A burst of laughter made her turn to see Christie and Joseph come out of the laser tag room. Christie’s face was flushed, and Joseph was surreptitiously wiping lipstick off the side of his jaw.
“Hey,” Chris yelled as she spotted Judith. “Did you have fun? Didn’t I tell you it was great?”
“Sure, it was awesome,” Judith said, hopefully sounding completely genuine.
Joseph came up behind his new wife, sliding an arm around her waist. “Did Cal tell you about his fundraising idea? I told him you might be interested.”
Judith tried for diplomatic. “The calendar? Oh, yes, but it’s not really my thing, Joe.”
“No, it’s different. You could use different.”
An eye roll was tempting but she ignored it. “A sexy calendar? Different? Doesn’t every fire department and police station in the country do stuff like that? No, it’s kind of unoriginal and I’m not really—”
“It’s for charity. Not the Turner Prize.”
Great, now her brother was making her feel like a selfish bitch. “I’m not talking about art awards. I mean, come on, studio portraits aren’t exactly high art. I just…” She stopped, realizing that her objections to Caleb’s idea had less to do with the subject and more to do with Caleb himself.
“Just what?” His blue eyes glinted. “I know you and Caleb don’t get on—”
“We get on fine,” she interrupted, ignoring Christie’s eye roll.
“In that case, why not listen to what he has to say?”
“Because I’m busy. The wedding photos aren’t going to take themselves, you know.”
“Avoidance much?”
Judith opened her mouth to protest. Then shut it.
Just what are your objections anyway?
Actually, she wasn’t entirely sure. Okay, so she and Caleb had an uncomfortable history, a history she’d never told anyone else about. But that was all H20 under the harbor bridge these days. Certainly he didn’t seem to care, not given the number of groupies he always surrounded himself with.
So he was an arrogant, cocky playboy only interested in rugby, fame, and women. Those weren’t good enough reasons to say no. Especially when it came to charity.
“Okay, fine,” she said on a long breath. “What’s it all about anyway?”
Joseph’s smile was suspiciously similar to his friend’s. Smug. “I’ll let him explain that to you himself. I’m too impatient to dance with my lovely wife here.”
Ignoring Christie’s groan at the word “dance”, Joseph dragged her off toward the ballroom, leaving Judith twitching with irritation.
She glared at her brother’s retreating back, smoothing her green silk dress down again.
All right, so if Caleb wanted to talk about his silly idea, she’d listen. And that was all.
It had been years since he’d dumped her. Years and years. And she was over it. She totally was. She could even be pleasant if the occasion demanded.
So she ignored the hard little lump of hurt that rested uncomfortably inside her like grit in an oyster. Told herself she didn’t feel it.
If she said it enough times, one of these days it would actually be true.
…
Caleb folded his arms and leaned against one of the pillars that dotted the hotel ballroom, trying his best to at least pretend he was listening to whatever Christie’s friend Marisa was talking about. Luckily she didn’t seem to require much in the way of input so he was able to watch Judith Ashton’s progress across the ballroom without appearing like he wasn’t paying attention.
Damn, he’d thought she might have mellowed in the two years he’d been away playing in the UK, but no. She was still just as coolly sarcastic and self-possessed as she’d always been. Still just as determined to treat him as beneath her notice.
Not that he should have expected anything different. She’d told him she’d forgiven him for the way their little affair had ended years ago and things had never been quite the same since. And he’d always regretted that. They’d never be what they once had been to each other—that boat had sailed long ago—although friends would be nice.
Then stop messing with her, dick.
Yeah, he should. But when it came to Judith Ashton he couldn’t seem to help himself. Even though he knew it was wrong, even though he knew it wouldn’t change things, he just couldn’t seem to leave her alone. He had to keep on needling her like a kid poking at a wasp’s nest just to see what would happen.
So don’t be surprised when you get stung.
He blew out a breath, annoyed at the disappointment he’d felt when she’d refused to help him with the calendar. Not to mention her utter disdain of his idea.