inches away from hers as she tried to organise her thoughts and string together words that would make sense.

“I thought you said I needed to walk. Or run a marathon?”

“If you’re fishing for a compliment, fine. You’re washboard abs are to die for and you’re okay just the way you are. There. Satisfied?”

He chuckled and reached over to tweak her nose. “I knew it. You want my body.”

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