“He’ll want to come back to me, right?” Brianne asked, driving home the point that Alex’s feelings for her were
unrequited. “Maybe not right away, but eventually? Best-case scenario, he’ll look at me and remember everything—our life together, everything we shared—and he’ll want that back. Or am I being completely ridiculous?”
Alex pulled his hand away and faced forward. “It might happen.”
“But you don’t believe it.”
“Bree, I’m not sure what to believe. Like I said, we both have to be prepared for anything when we find Carter.”
Glancing at Brianne, he saw that her mouth was quivering.
Fragile.
That’s the word that jumped into his brain.
Did she honestly believe that she and Carter would be able to pick up where they’d left off? What kind of fairy-tale world was she living in?
And yet, seeing her on the verge of falling apart, there was a part of him that wanted to tell her exactly what she wanted to hear. Another part of him felt guilty as hell for involving her in this. Perhaps he should tell her to return to Buffalo, that he would continue the search on his own. Because he was suddenly realizing just how much the truth would hurt her, and he didn’t want to break her heart.
Of course, he couldn’t be positive of the outcome. But in his heart he knew they would learn that Carter wasn’t an unfortunate victim of nature but a coldhearted liar.
“I really do appreciate you being here for me,” Brianne said as Alex started the Navigator. “You’re…” Her voice cracked slightly. “You’re a great friend.”
Alex looked away, Brianne’s words making him feel like the biggest jerk on the planet. Damn. This was bad. Brianne was far too emotionally vulnerable to deal with this.
Before Alex had gone to see her about the possibility of Carter being alive, he had considered the consequences of
involving her. He’d figured that yes, she would be upset if things played out the way he suspected, but now he knew it would be worse than that.
This search for Carter had the potential to be more than simply upsetting. It could hurt Brianne beyond measure. The kind of hurt she might not get over with a good cry.
She had held out hope beyond reason that she would be reunited with Carter, even when it was completely unlikely that that would ever happen. She hadn’t wanted to give up hope, not even for a second. And she hadn’t dated since, a clear indicator that her love for Carter hadn’t died.
Given her level of devotion to her former fiancé, learning the truth about him could send Brianne into an emotional tailspin. Why hadn’t Alex seen that?
He had always planned to be there for her to help her through the aftermath of finding Carter. He just didn’t consider that the aftermath could be total emotional hell for Brianne.
“Hey,” Brianne said softly.
Alex faced her. “Yeah?”
She offered him a tentative smile. “I appreciate you being here for me. I’m not sure I could get through this if not for you.”
Damn,
Alex silently cursed. He was seeing, pretty much for the first time, that this plan of his could backfire. As much as he had planned to be there for Brianne, he now realized that she might not forgive him.
“You want to head back to my place and wait for Dean’s friend to call?” Alex asked. “Or if you want, I can take you sightseeing. That might be a good way to pass the time.”
“I’m not in the mood for sightseeing. I think I’d like to go to the house and lie down.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.” But she didn’t look at him as she said the words. “I just need…a mental break.”
Lord, she was vulnerable and sweet. She deserved someone who would love and adore her and never betray her. Alex wanted to draw her into his arms, tell her to forget Carter, to show her with his embrace that
he
was the one who would love and protect her forever.
And yet, instead of protecting her, he was going to have to break her heart. By this time tomorrow—if they found Carter—instead of looking at him with appreciation, Brianne might just look at him with hate.
Chapter 11
B
rianne spent the next few hours in the bedroom, lying under the covers but not sleeping.
Her brain was on overdrive, a myriad of thoughts keeping her unsettled.
She was scared suddenly. Truly scared about what the future held. And not just because Carter could easily have a girlfriend or a wife.
She was scared of what
she
would feel when she saw him again.
Or rather, what she might not feel.
She cared for Carter and always would, but the more she tried to imagine a life with him again, the harder it was. If she was entirely honest with herself, her feelings for him weren’t the same as they’d been three years ago. They weren’t the same as they’d been a year ago.
When Alex had come to see her, she had been on the verge of moving forward with her life. Carter was still in
her heart, but she had come to accept that she couldn’t spend the rest of her life pining over him. It was time that she open her heart to love again.
She was here in Daytona hoping to find Carter, but she was starting to think that she was here more out of a sense of obligation as opposed to a heartfelt desire to reconnect with the love of her life.
Maybe she was just having jitters—similar to the kind a bride had before she walked down the aisle. Maybe it was simply the unknown she was afraid of.
Brianne rolled onto her other side, facing the window. The sky was blue and the sun was bright. And here she was in the bedroom, lying in bed as if she were sick.
She climbed out of bed. She would go outside and en joy the day. Take a swim in the gorgeous pool in Alex’s stunning backyard.
Maybe he would join her.
Brianne’s stomach fluttered at the thought of seeing him again, as if two weeks had passed instead of two hours.
She went to her suitcase and found her bathing suit. As she slipped into it and stared at her reflection, she couldn’t help wondering what Alex would think when he saw her.
Would he find her sexy the way he obviously thought Ginny was?
What do you care what he thinks about how you look?
But even though that was Brianne’s rational thought, as she dressed in the bright red bikini, she secretly hoped that Alex liked it.
Alex had his iPhone to his ear when he heard the soft footfalls on the marble floor. He eased forward on the recliner where he sat in the living room, angling his head to the left.
And then a searing jolt of heat flooded his groin.
Brianne was walking toward him wearing a two-piece bathing suit in fire engine red. The suit couldn’t have screamed “Look at my hot body” more loudly.
And it was hot. The curves were still there. Slimmer than when he’d known her years ago, but they were evident nonetheless.
“Wyatt, I’ll call you back,” he said into the phone, then disconnected the call before his business associate could even reply.
As Brianne moved closer to him, Alex’s eyes traveled over that lush body of hers, which was partially covered by a beach robe. The robe was open at the front, giving Alex all the view he wanted. Brianne’s breasts were full beneath the bikini top, showing a tantalizing amount of skin at her cleavage. Her waist was narrow, but her hips were also full. She had the perfect hourglass figure.
Honest to God, Carter was a fool. He had taken Brianne for granted, and it didn’t make a lick of sense to Alex. Not just because she was gorgeous, but because she was loyal and sweet.
Brianne fiddled with her robe, pulling it closed. A reaction to the way he had blatantly ogled her? But surely she had known that he would check out her fine body. She wouldn’t have come downstairs in a bikini like that and not expected him to check her out.
“You don’t mind if I use your pool, do you?” she asked.
“No.” The word came out as a croak, and Alex cleared his throat. “Naw. Of course not.”
Brianne started toward the patio doors, and it was then that Alex saw the gold sandals on her feet. He had never considered himself a foot guy, but her feet were seriously cute. He loved those pale pink toenails.
“Wait,” Alex said, and quickly got to his feet. “Let me show you where the towels are.”
Brianne stepped outside, where she waited for him to join her. She slipped off her robe and placed it on the back of a chair—and all of Alex’s air left his lungs in a rush.
The bikini bottom was high cut, which he had seen from the front. He should have known that the cut of the piece would expose an ample amount of her behind.
And what a sweet behind it was…
Damn, you’re beautiful.
Brianne whirled around and looked up at him. “You really think so?”
Aw, hell. He’d spoken his thought aloud.
“I’m sorry,” she went on before he could speak. “You said I should just accept a compliment, so that’s what I’m going to do.” She grinned. “Thank you.”
Alex was tempted to touch her. To reach out and stroke her arms. To curl his fingers around her neck and pull her toward him. To kiss those ridiculously sexy lips of hers until they both were gasping for air.
Get a grip, man. So what if she has a hot body? She’s not into you, so forget it.
But regardless of his thought, he could feel the surefire evidence of his desire for her growing in his drawers—something he could not control. He quickly walked across the patio to the small house at the side of the backyard, thankful he was wearing loose-fitting athletic pants and hoping against hope that Brianne hadn’t sensed or seen the direction of his thoughts.
The small house had a bathroom with a shower on one side and a sauna on the other. Alex opened the door and turned—and once again felt the full force of his attraction for Brianne when he saw her standing right behind him.
Didn’t she know she was killing him? Standing so close
to him like that and giving him a full view of her newly toned body? What would she do if he pulled her in his arms and kissed her? Would she pull away? Or would her lips melt against his?
“Ah, the towels are right there,” Brianne said, looking beyond him into the bathroom. “Great.”
“Like I said yesterday, you can shower off in here. You access the sauna through the other door. If you want to use it, you turn the knob here to heat it.”
“Why don’t you join me?” Brianne asked.
“Join you?” Nervous, Alex swallowed, his body responding as if she’d asked him to get naked with her.
“Yeah. We can do a few laps together.”
Alex shrugged, trying his best to appear nonchalant. “Okay. Yeah. Yeah, sure.”
Brianne grinned widely. “Great.”
She walked to the pool’s edge, and Alex watched her dip one beautiful foot into the water. “Oooh, it’s nice and warm.”
“I don’t like cold pools,” Alex explained. Though right about now he would do well with a cold shower.
“Salt water?” she asked.
“Yep. Like the ocean.”
“Nice.” Brianne jumped right in, no hesitation, her entire body immersing in the water. She wasn’t like most women he knew, who would get into the water to their shoulders, fearful of wetting their hair. When she burst through the water’s surface, her short bob clung to her head, the strands already wavy.
“What are you waiting for?” Brianne asked.
Alex didn’t need any further prompting.
He hurried upstairs to his bedroom, changed into black swimming trunks, then quickly made his way back to the pool.
Brianne greeted him with her warm smile, and Alex’s breath caught in his throat. Every time he looked at her, he was more and more smitten.
He was attracted to her outer beauty, yes, but it was her inner beauty that had won him over.
Alex jumped into the water, creating a waterfall of splashes. Brianne giggled and wiped at her eyes. And then she scooped up handfuls of water and threw it at Alex.
“Hey,” he protested good-naturedly.
“You splashed me first.”
“Unintentionally.”
“I’m not sure I believe that.” But she was smiling, telling him that she was in a playful mood.
One minute he had been certain she would spend the rest of the day in the bedroom alone. The next she was shocking him by walking into the living room in her bathing suit.
“Wanna race?” Alex asked, her playful mood rubbing off on him.
Before she could respond, he dove forward, swimming for the farthest end of the pool. He could hear Brianne behind him, doing her best to keep pace.
He hit the far wall, stopped and was surprised to see that Brianne was only a couple of lengths behind him. She’d given him a run for his money.
“What are you, a dolphin?” he asked as she joined him at the wall.
“My family always said so. I can spend hours at a time in the water. When I was getting back into shape, one of the things I did was swim daily.”
“Come on, Brianne. You were never out of shape.”
“You didn’t see me after Carter’s one-year memorial. I hit a real low then, not believing him dead but feeling totally helpless in terms of finding him. I turned to food—
the one thing that wouldn’t let me down.” She paused. “I gained over thirty pounds.”
“Wow,” Alex said, truly surprised. “I find that very hard to believe.”
“Believe it. But once my sister got engaged, I knew I wanted to shape up once and for all. I started to eat better and worked out every day. I don’t believe in counting calories and depriving myself. But I do know how to control the urge to overeat. At least I think I do.”
“If you lost more than thirty pounds, then you’re obviously doing something right.”
Brianne swam leisurely on her back to the center of the pool, and Alex indulged in the view. With her breasts pointing to the sky, all he could think was how much he wanted to remove that skimpy bikini and feel her wet, naked body against his.
In the center of the pool, she swung her body upright and began to tread water. Alex swam to her.
He was about to slip his arm around her waist—he seriously wanted to—but then she asked, “Is that the phone?”
“The phone? Oh, heck. The phone.” Alex swam to the steps and hurriedly exited the pool. He walked quickly to the patio door, straining to hear the sound of his iPhone.