Chapter 44

CHAPTER

FORTY-FOUR

Maddie blinked, certain she hadn't heard Brody correctly. "I'm so confused. What do you mean you and Adrienne broke up a year ago? You mean, you broke up but got back together before this retreat?"

Brody shook his head, a wrinkle of confusion between his eyes. "No, we're not together. I thought Adrienne told you."

Maddie searched her thoughts, replaying her past conversations with Adrienne. But she didn't recall her friend saying anything of that sort.

"Maybe she was too embarrassed," Brody finally said, uncertainty in his voice. "I'm not really sure."

"If you're not together then why are you here at the retreat with her?" Maddie tried to put together the pieces until they made sense. But his words had been the last thing she expected.

Brody let out a breath and stared out over the water. "Adrienne's ex has been stalking her. She's been terrified—terrified enough that she thought he might follow her here to Kauai."

"She did tell me she thought she'd seen him a few times."

"She told me that too," Brody said. "And I don't doubt what she's telling us, though I haven't seen Danny myself. She's terrified of the man, afraid he might retaliate."

Maddie blinked, her head still spinning. "So let me get this straight. You came here with Adrienne so her ex would think that you were together and leave her alone?"

"No, I came here because Adrienne asked me to be her bodyguard. But she didn't want it to be obvious because that might make her seem weak. For that reason, we weren't going around telling people any details."

"Aren't you staying in the same room?"

"In two separate beds, of course." He shrugged as if it weren't a big deal.

Maddie tried to reconcile what he was telling her with the assumptions she'd made. They weren't a couple? This whole time she'd thought they were. But that would explain why they weren't particularly affectionate with each other, she supposed.

"I can't believe you guys aren't together."

"It's like I said, I thought you knew," Brody said. "I wasn't going to go around advertising our status. It isn't ideal coming on a trip like this with your ex. But she needed me. Besides, I owed her one."

"You owed her one?" Maddie knew she probably shouldn't ask the question, but she was curious. There was so much more to this story than she'd ever guessed.

He stared out over the water again, appearing as if his mind drifted back in time. "She was there for me after a really hard time in my life. I figured coming here to help her out was the least I could do—plus, I love Hawaii. She promised there were no strings attached."

For some reason, that update brought Maddie a small measure of delight.

It shouldn't.

Because Adrienne clearly still had feelings for Brody, and Adrienne was Maddie's friend.

That meant that even though Brody was single, he was off-limits. Besides, Maddie wasn't looking to jump into another relationship.

This conversation still didn't explain why Adrienne had said Brody and Danny were a lot alike. Maybe it was because Adrienne and Brody had some tough talks about not dating or being together maybe. Maddie couldn't be sure.

But she certainly hadn't been expecting that news . . . nor was she sure what to do with it.

Maddie felt like she could stay out here all night with Brody. She wanted nothing more than to watch the sunset or look for sea turtles resting on the shore.

But doing those things wasn't appropriate.

Even if Adrienne and Brody weren't dating . . . and if Maddie and Josh had broken up . . . the thought of admitting or acting on her feelings to Brody still had the ick factor.

Maddie paused as she and Brody approached a jetty going into the water. They'd reached the end of the beach and had gone as far as they could walk.

This was where they had to turn around and go back. But part of her didn't want this to ever end. Talking to Brody had been a nice break from the headache of everything else that had happened. It had been refreshing.

But good things had to come to an end. She had to use her head right now instead of her heart.

She offered a soft smile as she glanced up at Brody. "I've enjoyed talking with you."

He smiled down at her also. "You too. I'm glad we had the chance to talk one-on-one."

They stared at each other a moment, something unspoken passing between them.

Brody felt the same way Maddie did, didn't he? Yet he also seemed to share the sentiment that they needed to keep their distance—like any reputable man might.

Maddie quickly broke eye contact, realizing she needed to get this man out of her mind and stop toying with the idea of exploring a relationship with him.

She started to say they should probably head back when a familiar figure on the beach caught her eye.

Logan.

The woman walked down the shore by herself. By all appearances, she hadn't realized Maddie was in front of her.

When Logan looked up and the two locked gazes, surprise washed over the woman's face.

She froze, almost looking as if she wanted to turn and run.

But Maddie wasn't going to let her do that.

"Excuse me a moment," she muttered to Brody.

She called Logan's name and jogged closer. She hadn't planned to confront the woman. Maddie mostly blamed what had happened on Josh. But she wasn't going to tuck her tail between her legs and act like a victim either.

Logan's gaze turned cool as Maddie got closer. "I didn't expect to see you out here."

"I'm sure you didn't." Maddie paused in front of her, her hands going on her hips. "I know about you and Josh."

"It took you long enough to realize." Her eyebrows flickered with smugness.

The woman's absolute lack of remorse felt like a slap in the face. How could she be so heartless and calloused—not to mention have such a lack of a moral compass?

"It doesn't matter anymore," Maddie told her. "He's all yours now."

Logan's eyes widened. She clearly hadn't heard that Josh and Maddie had broken up. Had really broken up. It was anyone's guess what Josh had told Logan about the status of their relationship.

Logan's surprise disappeared and the smugness returned. "I knew the two of you were never right for each other. You can't give him what he wants."

Maddie's lips parted as anger burned through her veins. She didn't even care that Brody had caught up and was listening to everything. She couldn't cower to this woman's words.

"You know what?" Maddie said. "As far as I'm concerned, Josh can be your problem now."

Logan shrugged. "He always made it abundantly clear that he was much happier with me anyway."

Maddie tried not to show any surprise. Not necessarily because of what Logan said. But because of the woman's vindictive attitude.

"I'll let you continue your walk." Maddie kept her voice cool and controlled. "I just wanted to clear the air."

As Maddie took a step away, Brody joining her, Logan threw out one last barb. "I know it was you on the beach that morning, that you were the one arguing with Jared."

The words stopped her cold, and Maddie slowly turned back toward the woman. "You're the witness that Detective Kalani mentioned?"

Logan smirked. "That's right. I saw it all, and I wasn't afraid to let the detective know it was you."

"That's impossible," Maddie told her. "You didn't see me out there with him. I wasn't the one arguing with him on the beach. The first time I saw him was in the water."

"That's not what I saw." Logan shrugged as if her mind was made up.

Maddie shook her head. "That's conjecture."

Logan smirked again, making it clear she didn't give any credence to Maddie's words.

The woman didn't care about the truth.

She only cared about getting what she wanted.

Brody put his hand on Maddie's elbow and pulled her away from Logan right in the nick of time—right before she said something she might regret.

"Let's get back," he murmured.

Maddie threw one last dirty look at Logan before walking away.