“Huh.” Christie wrinkled her nose. “How long have you known him?”
“Who?”
Her “really?” look was impossible to ignore.
Judith sighed. “Didn’t Joe give you a rundown?”
“Well, yeah. He’s a guy, though, so I only got the facts. I didn’t get all the other juicier stuff.”
Judith sighed again. “Okay, fine. I’ve known Caleb since I was eight. He and Joe met at high school. They used to tease me unmercifully.”
“I can imagine.” Christie grinned, green eyes alight with amusement. “He’s got a wicked look about him.”
The DJ had come back to his station, and people were beginning to step out onto the dance-floor. Luckily Joseph had managed to convince Christie to leave the death metal till later on in the evening, the strains of a slow ballad filling the air instead.
“Still,” Christie went on, gazing in Caleb’s direction. “Wicked or not, he’s pretty damn hot.”
Sure, Caleb was hot. If you liked tall, muscle-bound beefcakes with eyes you could lose yourself in. The kind of smile that made you lose your mind as well as your panties. The magnetic, sexy bad-boy charm that promised all sorts of naughtiness.
Sure. If you liked that kind of thing.
“Doesn’t marriage mean not looking at other men?” Judith shot back. Perhaps she could scoot off to the ladies room before he reached her. That wouldn’t constitute running away. No, of course not. She just really needed to go. “Look, I just need to—”
“Hey, babycakes,” a familiar, irritating masculine voice drawled. “Fancy a turn about the room?”
Damn it.
Quelling the urge to do the “smoothy thing” again, she looked up to find Caleb, who had somehow reached her a lot faster than she’d thought, standing beside her chair.
“Was that a dance request?” she inquired calmly.
“Was it too complicated for you? Hey, Chris.”
“Hey, Caleb.” Christie grinned. “I wouldn’t mind a dance.”
“With the bride? Of course. You’re next on my list, sweetheart, believe me. I’ll come back for you once Jude and I have finished.”
Judith opened her mouth to point out that she hadn’t actually accepted when Caleb raised one dark brow and said, “Scared to have a dance with me, honey pie?”
God, he was aggravating. Mentally preparing herself for some humble pie eating about his idea, she gave him a smile sweet enough to take the enamel off teeth. “As if.” Pushing back her chair, she rose to her feet. “Come on, then, what are you waiting for?”
“I never wait for anything, Jude.”
Oh yes, she did know. She knew all too well. Something she’d discovered eight years ago, to be exact.
Second time this evening you’ve thought about that. What gives?
Before she could examine the thought any closer, his hand closed around hers and she was pulled onto the dance floor. His fingers were warm against her skin but for some reason the touch made her want to shiver. Then his other hand settled on her hip, his palm burning through the silk of her dress, and she nearly did.
Judith gritted her teeth, fighting the response.
“The scowl looks good on you,” Caleb said as they began to move to the music, a slow sensual beat. “You look like a grumpy fairy.”
Judith quickly adjusted her expression. “Not scowling, see?” Though she wanted to. Because being this close to him made her short of breath. He smelled good, too. Like spices and musk, bringing back old memories. Sexy memories.
Bah. She didn’t want sexy memories. She didn’t want Caleb Steele to be sexy at all. Not under any circumstances. He had thousands of women all willing to give his massive ego a stroke, and she flatly refused to be just one more.
“So,” she went on briskly, before he did something stupid like notice her apparent breathlessness. “What’s with the asking me to dance thing?”
“A guy can’t ask a girl to dance without having a reason?”
“Perhaps a guy and a girl could. But this is you and me we’re talking about.”
“True. Okay, well, why do you think I asked you to dance?”
“I don’t know…to be annoying?”
“There’s a lot about me you seem to find annoying,” he said, grinning shamelessly. “What’s with that?”
Judith only just managed to stop herself from scowling again. “It’s just an expression.” Somehow they’d gotten a lot closer, his body moving slowly in time with hers, the movement of his hips sending a kind of liquid heat creeping through her. This was not good. So not good. Quick, think of something to say. “So. This fundraising idea you mentioned,” she went on, hoping her voice sounded normal. “Anyway, tell me more about it.”