met your father, fell in love, and had you. When your father died, she went through with his life-long dream of making you a star, showing off the talents he recognized in you from an early age,” Brady states easily, like he's reading the information from a children’s fairytale book.
I can’t hide the unattractive snort that comes out when he lists my mother’s bio—the one she’s painstakingly fabricated and has spread through the media over the years.
“Eve Carlysle: the perfect wife, the perfect mother, and the perfect business owner.”
I can’t hide the contempt in my voice, and I mentally scold myself. Brady Marshall may seem like an okay guy when he isn’t acting like a pompous jerk, but I don’t know the first thing about him. Finn is the only person I have ever confided in about what my mother is really like or what she’s done to me, and I’m not about to change that now. Brady is a military man, just like Finn, but that’s where the similarities end. Just after a few days, I can already tell that Brady is all about the job. He’s focused and single-minded, and he will listen to the orders that have been given to him. God only knows what Eve must have said to him about me. I trust Finn with my life, my secrets, and my heart. I know he would never betray me and go back to my mother and tell her anything that I've said in confidence. I don’t know the first thing about Brady. For all I know he lives alone in a hovel sharpening his knives and cleaning his guns until someone hires him for another job.
“Care to elaborate?” Brady asks.
“Nope.”
If he thinks I’m just going to spill my guts to him after only knowing him for a few days, he’s insane.
“You know, I was hired to help you. I can’t do that if you aren’t honest with me.”
Another laugh escapes my lips before I can catch it.
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t hire you. If there’s something you need to know, ask Eve.”
I realize suddenly that he’s no longer running beside me, and I stop and turn to find him standing in the middle of the trail with his hands on his hips.
“I did ask Eve. I got the whole run down about you and her and how you’ve let fame get to your head and you’ll probably be difficult to work with. You’re definitely a pain in my ass, but I know for a fact you are nothing like she portrays you. And I’m guessing if I asked her why she felt the need to belittle you and make you feel like you were nothing in the middle of your sound check the other day, she wouldn’t be honest with me.”
My jaw drops and even though we’ve run roughly two miles and my heart is beating fast, it’s about ready to jump out of my chest when I realize he was in the arena when Eve had gone postal on me about changing the set list.
“You heard that?” I whisper as he takes a few steps towards me, closing the distance.
“Every word,” he replies softly, bringing his hand up and brushing a few stray pieces of hair out of my face to look me in the eyes. The skin of my forehead where his fingers graze me feels warm, and I hold back a shiver even though it’s seventy degrees this morning and I’m sweating from the run. “I also watched your performance. It was good...if you like that sort of music. The crowd loves you and it’s easy to see that you were made to do something like that. But you aren’t enjoying one single second of your time up on that stage and I want to know why. Why the hell do you do it if you hate it?”
He’s so close to me that our feet are almost touching. I can smell his soap and a small hint of sweaty man, and it makes me want to slide my hands under the T-shirt that clings to his chest from sweat. My fingers tingle with the need to glide up the front of him so I can feel the definition of his abs under my palms. I shake the thoughts from my mind and take a step back from him. His close proximity is doing crazy things to me, things I don’t understand or have time for. The only thing I can think about