by Abby Niles
Brody confirmed her words with a tight smile. “Some of that memory coming back?”
She lowered her head into both hands and groaned. “I’m so sorry, Brody.”
“Honestly, it’s Delaney you probably want to apologize to.”
Her head snapped up, and then she immediately wished she hadn’t done that, as a slice of pain went through her temple. Rubbing the throb with two fingers, she asked, “What did I do?”
“She was trying to be a good friend to you, and you got pissy about it.”
If Delaney was trying to stop her from doing something, then whatever it had been was bad. “I suck.”
“I’m not going to argue with that.”
Ouch. “You can stop with the holier-than-thou crap. It’s clear I screwed up. I’m human. It happens.”
“You’re right.” He took a deep inhale and released it in one huge rush. “I apologize.”
She’d known Brody a long time. Something was bothering him. He was stiff, snarky, and uncomfortable. Had she said something last night about the state of her marriage? There was a good chance she had, and God only knew what confessions had spewed from her drunken mouth. She felt heat warm her skin again. To distract herself, she took a sip of the sports drink and winced at its strong orange flavor. She abhorred sports drinks, but knew she was dehydrated and needed the electrolytes. Brody stood staring at her intensely. Avoiding his gaze, she looked around his room—a much larger and nicer room than hers.
On her budget, she couldn’t afford one of the rooms that opened right on the beach like this one did. Their room was located on the third floor, and was a good distance from the ocean. The view was still beautiful, but nothing like the one a few feet away through the floor-to-ceiling sliding glass door.
“This had to cost a small fortune,” she said, trying to steer the topic away from last night.
“Yeah. Most likely.”
“You don’t know for sure?”
“Didn’t pay for it. Tessa’s fiancé did. He paid for the entire trip.”
That got her to look back at him and his intense stare. “Wow. You’ve got a huge family. Who’s she marrying? Donald Trump?”
“Something like that. I’ve only met the guy a few times, with her living in New York now.”
“How’d they meet?”
“According to Tess, it was a classic Cinderella story. She was falling flat on her face in New York and needed some extra money. She started cleaning apartments on the side. He’s a job she landed, and, well…she went from scrubbing floors to riding in limos.”
Poor Tessa. She was so wrapped up in the fantasy of it all. One day, though, reality would seep into the relationship, and that was when love was really tested.
“I hope her fairy tale doesn’t end,” she muttered.
“What was that?” Brody asked.
“Nothing.”
Silence stretched between them, then a heavy sigh came from Brody’s direction. “Scarlett, I’ve known you for a long time. Even before you got completely shit-faced last night, you were acting weird, like someone not you at all.”
She glanced away. “Maybe I wanted to be someone different.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean why? Don’t people do that all the time? Hell, don’t you do that every time you step inside the cage? I happen to know for a fact the fighter isn’t the same man I used to sit around and chat superhero movies with.”
“Okay, fine,” he said between clenched teeth. “I was trying to let you do this on your own, but I guess you’re going to make me the douche and just come out and slap you with it.”
“Slap me with what?”
“Your behavior concerned me last night, so I called Ryan.”
Her entire world stilled. “You called Ryan.” She swallowed. “And what did he say?”
A wave of humiliation surged through her. She cursed it. She had nothing to be embarrassed about, nothing to be ashamed of. She had done everything right. Those reminders didn’t help. All she could think about was Ryan telling Brody how disappointing she was in bed, how he had to go outside their marriage to find a woman who could actually please him. Things he had most likely already told the fighter, but having them reiterated when she’d been at her weakest was mortifying.
“He didn’t say anything. I hung up.”
She blinked. “Why?”
“Because I got my answer without having to talk to him.”
It took her a second to follow his words. A gust of air shot from her mouth.
Brody hadn’t known. Ryan had never shared his dirty little secret with his best friend. To confirm this, she asked, “She was there, wasn’t she?”
He sucked on his teeth for a second, before he gave an awkward nod. “Yeah. Asked from the background who was calling so late.” He paused before saying, “Scarlett, I didn’t know.”
It would’ve been easier on her if he had. At least then she could be angry at him. Now she couldn’t be. “I often wondered if he was really with you when he claimed to be. You used to hang out at our place all the time, but over the last year you stopped coming around, and when he started going to your place…I was rarely included.”
A slight grimace crossed his face, which she didn’t understand. “I can’t say that every time Ryan said he was with me he was, but we still did hang out a lot. I just got busy, and he was busy, so it got easier to hang out at my place or meet at a restaurant and have a few drinks to catch up.”
“I guess there’s a small comfort that not every word that came out of the bastard’s mouth was a lie.”
“How long has it been going on?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know for sure.”
“When did you find out?”
“A few days ago.”
The last thing she’d said to the asshole before she’d gone to stay with Delaney was they were over, and she was filing for divorce. The relief on his face had one clear meaning—he wanted the divorce as much as she did. She’d gone to a lawyer and started the process the very next day.
“Well, that makes things a lot clearer.” He shook his head, muttering a curse. “Ryan’s an idiot, Scarlett.”
She rubbed her forehead. This was not a discussion she was comfortable having with Brody. “It is what it is, right?”
She could now move on without any what ifs.
Except one big one. That what if didn’t apply to her marriage falling apart, but it could keep her from completely letting go of the past—what if she got involved with another man and was just as disappointing to him in bed as she’d been to Ryan? What if she became the woman all men cheated on because she was lousy in the bedroom?
She hated herself for even thinking that about herself. But over the last couple of years, as things between them had gotten edgier, Ryan had started to constantly critique her lovemaking—made it clear he was bored with their intimate time and she had to loosen up to spice it up. The added stress had only made her tense up more. As it was, they hadn’t had sex in eight months. Though, his girlfriend probably had a lot to do with that. Still didn’t change the fact he’d sought someone else to please him in the bedroom because she was apparently lousy at it.
“What, exactly, was the point of this trip?” Brody asked.
How did she respond to that? Hell, how did she want to respond to that?
“I wanted to get reacquainted with the single me.” When his eyes narrowed, she quickly added, “It’s been a long time since I’ve been single, Brody. Ryan and I have been together almost eight years. I didn’t keep my flirting skills warmed up during our marriage, not like he apparently had, so I’m rusty.”
“Scarlett.” He raked a hand down his face. “Do you have any clue that you were going to allow some strange man to escort you back to your room last night?”
No. She didn’t remember that.
“Listen,” he continued. “If you want to flirt some, then go for it, but for God’s sake, be safe about it, and leave the liquor out of the
equation.”
She bit her lip. That had been a very foolish, rookie mistake that could’ve had terrible consequences. The only reason she’d drunk the way she had last night was because she’d needed the liquid courage. Unfortunately, she’d drunk way too much of it.
“I was nervous,” she admitted hesitantly.
The way Brody’s eyes rounded would’ve been funny if she hadn’t been dead serious.
“About talking to guys? You’ve got nothing to be worried about.”
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”
“You’re kidding, right? Jesus, Scarlett, you have to know how fucking hot you are.”
Flutters erupted in her stomach. No one had called her fucking hot before—not even Ryan. “Now you’re going overboard.”
He gave her an incredulous look. “You’ve lost your damn mind.”
“Brody, you’ve known me a long time. When is the last time you saw me in anything outside of teacher clothes or casual jeans and a T-shirt?”
He shrugged. “You’re hot as fuck in anything you wear.”
Again her stomach fluttered in unexpected excitement at his words. She never thought of herself as hot. Pretty, yes. But when she thought of hot women it was always along the lines of Sofia Vergara—even she thought that woman was hot—and she definitely didn’t fall into the same category as the voluptuous Columbian.
Ryan had said she looked beautiful and in the beginning, had thought she looked adorable in pigtails and such. But hot had never been one of the adjectives he’d used to compliment her. She found she liked it—a lot. It made some inner vixen she didn’t even know she had perk up and take notice.
“So, you think I’m hot?”
Brody blinked, then swallowed. “I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it.”
“Would you date me?” She was stunned at her own audacity, but the question just popped out.
His gaze slid away toward the patio before returning to hers. “If you weren’t my best friend’s wife—” Her eyes bulged in protest, and he held up his hands. “Sorry. Ex-wife.”
“I know it’s not official. I know it’s a process, but the moment I found out—”
About the baby.
She inhaled deeply, then released slowly. No. Don’t even go there. It was enough he was cheating. That Ryan was going to be a father after their infertility struggles was an agonizing pain she couldn’t bear just now. “The moment I found out he was cheating, he ceased being my husband”—she patted over her heart—“here. To me, that’s all that matters. I’m no longer his wife in anything but a legal sense, and that’ll be easily remedied.”
“Divorces takes a while, Scarlett.”
“Not if it’s uncontested. Since I don’t want a damn thing from that sorry piece of shit, other than to take my name back and be legally free of him, we’ll have this wrapped up in a few weeks.” She waved her hands in frustration. “We’ve gotten off topic. I don’t want to talk about Ryan. You never finished your answer. If I hadn’t been married to your jerkface friend, would you date me?”
“In a fucking minute.”
“You’re not just flattering me?”
“I’ve always thought Ryan was a lucky son of a bitch. Now I just think he’s a stupid one.”
“Thank you, Brody.”
She wasn’t sure how much of what Brody was saying was to make her feel better, but she could honestly say that he had helped. Before he’d stopped coming around, he’d done that a lot. If she was in the dumps and Brody showed up, it never failed that he would swoop her out of her bad mood by simply being there.
She wanted to get comfortable with flirting again. She’d blown it bad last night. Really bad, if she was going to have to apologize to Delaney. Brody had already helped her feel more desirable with a few simple words. Maybe he could help with some of the rest.
She bit her bottom lip.
“I know that gnawing the lip thing,” he said. “What the hell are you thinking?”
Should she even dare? She eyed him. It was a huge favor to ask. “I think I could use a little coaching.”
“On what?”
“Dating, of course.”
If his head had jerked back any farther, it would’ve fallen off. “You don’t need—”
“Think about it,” she interrupted. Now that she’d put it out there, she was really warming to the idea. What better way to ease back into singlehood after eight long years than with someone she had always been comfortable around. “Last night, I drank so much because I was trying to loosen myself up. I kept getting tongue-tied when a guy would come up to me. I won’t have to drink if I practice a little. Do you know I haven’t danced with a guy since…damn. My wedding.”
“Are you serious?”
“Dead serious. You’re safe. Didn’t you say I needed to be safe? What better person to help me get out of the rusty and into the polished than a guy that sees me as his best friend’s ex-wife.” She smiled. This really could work.
“Right. That’s exactly how I see you, and I’m not the person to do this, Scarlett.”
“Because of Ryan.”
A lengthy pause followed before he said, “Yeah, because of Ryan.”
Deflated, she sighed. Oh well. It was worth a shot.
“It was a stupid idea. I’ll just do it the way all women do—trial by fire. Just without the booze.” She scooted off the bed and stood up, wincing slightly as her stomach protested the movement. “I need to get back to my room and talk to Delaney. Where’re my clothes and I’ll get out of your hair.”
He stepped outside for a second then returned with her dress.
After going into the bathroom to change, she returned to the other room and found Brody standing ramrod straight, staring outside. He muttered something under his breath and shoved his large hands through his thick, dark hair.
“You okay?” she asked.
He jerked and turned his head in her direction. “Uh, yeah. Fine. Just thinking.”
By the looks of it, it was something big. “You just listened to me. Need to talk?”
Again his gaze strayed outside and away from her. “Nah. Just work shit. No big deal.”
“All right. Thanks again. I owe you one.” As she closed the door, she had the crazy notion that Brody was lying to her. Something about the way he’d avoided her gaze just didn’t ring true with his excuse.
But what kind of issue could he have with her?
…
Brody slung a beach towel over his shoulder as he made his way across the sand toward the huge resort pool about a hundred yards away. The beat of steel drums mingled with people’s laughter and conversations. All he wanted to do was find a nice shady spot under one of the oversize canary-yellow umbrellas, put in his earbuds, and forget about this morning.
He’d been way too tempted to take Scarlett up on her offer.
Way. Too. Tempted.
He wasn’t in the right frame of mind to do what she’d asked. Not only because of his unresolved feelings for Scarlett, but because he was fucking furious with Ryan for lying to him, not to mention how it sounded like he’d used Brody to cover up his cheating. Fucking asshole. That wasn’t cool, on so many levels, and made him see red every time he thought about.
A feminine voice shrieked from behind him. “Oh, thank God, there you are!”
Closing his eyes, Brody stopped and hung his head back, letting a defeated sigh breeze past his lips. He’d done well to avoid Tessa all day. It was time to pay the piper.
“What’s up, little sis?” he asked with his back still to her.
She rounded him with the same manic look she’d had yesterday. Her blond hair was frazzled, signaling she’d been fisting her hands in it. Everything light where he was dark, she was the complete opposite of him looks-wise. Hell, personality-wise as well. He took a much more laid back approach to life. Tessa had to plan every damn second or she felt like she wasn’t in control. Heaven for-freaking-bid she had one second she wasn�
�t in control. The world would end.
“Did you go for your last fitting this morning?” she demanded without preamble.
“Oh.” He grimaced, shoving his sunglasses to rest on the top of his head. “Damn. Nope. Totally forgot about it. I’ll do it later.”
“Brody!” She lightly popped him on the arm. “The wedding is in two days. We need to make sure that the tux place sent the correct suits. If one tux doesn’t fit, then everything is ruined.” Tears welled in her eyes.
He was a schmuck. He’d only meant to tease her, not make her cry.
“Calm down,” he said, giving her a quick brotherly squeeze. “I went. The tux fit. The world is not ending.” He studied her for a moment. Dark circles stained the skin under eyes. When was the last time she’d slept? “What’s going on? This is overly-obsessive even for you. Just chill out. Nick has everything covered so you can relax. How about just doing that?”
“Relax?” She stared at him as if he’d just suggested they take a trip to the moon. “How am I supposed to relax, knowing the amount of money Nick has shelled out for this wedding?”
“Jesus, Tessa. If something goes wrong, it’s his money he’s losing. It’s not your bank account. Stop worrying.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Worrying and second-guessing are all I’ve done for days.”
That sounded nothing like his normally self-assured sister, who never made a decision without being completely certain it was the best one for her. “Tessa, what’s going on?”
Tears rimmed her eyes, but she glanced away and crossed her arms. “Nothing.”
Yeah, fucking right. Big brother roared to the surface, and he puffed out his chest. “Do I need to kick someone’s ass?”
Namely a fiancé.
“Take it down a peg, Brody. I’m not fifteen anymore. If anyone needs their ass kicked it’s me, for jumping into this without knowing all the facts.”
“What facts?”
She was silent for a long moment before she looked up at him, her blue eyes moist. “Nick doesn’t want kids.”
All Brody could do was blink at her, unable to comprehend what she was saying. “Doesn’t want kids? Goddamn, Tessa. That’s a huge thing not to talk about. How did you get this far without discussing it?”
