Brady's body locked at Lo's tone of voice and of course, what she had said. He ran critical eyes over the man standing beside his friend. Having never met Miller Boden before, he hadn't recognized him immediately. It was only somewhat disconcerting to see him paired with Serge, a man Brady greatly admired and looked up to. Though it wasn't surprising. Serge's job, if you could call it that, was to travel the world bestowing his wisdom and riding with the top athletes in their field.
Guess that meant Miller Boden was legit.
“Halo?” Serge asked for clarification as he offered his hand to Lo, ignoring the tension which had sprung up between the foursome. “It is not often I am introduced to someone with a name that so strongly suits them.”
Lo stretched out a trembling hand, Serge took it, held it firmly, his quick eyes reading whatever it was that Serge read when he looked at people. His face softened and then he kissed the top of Lo's hand. His action caused Lo to tear her eyes away from Miller Boden and blush deeply.
“My friends call me Lo.”
Serge hinted at a smile. Brady pointedly removed Lo's hand from Serge's, making the Norwegian grin outright. Brady laced his fingers together with Lo's. “All right. That's enough.”
Miller missed none of this. His jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed fractionally on their joined hands. He took a quick breath and cleared his throat.
“It's good to see you, Lo.”
“You too,” Lo responded softly.
Wait. Softly? Not hotly? Or tartly? Or pissed-offedly?
Brady's brain started to cloud over with different ways he could get Miller Boden alone in the water. Gold Coast had sharks, right?
“I see,” Serge said with a single nod.
He probably did see. He saw everything.
“We were just heading to dinner,” Brady declared as the elevator door opened. The foursome entered the lift together.
“Same here,” Miller replied, his eyes still on Lo. Only on Lo. “We just got in from Japan. Thought we'd eat and pass out.”
“We're just in from Ireland,” Lo shared, shocking Brady. Why the small talk with the ex? What the hell was going on?
Miller's eyes skated over to Brady and back to Lo. What was that Brady thought he saw before Miller had looked away. Sympathy? Jealousy? Pity?
“Ireland,” Miller said, a dark sigh barely withheld.
“For work,” Lo explained.
Serge broke in. “Yes, you are working for Brookings now?”
“Yeah,” Brady confirmed, not enjoying the squirming in his gut as he watched the way Miller Boden was looking at Lo. Like he freaking adored her.
“You have access to all of his new equipment,” Serge went on. “I would very much like to speak to you about some of it.” He wagged a thumb between him and Miller. “We are on our own international expedition.
The elevator doors slid open.
“Perhaps all of us can meet up tomorrow some time? Compare experiences?” Serge asked, stepping off the lift. He pointed a finger at Lo. “I especially have questions for you.”
“I don—”
“That's fine with me,” Lo answered. Her eyes snapped up to Brady's. “I mean, if that's cool with you.”
Brady took a deep breath. What in the name of all that was holy was going on? Was she really so tired she wasn't thinking rationally? Or was something else happening here?
Brady didn't have experiences with exes. Not really. He had never had a serious enough relationship to consider it even breaking up. They'd basically stopped meeting at restaurants. Maybe people who used to date seriously still ate together? Who could he even ask about that?
Instead of expressing any of his discomfort, Brady looked into Lo's eyes and knew he'd do whatever she wanted. That was how over the moon he was for her. “Sure, babe.”
She rolled up on her toes and pressed her lips to his, lingering for a second longer than was normal for a public setting. It helped. Especially when Brady raised his head to see Miller's dark glare before they all left the hotel.
That one was definitely jealously.
Lo
Lo watched the reflection of lights bouncing off of the ocean onto the ceiling of her room. Purples, blues, reds, gold. It was beautiful. But not beautiful enough to distract her from her thoughts.
It was inevitable. Miller was a successful surfer. He traveled the world all of the time for sponsors, competitions, and on impulse. They were bound to run into one another.
It didn't bother her.
Truthfully, it was nice to see him.
Maybe that's why she was still awake when she knew she should be sleeping.
And of course, meeting Serge had her entire head buzzing. She couldn't even think about him without feeling the need to get up and pace out her nervous energy. So she kept pushing it to the side, which was where she'd circle back around to Miller.
Turning on her side, she curled around her pillow and tried staring at the wall.
The bed depressed behind her and a strong arm came around her middle. Brady pulled her back to his front, his face burrowing into her neck.
“You're quiet,” he said there.
“So are you,” she countered.
They'd both been quiet after encountering Miller and Serge. Dinner had been great, but quiet. The walk back had been nice, but quiet. They got ready for bed in the quiet. Lo had retired to her room, not really thinking about it, and Brady had gone to his.
She should have gone to him, instead of making him come to her. But he had come. He was there now. And she hadn't even been aware his presence was exactly what she needed.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.
She didn't. Not really. It was still something she hadn't completely processed. But maybe it would help to give voice to her tangled thoughts.
“You're so different from him.” His arm tightened around her middle but he didn't interrupt, so she sallied forth. “I mean, even how you look. You're blond and blue-eyed, with muscles for days. Miller is dark-haired, brown eyes, lanky and lean. You're patient and cool. He's a hot head, impulsive.”
“What happened between you two?” Brady asked.
Lo ran her fingers over his hand on top of her stomach. He flexed his out and she tangled hers with his, curling their hands together into a tight fist.
“I might ruin this,” she said, her eyes and the inside of her nose stinging.
Brady moved quickly, letting go of her hand and turning her onto her back so his big body was looming over her in the dark. “What are you talking about?”
“Brady,” she whispered, pleaded, trying to express exactly what the broken parts of her heart were telling her. “I break things.”
His eyes turned from sharp to soft in a second. “You can't break me.”
But she knew. She would find the place where he was likely to break and she'd apply pressure. Not on purpose. It would happen because of who she was. She broke people, and things, even when it was hers. She ruined all sorts of wonderful things.
Brady must've seen her thoughts piling up in her eyes because he curled a hand around the back of her head, threading fingers though her hair and caressing her cheek with his thumb. “You're so silly.”
She huffed a surprised laugh. “What? I'm silly?” Here she was, trying to have a poignant emotional moment and Brady called her silly.
“Yeah.” His lips twitched with gentle amusement. “Trying to scare me away. But you forget I've met your friends. Spencer and Tessa have thrown down over you. I knew those chicks in high school. They're legit. They don't pledge loyalty to a-holes.”
The burning in Lo's eyes had been increasing with his words until he said that, then she barked a laugh. Brady grinned, proud of himself for making her laugh.
“And I've been traveling with you for weeks now. Little sleep, bad food, broken nose, ridiculous sleeping habits.” His tone gentled even further. “You're funny, sweet, kind to strangers. I don't think you know you the way I know you.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I mean it,” he pressed. “I think I know you better than you know yourself.”
“You're ridiculous,” she said, shaking her head.
Brady sighed with faux exasperation. “Fine. I'll be ridiculous and you can be silly.” He turned them both so they were back in their original positions, with her back to his front and their hands laced together over her stomach.
She sighed and relaxed against him, her fears fading to the back of her mind. It was so much easier to ignore them with Brady's strong arms wrapped around her, as if he would literally fight her demons to keep her safe.
He pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder. “Goodnight, beautiful.”
But she was already asleep.