Broken Love

by Jillian Dodd

  "I think we all need to cool off in the pool," Cade says. "Cash, you're in charge of getting us some beers."

  "I'm not your slave boy," Cash argues, giving his brother a backhand to the stomach. Cade doesn't flinch, just flexes his midsection, causing it to harden.

  I swallow, remembering exactly how each of those muscles feels underneath my touch. That's it, missy. No more alcohol for you.

  "I'll get the beer," their dad says. "Boys, how about some cigars, too?"

  "Sounds perfect," Carter says, stripping off his shirt and running toward the pool. "Last one in is a rotten egg."

  The boys barrel past each other, laughing, pushing, and clawing their way up the stairs from the beach to their villa.

  "Boys," Ashlyn says, rolling her eyes.

  "Never a dull moment," their mother agrees. "Why don't you girls take a swim. I normally don't drink and was thinking a little siesta sounded good. We can make the brownies later."

  "Uh, okay," I say, thinking this is my chance to leave. But as I watch Cade and his brothers dive into the pool, I decide I really don't want to. Since my dad passed away, my mother has moved to Palm Springs and Pike is usually on the road. I'm enjoying this family time.

  And did I mention Cade is shirtless?

  Yeah, I think maybe I did.

  "So who won?" Ashlyn yells as we strip off our dresses and dip our toes in the pool.

  "I did!" Cash yells.

  Carter throws a chokehold around his little brother's neck then dunks him under the water. "No, way! I did."

  Cade sweeps his hand across the surface, launching a wall of water on Carter as Cash breaks free and comes up for air.

  "Actually, Palmer was the last one in," he says, his heated gaze following the curves of my bikini-clad body. "She's the rotten egg. And you know what that means!"

  I glance at Ashlyn, wondering what that means. She shrugs in my direction.

  Carter jumps out of the pool, runs to the outdoor bar, grabs a bottle of tequila out of the fridge, and shakes it at me. "You get to eat the worm."

  "No way!" I say, backing out of the pool.

  Then I look closer at the bottle of Casa Dragones Joven, knowing it's one of the most expensive tequilas you can buy. It's my brother's personal favorite. I also happen to know there is no worm in it.

  Carter brings the bottle to the pool stairs, boxing me in between him and Cade.

  "You hold her down," he says to Cade. "I'll pour."

  Cade grabs me around the waist and pulls me backwards into the pool. I'm like putty in his hands, hoping he will mold me into something he'll never let go of.

  But I scream. I am an actress, after all. "Ahhh! Put me down!"

  Of course, he doesn't listen. Even though I kick and buck to get free, I stay firmly wrapped in his strong, muscular arms.

  "You gonna make this easy or hard?" he asks.

  "I want it to be hard," I sigh as he presses me tightly against his body. "Um, I mean, I'm going to make it hard." Shit. "I mean--"

  Cade chuckles. "I think I know exactly what you mean, you naughty little minx."

  I still pretend to struggle, but mostly I'm just wiggling my ass against his torso, much like I used to when I would wake up in the morning with him spooning me. It was a sure fire way to start the morning right.

  "Stop doing that," he says sternly.

  "Doing what?"

  His hands move down to my ass. "You're rubbing this against me. Don't think I don't remember your little sex tricks."

  "I don't even know what you're talking about," I lie.

  "You know you're turning me on. And you love it." He pulls me tighter against him, so I can feel that he does indeed love it, but in the process is pulling me away from the tequila.

  Carter swims across the pool toward us. "That's it," he says. "Don't let go of her, Cade."

  Ashlyn claps and cheers. "Shots for the rotten egg!"

  "Hey, you got in the same time I did."

  Cash barrels out, picks Ashlyn up off the stairs, and leaps in the pool with her. They come up kissing.

  I let out a sigh. It's so romantic.

  "You totally ruined my hair, Cash!" she chastises, as she hugs him tighter and kisses his neck.

  We watch their display of affection, going from a sweet kiss to some serious petting.

  "Okay!" Carter says. "Either get a room or take a shot!" He glances at Cade and me and points his finger in our direction. "That goes for you two as well."

  "What are you talking about?" Cade says, loosening his grip. "You're the one who told me to grab her."

  "Uh, huh," he says, swimming out to me and holding up the bottle.

  I comply, opening my mouth and allowing him to pour a long shot directly into it.

  "Ashlyn's turn!" I yell.

  "I had a bad tequila experience once," she says.

  "This is top of the line. Honestly, we should be sipping it, not shooting it, but what the hell, we're on vacation," Carter says. "So suck it up, buttercup."

  Ashlyn rolls her eyes but does the shot. The brothers then pass the bottle around, each taking a slug.

  "Oh, sure, doing shots without me," Chloe says, joining us poolside with a cute guy in tow. "This is uh..." she looks at him, "tell me your name again."

  "Evan."

  She snaps her fingers. "That's right." Then she says to us, "Everyone, this is Evan. He makes pornos and just asked me to star in one. Can you believe my luck?"

  Cade chokes on his tequila.

  She strips off her dress, showing off a very skimpy bikini and numerous tattoos. "I'm just fucking with you. Evan is an assistant producer, sent here to scout a location. We just met on the beach."

  She tells Evan each of our names.

  "Wow, Palmer Montlake and Ashley Roberts," Evan says, "so honored to meet you both."

  "It's Ashlyn Crawford," Ashlyn states. "I just got married."

  Evan looks mortified.

  "Evan and I need some of that tequila," Chloe says, swimming out to Cade and taking the bottle from him. She takes a gulp then gets out of the pool, taking the bottle with her. "Smell you later," she says, dragging Evan back toward the beach and flipping her brothers off in the process.

  Cade

  After messing around in the pool, watching the brownie making class, and then having a late meal overlooking the dark ocean, Palmer thanks my parents for dinner and the brownie recipe.

  "It's been lovely having you spend time with us, Palmer. We're leaving in the morning to go back home, but don't be a stranger. Cade will walk you home," Mom says, giving me a look. "I don't want her walking home alone at night."

  I consider making Carter do it, but he's sulking over the fact that Vale bailed on meeting him here. Something to do with a last minute photo shoot.

  I smile at my mother, who is trying to be subtle, but clearly playing matchmaker. "Of course, I'll walk her home."

  Palmer hugs my siblings and Ashlyn goodbye, then we make our way down the stairs to the beach.

  "It's been a great day, Cade," she says, twirling around in the sand. I always loved her spontaneity. Since we broke up, I've been living a pretty rigid life, trying to make myself feel in control. It's all an illusion though. My life only feels centered when she's in it.

  I smile at her, take her hand, and we run together down the beach. Once we're panting a little, I drop to the sand on my back.

  "Remember?" I ask her, throwing my hands up over my head and spreading my legs wide.

  "Sand angels!" She lets out an adorable squeal and falls to her back. "What you do when there's no snow," she says, repeating what she told me then.

  She stands on her tiptoes in the sand and kisses me.

  "It's overcast, there's a soft ocean breeze, and the beach is practically ours. It's the perfect day!" she yells as she falls straight back into the fluffy sand. I have a moment of panic, thinking she passed out or something, but she's lying on the ground with her arms in the air and a huge smile across her face. "Drop back, Cad
e. Make sand angels with me!"

  "You're crazy," I tell her, laughing, then drop back and do the same, moving my arms above my head to make the wings and my feet back and forth to make the robe.

  "Get up really carefully," she says, "so you don't ruin it."

  I stand up carefully, meeting her back where we started.

  "Sand angels are what you do when there's no snow."

  "I've lived by the beach my whole life and never made a sand angel," I tease.

  She presses her lips against mine. "I want us to experience the rest of life's firsts together, Cade."

  We both carefully stand up and move away from our angels. "After our sand angels, 'life's firsts' became sort of our couple's mantra, didn't it?" she says.

  "We did a lot together. Experienced new countries, new restaurants, new feelings. You even forced me to do one of those classes where we had to paint a picture. I must have been in love," I say with a laugh. "Good thing I didn't tell my brothers. I'm pretty sure they would have pulled my man card."

  The ocean breeze blows her hair across her face as she laughs. I automatically tuck it behind her ear.

  Palmer's hand grazes my forearm as I do. Her touch is like lightning on my skin, sending a jolt of regret pinging through me.

  "Come on," she says, leading me to the door of her hotel. "Now you can tell your mother that I arrived safely."

  I look down, my eyes landing on the lush mounds barely concealed under her dress.

  Her fingers move to her collarbone and then slide down toward her cleavage. "Hard to believe this broke us up."

  "That's not why we broke up."

  "It's what started our, um, disagreement," she argues.

  "No," I say hotly. "We broke up because you wouldn't listen to me. And you can be so fucking stubborn."

  "Pot, meet kettle." Her face breaks out in a wide smile. The smile that always made my days brighter. "You didn't have a problem with your other clients showing their assets. You were jealous, plain and simple."

  "That's not true at all. Your--never mind. It doesn't matter," I say, my hand immediately touching the spot near my hairline. "I still have the scar to prove it."

  "You have a scar?" she says, standing on her tiptoes, grabbing my cheeks, and studying it.

  "Well, you did throw a hot curling iron at my head," I say, causing me to drift back in time.

  "I have good news," I say, walking into my bathroom, where Palmer is curling her hair.

  "I have better news," she says, setting the iron down, and throwing her arms around me, planting a kiss on my lips. All she's wearing are skimpy little boxer shorts and her bra. Although we're supposed to be at her mom's for dinner shortly to tell her the good news, I'm thinking we may have to be a little late.

  "My brother is in town! He's coming to dinner tonight. We can tell them both!" She pulls back, holding out her left hand and gazing at the sparkling diamond engagement ring I slid on her finger this weekend when she said yes.

  I back away, sitting on the edge of the tub. "I was hoping to tell your mom first," I say. Her brother, Pike, my long-time best friend, doesn't know I've been seeing his little sister behind his back. "He's not going to be happy for us. He's going to be pissed."

  "You've wanted to tell him since our first date six months ago, now all of a sudden you're scared? Don't worry, Cade. He'll be fine about it."

  "No, Palmer, he won't be. I can't believe I ever let you talk me into hiding our relationship. Especially from my best friend."

  "It hasn't been that hard. He travels all the time."

  "I still feel guilty every time I talk to him."

  "Cade, seriously. I'm an adult, and I can date whoever I want."

  "That's not the issue. The issue is that we have been lying about it."

  She leans against the counter, looking sexier than ever. I really don't want to fight with her about this. I'm dying to tell her my good news. "Never once have we lied about it."

  "Lying by omission is just as bad."

  She rolls her eyes then turns her back to me, picking up the curling iron and wrapping a strand of hair around it, ignoring the subject. Our relationship is complicated because I've been friends with her brother since high school, which is exactly why when we were just hooking up in the beginning, she didn't want him to know.

  "Once we started dated exclusively, we should have told him." I run my hand through my hair, pushing it back, knowing he's going to kill me and now not looking forward to tonight.

  She looks at me in the mirror, while she curls another strand and argues, "But I didn't want to. I didn't want him lecturing me about dating my agent. About dating his best friend. If he gets pissed, just blame me. I'll take it. I can deal with my brother."

  "It's not that I can't deal with him. It's the fact that I asked you to marry me without asking for your family first. That's not the way I was raised. If your dad was still alive, I would have asked him." And I would have. On his deathbed he told me to take care of his girl. I never knew if he meant take care of her from a career standpoint or if he could tell there was more between us.

  Tears fill her eyes. "I still can't believe Dad's gone," she says. Her dad passed away three months ago, after discovering he had stage four pancreatic cancer. I had convinced her to tell her family about us just before we got the news about his diagnosis. She was devastated and said she couldn't deal with it. When I would push the subject, she'd break down crying, and I felt like an ass. And as much as it is a subject of contention between us, everything else about us is amazing. Deep down, I don't want to rock the boat either.

  I am stupidly in love with this girl.

  My mom says that love knows no boundaries, and I suppose this is true.

  "So what's your good news?" she asks, changing the subject.

  "I got a contract today for the movie you auditioned for. You got it, baby! They want you for the starring role."

  "Oh my God! Are you serious!" She sets the iron down and throws her arms around me again. "What an amazing week! First we get engaged and now this! Can you believe this? It's my dream, Cade!"

  "I'm your agent. Of course, I can believe it. You're beautiful, talented, and funny. This role was made for you." I give her a long congratulatory kiss. "There could be one little catch, but I'll take care of it."

  "What catch?"

  "They requested a nudity clause. I told them no, of course."

  "You what?! Why would you do that without asking me first?!" Her face turns red; she has a quick temper like her brother. I stay calm.

  "Part of my job and why you should have an agent negotiate for you--is because you're too emotionally involved. Besides, we agreed early on that you wouldn't do that. You said it's what you wanted." And it's also what I promised her brother, when he came to me after she'd gotten her first small role and asked me to be her agent.

  "So they want me to get naked? Like completely?"

  "The clause calls for a shot of sideboob in a love scene."

  "Sideboob? That's it?"

  "It's a little more than that. In the movie, it will look like you're making love. You'll be sitting on top of your co-star. They asked for a naked side shot from the waist up. I told them it was nonnegotiable."

  "Why would you do that? This is my big break, Cade! What if they change their minds and don't want me?"

  "Then we find another movie to do."

  "It's not that easy. Do you know how many auditions I've been to? How many roles I've missed out on? I want you to call them back right now and tell them I'll do it. I was a model, Cade. It's not like people have never seen the side of my boob before."

  "I realize that, but this has a different context. It's a sex scene. Your boob will be against your co-star. Of course, they would put a flesh-toned pastie over your nipples, but still. And--"

  "Is that what this is all about?" she yells, angry tears forming. "You just don't want me to do this movie because you're jealous! It's acting, Cade. If you can't deal with me doing love scen
es then we shouldn't get married!"

  "I'll deal with it. I promise. I'm a good negotiator, and I'll get them to take it out. Calm down."

  "Don't tell me to calm down. Don't you dare. I'm signing it. Give me the contract. Now!"

  "No, you're not."

  "You can't tell me what to do."

  "I'm your agent. I'm supposed to help guide your career."

  "You're not acting like my agent! You're acting like a stupid jealous boyfriend! Do you not understand what this means to me?"

  "Fiancee," I correct. "This is business, Palmer, not personal. This is what you told me were your priorities since I took you on as a client. Think about how your dad would have felt if you did a scene like--"

  "Oh, don't you fucking dare bring my dad into this!" Tears pour down her face. "You're being a jealous asshole!"

  I try to pull her into my arms, but she throws her arms up in the air, blocking me. "Don't touch me. Either agree with me or you're fired."

  "Palmer, I don't think we'll lose the deal over it, or I never would have told you about it."

  "Not told me about the deal of a lifetime? I can't even believe you'd be willing to risk my career over a fucking sideboob!"

  "Palmer, there will be other movies if this isn't the right one."

  "I want to do this movie. This movie is my big break. It's everything."

  "Not this way."

  "Fuck you, Cade! You're fired!" She throws the curling iron in my direction. I duck, but the hot barrel pings against my forehead and tumbles to the ground as she storms out of the room, crying.

  I run after her. I just need to calm her down so we can discuss this rationally.

  I round the corner into the hall and see her reaching for the knob on the front door.

  "Palmer, don't go!" I yell.

  She takes off her engagement ring and sets it on the table. "I'm sorry, Cade. I can't marry someone who doesn't support my career."

  Then she storms out the door, jumps in her car, and drives away.

  I stand still, looking down at the ring. The ring that represents my future happiness.

  I take a deep breath.

  She's just mad. She'll calm down. We'll talk tomorrow. Have amazing make-up sex. Everything will be okay.

  But as I pick up the ring and hold it in my hand, I have a moment of doubt. Was I wrong? Could I ruin her career before it really gets started over something so stupid as a sideboob? If she was any one of my other clients, I would have been fine with the clause.