His Favorite Mistake (Baby Its Cold Out) (2 page)

             
“I’m not really sure how I feel about asking him.”

             
“Reyna, don’t you dare. Don’t even think about backing out of this. You promised. It’s the least you can do, considering everything I’ve done for you. Besides, you said yourself, Brody stops by just about every day to see you. He makes it a point to stay in touch since Cade’s death. I’m sure the poor guy feels some responsibility, although I don’t really know why with the way things turned out. My point is you see him all the time, so what’s the problem? Just ask him about it for God’s sake. I mean, surely you’re not going to tell me that during all those visits you two haven’t gotten close?”

             
Reyna listened to silence on the other end as Jenna considered another possibility for the first time. Jenna was so close to guessing the truth.

             
“That is, unless you’re not telling me everything about your relationship with Brody. You’re not avoiding bringing this whole subject with him simply to keep him for yourself, are you? Reyna, don’t you dare tell me you’re interested in Brody as well. was all that weeping widow stuff just an act to get his attention?” Reyna hated the way Jenna almost sounded impressed by the thought. “Is there something going on between you two that I should know about?”

             
At that moment, Reyna was tempted to just hang up the phone and let her cousin draw her own conclusions. Did Jenna ever listen to anything Reyna said? How many times had Reyna told her cousin that she never intended on going down that road again? Marriage to Cade had been enough to turn her off love and commitment forever.

             
Somehow, Reyna managed to catch the words that were always so close whenever Jenna started in on this subject. The last thing Reyna needed right now was for her cousin to know just how wrong she’d been in assuming Reyna’s marriage to Cade was perfect.

             
“Jenna, I’ve told you I’m never going through that again.”

             
Jenna was right about one thing. Since Cade’s death, she and Brody had become close. Far closer than Reyna had ever imagined possible with another man. Brody was the one who stood by her through all the scandal that followed Cade’s accident.

             
For the life of her, Reyna just couldn’t understand why. After what had happened, she wouldn’t have blamed him one bit if he’d walked away from her and the whole ugly mess, and never looked back.

             
It wasn’t as if he owed her anything. Brody was Cade’s friend—his best friend, according to Cade. They’d known each other since their university days. Brody didn’t know her at all. Not really. She’d lied to him. About her feelings. About her marriage to Cade.

             
In the weeks since Cade’s death, Reyna had come to realize one thing. Brody wasn’t anything like her husband, and she couldn’t understand what had kept their friendship together for so long. Especially the past few months. Brody had to know about Cade’s addiction. From the way Cade talked sometimes, it almost sounded as if he were jealous of his best friend and boss.

             
In those last few weeks before his death, Cade had treated Brody and everyone around him with reckless disregard. No one other than Reyna knew the whole truth behind Cade’s behavior until after the accident, although Brody clearly suspected something from the few comments he’d made since that time.

             
Brody probably knew Cade better than anyone. Definitely better than Cade’s own father, who refused to see his son’s destructive behavior for what it was.

             
While Reyna might not be willing to admit the truth to Jenna, she was closer to Brody than she’d been to her own husband. Far closer than she had ever expected, considering Brody’s relationship with Cade. Closer than she had a right to be.

             
Of course, Brody’s concern for her was all due to some misplaced loyalty he felt toward Cade. That and perhaps the circumstances surrounding Cade’s death.

             
That was where Brody’s interest in her began and ended.

             
In the weeks since Cade’s death, Brody had treated her with a gentle respect, but there was always a certain amount of distance in his behavior. Their relationship could be neatly summed up in one little word. Friendship. With the exception of the night of Cade’s funeral, when they’d both been emotionally drained from the event and things had gotten out of hand. It would have been so easy. Thank God, Brody had been strong enough for the both of them, even if she hadn’t exactly felt thrilled about it at the time. It was probably for the best because she was never going down that road again. Never again. Not for anyone. As far as she was concerned, she’d find herself a nice little puppy and leave it at that.

             
Once, Brody had talked her into having dinner with him just to get her out of the apartment for a while. That evening could not have been a bigger disaster and one Reyna was determined never to repeat again. It was just too awkward being out with Brody and trying to pretend she wasn’t attracted to him. She was aware of every little thing about him. She was supposed to be a widow in mourning for crying out loud. Brody, however drop- dead gorgeous he was, had been her husband’s best friend, which meant, off limits.

             
Even if he weren’t her husband’s best friend, Brody was way out of her league. He traveled in a world she’d only caught glimpses. The ultra-rich social world of Denver’s elite.

             
Brody was probably their poster boy. The all-American success story. A good-looking, middle class guy—tall, dark and extremely handsome with the most amazing blue eyes Reyna had even seen—Brody had moved to Denver after graduating from a first class university and made it to the top of the corporate world in just five years. Brody’s company, Samuels Advertising had just been named one of the hottest firms in all of Denver.

             
Normally, someone like Brody wouldn’t even give her a second glance. She’d never even heard of most of the places he frequented. Growing up in Silverton, Colorado with her grandmother had been light years away from the fast-paced life of Denver. She and Brody had nothing in common. Well, besides Cade.

             
Often, she’d found herself wondering what Cade had told Brody about their marriage.

             
She couldn’t talk about her marriage. Not with Brody. Every single time Brody brought the subject back to Cade, Reyna found all of her old frustrations, and fears resurface. She’d been such a disappointment to Cade. He’d certainly told her that enough times to make her believe it was the truth. Even now in death, Cade still held the power of fear over her.

             
“Reyna, you know you promised.” Jenna’s growing irritation cut through those unpleasant memories, bringing her back to the present and to Jenna’s frustration at not having heard a single word of what she’d just said.

             
“I realize you may still be in mourning, even if I can’t understand why, but you were lucky enough to find your Mr. Right. Some of us are still out there looking for that perfect man. The rest of the world didn’t stop living just because Cade chose to kill himself, you know. I mean, I have needs, even if you have stopped caring about your own. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a single man in Denver these days? Especially one who’s both wealthy and attractive. Brody has everything. He’s perfect for me.”

             
Why Jenna felt it necessary to have Reyna act as matchmaker with Brody in the first place she couldn’t understand. After all, Jenna had never had any problem asking a man out in the past.

             
Reyna couldn’t tell Jenna that the very thought of seeing her cousin with Brody was enough to make Reyna physically ill. Brody was starting to occupy way too much of Reyna’s thoughts lately, and if she had an ounce of sense left in her head, she would have refused his offer straight out instead of agreeing to it so easily.

             
“Tell me again why you need me to be involved in this little scheme of yours, Jenna. I mean you’ve never been shy about going after a man -before. Why don’t you just do it yourself?”

             
The sigh that greeted those words had Reyna searching for a chair. Obviously, this was going to be a long conversation if Jenna’s tone was any indication.

             
“Reyna, I told you—Brody’s not the kind of guy who likes a woman to go after him. From everything I’ve heard about him, I’d say just the opposite is true.”

             
As hard as she tried, Reyna couldn’t keep from laughing at the image of Jenna pouring over some folder containing all the little details of Brody’s personal life.

             
“Laugh if you like, but I know what works with men and what doesn’t, and I know what will work with Brody.”

             
That was certainly true enough. Jenna had gone through more rich, sophisticated, and eligible men in the past year than Reyna could keep track of. Which was why Reyna couldn’t understand out of all men Jenna had gone through, none had fit the bill as Jenna’s perfect guy?

             
“Because they were all missing that certain something Brody has.” Jenna went on to answer Reyna’s unspoken question a little too graphically. “You know that sexy, seductive attraction of his. Not to mention that smile…”

             
Reyna rejected Jenna’s words and the image her cousin had just created without considering it. She couldn’t think of Brody like that. Brody was her friend. That was all he could ever be, because she did not intend to go down that road again.

             
Just like everyone else who knew her, Jenna believed that Reyna had been hopelessly in love with Cade James. Although there were times, like now, when Jenna suspected something wasn’t quite right.

             
In the beginning, all of those things had been true. Or so Reyna believed. She’d just been too young and naïve to realize the truth.

             
There were times when Reyna wasn’t sure whether to laugh or scream at the utter irony of the way things had turned out.

             
Once she had believed in the fairy tale. When she and Cade met and married in just one week, she believed she was crazy in love with him. That was before she’d discovered the truth about Cade’s addictions. Before she’d learned of his violent behavior brought on by the drugs he abused. Before she learned, there was nothing about the real Cade James that came close to the fairy tale she’d believed in the beginning.

             
Cade had married her on a whim. One, which he quickly regretted.

             
Now all of that seemed like a lifetime ago. Another girl. She wasn’t the same hopeful girl who had married Cade.

             
It was only after the changes in Cade became more frequent and more dangerous that she finally accepted the truth. Their marriage had been a terrible mistake. By that time, Cade was so deep into his destructive behavior that Reyna wondered if anything could have saved him.

             
Whatever she thought she felt for him disappeared completely the first time he’d hit her. For the remainder of their marriage, Reyna felt nothing more than pity for the man she’d once believed she loved.

             
She’d tried to talk Cade into getting help, but on those occasions, he’d only become more angry and abusive until finally, Reyna was forced to watch as her husband self-destructed into an existence of living off drugs and alcohol. And then there were the affairs. Too many to remember and too much to care about anymore.

             
Reyna never really understood why Cade had married her in the first place. He’d told her he loved her at least a dozen times that first week. Even after they had separate bedrooms, he still claimed to love her. In her heart, Reyna believed Cade never really understood love.

             
He had just been caught up in the physical attraction. He’d simply desired her, so he’d convinced himself that he was in love with her. In his irrational way of thinking, that made sense.

             
That had been the reality of Cade’s behavior in the months before his death. Irrational. He hadn’t understood that love wasn’t supposed to hurt.

             
Looking back now after surviving that nightmare, Reyna knew that at twenty-three, she too hadn’t understood love. She’d only been in love with idea of love. The whole fairy tale image it represented. An image Cade had deliberately wanted her to believe existed because he’d desired her physically. Unfortunately, after a while, Cade hadn’t been able to fulfill that desire.

             
Cade had swept her off her feet. He’d been so charming and attentive, that Reyna ignored all the warning signs that had to be there even before their wedding day.

             
The truth was she’d never actually been in love with Cade James. It had all been just an illusion. Everything about their life together had been a lie.