Page 45 of The Holiday Heartbreaker

“Dr. Brody is in session,” he said, grinning. “You can vent all your troubles on me. And you don’t have to be fair. I don’t know him. He’s not my dad.”

That made her laugh. In spite of everything. “Fine. We got married young. We became parents very young. And I thought we were happy. I really did. I had never been happier, so why wouldn’t I think that what we had was the epitome of joy? It felt like it to me. But... It wasn’t. Not to him. Apparently. I found that out after he told me that he had met someone else. Not only had he met someone else, he had slept with that someone else. And she was pregnant. And he was in love with her. I was heartbroken.”

Brody frowned, the expression of genuine concern on that handsome face enough to make her heart skip several beats. “Of course you were.” He shook his head. “What an asshole.”

That simple declaration really meant something to her. Petty though it might be. “That’s what I thought too. We had a prenup, which meant that I didn’t get anything. Not anything. And...” This was where she had to be honest about her own stubbornness. “He did offer a few things. I declined them. I took the child support, I didn’t take spousal support. That’s something I came to regret later. Because by being wounded and stubborn, I impacted on Benny’s quality of life.”

“Again, he seems perfectly happy and healthy to me.”

“I know. It’s just... We lived in a really small apartment. And if he wanted extravagant things, his dad had to buy them.”

“That isn’t actually a struggle, Elizabeth,” he said, and if he had been anyone else, she would have been angry. But it was Brody, and he was just so handsome. “I understand that you feel guilty about it, because I think it’s compulsory for parents to feel guilty about the things they’ve done and haven’t done—not mine, of course, but normal parents—but you know, not having a new PlayStation and a big house isn’t harmful to your kid. What’s harmful is what my dad did. What’s harmful is not being there, like my mom. You love him. He’s taken care of. He doesn’t go to bed hungry. He has a bed. You’ve done a lot for him. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

No one had ever said that to her before. No one.

She looked up at him, and she thought that she might actually cry. She swallowed hard.

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

“I really don’t know.”

It was honest, that answer, she could tell. He looked mystified. Absolutely mystified.

Her heart was pounding so hard she felt dizzy, and she needed to get some space. Because this was too much. It was all too much.

She started to head toward the tack room, the lead rope and bridle, which she had just taken off one of the horses, in hand, and Brody came in behind her. She was about to tell him again that she didn’t need any help, but when she turned around, he was right there. So close that his scent filled her again. Even closer than he had been in the hallway that evening.

He was so tall and broad, his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down right in her line of sight and she could feel herself blushing. Could feel the heat rising in her face, and her whole body.

“Just brought the other lead rope and bridle,” he said, turning to the wall and hanging both up on the pegs there.

And she moved to follow his lead, but then that put her right there... Right in front of him again.

She looked up, and there was something helpless that went through her.

If you could have anything for dinner... What would it be?

Right now, it wouldn’t be food. And it wouldn’t be dinner so much as dessert.

She felt lightheaded. Dizzy. Looking up at him...

She swallowed hard, and felt like her throat was lined with prickles.

You’re not sexual, remember? You just like to be close.

Being close to Brody would be very, very nice.

You don’t love him.

No. She didn’t. She didn’t even know him.

He listened to you.

She found herself moving nearer to him, and before she knew what she was doing, she extended her hand, and pressed it to his chest.

His movements were instantaneous and shocking. He covered her hand with his, pinning it there, a low growl in his throat. And she could feel his heart raging beneath her palm.

Then with his other hand, he grabbed her arm and brought her up against him, his eyes glittering with intensity.

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