Knocked Out By Love (Love to the Extreme) Read Free

update her appearance. It wasn’t that she’d let herself go, really, but she hadn’t tried very hard, either. The more bad news they’d received, the more distant Ryan had become. Or worse, the more he criticized her in a way she worried she’d never truly bounce back from.
    Now honey-colored strands, with some shocking lighter streaks, brushed her shoulders in a sexy layered bob. The cut had taken years off her face. Before, she had felt every one of her twenty-seven years, plus a few additional ones. Now she could easily pass for early to mid-twenties, and she felt good for the first time in a long while.
    The blue-and-white silk dress with a hi-lo skirt showed off more leg than she was accustomed to, while the halter-top gave “bada boom” a whole new meaning. Not that she hadn’t needed some liquid courage before even leaving the room, and a bit more once men started approaching her.
    As the liquor warmed her insides, her tension eased, her worry over what to say abated, and she’d relished the attention, reminding herself that she had all the control. Tonight had been her moment. And Brody had ruined it by bringing her ex-husband into her paradise.
    “Maybe you should tell Brody everything so he’ll leave you alone,” Delaney said, thankfully saving Scarlett from her thoughts.
    “I don’t owe him an explanation.”
    He could take his overly muscled ass straight to hell for all she cared.
    She sighed in resignation. “You’re absolutely right. You don’t.”
    Though she owed him nothing, she wasn’t ready to rehash the events leading up to her escape. The only person who knew even the smallest portion about what had happened was Delaney. She wanted to keep it that way.
    Soon enough, she would have to face the music of her failed marriage. She was dreading dealing with her mother and sister. Everyone loved Ryan and had refused to entertain the idea that he was cheating. Instead, they sided with him, saying she was in a bad place mentally, and it was making her suspicious over everything and everybody.
    How wrong they’d been.
    How would they react when they found out she’d been right? Would they see the snake Ryan was behind his easy smile and adoring facade, or would they blame her suspicions for causing him to stray? She wished she could be confident her family would support her, but they hadn’t in the past when it came to Ryan, so she wasn’t sure they would now.
    Maybe it was selfish of her to want to stick her head in the sand while she was here, but she’d been living in a harsh reality for far too long, and it was past time she got a chance to just live.
    “So if you’re not going to explain anything to Brody, what are you going to do to get him to lay off?” Delaney asked.
    “Nothing.” She raised her hands in a helpless gesture at Delaney’s confused look. “What am I supposed to do? If he wants to have double standards, that’s on him. I don’t have to play along.”
    “Double standards?”
    “Come on. There’s no way he doesn’t know what Ryan’s been doing. If he wants to judge me for cheating while he knows his boy is doing the same damn thing, then I’m going to give him an eyeful to go back and tattle to Ryan about.”
    “He might not know, Scar. We all have secrets and I didn’t tell you everything about my relationship.”
    “Why wouldn’t you?”
    Stupid question. It was the same reason she wasn’t telling Delaney everything about Ryan. Delaney’s ex-boyfriend had been a real piece of work. There had been many times where Delaney had said to Scarlett, “I am not this woman. Why am I being this woman?”
    Love made you stupid, that’s why.
    God knew she’d lost a few IQ points, even with her gut screaming at her something was wrong. In the beginning, she’d clung to any excuse Ryan had given her, refusing to believe he would lie. It was hard to admit how foolish she’d been, even to her best friend.
    “Because I knew how you’d react, and I didn’t want