‘Yes, Curtis. Jogging bottoms and a sweatshirt. Is there a problem with that?’
This was the banter she was accustomed to, light-hearted conversation between friends, but she could breathe him in as he walked alongside her and when she glanced across she was achingly aware of the leather jacket, the tight jeans encasing his muscular legs, the stubble on his chin, the thickness of his slightly too long hair.
‘You’ll have to excuse my lack of chit-chat, Jess. I have a hell of a lot of work to do on the plane. My routine was thrown out because I hung around for a bit longer than I’d planned with William. Kept an eye on him, by the way. He seems in good humour and...’ he slanted his green eyes across to her; there was an amused half smile tugging his mouth and Jess felt her breath hitch in her throat because he was just so damnedsexy‘...he seems curiously excited at the prospect of us spending a long weekend together.’
Jess didn’t know what to say to that, but she was spared having to make any response because he was obviously in a hurry to get down to work.
He cut a swathe through the crowds, oblivious to the heads swinging in their direction. He oozed sex appeal. Tall, commanding, movie star looks with an apparent lack of vanity that his whole urgent body language implied without him having to work at it.
No wonder he had women flocking to him in droves.
She still didn’t know exactly what had happened between him and Caitlin, but if he’d had his heart broken it was no wonder he wanted to deflect any unwanted hopefuls who might want to target him at the wedding. Once bitten would definitely be twice shy.
They hit the First-class lounge at a brisk pace.
‘Coffee...tea...food...pastries... Take your pick, Jess.’ He wasn’t looking at her as he said this. He was making a beeline towards a nest of deep chairs surrounding a low table, already pulling out his laptop, so at ease in her company that there was no attempt to disguise the fact that he intended to spend the time working until their flight was called. She would have to do her own thing and that suited her just fine.
‘Want anything?’ She dumped her bag on the table and remained standing as he sat down, briefly looking up at her.
‘Nothing. I’ll be a little less antisocial just as soon as I’ve answered this string of emails.’
‘I don’t expect you to socialise with me, Curtis.’ She began unzipping the puffer jacket. Thoughts crowded into her head and she fought against them—thoughts she’d never seemed to have had before, or at least acknowledged. Mean, spiky thoughts that he would be making a mammoth effort to socialise with her if she’d been one of his dainty blondes. He didn’t see the need to put himself out when it came to her because there was just too much familiarity between them.
‘What do you mean?’ For the first time since she’d arrived he actually focused on her, his sea-green eyes riveted to her face.
‘I mean—’ Jess cleared her throat ‘—I know why I’m here.’ She hoped she sounded airy and wryly amused. She feared she might just sound defensive and a little hurt. ‘I’m here to protect you from the fan club waiting to get their claws into you.’
‘Bit of an exaggeration.’ But he grinned, eyebrows shooting up as he relaxed back to focus fully on her with lazy, lingering amusement.
A prickle of heat coursed through her and she abruptly turned away with a shrug. ‘I’ve brought my laptop and some schoolwork I’ll have to get through because I’m taking a couple of days off. I have more than enough to occupy myself while you work.’
He looked at her. What was he missing here?
He hadn’t seen her in a while, but it wasn’t the first time that weeks had elapsed without contact. Wasn’t that the nature of good friendships? Time could pass but catching up was always seamless.
Except this time...
This time something was a little off-kilter, although for the life of him he couldn’t work out what it was.
Surely she wasn’t offended because he’d offered her an all-expenses-paid free trip to Courchevel where, aside from a few hours in a frock drinking champagne and chit-chatting with a few people, she would endure nothing more gruelling than eating great food, drinking fine wine and skiing down some of the most invigorating slopes in the world?
What was there not to like in that scenario?
He uneasily wondered whether she was miffed because there was a limit to how far he would go when it came to confiding.
When he thought about it, she’d been a bit odd ever since the Caitlin fiasco. He absently watched her. She was taller than most of the women in the vicinity, her body concealed underneath a navy-blue jumper that reached to mid-thigh, where it merged into the navy-blue jeans and navy-blue trainers.
It was a revelation actually seeing her eyes, though. Deep, deep blue. He’d never noticed how unusual they were behind those thick spectacles she used to wear.
In front of him his laptop blinked, demanding his attention, but his mind was stubbornly drifting as he tried to get a grip on what it was that jarred.
No one knew the full story about the disaster he had narrowly avoided. Despite his openness when it came to the women he dated, despite his willingness to allow the paparazzi to peer into his life, he knew that he rigorously controlled what the public knew about him and the truth was that, despite the parade of women and his willingness to be photographed with them, he was intensely private.
He frowned. The past was a place he never visited. It was too dark and there was no point. Information about him was scant on the Internet. It worked being open to all intents and purposes because it meant that no one really had any interest in delving beyond what was on the table and he liked it that way.
It had not occurred to him that he could or should explain the situation with his ex to anyone. Even William knew precious little. The story was that he’d been dumped by a beautiful woman who’d become bored with him. He was very happy to leave it there.
He shifted. He was uncomfortable with this bout of introspection and bemused that the woman now helping herself to coffee had managed to bring it on.
