Page 7 of Wanting Happily Ever After

She was gorgeous, and she didn’t even realize it.Even at the end of a long day, her effortless beauty took his breath away. Brody resisted the urge to tuck her hair behind her ear so he could see her big brown eyes better.

When he didn’t answer right away, she asked again, “Well? What are you thinking?”

He almost laughed out loud. There was no way he was telling her what was going on in his head. No way. Especially considering he’d been so clearly friend-zoned. Instead, he shrugged and reached for another beer. “I was just wondering if you needed a babysitter for your date?”

Sarah’s eyes squeezed shut for a moment and when she reopened them, she looked as if she were going to tell him something. Her mouth opened and closed.

“Because I wouldn’t want anything to stop you from going out with Byron Smith.” He couldn’t even believe he was still talking. He should be telling her not to go out with him, not making it easier for her. He needed to step up. But he’d never been good at the whole dating thing, especially not when he really liked someone, and hereally likedSarah. He thought he’d been doing the right thing by moving slow, not pressuring her into going out with him, being her friend. Herbestfriend. But what he really should be doing was telling her that Byron was absolutely not the right guy for her, becausehewas. He was just about to retract his offer when Sarah beat him to it.

“That would be great, thanks. I’ll let you know the details, okay?”

Brody nodded and silently chastised himself. There was no way he was going to wreck her date just because he was an idiot. That wasn’t fair. So, he bit his tongue. “You know what else you need some details for?” He looked at her and wiggled his eyebrows until she groaned in understanding.

“The stupid wind-up party.” Sarah dropped her head back on the lounger. “Why did I open my big mouth on that one?”

The conversation shifted and just like that, the strange tension between them was gone and they were back to the easy familiarity that they usually enjoyed together. “You opened your mouth because she was being a bitch.”

“It’s true,” Sarah agreed. “But I probably should have let her. Because now I have to organize the wind-up party in two weeks, and I bet it’s only a matter of days before I get a text message, if I don’t have one already, with all of herideas.” She reached for her cell phone. “And…” She tapped at her phone before holding it up. “She’s already texted.”

“Seriously?” He really didn’t understand women. Still, he tried not to laugh. “Won’t she just be glad she’s not doing it?”

Sarah laughed. “Oh, hell no. Instead, she’ll passive-aggressively offer me ‘help’ in the form of all her ideas and when I don’t take them, she’ll criticize every little thing at the party.”

Brody shook his head. “It’s a soccer wind-up party for six- and seven-year-olds.”

“You think that matters?”

Sarah sat up and stared at him until he finally shook his head.Apparently it didn’t.

“I have a feeling I’m going to regret this question,” he said after a minute. “But do you need advice?” Brody reached for a fresh bottle of beer, crossed his legs, and leaned back.

Sarah stared at him dumbly. “I know how to throw a party, Brody.”

“I’m sure you do.” He tipped the bottle back and let the cold liquid cool him a little. “So tell her you don’t need help.”

“Right.”

“Why not?”

“You can’t just tell the Audrey Hills of the world that you don’t need their help. That’s like a challenge.”

Brody blinked, unable to see her point. “And?” he finally asked. “What’s wrong with that?”

“You’ve clearly not dealt with an Audrey Hill before.”

“Clearly.” He tried not to smile, because Sarah looked so serious as she stared at her phone. Obviously this Audrey got Sarah worked up. That was easy to see. And after talking to the other woman for more than a few minutes, he could understand why she might be aggravating, but for the life of him, he couldn’t see why it was worth giving her the satisfaction.

“I’ve been dealing with not only the Audreys of the world, butthisparticularAudrey since the Baby and Me group when the girls were first born. She’s…” Sarah shook her head. “Well, she seems to take a special pleasure from being better than me at…well, at pretty much everything.”

“Why does that bother you, though? I don’t get it.” Brody sat up. He genuinely didn’t. As far as he was concerned, Audrey—with her perfectly applied makeup and styled hair without ever a strand out of place—didn’t even come close to Sarah’s genuine beauty. Her dark hair was almost always tied back in a ponytail; her T-shirts and cut-offs, when she wasn’t at work, fit her just right and showed off all her curves. And her natural beauty didn’t need any makeup. In fact, Brody liked her natural blush when he winked at her, better than any shade of makeup. And that was just their appearances. On the inside, there was no contest between the two women. Audrey, although he was sure she wasn’t a bad woman, didn’t have the genuine warmth that Sarah did. Something about Sarah made you want to be around her. Even if Brody hadn’t been ridiculously attracted to her, he knew he wouldn’t be able to stay away from her. She pulled people in.

But just because Brody didn’t get it, didn’t mean that there wasn’t a real feeling there. And it was obvious that Sarahwasbothered by her.

She sighed and dropped her head for a minute. “Honestly?”

He nodded.

“I don’t really know. I think that because it’s just me, I should be everything and be able to do everything. Like supermom. It’s a pressure I’ve felt inside and then, when Audrey’s around, there’s an external pressure, too. Like I need to prove to the world that Icando it all.” She shrugged. “It probably sounds stupid.”

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