Her breath came out irregular-too fast, too shallow. He could see her mind whirring behind those beautiful soulful eyes. He could see the doubt painted across her face. He could imagine the words she didn't say aloud. I hope it was enough. I hope I was enough.
Instead she said, 'Some days I wonder if it's worth it.'
'Of course it's worth it.'
How could she say something like that? People would kill for her talent.
'Easy for you to say-you're not the one up there, putting yourself out for every man and his dog to judge you.'
'People judge each other every day,' Brodie pointed out. 'You don't need a stage for that.'
She smiled, her shoulders relaxing as she loosened her hair. The dark strands fell around her shoulders, golden ends glinting in the sun streaming through the café's window. 'Is that a dig at me?'
'It might be.'
He flagged down a waitress and ordered Chantal a coffee. They watched each other for a moment like two dogs circling. Wary. Charged.
'Because I think you lead a charmed life?'
'Because you don't think I work for it.' He took a long swig from his water bottle. 'I do.'
'I know you work for it. But you have to admit you seem to land on your feet, no matter what.'
'And you don't?' He raked a hand through his hair.
'No, I don't.'
She let out a hollow laugh and the sound made him want to pull her tight against him.
'You have no idea what it's been like the last few years.'
'So tell me?'
Silence. Perhaps she didn't expect him to care. Chantal paused while the waitress set down her coffee. She cradled the cup in her small hands, blowing at the steam.
When she stayed quiet he changed tactic. 'How come you never called?'
'You never called either.'
She sipped her drink and set the cup down on the table. For a moment the view of the pier had her attention, and the tension melted from her face.
'I wasn't exactly keen to share that my career was going down the gurgler. Why else would I have called?'
'Because we're friends, Chantal, despite how it ended.'
'You're right.' She nodded. 'Friends.'
God, he wanted to kiss her. She was sex on legs. Perfection.
'Friends who have the hots for each other.'
'I don't have the hots for you,' she protested, but her cheeks flamed crimson and her gaze locked onto some invisible spot on the ground.
'How about you look me in the eye when you say that?'
'Okay-fine. You're kind of a hottie.' Red, redder, reddest. She still didn't look up. 'But you're not my type.'
'What's your type?'
'Tall, dark and handsome?' she quipped with a wave of her hand. 'No guys are my type at the moment. I have this little thing called a career that needs saving.'
'It's not that you don't have time for guys-you just don't have time for relationships.' Brodie rolled the idea around in his head. 'Maybe what you need is a little no-strings tension-reliever.'
'Is that what the kids are calling it these days?' She raised a brow at him and traced the edge of her coffee cup with a fingertip.
'Doesn't matter what it's called so long as it feels good.'
'I'm not a hedonist like you, Brodie. There are more important things in life than pleasure. I need my focus at the moment.'
'Perhaps … But don't you think you could do with a little pleasure right now?'
He reached out and cupped the side of her face. Their knees touched under the table and he could feel the heat radiating from her.
Her dark lashes fluttered. He wasn't going to kiss her again-not yet. She'd run scared if he pushed too hard too soon … But he would draw her in. Relax her boundaries. Give her space to let her guard drop.
Then he would have her.
CHAPTER FIVE
LATER THAT EVENING Chantal and Brodie wandered around The Rocks. To anyone else they might have looked like two people who'd been together forever. Behind the bridge the sun had set, streaking the sky with rich shades of gold, pink and red. Sydney was ready for a night out, glittering and looking its absolute best in the balmy air.
Brodie looked as though he belonged with the glamorous city crowd-as he did with any scene he joined. He had the ability to melt into a group of people no matter who they were. Rich clients, hard-working staff, children-he charmed them all. She'd seen it first hand at Weeping Reef. No wonder he'd done so well with his business.
Women were his forte. He knew exactly what to say to charm them straight out of their panties. Sometimes he could do it without saying a thing. Now she couldn't help but notice the way other women stared at him as they strolled back to the yacht. And why wouldn't they?
His hips rolled in a sensuous, languid gait. He had that loose-limbed, laid-back sexiness that was impossible to fake. You either had it or you didn't. And, boy, did he have it!
What is it about focus that you don't understand? Hands off, lips off, eyes off … everything off. Ugh, stop thinking about him!
'You're quiet,' he said as they returned to the boat.
The rest of the Weeping Reef crew would be joining them in an hour or so, and Chantal planned to enjoy her night off. The audition played on her mind, but if she thought about it any more she'd surely go crazy. No, tonight would be an opportunity to let her hair down and relax before she had to go back to the bar.
'My mind isn't,' Chantal muttered.
'Anything in particular bothering you?'
'Just thinking about work stuff.'
It wasn't a total lie, and she wasn't going to encourage him by revealing her inner monologue about his hotness.
'You can't be all work and no play.' He walked to the fridge on deck and pulled out a bottle of champagne, popping the cork and pouring her a glass.
'I think you have enough play for both of us.'
'I'd be happy to share it with you.'
He handed her the flute, her fingers grazing his as she grasped the stem. Goosebumps skittered across her skin and she wondered if perhaps her slinky, skin-tight dress had been a dangerous choice. She'd bought the dress after her audition because it was the exact blue-green of the ocean in the Whitsundays-a fitting choice for catching up with the old gang.
But her arms and legs were exposed to the night air, along with a portion of her back beneath the thick bands of fabric criss-crossing their way down her spine.
It would be fine. The others would arrive soon, and she'd make sure that she and Brodie weren't left alone. Piece of cake.
Yeah, right.
'So what did you do after you left the reef?' she asked, sipping her drink.
'A bit of this and that. There's not much to tell.' He shrugged, dropping down into a seat and stretching his long, muscular legs out in front of him. 'Went to university, dropped out of university, got a job sailing yachts.'
'That's it? Come on-I'm sure a lot more happened in eight years.' She dropped down next to him, resisting the desire to ease against him as he automatically slung his arm along the back of her seat.
'There was a girl.'
'Just one?' she teased, hating herself for the clutch of jealousy deep in her chest.
His eyes darkened, the pale green glowing in the dimming light. 'One relationship. It didn't end well and I don't have any desire to revisit the experience.'
'Why did you break up?' Colour her curious, but she'd never known Brodie to have a relationship with anyone. Unless you called repeated booty calls a relationship.
'It was a combination of things.' He shook his head, tilting his gaze up to the darkening sky. 'I was away a lot with work. I had my family to look after. She needed a lot of attention. Nothing more than incompatibility, pure and simple.'
'You always struck me as the attentive type.'
'No one is that attentive. She wanted us to be joined at the hip.' His voice tightened. 'I don't do inseparability. I need my space-the open waters and all that.'
'How did you meet?'
'She was a friend.' His mouth twisted into a grimace. 'I met her at university but we didn't get together until after I dropped out.'
'I guess she's not a friend any more?'
'No.'
'Sounds like you made the right call.'
'The right call would have been not going there in the first place.' Brodie sighed. 'Some people aren't cut out for relationships.'
It sounded like a warning. Not that she needed it. She had no intention of getting sucked into Brodie's sex vortex the way other girls did. She knew he was a love 'em and leave 'em kind of guy … It was why she'd stayed away from him in the first place.
But she didn't exactly want a relationship right now either. Didn't that make them perfectly compatible for one night?
Heart thudding against her rib cage, she took a long swig of her champagne. Brodie's arm moved from the seat to her shoulders and his intoxicating coconut-and-sea-air smell made her mouth water.
Would it be so bad to have a little 'no-strings tension-reliever', as he'd called it? Surely she could afford to be unfocused for one day … just a night, really. Not even a whole day.