“You OK?”
Green eyes accompanied a stern face . . . so different from the laughter that always seemed to dominate Rick’s expression. His entire body covered hers . . . from head to knee. She felt every hard edge of him. Every edge.
“Fine.”
Rick suddenly turned his face toward hers, and shoved her even farther under him. Glass splattered over them both.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed Meg and their friends fleeing through the back door.
Noise filled the room and the sound of fists meeting flesh made Judy cringe.
Rick practically lifted her off the ground at the same time he pushed off the floor, his arm a vise grip on her waist.
The minute he was on his feet, someone threw a punch and was met with Rick’s elbow, followed by his foot, tossing the drunk aside.
“Back door?”
Judy pointed in the direction her friends had just exited and Rick ran with her out the exit.
They stumbled into the damp alley, and the cool spring night smacked up against her face.
Without meaning it, she found a smile on her face despite the sting to her arm where she’d met the ground with Rick’s tackle. His blow to the ground was better than a chair across her head.
“Are you all right?”
She started to laugh.
“Judy?”
She leaned forward, hands on her knees to catch her breath and stop her laughter. “Ever notice how every time we see each other something crazy happens?”
It took a minute, but Rick started to laugh along with her. “I’m going to blame you.”
“Easy to do since I live here and you’re visiting.”
She straightened and placed a hand to her sore elbow. Then she remembered her favorite jean jacket inside the bar. “Oh, damn.”
“What?”
“Nothing . . . my jacket . . . whatever.” It wasn’t worth going back in for.
“Judy?” Meg called her name from the street.
“We’re here.”
Two patrons exploded from the back door, and Rick once again pulled her away from the fists flying as the fight moved onto the street.
They jogged away from the chaos and met with Meg and two of their male friends.
“That’s one way to end the night!”
Judy blew out a long breath. “I have my final to work on anyway . . . what time is it?”
“Not even ten.”
Judy cocked her head to the side as her eyes met Rick’s. The man was such a contradiction. Soft green eyes, thick muscles . . . easy smile, fierce protective gene.
“That’s it!” That’s what her project needed. Soft lines and thick wood. God, it was in front of her the whole time. It was going to be brilliant. OK, maybe not brilliant, but over-the-top unique and nothing that had been done before . . . or so she hoped.
“Utah?”
Judy didn’t consciously realize that she’d lifted her hand and traced Rick’s arm. Soft and thick . . . she snapped her hand back when he reached to steady her.
“Did you hit your head?”
It ached, actually . . . but that was probably the noise from the bar spilling out and the excitement of knowing exactly what she needed to do for her final.
“No . . . I’m good. Meg?” She turned toward her friend. “We gotta go. My final . . . I know what I need to do.”
Meg shook her head and laughed.
Rick grasped her hand before she could sprint away. “About that date.”
Judy tugged away, pointed a finger in his direction. “You didn’t win, Green Eyes.”
“I didn’t lose, babe.”
Judy laughed. God, he annoyed her in a perfect kind of way. “Until a rematch then.” As Meg was pulling her away, Judy said, “Thanks for keeping my head from being kicked in.”
Rick stood in the alley, rain drizzling all around him as the fight from the bar moved into the street and sirens started from somewhere east of the alley. “Anytime, Utah.”
Judy turned and ran down the rainy street to the apartment she shared with Meg, all the while knowing that Rick watched her from behind.
Chapter Two
Michael rented a small reception hall and cased in the Dom Pérignon for Judy, her friends, and their families.
Judy floated on a cloud. She’d aced her finals, had the well-earned honors cords around her neck, and a smile on her face that no one could knock off.
Meg stepped into the reception hall, her parents at her side.
Judy ran up and once again that day, threw her arms around her best friend. “We did it.”
“You’re a geek, Gardner. You knew we did it last week.” But Meg was smiling just the same.
“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Rosenthal.” She kissed Meg’s parents.
“You make me feel old, Judy.”
Judy shrugged, refusing to call Meg’s parents by their first names. “It’s the way I was raised. Have you met my parents?” She flagged over Janice and Sawyer and introduced them to Meg’s parents. Once the four of them started talking, Judy pulled Meg away.
“C’mon, we need some pictures.”
She started with Mike, but first she needed to drag him away from her other friends, who zeroed in on the celebrity and were asking for autographs.
She hugged her brother and let him lift her and turn her in a circle. “There’s the graduate.” He kissed her cheek.
“Thanks for the party.”
“What’s a rich older brother good for if not a decent graduation party?” Mike knew he was so much more than that.
“This is Meg, by the way.”
Unlike any of her other friends, Meg oozed coolness and none of that fan-girl crap. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Mike.”
Mike raised his eyebrow, probably because of the use of his name. Everyone other than family called him Michael. “I heard that the two of you were in a bar fight that may or may not have involved hustling pool.”
Meg shrugged. “Well, there was a bar fight, but we never hustle pool.”
The memory of that night had Judy looking around the room. She’d seen Rick in the back of the VIP box at graduation, but she’d not seen him since.
Judy stopped one of her friends as they walked by. “Can you take our picture?”
Judy sandwiched Mike between herself and Meg and blinked when the camera flashed. The second picture was perfect and she immediately posted it to Facebook.
“We need to get all of the family before anyone leaves,” she told her brother.
“I doubt Mom will let us leave without it.”
The waiter walked by, offered tall flutes filled with champagne, and the three of them toasted the day.