Chapter 6

Chapter Six

A bby had no idea what demon had lodged in her brain tonight.

The moment Mr. "I always want the upper hand" Calloway had told her to dress sexy before hanging up on her earlier, she'd known she'd give as good as she got.

So she'd worn a new LBD, taking extra care with her makeup, and piled her hair up in a glam do she'd learned from the hairstylist earlier that day.

She'd always done the opposite of what Judd challenged growing up, so the goofball had probably expected her to wear trendily torn jeans and a crop top to dinner.

She'd shown him.

However, things hadn't gone to plan. She hadn't banked on her bizarre reaction to Judd the moment she walked into the bar area and he saw her dressed up.

As she'd walked towards him on uncharacteristically wobbly legs and seen that funny look in his eyes, she'd mentally recited he's just a friend when the intense way he studied her was anything but.

What had she done? She'd flirted with him. Worse, she'd touched him, adding to her confusion.

She didn't get it. They always traded light-hearted banter over the phone and via texts, so what was different about this place tonight?

"Where are we going?"

Judd caught up to her and she wondered if he'd drunk his fill. She'd caught him ogling her legs and, despite the confusion ricocheting through her body, hoped he liked what he saw.

She'd never seen that look before, as if he desired her, and it thrilled her more than it should.

"Trust me," she said, changing course at the last minute.

She'd had every intention of asking him to help move racks of clothes from her room to the magnificent waterfall that cascaded through the resort's lobby, but she wasn't completely stupid. If she led him to her room there was no telling what her newly residing impish devil might urge her to do.

"Isn't that supposed to be my line?"

"When guys say, ‘trust me' it is a line."

"And when a woman says it I should believe you?" He ran his hand through his hair, leaving it endearingly tousled like it had been back in high school.

"Of course. Have I ever lied to you?"

As soon as the words left her mouth she inwardly cringed. She'd lived a lie for the first week after the night of the graduation dance and their unexpected kiss, hiding her feelings from him like a magician with nothing up his sleeves. And if she wasn't careful—hey presto—her soul would be laid bare all over again, quicker than she could pull a sarong out of a sunhat.

He stopped, took hold of her arms, and turned her to face him. "I don't know. Have you ever lied to me?"

Abby held her breath, unsure what to make of his question or the intensity behind his stare. Great, thinking about the past probably conjured up some goofy expression on her face and if she wasn't careful he'd get the wrong idea.

"Damn it, Abby, stop looking at me like that."

Before she could react he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

Just as swiftly, just as unexpectedly, as the first time all those years ago.

However, this time was different, way different, as every nerve ending in her adult body came to life.

This wasn't the abrupt, nervous, fumbling kiss of a couple of kids experimenting.

This delicious, spine-tingling, melding of mouths of two people desperately eager to taste each other in an explosion of need blew her mind.

He snaked an arm around her back, his fingers skimming her bare skin while the other cupped her head, angling for greater access to her mouth.

She gave it to him, yearning to feel the first tantalising sweep of his tongue in her mouth, relishing the low, deep groan coming from his chest.

She should've pushed him away, told him she'd been reminiscing about old times, and he'd got the wrong message by the expression on her face.

Instead, she complied without logic, amazed she'd been deprived of this incredible sensation for so long and knowing this delicious, forbidden taste of a guy she'd been platonic with for most of her life would leave her desperate for a lifetime more of his kisses.

He's your friend. This is a mistake. Her voice of reason insisted, while her body happily ignored it and did its own thing.

He groaned again as she leaned flush against him, the kiss deepening as his tongue flicked to meet hers, taunting, teasing, like his words usually did.

However, his words never elicited this wanton urge to drag him back to her room and lose herself in him.

She wrapped her arms around him, wishing she could feel more, skin to skin, as he kissed his way across her jaw and down her neck.

Heat exploded between them, searing a burning path straight to her core.

Just friends, huh? They'd got a whole lot friendlier and she didn't have a clue how to react. With one kiss, he threatened to consume every last shred of common sense she possessed.

Not that she cared. She'd passed that point about a minute earlier, the moment his lips touched hers and sent her straight to heaven.

When Judd stilled and pulled away, his stunned gaze locked on hers. She met his gaze unflinchingly, trying to read his expression in the twilight, wanting him to be first to break the tense silence.

"Take one sexy dress, a wicked cocktail, island heat, moonlight, a healthy amount of ribbing, and what do you get? Madness," he muttered, before shaking his head and walking away.