Nick swallowed. He had no choice. If he wanted to retrieve his things, he needed to go up there where she'd notice him. Then he'd have to talk to her.
"Hello," he said, as he drew nearer.
Abbey looked up and her shock was evident despite the large, dark sunglasses that hid her eyes.
"Damien! What are you doing here?"
Nick flinched at the name. He probably should tell her his real name, but it was getting a bit late for the truth. What would she say if she learned he'd lied? What would she do if she realized she'd slept with the wrong man?
Now that thought was sickening. He shoved it out of his mind.
Besides, if she wasn't going to play straight with him, then he was going to keep this his little secret. At least for now. For all he knew, she could be a psychopath. This way, Vane would get the harassing phone calls in the middle of the night, not him.
"Taking the afternoon off. Looks like you decided to do the same."
"What?" Abbey stared at him blankly then blushed and glanced away. "Oh, I don't start at the hotel until later."
"Right."
So she was going to keep up the charade. Fine, so would he, Damien Vane. Nick glanced at Abbey's friend. She was grinning crookedly and her eyes were unashamedly traveling the length of his body. Scrutinizing. She nodded appreciatively.
"Very nice," she said quietly.
He raised one eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. "Look," he said to her, "I'd like to talk to Abbey alone, so if you wouldn't mind..."
"I mind!" said Abbey, standing.
Her friend also stood. She was small, pixie-like. Her grin had widened. Obviously she thought this was funny. Whereas Abbey seemed annoyed at him for dismissing her friend, the girl in question didn't seem to care one way or the other.
But she didn't leave either.
"Abbey," he said, "I want to talk to you privately."
"Lucy can hear whatever you want to say. We have no secrets from each other."
"Not any more," said Lucy.
Nick scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Abbey blushed and Lucy's gaze moved to his crotch. "Just that Abbey tells me everything," she paused, "Big Boy."
Abbey's blush intensified. "Lucy!"
Abbey turned toward him and shrugged apologetically.
Nick glared at her. He didn't like being spoken to as if he were an object of amusement. And he didn't like his polite request being ignored. He'd asked for privacy and it appeared neither was about to let him have it. It was infuriating. No one in Sydney ever treated him like this. That's because they knew who he was and that he could buy most of them out of a job at the stroke of a pen. Here, in Melbourne, he was largely unknown. Especially in the circles that these two appeared to mix in.
Abbey glared back at him, crossing her arms. The movement pushed up her br**sts so that the flesh protruded over the top of her dress. Nick resisted the urge to touch them.
"Okay," he conceded, "I'll tell you what I want to tell you in front of her."
Abbey's brows rose above her glasses. She waited.
"I wanted to tell you I enjoyed last night. Very much."
Abbey didn't move. She'd become very still. Nick glanced at her friend, suddenly feeling self conscious that she was there, listening to this very private conversation.
Nick didn't like feeling self conscious.
"Abbey, please can we talk in private? What I want to say to you shouldn't be heard by anyone else."
"Don't worry about me, Mr. Vane," chirped Lucy. "Like I said, Abbey and I share everything."
"Lucy!" Abbey glared at her friend, caught Nick's hand and stormed off down the beach towards the water.
They splashed into the shallows but Abbey didn't stop until she was further away from the crowd. The water lapped about his waist. There were still people about, but not so many that they felt claustrophobic.
"Say it," said Abbey, rounding on him.
Nick caught her other hand and looked down at her. Suddenly he didn't know what to say. She certainly wasn't making this easy for him. The way her lips stretched into a taught white line and her jaw clenched, he could tell she was still angry with him from the night before.
"Abbey," he began, scanning her face. He knew what he had to say so he should just say it. "Abbey, I'm sorry." There, he'd said it-the S word.
"That it?"
Nick shrugged.
"Good." She snapped her hands out of his and began to wade back to the shore.
"Abbey, wait!" He leapt after her, splashing violently until he reached her. He grabbed her hand, receiving a few strange looks from passing swimmers for his efforts. He ignored them.
"What do you want, Damien? I've had enough of these games, and Lucy's waiting."