Page 57 of The Friend

“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 tothis.

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

But 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 skin 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 a fewmore 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.

He kicked the door shut with his foot, his eyes never 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 need you to believe it.” He spoke in a rush as if he couldn’t get the words out quick enough. “I’m sorry for screwing 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 she didn’t, and she pushed off the chair, choosing to look out of the window rather than fathom his thoughts.

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

Heat radiated off him 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 trying to keep her gaze focussed 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 shrunk 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,” he said. “I knew right from the outset 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 school days and in an instant knew he was telling the truth. His sincerity was something she 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 end 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 back towards her, the intensity of his gaze pinning her to the spot. “You really want to hear this?”

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.

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