The Game Plan (Neighbor from Hell #5)(78)

He tilted his head to the side, studying her for a long moment. “Now, why don’t I believe you?” he murmured thoughtfully.

“Because you’re paranoid,” she teased, standing on her toes so that she could press a kiss against his stubborn chin. “Everything’s fine,” she lied.

*-*-*-*

“So, I was thinking that once we’re home that I’d take Jodi out to a movie or something,” Duncan said as they stood in front of the main alligator pit.

“And why’s that?” he asked, not really paying attention to his brother or the hundreds of alligators roaming freely in the large pit below.

All of his attention was on the small woman siting on the bench, staring at the ground and looking a little lost. Something was wrong. He wasn’t sure what had happened between the time that he’d dropped to his knees and buried his head between her legs and the time that he’d finished his shower, but he was going to find out.

“Because she’s clearly done with you,” his brother said, confirming his fears that he was the reason why she looked so upset.

“Clearly,” he murmured absently, running everything that he’d said and done in the last forty-eight hours through his head and although he’d f*cked up a lot, he had a pretty good idea where he’d truly f*cked up.

He’d not only assumed that she was in love with him without actually hearing the words, but he’d f*cked up by telling her that he not only wanted to marry her, but that he didn’t love her. He should have never opened his mouth and told her anything. He’d rushed his game plan and now….

He was paying for it.

She was pulling away from him and he had absolutely no idea what to do to stop her.

“Good. So, you’re fine if I ask her out?” his brother asked, already pushing away from the wall to do just that.

“Sure,” he said, facing his brother as he pulled back his fist and let it fly, because if there was one thing that little brothers were good for, it was beating the shit out of them when he was pissed.

*-*-*-*

“Get him off! Get him off!” the hysterical scream disrupted her self-pitying thoughts and had her looking up in time to see most of Danny’s brothers grabbing him by the arms and carefully pulling him off Duncan, but not before he got in another punch.

“I’m telling on you, you bastard!” Duncan yelled while he got to his feet as Danny struggled to break free and go back after his brother.

“Go ahead, you little bastard!” Danny said, pulling free from his brothers’ hold.

“Oh, I will!” Duncan said, glaring at his brother as he stormed off, heading towards the gift shop where their parents had disappeared twenty minutes ago. When he saw Jodi, he stopped, grinned smugly and headed straight for her, which was when Danny came after him for a second time.

Really not in the mood to watch this and needing some time to herself while she tried to figure out how she was going to handle this, she got up and walked towards the exit, jumping out of the way when Danny tackled Duncan to ground, nearly colliding with her. Shaking her head and managing a small smile when Duncan screeched like a girl and yelled for his mother, she left the reptile park and headed for the bench she’d spotted earlier. She sat down, leaned forward and closed her eyes as she soaked in the warm Florida sun, hoping that it would help her figure a way out of this mess.

“Are you about to break my son’s heart?” Dr. Bradford asked, startling her….a bit.

“Ow!” she cried out when she fell off the bench and landed, rather awkwardly, on a few of the bricks bordering the beautiful rock garden surrounding the gates to the zoo.

“Damn it,” Dr. Bradford cursed, rushing to her side to help her to her feet. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said, holding back a cringe, because she just wasn’t strong enough to get through the embarrassment of having her boyfriend’s father seeing her ass for a second time in less than a week.

He helped her up and when he gestured for her to sit down, she shook her head, deciding that it was probably for the best if she didn’t put pressure on the fresh cuts marring her ass at the moment. “I’m fine, really,” she said, pasting that fake smile that she’d been using all day back on her face.

Her hopes that he would walk away disappeared when he sat back down on the bench, folded his arms over his chest and settled in for the long haul. “Are you going to answer my question?” he asked, watching her closely and making her frown in confusion.

“Didn’t I just answer your question?” she had to ask, because she was pretty sure that she’d just answered him.

His eyes narrowed on her. “Not that. I want to know if you’re about to break my son’s heart.”

“Okaaaay,” she said slowly, really not sure where this was coming from. “Why exactly are you asking me that question?”

“Because you’ve been ignoring him all day and you’ve been acting like you’d rather be anywhere but here.”

“I’m not ignoring him,” she answered, rubbing her hands down her face at the reminder of how screwed up her life was about to become.

There wasn’t any money in her bank account to pay her credit card bill tomorrow, which meant that she was going to get hit with late fees and her interest rate was going to be raised to thirty-four percent if she was lucky. It also meant that her credit score was about to take a hit. Basically, this meant that this mistake was going to add months if not years onto her plans to pay off this debt.