Knocked Out By Love (Love to the Extreme) (6 page)

A man came over to them. A tight smile came to Scarlett’s lips while Delaney easily started a conversation with him. Everything about Scarlett was tense and unwelcoming. It was no wonder she’d resorted to having a couple of drinks last night to loosen up.

As much as he liked the idea that her awkwardness would keep men at bay, he hated seeing her so outside her element. She should have men lining up to be with her.

Body language said a lot, and the man gave up and walked away. Scarlett instantly brought her knees to her chest, covered her face with her hands, and shook her head. Delaney patted her on the shoulder and said something, most likely a bold-face lie that the encounter hadn’t been as bad as Scarlett thought.

Brody sucked his teeth. That had gone horribly, and she knew it. She’d said all she wanted to do was practice flirting, but what if she reached for the alcohol again? Last night had come close to disaster. Hell, he’d seen the horror on her face when she worried they’d slept together.

It was evident she had no intention of fucking anyone while she was here. Why was that?

She’d talked a lot of smack in his room about being over her marriage and over Ryan, but she’d just found out about his affair, and her emotions were raw. She was rightfully hurt. However, some marriages were able to work past infidelity. If there was one couple he thought could do it, it was Ryan and Scarlett.

If she ended up getting shit-faced and doing something stupid like she almost had last night, that would just add more hurt and guilt to their problems.

She asked for a safe man.

To her, he was safe.

Still, he made himself stay where he was and watch. A few other men approached the girls. Delaney was welcoming, but Scarlett never wavered from her aloof attitude. Each man ended up focusing on Delaney while Scarlett looked around, the obvious third wheel.

After the last guy kissed the top of Delaney’s hand and gave Scarlett an awkward nod, Brody had seen more than he needed to. He stood up and walked over to them.

Scarlett lowered her sunglasses down her nose. “Brody. Hey.”

He stood at the end of her lounge chair and hesitated for just a brief moment. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d spent time alone with her. He’d done it plenty of times in the past without anything ever happening, not even a lingering weird glance. This would be no different. “Tonight. Seven o’clock.”

The grin she gave him should have made him feel good. All it did was make him certain he would regret ever agreeing to this.

Chapter Four

Why was she so nervous?

Scarlett fidgeted with the hem of her skirt. It was just Brody. They had been out plenty of times in the past, just the two of them. Brody had embraced her presence the moment Ryan had introduced her as his girlfriend. Over the years, they’d formed their own friendship outside of Ryan. It had been nice. They’d meet for lunch or catch a matinee when Ryan wasn’t available to take her.

Yeah, he was Ryan’s best friend, and she really had no idea how Brody felt toward her ex, whether he felt betrayed in his own way that Ryan had never confided in him. But one thing was clear—he did not condone his friend’s action. There was some comfort in that. It made her feel less alone than she had before. Delaney, of course, would have her back. But she hadn’t been counting on Brody’s support. It went to show what kind of man he really was.

She glanced at the clock.

Ten to seven. She took a deep breath.

“Chill out, chick. You’re acting like you’re going on a real date.”

“I know. It’s stupid, right?”

Delaney eyed her. “Nah. I like that Brody is going to get you out there and feeling comfortable again—without the excess booze.”

Earlier, Scarlett had groveled for forgiveness from her friend. Delaney had brushed the matter aside as if it wasn’t a big deal, stating it wasn’t like Scarlett hadn’t had a few run-ins with the devil-horned Delaney in the past, mostly when Scarlett had been encouraging her to leave her ex. So last night’s incident was swept under the rug with the promise that they’d have a killer rest of the trip.

“I feel bad about leaving you up here by yourself.”

Delaney waved her hand and made a
pftt
sound. “About what? The room service I’m about to gorge myself on, or the in-house massage I ordered? I’m looking forward to a night in. As much as I love being in the beautiful Bahamas, it doesn’t mean I want to do something every night. There’s only so much clubbing and drinking a girl can do. We’ll do something tomorrow night. Besides, we have to get up early in the morning to go snorkeling.”

Scarlett was really looking forward to that. She had never been snorkeling. The adventure they’d picked was an additional charge, but had come highly recommended by everyone.

“As long as you don’t care.”

“Seriously, go get your groove back. Besides there are worse things in the world than having to look across the table at Brody Minton.”

“Do you have the hots for him?” Scarlett asked, surprisingly unsettled by the idea.

“I won’t lie, I wouldn’t mind spending a night on that man’s arm. There’s something more to him than your typical guy.”

“I could probably hook you up on a date.” Why did she not like that?

The only real explanation was that Brody had always been hers, in a way. She’d missed him over the last year, had even tried getting him to go places with her. But after the sixth “rain check,” she’d stopped asking.

Delaney shrugged. “We still have a few days here. We’ll see how things go.”

A tap came from the door, and Scarlett’s heart picked up speed. She had to chill out, like Delaney said. These kinds of nerves were only asking for a night as dreadful as the last.

She opened the door and was shocked at the flutter that hit her stomach. Brody was dressed in a pair of dark denim designer jeans and a fitted polo shirt that hugged his strong shoulders and stretched across his wide chest. His longish dark hair was styled back from his forehead.

His light brown eyes lowered over her. She couldn’t tell by his expression if he approved of what he saw. Unlike the dress from last night, where the fabric had clung and dipped, she’d decided on a flirtier outfit for this occasion. The strapless floral dress hit mid-thigh, a look she’d finished off with strappy heels.

It was much more a cutesy dress than it was seductive. More her speed. She’d jumped too quickly into the seductive pool twice now and didn’t have the confidence to back it up yet. Today by the pool had been a disaster, especially if Brody had given in and agreed to be her mentor. He had to have seen how horrible she was around men.

“
Damn
girl,” he said in a very appreciative voice.

A grin spread across her lips. Okay. She could get used to this.

“Shall we?” he asked, offering his arm.

She sent Delaney a smile before stepping out in the hall and closing the door behind her. She took his arm. “Let’s.”

They walked down the hall in silence for a few moments. Finally she asked, “What do you want to do tonight?”

“I’ve got it all planned out. You just relax and enjoy.”

She could get used to this, too. Ryan had never been much of a date planner. From the time they’d started dating, his go-to had always been, “whatever you want, babe.” So she ended up always making the plans for them. This was a very nice change.

They stepped outside and followed a stone path toward the beach. It didn’t take much to realize where they were going to eat dinner. The resort offered a quaint seaside restaurant. It wasn’t one of the more upscale dining places, but when she’d passed it the first time, she thought it would be a great spot to have dinner and watch the sun set.

When they reached the open air restaurant, Brody led her to one of the picnic tables. A white cloth covered the wood. The small space was set up for dinner and had a more elegant atmosphere than the “beach bum” feel it had for lunch. Tiki torches had been lit and the shades lowered around them, except for the section facing the water, where the orange glow of the sun brightened the horizon.

“I know this isn’t the nicest restaurant here. But I thought we could have dinner and watch the sun set.”

She blinked at him, stunned that he’d had the exact same thought she’d had. Not that the idea was unique. Plenty of people probably had the same notion when they saw this restaurant for the first time. But to be so in sync with the person she was dining with was so outside her usual experience, and it was oddly exciting.

After they sat down, she picked up the menu. So far the food at the resort had been amazing, and she was determined to try something different at each meal. At home, she was rarely this adventurous. She always stuck with old favorites she knew she’d enjoy. Here, she could try anything under the sun, and if she hated it, that was okay—she’d just pick something else.

Once the waiter had taken their orders—her blackened snapper with lemon caper sauce, and Brody’s New York strip with blue cheese butter—she linked her fingers and laid them on top of the table, leaning forward. “So what have you been up to the last year?”

Brody took a sip of his beer before saying, “Not much, really. Training my ass off.”

“I watched your fight a few months ago.”

A pleased smile turned up his lips. “You did? With Ryan?”

The mention of her ex caused her stomach to twist. Clearing her throat, she lightly shook her head. “I may be a novice to this dating thing, but I’ve read an article that advised against talking about your ex on a first date. So let’s not mention the R word the rest of night, okay?”

“You’re right,” he said with a sharp nod. “Force of habit. I apologize.”

“No need. Just putting it out there. But to answer your question, no, I didn’t watch it with him. He was on a business trip.” Now she knew what those “business trips” meant, and there was no way Brody didn’t, either.

But there was no pity in Brody’s warm eyes; if anything he seemed more pleased than he had a few moments ago. “So you watched it on your own, huh?”

“Why do you sound so surprised?”

“In all the years I’ve known you, Scarlett, I can count on one hand the times you’ve watched a fight.”

True. It wasn’t that she had anything against Mixed Martial Arts. She didn’t. It was definitely a respectable sport, but she just couldn’t get into it like she could football. Now,
that
was her sport.

“There was nothing else on television.”

Brody laughed, and she grinned in response. Gosh, she hadn’t realized how much she’d enjoyed that sound until this very moment.

“That’s more like it.”

“I’d heard you were dating a veterinarian a while back.”

“I thought we weren’t talking about exes?”

“
My
ex…unless your story comes with some serious baggage.”

“Nah.” Brody waved off the comment. “It was never like that. I wasn’t dating Julie as much as I was letting her use me to make her now-fiancé jealous.”

“What kind of woman—” She stopped mid-sentence when he held up his hand.

“She had no idea I was letting her use me.
She
had no idea she was using me. She was trying for an actual relationship. But I knew the minute I showed up on our first date and her best friend opened the door—there were some unresolved feelings there. So I decided to have a little fun.”

“What did you do?”

“Just made Tommy realize that he had a good woman beside him, and if he didn’t snatch her up, someone else would.”

“So you played matchmaker?”

He shrugged. “A little.”

“So, you’re a romantic.”

“Maybe a smidge,” he said, with another shrug and a half-grin.

The waiter returned with their food and placed their plates in front of them. The blackened fish smelled fantastic, but the hunk of medium-rare beef on Brody’s plate looked absolutely amazing. She should’ve ordered the steak, damn it. She cut into her fish with her fork and took a bite. Lemon with a spicy kick flooded her taste buds. It was definitely delicious, something she’d be glad she tried, but old favorites were old favorites for a reason—it was the steak that was making her mouth water.

Brody shoved a forkful of the meat into his mouth, closed his eyes and groaned. “Shit. This place knows how to cook a cow.”

Rub it in why don’t you.
As she was raising her fork for another bite, Brody cut a nice-sized portion of his steak and put it on her plate. She froze. “What’re you doing?”

“I’ve watched you eye my meal since the waiter placed it in front of me. I’m sharing.”

Her mouth popped open in surprise. “You’re sharing?”

“Yep.”

She glanced down at her fish, then used her fork to cut a chunk off. Brody immediately shook his head. “No, thank you. I’m not a fan of snapper.”

“But you just gave me big part of your meal.”

“It’s okay, really. I want you to enjoy your meal.”

All she could do was stare at him. The gesture was just so sweet. Not that she’d never had someone do sweet things for her—Ryan had, especially the first few years of her marriage—but it’d been a long time since a man had worried about her needs first. Brody looked up from his plate.

A jolt hit her low in the stomach as his caramel-colored eyes met her gaze. Well, that was different. But it wasn’t scary. Honestly, it felt right. It made sense. She’d always felt a special connection with Brody—it would be only natural for attraction to seep in now that she was single.

The longer they stared at each other, the more the air between them thickened. “Thank you,” she finally said.

Brody swallowed and glanced away. So, he’d felt it, too. She couldn’t tell how
he
felt about it, though.

He popped another piece of steak into his mouth and chewed. “I thought we’d go dancing after dinner. What do you think?”

She didn’t like the way he was avoiding her gaze now. Yeah, that had been a weird moment. “That sounds like fun.”

“Maybe you can dance with a few different men tonight.”

He still hadn’t looked at her, and she slowly lowered her fork back onto her plate. “I thought you were going to give me some coaching tonight.”

His gaze darted up to her then skated away again. “I am, but I can’t see how dancing with me is going to be any help at all. Dinner has proved you’re too comfortable with me. Dating, especially first dates, are rarely, if ever, comfortable, especially at the start of the date. You need to practice with strangers.”

There wasn’t anything comfortable about what had sparked to life between them a moment ago. That had been excitingly
un
comfortable. Why was he pushing her off on another man? “But—”

“I’ll be there. You’ll still be safe. If you start to feel overwhelmed we can come up with a signal, and all you have to do is give it, and I’ll step in. Sound good?”

She blew out a breath. Maybe she’d been wrong. Maybe he hadn’t felt it. God knew, she was horrible at picking up on cues. Or…maybe he had, and it freaked him out so much that he was making sure to put distance between them. Either way, it was clear he wanted her to focus on other men and not him. Disappointment settled on her chest, which was crazy. “Yeah. Sounds good.”

“It’s a plan then,” he said. “They’re having a dance party tonight around the pool. I’ll stand watch, and you go mingle your hot ass off.” He popped the meat in his mouth and gave her a pressed-lip smile before he chewed.

“What about you?” she asked as she took a bite of the steak Brody had put on her plate. Though it tasted heavenly, it lay heavy on her tongue, and she had a hard time swallowing it.

“What about me?”

“Are you going to mingle your hot ass off?”

“I think I might.”

And if that didn’t just make everything perfectly clear. Brody had no interest in her as a woman. Not that it should surprise her. Hadn’t it been the way for years now with her own husband?

There had to be someone on this damn island that found her attractive, and not because she was two sheets to the wind. She planned to put everything she had in dancing tonight.

…

If he had to watch her dance with one more fucker, he was going to punch something. Brody raked a hand over his face, trying to rein in the jealous green monster that was pretty much screaming at him to go rip her away from the fourth man who’d asked her dance.

At dinner, his advice that Scarlett dance with others had seemed like a wise idea. Especially because, after all these years, it’d finally happened—the lingering, heated glance. He’d felt it all the way to his fucking balls, and he’d blurted out the dancing idea.

It’d been one of dumbest suggestions to come out of his mouth.