Excerpt from Jude's Law
Excerpt Three
Heat ran up her neck. "I don't think so."
"That's because you're not male. Thank God."
Her eyes nearly crossed. She frowned, stepped out of reach, then cleared her throat. Whatever game he played, she had to make him quit before she did something stupid - like grabbing him. "Look, Jude - "
"I'm looking," he promised. "And I like what I see."
May turned her back on him. If she didn't look at him, maybe she'd be able to get her thoughts together and form a coherent sentence. "This is ridiculous." Jude said nothing, and her tension grew. "I don't understand why you're doing this."
"Sure you do." His voice sounded closer. "I want you."
Wary, she looked over her shoulder and found him right behind her, eyeing her rump. She jumped forward a step. "Stop that."
"I don't think so." He reached for her.
She spun away, half scandalized, but also... half excited. "Jude!"
"May."
She back stepped. He couldn't possibly really want her, not with every bombshell in Hollywood hot on his heels. But... he wasn't in Hollywood .
He was in Stillbrook.
She cleared her throat. "We're supposed to be picking out framing, not talking about my clothes or my..."
He stalked toward her. "Sex appeal?"
She continued to back up. "I don't believe this."
"Why not?"
"Because..." But she didn't want to say the obvious, that she wasn't the type of woman who appealed to a man like him.
Jude didn't have an ounce of reserve. "Because you don't want me to picture you in something more revealing?"
With a half laugh, she flapped her hand at him. "As if."
Appearing dead serious, he kept pace with her until they'd completely circled the table, with May now on the opposite side. She stopped retreating.
"I do. A lot."
She had no idea what he was talking about. "You do..?"
"Picture you in slinky, revealing clothes." He smiled. "Or no clothes at all."
She'd had enough. Taking an aggressive stance, May faced off with him. "Stop being so outrageous, Jude. Stop... toying with me."
"When I toy with you, you'll know it - and enjoy it."
Breath strangled in her throat at that provocative promise. Her thighs trembled, her stomach tingled. But this was all familiar to him; he likely said similar things to a hundred women, whereas she'd never had anyone be so bold with her.
But she wasn't a wimp and she wouldn't let him rattle her. "All right, that's enough. All kidding aside, we both know I don't have the type of figure that'd occupy your thoughts."
His brows shot up. "Is that so?"
"Or maybe you just think I'm dumb. Is that it?"
Appearing perplexed, he dazzled her with another smile. "I think you're smart. And sweet. And -"
"Gullible? Because I've seen you on television." May said it like an accusation. "And in movies."
He crossed his arms over his chest, a man at leisure. "You mean with women."
"Exactly. And none of them were anything like me."
"Now there's an undisputable truth."
More confused by the moment, she crossed her arms, too, and glared at him. "There. You see?"
"Yeah, I see." Moving too fast for her to react, he reached across the table and caught her arm, holding her in place as he moved around to close the distance between them. "They're actresses, May, assigned to the role. I don't pick them."
"But you sure seem to enjoy them."
He laughed. "Maybe you don't know it, or maybe you're just playing coy, I'm not sure which. But you're every bit as sexy as any of those women."
"You were just making fun of my suits!"
Jude ignored that. "You don't starve yourself or spend hours in a gym or in front of your mirror, but you're warm and soft and you've got a great ass."
Oh good Lord. No one had ever discussed her butt so blatantly before. "Most live bodies are warm and soft," she argued, but she'd lost a lot of her conviction.
"Most people don't smell as good as you do." He touched his nose to her temple. "Or act as sweet as you."
She quit straining away from him. "You really think I'm sweet?" Her brother would argue that point. Or her parents. And some of the people she did business with...
"Mmmm. You don't look down on others just because of what they have. You don't judge people by their possessions." He leaned back to see her face, holding her captive with the intensity of his blue eyes. "And you would never chase a man for his money."
Something in the way he said that brought May out of the sensual fog of pure fantasy. Jude looked sincere, at least in this. And so incredibly handsome, he made clear thoughts nearly impossible.
His inky black hair hung over his brow, bone straight and shiny as silk. His long dark lashes were at half-mast, his brows slightly drawn. Hollywood had voted him one of the "Most Beautiful People" and she had to agree. Success at the SBC made him revered as a fighter, and success at movies made him a prime catch for any producer. Wise investments had left him ultra rich.
So maybe most people did look more at the package than the real man. Maybe women saw the characters he played, and not Jude Jamison, flesh and blood. Did anyone else realize his love of art? Or his protective streak that ran a mile wide?
Did anyone else see his vulnerability?
They'd never gotten too intimate in conversation, but after the evening's event, she felt justified in prodding. "Is that what other women have done? They chased you for your money?"
Jude drew back as if she'd smacked him - a very telling reaction.
Had he been hurt? The possibility brought out her own protective instincts. He'd been through so much, and outwardly, he'd dealt with it all. But inside, how did he feel? "Jude?"
