Page 9 of Braden

When they broke apart, she was rosy cheeked and wouldn’t meet his eyes, but she took his hand readily enough as they walked. “I saw you and Chet having words. What was that about?”

“He’s not a good sport,” Braden said. “Sorry to say it.”

“I’m not surprised. He gets very upset when things don’t go his way. I—well never mind.”

“No, go ahead, what were you going to say?”

“After we broke up I realized how much I’d been changing myself to fit what he wanted, to avoid setting him off.” She shook her head. “He didn’t like my clothes, he didn’t like my friends, outside of Tamarind of course, he criticized what I ate, stuff like that. He said he was trying to be helpful so I’d fit in better with the crowd around Tam and Renald but once I was free of him I understood what he’d been doing to my self confidence and how he was trying to make me not me anymore.”

Braden stopped dead and swung her to face him so he could look into her eyes. “Did he ever raise a hand to you?”

Elodie bit her lip. “No. There were a couple of incidents toward the end though. Once he put his fist through the wall right next to me when I disagreed with him about something and he threw a heavy glass paperweight at me another time.”

Gathering her close, Braden said, “If he ever bothers you again, I’ll handle him, I swear. You’re better off without him in your life, sweetheart. I like you just the way you are so promise me you won’t change a single thing.”

“I won’t,” she said in a strong, clear voice. “Once I was done with him I promised myself I’d never get drawn into a relationship like that again. Better to be alone forever.”

“Well you’re not alone, you’re with me.”

“For the week anyway,” she said with a laugh that sounded forced. “We’d better go get ready for the big beach party. Never a dull moment at Tamarind’s wedding.”

As they resumed their walk Braden reflected on her reminder this was all fake and temporary and he didn’t like it. Elodie had gotten under his skin and the thought of never seeing her again after this week was an unhappy one. Fake was becoming real in his heart and he was determined to do his best to persuade her to see him as more than a convenient partner for all this wedding activity.

* * *

They retreated to her hotel room to change and grab a snack.

“This schedule Tamarind created is a madhouse,” Braden said after placing the room service order.

“She doesn’t want people to get bored. Even as a kid she was always in motion, constantly busy with sports or dance or something else. I used to have a lot of fun tagging along with her. I’m going to take a quick shower, make yourself at home. Change into your swimsuit while I’m out of the room.” Elodie disappeared into the bathroom with a handful of fresh clothes for the afternoon and Braden relaxed on the couch, trying not to think about her wet and naked in the next room. He adjusted himself in his shorts and tried to think about cleaning a megablaster to get his mind off his curvaceous date. The more he was with her the more he wanted her.

He did as she’d suggested, stripping and redressing in the swimsuit and a fresh shirt. The snacks arrived but he waited for her to re-emerge from the bathroom before sampling anything. The door opened and Elodie stepped out in a green and blue one-piece suit that emphasized her figure. She wore a gauzy coverup that didn’t hide much of anything. Braden did a slow perusal from the top of her head to her pink toenails peeping out of her sandals and gave a low whistle. “When I hit the beach everyone is going to be jealous of my good luck, escorting the hottest girl on the sands,” he said with a grin.

Elodie blushed but struck a pose for an instant. “You like it?”

“I love it.” He left the couch and went to give her a hug. A spark ran through him when his hand met her bare skin and he had to fight his desire all over again. She raised her face to him and for an instant he was tempted to kiss her but if he did they wouldn’t leave the hotel today because he’d have to satisfy his hunger for her in every possible way. Instead of giving in to his desires, he took her by the hand and escorted her to the snacks laid out on the table. “The hotel sent a great assortment.”

When they arrived at the beach party, there was already quite a crowd enjoying the music, the feelgoods and the activities available. If a person didn’t choose to do anything more than lounge and watch the waves roll in there were chairs, boardgames and other diversions. At the entrance to the cordoned off portion of the beach one of Migs’s staffers held out a clipboard. “Sign up for beach volleyball?”

Elodie tugged on Braden’s hand and turned her head, eyes full of sparkle. “Let’s do it! You might not believe it but I’m actually good at volleyball. It’s like the Lords of Space said I could have one sport I’d be good at and volleyball is it. Tamarind and I were co-captains of a winning team in middle school. Please?”

He couldn’t resist her enthusiasm although he’d put out a lot of energy at the tisba game earlier. “Sure, I’m always up for a game.”

She gave an adorable squeal of joy and signed them up.

As they strolled down the beach to find a pair of chairs, she said, “It’s nice of you to agree to play volleyball with me. I’m sure you must be tired after the game this morning.”

“Sometimes on missions outside the fence we hike for hours with packs and gear weighing a hundred pounds to reach the target,” he said. “We train for endurance. I’ll be fine. I have a killer spike by the way.”

“And I have a killer serve, so we’re a perfect team.” She blushed, her freckles standing out. He wanted to lean over and kiss each one.

Chairs secured, Braden enticed Elodie to go wading in the waves. Braden would have gone surfing but their first game was coming up and Elodie was nervous so he stayed with her. They made their way to the volleyball area and watched two couples play a hard-fought match in the sand.

“We’re next,” he said as the court was reset for them. “Are you sure you can play in a bathing suit?”

“I never have before,” she admitted. “But this suit has good support for—for the girls.”

Once the game began Braden was impressed with Elodie’s volleyball skills. She hadn’t been exaggerating, she was good and her serve was devastating. They won handily and moved to the next round. There were two courts going at once and the event had received a lot of enthusiastic support so it wasn’t long before their next match came up.