Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Brodie
Lounging at the pool’s edge with my shades on and earbuds in, I listen to my agent drone on about some projects I have coming up with a few brands. Years ago, I would have been thrilled by the idea of representing some sports drink or clothing brand. Now, I despise every second of the extra shit I need to do to stay relevant. Relevant is a term Doug uses, not me. I’d say my ability to score while on the ice keeps me pretty fucking relevant. He’d disagree. And does so regularly.
“So, I’ll meet you in New York in two weeks for the shoot. If you need, I can find you a date for the fundraiser.”
“I don’t need you to do that,” I grumble. He sighs, probably because he knows I’ll show up solo. I have zero desire to date right now. I’m not even interested in having a woman on my arm for a night.
“Brodie.” He exhales an annoyed breath.
“Doug.” I smile.
“Fine. If you need me, you have my cell.”
“Yeah, talk with you later.” I end the call and then glance to my left when I see movement out of the corner of my eye.
With my sunglasses on, I watch the cute little brunette I clocked when I came out to hang by the pool get up from her lounger next to mine. I didn’t notice her because she’s the most stunning woman out here—not that she’s not beautiful. She is. I noticed her because she was reading a book with a strange-looking fish on the cover, unlike the twelve I’d seen with flowers and a few with couples or single men. I also noticed her because she’s the only woman under the age of forty not wearing a bikini. After placing her book on her chair, she adjusts her swimsuit, which looks like something Pamela Anderson wore during the height of Baywatch . Biting her bottom lip, she looks around and then peers at her stuff. I can almost hear her silently debating with herself, wondering if she should leave her things. This pool and the connected bar are private to the building, but that doesn’t mean everyone here lives here full time. People rent out their homes or have family who use the facilities. She likely knows that.
“I’ll watch them.” Startled, her sunglass-covered gaze flies to mine. “If you want to go to the bar or restroom, I’m here and will watch your stuff while you’re gone.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I got you.”
“Thanks. I’ll be right back.” She starts to walk off but stops and spins back to face me, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. “Do you want a water or something?”
“I’m good.” I smile, caught off guard by the offer.
With a nod, she walks toward the bar at the edge of the pool. I watch her noticing a group of guys who have been drinking since I arrived an hour ago—and probably long before that—take notice of her. Three in the group start egging one of them on while pointing in her direction. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but they’re obviously trying to get their friend to go over and talk to her. Not that it looks like he needs the encouragement.
With a cocky smirk, he gets out of the pool with his friends, laughing and acting like a bunch of drunk idiots, then starts his approach after a douchey grin over his shoulder to the guys.
My gaze goes to where she is now standing at the bar. The moment he’s close to her, he reaches for her, placing his hand on her lower back. Jumping in surprise, she looks up at him and then takes a step away, dislodging his touch. When he says something, she shakes her head with a polite smile. He must say something else because she shakes her head again. With a frown, he glances toward his friends, shouting from the pool, then grins and closes the space between them once more. She takes a step back when he reaches out to touch her arm.
Annoyed because it’s obvious she doesn’t want his attention, and he’s not backing down, I set aside my cell and get up. The closer I get, the clearer I hear him trying to coerce her into letting him buy her a drink. With her sunglasses now on the top of her head, I can see that she is starting to panic because he’s not giving up.
I walk up to her and get in her space, shoving my sunglasses up, too. “Hey, baby.” I look down at her, wrapping my arm around her waist and ignoring the shock etched into her pretty features. Jesus, she’s cute. And without her sunglasses, I can see that her eyes are an unusual brown with gold near the center. “Did you already order your drink?”
“Umm,” she whispers, looking adorably confused.
I can’t help but grin. “I changed my mind about the water.”
“Hey, man.”
My smile slides away as I turn my head, leveling my gaze on the guy behind me. He visibly swallows. “Can I help you?”
“I…” He blinks, and then his brows come together like he’s trying to figure something out.
If he wasn’t wasted, he might say he recognizes me. But in the state he’s in, and with the stench of alcohol coming off him, I doubt he’d recognize his own mother if she was standing right in front of him.
I don’t pull my gaze off his as I order. “Get our drinks, babe, so we can get back to our chairs.”
She steps away from me, sliding out of my hold, and I listen to her order two bottles of water.
The guy glances back at his friends, who are now watching the two of us. Then his eyes meet mine. “Do I know you?”
“I doubt it.”
He shakes his head like the action will clear some of the fog. “You look familiar.”
“Yeah, I get that a lot.” I turn my back on him and get in her space again. Once she has the two bottles of water, I walk her back around the pool to our loungers, hovering my hand over her lower back but not touching her.
“You okay?” I ask softly when we reach our chairs. She lets out a long breath.
“Yeah.” She glances at the guys in the pool, their friend back with them now. All of them are watching us. “Thanks for saving me,” she whispers.
“Anytime.” I put my sunglasses back on and sit, watching her pick her bag off the ground and start putting her book inside. “Don’t let them make you leave,” I tell her quietly, and she glances over at me. “If you wanna go, that’s fine. But don’t leave because of them.” Biting her full bottom lip, she nods once and places her bag on the pool deck, taking a seat with her book on her thighs. “What are you reading?”
“ World Beneath ,” she answers without looking at me and opens to the page her bookmark is holding.
? “What’s it about?”
“Marine biology,” she answers again without looking up.
“That’s an interesting choice of reading material.” Honestly, with the title, I thought it might be some fantasy or sci-fi book.
She turns my way. “I’m hoping to get into the marine veterinary program here.”
“Really?”
Really.”
“That’s cool as fuck,” I mutter, and she flashes a small smile. “Do you live here?”
She nods. “I just moved to Miami.”
“Me, too. Where did you move from?”
“Minnesota.”
“Seriously?”
“Did you move from there, too?”
“No, Tennessee,” I say. She laughs, and the sound makes me smile. “I said ‘seriously’ because it’s rare that I meet someone from Minnesota.”
“I guess.” She leans back in her seat, raises her knees, and presses her feet into her chair. “So, why did you move to Florida?”
“Work,” I say simply and leave it at that. I don’t think she recognizes me. Then again, she could be one of those women who thinks pretending they don’t know who you are will score them points. It doesn’t. In the long run, it’s just annoying.
“Cool,” she mutters, turning her attention to the book on her lap. I frown at her easy dismissal.