“Is she still trying to set you up with someone?”
Barb’s psychic! “Eh. Sort of. She’s backed off a lot, but that’s just because she and Jace really want me to be with Aiden.”
“From what you said, I don’t see what was wrong with Aiden.”
I chewed on my bottom lip and thought back to just last weekend at Kinlee’s birthday party. Once Aiden and I were inside the house, he hadn’t made any more comments hinting at an us, and I’d been thankful for that. Because, other than completely ignoring him, I wasn’t sure what more I could do.
“Kam, honey?”
“Hmm?”
“That Aiden boy—is there something wrong with him? You stopped talking.”
“Oh, no.” I shook my head, even though Barb couldn’t see me, and sank into the cushions until I was comfortable. “No, there’s nothing wrong with him. He’s gorgeous, has a very admirable job, he’s polite . . . I’m sure you’d love him. He’s just not it for me, you know? I went on that one date with him, but there was nothing more than a friend bond for me.”
Barb stayed silent for a few moments, and just as I was about to ask if she was still there, she spoke softly. “I know you’ll find a good man, Kamryn. You just have to. Your life is finally going how it always should have, and I just know there’s a man lined up in there somewhere. But you’re only twenty-three. You have plenty of time to find him.”
I’d found him, there was no question about that. “Right.”
“Okay, sweet one, I need to get up early to get your parents’ Sunday brunch started, so I need to get me some sleep. You have a good rest of your weekend, all right?”
“’Kay. Love you, Barb.”
“I love you too.”
I pressed END and let my phone fall to the cushion as I stood to find something in the kitchen. Just as I hit the end of the couch, my phone chimed. A chime I’d reserved specifically for Brody.
Racing back to the phone, I pulled open the text.
B:
I’m coming over
Olivia? No hotel?
The only response was the sound of my garage door opening. I quickly ran to the door leading to the garage and watched as Brody’s black Expedition pulled in. The second he was in the clear I was shutting the garage door behind him. My body was humming as I watched him exit his SUV and walk over to me.
“Olivia?”
“She left with her parents for Washington and won’t be home until Monday.”
A smile crossed my lips at the thought of having him to myself for more than a day. “What about the hotel?”
He shook his head once, his dark gray eyes never leaving mine. “I didn’t have the patience to wait any longer.”
Before I could respond, his hands were grabbing around my waist, pulling me to his body, and his lips were pressed firmly against mine. A small giggle bubbled up my throat, and I wrapped my arms around his neck.
“I missed you,” I said against his lips.
“God, I’ve missed you too.” Pulling away from me, a sharp laugh left him when he saw me frown, and his fingers traced my bottom lip. “Don’t pout. There’s something I need to tell you, something I should have told you long before now.”
My forehead scrunched in confusion, but I didn’t say anything, just waited for him to continue.
“I love you, Kamryn.”
Those four words washed over my body, and a shiver ran down my spine. I’d known Brody loved me; it was unmistakable when we were together. What I hadn’t known was that I’d been waiting to hear those words from this man my entire life. A smile broke across my face, and I threw my arms around his neck again as I crushed my mouth to his.
Pulling back just enough to speak, I looked up into his eyes and replied with every fiber of my being: “I’m so in love with you, Brody Saco.”
My body tingled with the truth and rightness of those words, and I wanted to say them over and over again, but Brody’s mouth silenced anything else, and soon he was walking us back toward my bedroom.
“WHAT IS IT?” I asked Brody late the next afternoon after we’d finally left my room to eat something.
Brody turned and looked at me confused, his eyebrows pinching together as he set his mug down. “What is what?”
I took a few calming breaths and forced my hands apart when I started nervously playing with them. “About Olivia? What is it about her that’s kept you together all these years?” Brody’s confused expression turned pained, and I hurried to continue. “I know this will sound horrible coming from me, but I’ve always thought divorce was bad . . . but that’s only because the people around me who I saw getting divorced were doing it because they grew tired of who they were with.” Or the men wanted someone younger and the women wanted someone with more money. That’s just how it was in the racing world. “From what everyone has said, that’s not what’s going on between you and Olivia.”
Brody stayed silent, his body still as stone as he stared down at the granite countertop on the kitchen island.
“I know why you married her, and it’s honorable, Brody, but if you’re so miserable—and if she’s as evil as everyone says she is—why would you stay with her all these years?”
He didn’t answer for a long time, and he never moved. When he did finally speak, his eyes wouldn’t meet mine, and his body seemed to somehow tighten even more. “Because I ruined her,” he said on a breath, the words haunting, matching the torture in his eyes.