Christie gave her friend a well-aimed poke in the ribs. “Oooh, you after some financial advice, Mar?”
Marisa gave her an annoyed look. “Yeah, what’s wrong with that? I’m terrible with money.”
“Well you better start saving, then,” Judith commented. “Apparently he’s going to be a hot ticket item.”
A crease appeared between Marisa’s brows as she looked down at what was probably the picture of Luke. She said nothing for a long moment. Then, letting out an audible breath, she abruptly leafed through the calendar again. “So what about Caleb? I thought his date offer would be the hot ticket item?”
And it was. A date with Caleb Steele was the hottest ticket in the auction, a fact that Judith particularly hated. “He should have offered his rugby skills,” she muttered. “Like a training session or something. Not a stupid date.”
“Good point,” Marisa said. “Why didn’t he, then? Perhaps a date would have brought in more money than a training session?”
Christie nodded. “I asked Joe the same thing and he said that Caleb’s thinking was women would pay more for a date.”
Judith stared down at her drink, an uneasy feeling sitting in the pit of her stomach. What would the date entail? Dinner and drinks? What if the woman was beautiful? Would it become something more? And what would that mean for their hot affair?
Nothing probably. Caleb wouldn’t do the dirty on her, she was sure of it. And it was for charity anyway. Okay so no, they hadn’t talked more about where their secret relationship was going, but he’d shown no sign of pulling away or wanting it to end. She was overreacting.
The uneasiness didn’t go away, though. Of course she could bid on him herself, but the problem with that was she didn’t have a lot of spare cash since most of it was tied up in her business. Not that she could afford him even if it wasn’t. His auction was going to go for thousands, she just knew it.
“Well, God knows, I’d pay all my retirement fund—if I had a retirement fund—for a date with Caleb Steele,” Marisa said, grinning. “Who wouldn’t?”
“No.” The word was flat and abrupt and final.
Christie and Marisa stared at Judith in surprise.
Oh damn. Had she said that out loud? Apparently she had.
She felt her face go hot. “I mean, a date is just stupid, isn’t it? He’s a fantastic rugby player. Lots of people would give their eye-teeth for a session with him. I don’t know why having a date is so bloody…” Judith stopped herself, snapping her mouth shut on the grumpy words before anything else could get out.
The other two were continuing to stare at her as if she’d suddenly turned into a Martian.
“I’m just saying, Caleb has other skills,” she said, trying to sound casual.
“I bet he does,” Marisa observed, a glint in her eye.
Judith glared at her. “Not those kind of skills.”
“Uh-huh,” Christie said slowly. “I think we got it.”
Marisa narrowed her blue eyes. “You seem to care about that an awful lot.”
“Why shouldn’t I?” Judith felt herself going on the defensive. “Everyone else is offering their expertise and yet Caleb’s just offering a date. It’s like he’s…selling himself short.”
Marisa put the calendar on the table. “It’s for charity, Jude. Does it matter what he’s selling if it gets lots of cash?”
It shouldn’t have mattered, but it did. It mattered quite a lot. And she didn’t really know why. There was just so much more to him than a hot looking rugby player. Even more than being able to kick a ball. There was patience and kindness and humor and a sharp intelligence that he hid very well under the cover of his charm. Why wasn’t he offering something that would capitalize on those skills?
“No,” Judith said, realizing that protesting too much was going to give something away. “I suppose not.”
“I heard you two were suddenly getting friendly with each other.” Christie’s brow wrinkled. “What happened to the hate?”
Mercifully at that moment Judith’s phone beeped. Hoping it didn’t look too much like a drowning woman clutching a life preserver, Judith grabbed it. A text, from Caleb. Her heart gave a happy leap.
Hey BC. Are you thinking of me?
A tendril of warmth unwound inside her. He’d had a product launch to attend and she wasn’t expecting to hear from him.
Of course.
What are you thinking?
Judith fought to keep the smile off her face.
I’m thinking about you coming back to my place and ripping all my clothes off.
Then what?