A/N: I'm terrible; I noticed. Long wait and a short update. My apologies to the people who read and review...(Erin McKinley, Duddley111, Camsma, Tommysmy21, smileon, LittleZurawski, Tommy4eva, mandy1485, bookworm0408, Sweetjudess, Tanya50801, Tommysgurl01, and xSoPreppyx22...thank you for reviewing, and I'm sure you won't have to wait so long for the next chapter.)
Tommy woke with a start, his cell phone blaring an annoying ringtone, and vibrating wildly on the nightstand. He mentally cursed Grayson for loading it to his phone...'Flight of the Bumble Bee' definitely wasn't his favorite.
"How fast can you be up and dressed?"
"Come again?" Tommy grunted as he glanced down at his wristwatch and concentrated on focusing his eyes on the long hand and the short hand.
"Jude," he grumbled, looking outside to make sure it hadn't stopped or anything, "What's the matter?"
"Nothing's the matter," she said, quickly. At the very moment, she was in her bedroom with Francesca packing.
"Oh, you realize it's 3 in the a.m.," he grunted, crawling back under his bedcovers.
"Well, you see, I kind of got the short end of the stick and now I have to take off to supervise the shooting of Mason's video for his next single "Say What You Want". So can you be packed and ready to go in the next forty-five minutes?"
"What?" Tommy asked again, clearly still only have conscious.
Jude let out an exasperated sigh and slowed her words down to 6 words a second. "Liam had to cancel because the baby's coming down with something. So I kind of had to fill in. Would you like to come to with me? It's supposedly business, but--"
"With you?" he yawned, finally throwing off
Jude nodded and then realized he couldn't see her. "Yeah, Florida. Would you like to come?"
"Why do you want me to come?" He asked, throwing his legs over the side of the bed, and sitting position.
"I'm not sure I know what you mean," she responded slowly, beginning to pace in front her balcony doors, taking a break from packing.
He sighed again, shifting his cell to his other hand as he groped the floor for his shirt. "Do you want me to go because you don't want me to stay here by myself," he yawned again, pulling his shirt over his head, and standing up to stretch. "Or for friendship."
"Friendship," she nodded, even though he still couldn't see her. "More than friendship." She added softly, immediately cursing herself for saying the aloud.
More than friendship? He thought smugly.
"More than friendship?" he repeated again aloud.
"Yeah, more than friendship, I might need your business expertise…" she clarified smoothly.
"Oh," he said, barely hiding his disappointment.
"What's the matter," Jude asked softly, glancing out her balcony window, watching Tommy cut on lights as he walked through out the pool house.
"What should I wear," he asked half-jokingly.
She smiled sadly, still watching his silhouette in front of the window. She shook her head, "Ummm…just pack for a few days, I have to finish packing plane leaves in less than hour."
"Hey, wait up a minute," glancing out his window shade up at her balcony. "Exactly are we going?"
Jude smiled, stepping away from her window and returning to her packing. "How about I surprise you." She smirked, as she flipped her phone closed and through it on her bed close to Francesca.
"My, aren't you going to have fun over the few days," she smirked.
"I'm going for business," Jude reminded her, turning back to her dresser. "How fun can business be?"
"You can go for business, and when you get finished with it, you can focus on a little pleasure. Pleasure of orgasmic levels." She explained.
"Have you seen that black Ralph Lauren suit? It's not at the dry cleaners is it?" Jude asked, effortlessly changing the subject.
"Behind your closet door," Francesca answered.
"Thank you," Jude said as she rushed to her closet to find the suit, and to hide her profuse blushing.
"I think you need to focus more on casual attire more than the business attire," Francesca commented as Jude reentered her bedroom.
"Why do you say that Francesca?" Jude mumbled, fumbling around in her closet.
"You are so annoying Jude…" Francesca sighed, throwing her arms up in defeat. "Tommy's been under the same roof for almost a month and you still haven't cracked. Is it self-control or stupidity that's keeping abstinent?"
"You like these open-toed shoes or the open-heeled ones?" Jude asked, ignoring the question at hand.
Francesca shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. "Must be stupidity. Or are you scared…"
"I'm not scared," Jude snapped, throwing the black leather open-toed shoes into her bag. "I'm just not into rushing things…"
"Honey," Francesca murmured softly.
"If something is supposed to happen, it'll happen."
"But don't you want to be prepared with sexy lingerie and killer heels just in case something happens."
Jude crossed her arms of her chest and rolled her eyes, trying hard to camouflage the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Yes." She mumbled, kneeling at the foot of her bed. Francesca watched her curiously as she felt under her bed for something.
"See, that's what I'm talking about," Francesca grinned, as Jude revealed a couple of pink bags with Victoria's Secret's emblem printed across the front of them.