“HOW’D YOUR TESTIMONY GO?” Gina asked.
Lucy shrugged. “It wasn’t as rough as I’d expected.” She shook her head. “Kyle had the gall to sit there looking betrayed. He even managed a few crocodile tears. And wait, this is the best part. He had his lawyer ask me for his engagement ring back. To help pay for his defense.”
Gina raised her eyes to the ceiling. “That man is too much.”
Lucy kicked off her shoes and put her feet up on her couch. “I’m bushed. I can’t wait for this trial to be over.”
Gina watched her friend closely. “Judd Turner’s due in tomorrow to give testimony.”
Lucy knew Gina wanted to observe her reaction, so she deliberately donned a nonchalant expression. She hadn’t seen or spoken to Judd since their encounter at the Miami Beach precinct house two months ago. But there hadn’t been a day during those two months that she hadn’t been tempted to pick up the phone and call him. A few times she’d got as far as dialing his number. Once, she’d let his phone ring two times. But she hung up before he answered, afraid that if she heard his voice, she’d be done for.
Her attempt at nonchalance didn’t fool Gina. “Why are you being so darn stubborn?”
“I’m not the only stubborn one,” she said petulantly.
“You told him not to call you.”
She made no response.
“That shouldn’t have stopped him from trying.” Even as she said it, she knew she was being unfair to Judd. He was honoring her wishes. Giving her time. Letting her sort out her feelings.
The problem was she couldn’t sort them out being apart from him. And yet she was scared to make the first move. How much of what he had professed to feel for her back in Florida had been fueled by the danger and heightened excitement of the moment? Their contact had been so intense, so brief.
Tears spiked her eyes. Gina sat down on the sofa beside her friend. “Oh, Lucy, you love him. Admit it.”
“That’s the crazy thing,” she sniffed. “I do love him. And I didn’t tell him when I had the chance.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. If you want to talk about crazy, what you went through down in Miami Beach was crazy. How could you think straight?”
“That’s exactly what I told him.”
“And he understood.”
She looked anxiously at Gina. “Did he really? I’m afraid I hurt him, Gina. Maybe enough so that he had some second thoughts.”
“My guess is Judd’s only thoughts these past two months have been about seeing you again. Which he’s going to do tomorrow.”
“I’m finished testifying in the morning. He won’t be on the witness stand until the middle of the afternoon.”
“So, hang around the courthouse.”
Lucy sighed. “I don’t know, Gina. I don’t think I could bear it if I saw him and he…he no longer felt the same way about me. I’d be able to tell in a flash. His eyes can’t lie.” She swiped a few tears off her cheek. “Have I ever told you about Judd’s eyes, Gina? They are the most incredible shade of blue.”
“I know. Paul Newman eyes,” she said, teasing her friend affectionately.
“More incredible.” Lucy sniffed again. Gina dug out a tissue from her purse.
“Here. Blow.”
She obeyed the order, then stuck the tissue in the pocket of her slacks.
Her phone rang. Her heart jumped. “Please…get it, Gina.”
Gina rolled her eyes but reached for the phone. “Hello?” A short pause. “Oh hi, Roz.”
Lucy bit down on her lower lip.
“Did you fly in with Judd?” she asked.
Lucy held her breath.
“Oh. Oh, I see.”
“What?” she asked.
“Right,” Gina said slowly, responding not to her, but to something Roz was saying on the other end of the line.
“Sure. Sure, we’d love to meet you for a drink,” she said, even though Lucy was shaking her head.
Gina glanced at her watch. “Eight o’clock? No problem. Where?”
Lucy tugged on her sleeve. “Count me out,” she whispered.
“See you,” she said, hanging up.
“Judd isn’t with her?”
Gina shook her head. “He’s on some assignment. It must be pretty important because the D.A.’s agreed to reschedule his court appearance until Friday. Roz will give her testimony tomorrow.”
“Friday?” Friday was three days away. An eternity. And in the back of her mind, Lucy couldn’t help thinking that if Judd really loved her, no assignment would have kept him from seeing her as soon as he possibly could.
Gina gave her shoulder a little shake. “Come on. Powder your nose and we’ll go meet Roz.”
“I’m really not up to it,” she said despondently.
“That’s exactly the reason you’re going.”
She sighed, but she knew better than to argue with Gina once her friend had made up her mind.
JUDD LOOKED LIKE a million dollars. He was wearing his favorite Armani double-breasted navy suit with thin cream pinstripes, and a paisley blue-silk tie. His hair had grown back. He’d developed the habit over the past month of running his fingers through the thick, dark strands as if to confirm that the awful crew cut he’d sported down in Miami Beach was truly no more.
His hand slid absently over his jacket across his absolutely flat stomach, confirming that there wasn’t so much as a hint of a paunch. Another habit since Miami Beach.
Those weren’t the only two habits he’d developed thanks to that wild weekend….
The doorman nodded solicitously when he gave his name. A faint smile curved Judd’s lips. He wondered what the doorman’s reaction would have been if he’d been in his nerd disguise. Oh, he’d have gained access—that had been arranged ahead of time for him—but Judd doubted the doorman would have been quite so ingratiating.
His footsteps echoed on the marble floor as he crossed the lobby. He paused for a moment, feeling an unaccustomed rush of nervousness. Doubt. Worry.
This assignment was riskier than any of the others he’d taken on.
He squared his shoulders and began walking again toward the elevator, his stride quick, purposeful. He pressed the up button. To the right of the elevator was an elaborately carved mahogany hall table, above which was a large, ornate gilt-framed mirror.
Judd glanced in the mirror as he waited for the elevator, giving himself a critical assessment. He noted the dark strands of hair curling at the back of his collar—he hadn’t been to a hair stylist in two months. He noticed that, despite his Florida tan, his complexion bore a faint pallor from several nights of not sleeping well. The tension he was feeling showed in his eyes.
He adjusted his already perfectly adjusted tie. Get a grip, he ordered his reflection. You’ve come through every other assignment in one piece, more or less. You’ll come through this one, too.
But would he?
The elevator door slid open. An elderly woman, holding a miniature schnauzer to her breast, stepped out. She smiled at Judd. The dog, however, growled.
An omen of things to come?
He stepped into the elevator, telling himself he wasn’t a superstitious man.
“WHAT KIND OF AN ASSIGNMENT?” Lucy asked Roz as the three women nursed martinis in a fashionable bar on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Roz fidgeted with her cocktail napkin. “I’m really not at liberty to say.”
She picked up on Roz’s nervousness.
“But it’s dangerous,” she pressed.
Gina took a sip of her drink, watching the two women over the rim of her glass.
“Every assignment has its…risks.” Roz picked up her drink and took a hefty swallow.
“You’re worried about him,” she said.
“Lucy,” Gina broke in, setting down her drink, “I’m sure it’ll all work out fine.”
She scowled. “Roz isn’t so sure.” She eyeballed Judd’s boss. “Are you?”
“Judd’s the best there is. If anyone can pull this off, he can,” Roz mumbled evasively.
Lucy caught what looked to her like a knowing glance between Roz and Gina. Had Roz shared something with Gina in that phone conversation and asked her not to share it with her? What did her best friend know that she didn’t? What was Gina keeping from her? And why?
She felt angry at being kept in the dark. But even more than that, she felt afraid. What if something happened to Judd? What if she was never going to get the chance to—
She sprang up so quickly from her chair, it toppled over. “I love him.” She made this intimate revelation in such a loud, earnest voice, every eye in the bar fell on her. Several customers started to applaud.
SLIGHTLY TIPSY and more than slightly on edge, Lucy stepped into her apartment and flicked on the light switch. Despite her entreaties to both women, she’d gotten no other information out of either of them.
She walked into her bedroom, aware that she wasn’t quite steady on her feet. She sank down on the edge of her bed and put her head in her hands.
After a few moments, she looked up, a new resolve in her heart. She picked up her phone and dialed Judd’s cell phone number. She had to tell him how she felt. Before it was too late.
He answered on the third ring. His voice was low and tense.
“Yes?”
“Judd, it’s me. Lucy. Can you…talk?”
“Lucy? Is it really you?”
“I know you’re in the middle of a dangerous assignment. I saw Roz tonight here in Manhattan.”
“Lucy, I really can’t…”
“Judd, don’t speak. Just…just listen. I love you. I knew I loved you down in Miami. But I was…”
“Angry,” he finished her sentence.
“No,” she said. “Scared. I was afraid to trust…”
“Me?”
“No. Me.”
“And now?” he asked in a whisper.
“And now I…I want to spend the rest of my life showing you how much I care. Only…”
“Only what?”
“Only I’m terrified that the rest of your life is going to be…very brief.” Tears ran down her cheeks.
“Lucy, are you crying? Don’t cry.”
“I’m not crying.”
“Where are you right now?”
“Right now? Here…in my bedroom.” Her eyes still glistening, she stood up. “I’m…getting undressed.” She began undoing the buttons of her blouse.
“Mmm. I like imagining that,” he murmured.
“I’m slipping off my blouse.” She shrugged out of the sleeves.
“Are you wearing one of those lacy white bras like you wore that day?” he asked.
She smiled. “This one’s mint-green. It matches my lace panties,” she said, sliding down the zipper of her trousers. She felt a little embarrassed. And far more than a little aroused.
“I’ve…never had…phone sex…before,” she admitted, her cheeks flushing. “But, if you can’t be with me, I at least want you to know what…you’re missing, Judd. That way you’ll be very careful. You won’t take any dumb risks like…like you did down in Miami.”
“They weren’t dumb, Lucy.” His voice had lowered a notch, sounding huskier. Sexier.
Her heart raced. “I’m stepping out of my slacks.”
“I can picture your exquisite body so perfectly. But it’s not the same as the real thing.”
“Oh, Judd, we should have made love that day in your hotel room.”
“I wanted to, Lucy. I never wanted anything so badly. Until this minute.”
“I…wish you were in my arms right now.”
“I do, too. You can’t imagine how much.”
“I’m unfastening my bra,” she whispered provocatively. “Now my panties. I’m naked now, Judd.”
“Lucy, I’m dying here.”
“Don’t say that. Please don’t say that.”
“Don’t worry. I’m going to be fine. No, I’m going to be great.”
“Is that a promise?” She crossed her bedroom and stepped into her bathroom.
“Judd? Judd, are you still there?” She pulled the phone away from her ear, checking to see if it was still on. It was.
“Judd, please say something. Are you there? Are you okay? Is it that you can’t talk right now? Has somebody come in? Are you in danger? Oh, Judd, if you’re still there…if you’re listening, please remember that, whatever happens, I love you with all my heart. And I’ll be waiting for you, darling. No matter how long it takes….”
She continued to clutch the phone for several minutes, hoping he’d come back on the line. Instead it went dead.
Reluctantly she pressed the off button on the phone and set it down on the sink. Maybe he would call her back.
She shivered. Sticking her arm past her shower curtain, she turned on the tap. While the water was warming up, she slipped the pins out of her hair and shook it free.
She had one leg inside the tub when she saw him. Her heart almost stopped.
“You? You…all this time…? And you let me…?” She was fighting for breath as he stood there under the spray of the shower, still decked out in his double-breasted suit.
“This is your…assignment?” She didn’t know whether to throw a punch at him or throw herself into his arms.
Judd helped her make the decision. He drew her to him. “You said you love me, Lucy. And that you’d wait. No matter how long it took.”
“That was before I realized—”
He stopped the rest of her words with a soul-searing kiss.
Her fingers found their way to the buttons of his sodden jacket.
“You better get out of these fancy duds. I hope they’re drip-dry,” she said breathlessly.
Judd smiled as he slipped out of his jacket. “I hope they take forever to dry.”
He smoothed back her hair and looked lovingly, longingly into her eyes. “You’re right. We should have made love that day,” he murmured. “But better late than never.”
She pulled his loosened tie over his neck, eager to rid him of all his clothes, eager to finally press her naked body to his. “Much better,” she whispered back.
He began stripping quickly with her help. Finally he was naked. He pulled her to him, but she held him off.
“Promise me one thing, Judd.”
“Anything,” he rasped.
“That you’ll never again wear a Hawaiian shirt.”
They both laughed.
Then Lucy found Judd’s lips again.
Bells and whistles filled the tiny room.