Her breath caught. Holy shit. He thought she was beautiful? And impressive?
Her husband would have berated her for hours over being dumb enough to get herself in a precarious situation in the first. He’d have accused her of running into Prick on purpose and goading him. Curly was impressed with her ability to stand up for herself. Damn, that felt good.
Brooke searched his face for signs of insincerity or patronization but found none. Never, not once in their entire marriage had Evan apologized. He’d believed all the things he said to her, felt he had the right to demean her in any way he chose, and expected her to follow him without question just as these dogs did.
She wasn’t unrealistic. Everyone fucked up from time to time. She certainly did and antagonizing Prick could have easily turned into one of those major fuckups if Curly hadn’t come along to rescue her.
Twice.
“Thank you,” she whispered then cleared her throat. “I have some triggers, so…” She shrugged as though it was enough to justify her overreaction.
A soft huff of air left him. “You don’t need to explain. Got a few of those myself.”
She was sure he did, and though she shouldn’t, she wanted to learn more about them. “Uh, it’s only nine. Care to join me for a beer and a swim?” Seemed like a good way to make nice.
His lips turned up in a wicked grin that had her knees wobbling. “That depends.”
“On what?”
He still had his hands on her arms, but they’d creeped their way up, cupping her shoulders. Leaning in, he sent a puff of warm breath wafting across her ear. “Depends on whether I’ll get to see you in that bikini again.”
Don’t shiver. Don’t shiver.
She closed her eyes closed. No, she sure as hell hadn’t been planning to wear the two-piece bathing suit, but the husky timbre of his voice and the hint of desire had her caving in an instant. “Yes, I’ll wear it.”
“Well then, the kids and I will be waiting for you out by the pool.” He pulled back with a wink, then strode toward her French doors as though he’d been in her home a million times before.
The second his stellar backside disappeared from view, Brooke darted to her room to change. Standing in front of the bathroom mirror in the bikini once again, she saw an extra few hundred flaws she’d somehow managed to overlook when Nancy was there.
Even with the push-up from the top, her breasts could stand to be an inch or two higher. She also had this little—maybe medium—paunch right above the bathing suit bottom. Then there were those faint white lines on her inner thighs. Stretch marks. Evan had never been satisfied with her weight. She’d yo-yoed for years fluctuating up and down at least twenty pounds, but he’d always had a quick criticism. As a result of the fluctuations, she’d developed the lovely stretchmarks.
“You’re acting ridiculous,” she told her reflection. “What makes you think he even wants you? He probably has a whole harem of young biker-chasing women ready to service him anytime he snap his fingers.”
With one last plump of her breasts, she rolled her eyes at the ridiculous forty-one-year-old in the mirror and left the bathroom. At least it was dark outside and while she had patio lighting, the night would still be dim enough to hide most of her flaws.
She found Curly standing in the shallow end of her pool with his arms stretched along the patio. Both dogs already snoozed on a lounge chair. He’d turned on the string lights that crisscrossed above the pool, casting a romantic glow through the lanai.
His gaze met hers and it was then she realized he didn’t have a bathing suit so the dark fabric she glimpsed under the water must be his underwear.
This was a mistake. Why the hell had she invited him? Letting a man into her life was not in the plan. Never again would she be beholden to someone or give someone control over her life. She’d never done the casual sex thing, and while she told herself that’s what this night could be, she had no idea how to do that.
His eyes widened as he noticed her approach and he let out a low whistle.
Her face heated under his blatant perusal.
“Get that fine ass in here. Feels fantastic.” He pushed off the wall and waded toward her.
“Yeah. It’s heated so it stays warm even at night.”
Wow, Brooke, great conversation skills.
Even if the water were ice cold, the man currently making his way toward her would have heated it to boiling. He’d pulled those curls away from his face with a band though a few escaped. Tattoos were scattered across his naked chest and those pecs…God, those pecs. Though as sexy as they were, they had nothing on his biceps. For whatever reason, she’d always found a man’s arms particularly sexy and Curly’s were about as perfect as they came. Tanned and smooth, a vein ran diagonally across each one. She scraped her teeth across her tongue to stem the urge to lick the barbed wire tattoo ringing his right bicep.