“But we’re not still standing there, I take it?”
“We’re not.” He looked at her, frowned at whatever he saw in her expression, and added, “It’s okay, Bridge. Really. I’ll always be your friend, just not a naked friend.”
“Because I’m your boss, now?”
He laughed, which made her feel slightly diminished, as both boss and naked friend. “No. Sorry. I guess that should be a reason. Tell you what, I’ll add it to the list.”
There was a list? Holy shit. “Thanks. Thanks a lot.”
He had the grace to look chagrined. “Want to know the actual reason?”
Suddenly, no. “Couldn’t we just say things ran their course?”
He considered that. “We could. Um…I don’t think we should. Look, I’m a simple man. I don’t get many epiphanies. But I got one, concerning you, and I feel like I should share it.”
“Girl Crush” changed to an up-tempo dance song about someone wanting someone else to be happier, but she and Mad continued to sway slowly. Something uncomfortably close to a lump rose in her throat. She swallowed it down and mentally reinforced her brave face. “Share away.”
Mad actually looked excited. “Okay, so, remember a couple weeks ago when the rich dude with the custom Cirrus showed up and you freaked out, kissed Ford, and bolted like your pants were on fire?”
She resisted the urge to grind her teeth. “Yeah, Mad. I do, vaguely, remember that fine, fine moment of my life.”
“Right.” He patted the small of her back. “Course you do. Well, we all realized this guy, Archer, was someone from your past, despite the fact that you never mentioned him even once in the years I’ve known you. The air just kind of…I don’t know…crackled between you two.”
“Disdain,” she said. “The air crackled with disdain, on my part.”
“Uh-huh.” Mad nodded. “Well, I stood there, staring at the guy, thinking he looked sort of familiar. And then it hit me.”
“What hit you?”
“The epiphany.”
“You know what? I’m going to hit you in half a second if you don’t spill it.”
He smiled at her threat. “It hit me that he looked familiar because he’s about my height and kind of my coloring—light hair, light eyes. Get it?”
“Not really, no.” But the tequila in her stomach suddenly wasn’t sitting so well.
He stopped swaying them to the music. “Bridget, I was the stand-in. The body double. I was your surrogate Archer.”
Her what? She stared at the front of his shirt, processing his words. He seemed so damn excited by his conclusion, she hated to call bullshit on it, but…she looked him in the face. “Bullshit.”
Mad wasn’t paying attention to her. He stared somewhere over her shoulder, but his gaze quickly returned to hers. “Not bullshit. We look a bit alike. See?” With that, he took her shoulders and spun her around.
Putting her face-to-face with Archer.
Chapter Four
“Mind if I cut in?”
Archer endured the punch of want that hit him everywhere at once at the sight of Bridget in a slinky dress that showed every line of her body and heels that turned her long legs into an erotic proposition—one not aimed at him.
He ruthlessly blocked the shards of jealousy that threatened to slice at him, knowing she’d had that body pressed up against her former friend-fuck. Harnessing a cool he was far from feeling, he sent her a smile that challenged her to accept. She hated to back down from a challenge. At least, she’d used to.
She raised one dark eyebrow. “You sure you want to risk it? I’m wearing very high heels, and I’m not used to them. One wrong move, I might leave a hole in your foot. Accidentally.”
Inwardly, he smiled. Some things never changed. She still hated to back down. “I’ll take my chances.”
One step on his part, a half step on hers, and she was in his arms. At last. It felt like heaven, having her so close, her fingers linked casually at the back of his neck, his hands spread as low as he dared across the small of her back, her silk-covered breasts barely touching his sweater, her thigh brushing against him through the slit in her skirt.
But heaven came at a price. He wanted to hold her tight. Draw her in. Fit their bodies together the way they’d once fit automatically. He ached to tip her face up and kiss her gleaming lips, but he kept himself in check because she had to want it, too, and that would take time.
Luckily, he had time. The rest of his life, if necessary.
“So, you’re back,” she said, looking everywhere but at him.
“You knew I’d be back.” He kept his focus on her face. Those unfamiliar heels she wore put them almost at eye level. Eventually, she’d run out of other places to rest her gaze. “It’s a small town. Word travels. I figure by now you know I plan to stay.” Since he didn’t want to dive too deep into that, right now, he added, “How was the wedding?”
Her eyes met his, briefly, before her long black lashes shielded them. “All good. He said, ‘I do.’ She said, ‘I do.’” Her hands moved at his neck while she spoke. “They sealed it with a kiss. Pretty much storybook stuff.” She glanced at him again. “Why?”
Deliberately, he misunderstood her question. “I figure you guys don’t get quite this dressed up for a run-of-the-mill Saturday night. Plus, my realtor mentioned they’d set the date for this weekend.”
Her mouth turned down at one corner. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I know. You look amazing, by the way.”
“Yeah, well, don’t get used to it.” Her lips went neutral again. “It took forever.”
He laughed. “I’m not used to it. I think I could count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen you all done up.” Student life hadn’t required formal attire, and Bridge hadn’t been the kind of girl who refused to walk out the door without red-carpet ready hair and makeup. The opposite, really. He pulled her a little closer and moved his lips to her ear. “In my favorite memories of you, you’re not wearing any makeup. Your face is naked, just like the rest of you…”
She immediately stiffed. Wrong move. Easing his hold, he let her put some space between them. In clipped words, she asked, “Why. Are. You. Here?”
“There’s something here that I want very badly.”
“The airfield?”
“Captivity Air caught my eye, yes. It would round out Skyline’s holdings in the region nicely—”