His gaze sharpened, fixing onto her like a laser target. And a dark, hot flame leapt in the depths of his eyes. He moved, lifting a hand and she knew, without a shadow of a doubt that he was going to touch her. And that for the sake of her sanity she couldn’t let that happen.
“Don’t,” she said, her voice husky.
His hand kept right on going, fingers gently pushing a strand of black hair behind her ear. Brushing over her skin, leaving a trail of fire behind in its wake.
Making her shiver helplessly.
Okay, hold it. He doesn’t want you. He’s just doing it to get to you. Because that’s what he always does.
Well, it wasn’t going to work. Not this time. Over her dead, decomposing freaking body.
Chapter Three
Caleb stared, mesmerized, as the unmistakable sexual response flared in the depths of Judith’s blue eyes. So, despite all those years, all that cool disdain, and all that seeming indifference, she still wanted him.
Color flooded her cheeks and she sharply turned her back on him, striding over to where his T-shirt lay on the ground. She bent and picked it up, tossing it at him without even looking. “Here. Put your shirt on,” she said in a hoarse voice.
Savage satisfaction gripped him. Which totally wasn’t what he should be feeling right at this point in time, but that didn’t stop him from feeling it.
Perhaps he shouldn’t have touched her, but he just hadn’t been able to help himself. The way she’d looked at him had been so familiar; the polished, sophisticated mask dropping for a second. The way she used to look at him, back when she’d been eighteen and he’d been her hero. And he’d loved that look. Loved that he could be a hero for someone since his dad hadn’t wanted him.
The black wing of hair had fallen forward over one cheek. And he’d had to push it back, had to see if her hair still felt the way he remembered. Like silk.
And it had.
“What’s the matter?” he asked. He had an idea, of course.
She’d crossed over to a table on the other side of the room, pulling a camera out of the camera bag on top of it. She began fitting a lens onto it, her movements jerky and sharp. “Nothing.”
Women always said that when they really meant “everything”.
“You said don’t. Don’t what?”
“Don’t be a dickhead? Don’t be an ass?” She didn’t turn round, and he knew by the cool sarcasm in her tone that the mask was definitely firmly back in place.
“No, that’s not what you were going to say.”
“Oh really?” Judith turned and sure enough, the expression on her face was one of mild exasperation—the expression she usually wore whenever he was around. “So you can read my mind now?”
“It’s not your mind I was reading, darling.”
Another flicker in her eyes, like a ripple in a pond. “I don’t have time to debate this with you, Caleb. Shall we get on with it?”
Briefly he thought about pushing her because he wanted to hear her say it, hear her acknowledge that there was still something between them. Perhaps that wasn’t a good idea right now. They were both busy, and as much as he wanted acknowledgement, that wouldn’t help get the calendar done.
It’s not just about the calendar and you know it.
No, of course it wasn’t. But how would getting an acknowledgement from her help? It wasn’t as if he was going to do anything about it anyway.
Slowly he pulled on his shirt. “So does this mean you’re going to shoot the calendar?”
“Yes, I’ll do it. Although, I have a few conditions.”
No surprises there. Judith always did drive a hard bargain. “Such as?”
“We do this my way and we keep it professional. And that means definitely no touching.” Her jaw firmed. “I don’t know what your other groupies expect, but I don’t do casual.”
He studied her with a certain amount of dawning respect. He’d never seen her doing her thing in her studio, and he had to admit it was kind of impressive.
And pretty damn sexy.
“You’re not one of my ‘groupies’, Jude.”
“No, I’m not. And I never will be. Understand?”
He couldn’t help himself. “Are you sure about the no touching?”
She crossed her arms and glared at him. “Does it look like I’m the tiniest bit uncertain to you?”
Ah, he shouldn’t be teasing her like this. Because despite their chemistry, there would be no sexiness happening with Judith. Not again. No matter how satisfying her reaction to him was, Judith needed a relationship type of guy. A guy who’d always be there for her, who wouldn’t let her down. And he wasn’t that type of guy, and never would be.