Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

J udd strode away from Abby's room, oblivious to the turquoise ocean, the lush tropical foliage, and the endless stretch of pure white sand.

An anomaly in itself considering he couldn't go anywhere without switching off his powers of observation, the photographer in him always on the lookout for the next perfect shot.

But ever since he listened to that damn message he couldn't focus on anything until he discovered what Mark Pyman wanted with him.

If it was the phone call he'd been expecting…

Closing his eyes, he failed to block out the acute disappointment on Abby's face when he said he had to take the call.

Her reaction had hit him like a knock-out punch, and if this phone call didn't have the potential to affect his future— their future—he would've happily thrown the phone against the wall and ignored it.

Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes and stabbed at the redial button, forcing his pace to slow when he realised he'd made it halfway up the beach while waiting for the CEO to answer.

"Mark Pyman."

"Mark, Judd Calloway returning your call."

He heard a quick murmur of voices as Mark dismissed his PA. "Thanks for calling me back so quickly, Judd. I was going to wait until you got back to Sydney to have a chat about your future, but after seeing the shots you emailed me from the current job, I think we can do better than that."

"What did you have in mind?" Judd kept his response ultra cool, deliberately dampening the surge of excitement that this could be the offer he'd been hoping for.

"When Paula recommended you and said you were the best, she wasn't kidding. I'm offering you the job as head photographer at Finesse . Your work is brilliant and I want you leading all our big jobs. I'm open to negotiating salary and benefits when you get back, but I wanted to let you know the offer's on the table and I'd appreciate an indication of interest from you?"

"I'm interested." Judd fist-pumped the air in a victory salute. "We'll work out the job description when I get back to Sydney, but in the meantime, rest assured I'm looking forward to a new challenge in working for Finesse ."

"Great. Call my PA when you get back and tee up a time for us to meet. Glad to have you on board."

Scuffing the sand like a three-year-old in his excitement, Judd said, "Thanks for the offer, Mark. See you in a few days."

Mark disconnected the call and Judd stared at the ocean, dazzled by the deepest indigos blending with cerulean greens, wanting to run screaming into the water and splash around like a boisterous kid without a care in the world.

All his plans were coming to fruition.

He'd already decided to stick around Sydney and Mark's job offer sealed it. He'd known this was in the pipeline. The mega-successful CEO had hinted at it when he first accepted this job, and since his relationship with Abby had entered a new dimension he'd been secretly hoping for this outcome.

The longer he spent with her, the harder it became to ignore the obvious. They were great as friends, stupendous as lovers; what if they got together for real?

The only way they could have that chance was if he stuck around in one place long enough and it looked like that time had come.

Ironic, he'd looked forward to catching up on a regular basis with Abby once he relocated to Sydney, but never in his wildest dreams had he contemplated anything more between them.

He made that choice when he left her first time around, had lived with the consequences since. But now the rules had changed and he was in a position to offer her so much more than he had as a wanderlust teenager with a lousy attitude.

Would she go for it? Would she want to trial a relationship?

Only one way to find out.

Whistling an old victory tune from a Sylvester Stallone boxing movie, he headed up the beach towards his room.

He had plans to make.

Big plans.

Starting with organising a night for Abby she'd never forget.