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I still held her hand even while my other one stayed balled into a tight fist.
Her ex glared at me again but quickly pulled on a cloak of civility, smiling politely and offering me his hand. "I'm Nico Marshall, Mara's husband. You must be one of her new friends."
Did this asshole really think I wanted to shake his hand? He couldn't be that stupid.
Mara was still standing beside me gaping at her ex. Was that stunned look because she couldn't believe he'd had the gall to show up here? Or was that a stunned "I want to get back with my douchebag ex-husband" expression?
"It was nice of you to take my Mara for a walk," Nico said. "She's always been afraid of the woods. You must be a great wilderness counselor."
Wilderness counselor? What the fuck was that? Maybe they had those in the big city, where people thought "wilderness" meant a patch of grass with a scraggly bush on it.
"Mara doesn't need counseling," I said. "There's nothing wrong with her."
The prick patted my shoulder. "You don't know her the way I do."
Okay, so hewasas stupid as I'd thought. Only a moron would say that to me when I was holding his ex-wife's hand.
A breath blustered out of Mara, like she'd been holding it in and finally let it all out. Her stunned expression evaporated, blown away by her big sigh.
"Nico," she snapped. Once he looked at her, she rolled her shoulders back and said, "I do not need or want you here. Go home."
Okay, not an "I want my asswipe ex back" expression after all. I tried to keep my mouth from forming a smirk, but it happened anyway. Who cared what Nico thought? I had Mara, he didn't, and he could go jump into a volcano for all I cared.
"I can't leave," Nico said, "until we talk about what's going on with you. A nudie resort? That's the craziest mess you've ever gotten yourself into, and I've seen you do a lot of crazy things."
She puckered her lips, and I swore a little bit of steam erupted from her nostrils.
"Listen up, Nico," she said. "You don't know me at all, because you never bothered to ask me anything. That was the problem with our marriage. It was all about you, when it should have been about us. A shared life. But that's something you can't even comprehend."
He opened his mouth, but she held up a hand, her expression stern and determined.
That look was sexy as hell. Everything about her in this moment made me want to fuck her right here in front of everybody.
"I never did a single crazy thing in my life," she said, "and that's the problem. I always did what was expected of me, living by rules you and Mom and other people made up for me. Of course I turned into a neurotic mess. I never had any fun."
Nico eyed her like she might kick him in the balls any second.
I would've loved to see that.
Mara jerked her hand free of mine, spreading her arms. "Look at me. Do I seem anxious or neurotic? No, I don't. Know why? Because I stopped caring about those stupid rules and started listening to my heart. I love being here at this 'nudie' resort. I'm not leaving, but you need to go. Right away."
"Mara---"
"No. I'm not listening to you anymore." She made a shooing motion with her hands. "Go. Get out."
He stared at her for a moment, his mouth open, then got a sneakily determined look on his face. "You can't make me leave. I paid for a room here. For a week-long stay."
"What?"
I glanced at Eve and Val. Eve shrugged and shook her head. Val bowed his head, scratching it.
"Why don't I show Nico to his room," Eve said, "and give everyone a little time to decompress."
Nico didn't look like he wanted to go anywhere, but Eve knew how to graciously force someone to get the hell out. She and Nico left.
"I'm sorry," Val said to me and Mara. "He made the reservation online, and we didn't know---"
"Don't worry," Mara said. "I know it's not your fault. Let him stick around. He'll realize eventually that I'm not going home with him."
