Page 117 of Bridesmaid for Hire
I nod and slide my hands down to her ass, slipping my thumbs under her swimsuit bottom. “I didn’t want to, trust me. I wanted so much more that night.”
“So, you let my idiot brother dictate what you did?”
“He’s my best friend, Maggie.”
“Yeah, but that night made me feel awful,” she says as she pushes away, the intimacy between us washed away with the waves. “I thought there was something wrong with me. For years I thought something was wrong with me. That I was gross to you or something.”
“Maggie,” I say as I reach for her, but she pulls away and wades back to shore.
“No.” She turns and looks me in the eyes. “I never want to feel that way about myself, like I’m disgusting or unlovable, and that’s how you made me feel. You could have just told me, talked to me, said something.”
“And risk you not listening to me?” I ask. “When I pulled away, that was all the resolve I had. If you’d told me that you didn’t care what Gary thought, I would have charged forward. I would have taken you that night. I would have ruined my friendship.” I rush after her, emerging onto the hot sand.
“Well, you ruined my confidence for a solid two years,” she says. “Guess someone had to take the fall. Better me than you, right?” She picks up her towel and wraps it around her waist.
“Maggie, stop,” I say, standing in front of her and holding her shoulders. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t think I mattered that much to you—that it was just a kiss.”
“Well, you were wrong.”
I study her for a moment, the reality of her feelings hitting me. “So, I mattered to you?”
“Of course you did,” she says, her eyes widening. “God, Brody, are you really that much of an idiot?”
“I like to think that I’m not, but this vacation has proven otherwise.”
“You were my brother’s hot friend. The moment he brought you home, I was enamored. And the fact that you even paid attention to me at Gary’s wedding made me feel special. You were actually talking to me. You told me I looked nice. You flirted at the bar. You joked about feeding me cake. You kissed me…and then you took all that away. Your actions…the derision on your face. I’ve never believed myself to be that…laughable. Insufficient. I swore I would never give you or any other man the chance to annihilate my self-confidence again.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, realizing I’ve never felt an apology this deeply. I don’t want her angry with me. I want her…hell, I want her lying beside me on the hot sand, enjoying the sun and the day. I don’t want her thinking I’m some dick who blew her off, even though that’s what I did. “I’m really sorry, Maggie. I didn’t know you felt that way—I was being an idiot.”
She crosses her arms over her chest as she looks up at me. “And what’s changed now?”
I scratch the back of my neck. “What’s changed now is that I don’t know how to tell myself to stop.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“Shit, Maggie, I don’t know.” I push my hand through my hair. “I’mhere to show the Hopper family that I’m a great guy to work with, that I’m trustworthy and respectable and that I have a good head on my shoulders. But I’m fucking up every which way, throwing up whenever I get the chance, and screaming like a feral cat over a goddamn bush.” She smirks. “And honestly, the only thing that I care about is you. I’m distracted by you. I can’t think with you around. And whenever I see you, my mind goes blank, my heart thumps in my chest, and all I want to do is hold you…even when we’re not pretending.” I swallow hard. “I like you, okay? And I don’t think that feeling is going to just stop. I think it’s here to stay.”
She slowly nods but doesn’t say anything. She just stares at something over my shoulder.
“Maggie, are you—?”
“There you are,” I hear Haisley say.
God.
Damnit.
Planting a smile on my face, I turn around and drape my arm over Maggie’s shoulder. We weren’t just fighting, nope.
“How do you feel, Brody?” Haisley frowns, concern on her face.
“Better,” I say.
She studies me from under her sun hat. “You look better, less green. I’m glad those pills helped.”
“Yeah, they’ve been interesting. I feel all kinds of strange.”
She chuckles. “That’ll happen. I know at one point when I took them, I danced around the beach with a sheet from my bed, for the whole resort to see—so watch out, strange things can happen.”
