Chapter 155

The front door opened, and Lexi's heart sped up triple time. With an excited squeal Lily dashed from the room to greet them, leaving Lexi alone.

Traitor.

She wasn’t ready for this. Had she not been tricked, she didn’t know if she would have ever been ready to face Tyler again.

Too many regrets. She'd literally begged him. She’d given him her heart and her love and he'd rejected it. She didn't care what his reasons were. Almost two weeks later and she was still very hurt and angry. She wished that she'd have had at least more time to get over him before facing him again.

She heard voices from the other room, enthusiastic greetings and the unmistakable hum of Tyler's deep, easy voice. Her heart started going berserk in her chest. No matter what, she could not let him see her this rattled. She rose from the couch on rubbery legs and turned to look out the window at the taillights of the limo as it pulled down the driveway.

Something was said about taking the luggage to the bedroom, then she heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs—more than one set. She closed her eyes and clung to the breath in her lungs until her head began to swim from lack of oxygen, praying Lily was showing Tyler up to his room and she could put off a little longer the inevitable confrontation.

She needed time to prepare. Ten or fifteen minutes. Or a week. Maybe a month or even a year.

For several long seconds the house was still and silent. She exhaled slowly, felt her heart rate returning to a somewhat normal pace, and sucked in a fresh breath.

Then a familiar feeling—something warm and complicated and unpredictable—poured over her. It soaked through her clothes and drenched her skin and she knew without turning that Tyler was in the room. She could feel his presence, the pressure of his gaze on her back, like some creepy sixth sense.

Goose bumps broke out across her arms, and the fine hairs on her neck started to shiver.

It was crazy that she'd known this man for years and never felt this way around him till her visit to Olkfield. That trip had changed the way she felt and saw him for good and bad. She'd never been so aware of him this way, and honestly she didn't even know if she regretted going or not. Her time with him was one she knew she'd never experience with any other man. Too bad it'd also cost them their friendship.

Oh, boy, here we go.

Gathering every scrap of courage she could dredge up, she fixed what she hoped was a disinterested look on her face and turned to face him.

Tyler leaned in the arched doorway, arms folded over his chest. Arms that somehow managed to appear muscular and lean at the same time, a chest wide enough to impress but not overpower. Memories of those arms around her, her cheek pressed to that warm, solid chest breathing in the clean, subtle scent of his aftershave, rushed up to choke the air from her lungs.

In faded blue jeans, a white T-shirt and boots, he looked almost as he had in college. Yet there was an air of authority and importance that emanated from inside him, from every pore. An arrogance that said he knew exactly what he wanted and he wasn’t afraid to go after it, and pity the person who dared get in his way. All parts of him that she'd seen in her short time with him in Olkfield. Sometimes she wondered she'd gone that long without seeing him that way… Or maybe she'd just refused to let herself see it.

Beginning with her pink-tipped toes, his eyes embarked on a leisurely journey, working their way up her body. Slowly they climbed, no shame, no apology, as if he had every right to be mentally undressing her. Over her hips, across her stomach… She clasped her hands behind her back, so he wouldn’t see them tremble. What was wrong with her? No matter what had happened, she could handle Tyler Connelly. She hoped.

He finally reached her breasts and took his sweet ole time, caressing them with his eyes. She felt the tips tingle and tighten against her will. The urge to cross her arms over her chest was almost unbearable, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. This inspection, this violation, was all a part of a game he was playing. He had no right to look at her that way anymore.

She narrowed her eyes and raised her chin to a don’t-even-mess-with-me angle. When he finally reached her face, his eyes locked on hers and held, and one corner of his mouth tipped up in a familiar, cocky smile.

He shook his head, eyes simmering with male appreciation. “Hello, Lexi.”

If looks could kill, Tyler would be knocking at the pearly gates. His ex-best friend's eyes impaled him like razor-sharp daggers. Talk about torture. Clearly he was a masochist because he couldn't quite figure out why he was here. Her absence in his own house haunted him, to the extent that he'd stayed away for a few days after she left. Then why had he allowed Lily to talk him into coming here, knowing that he would be seeing her again, especially after his speech about not wanting her in his life anymore. He regretted saying that now, and judging by the way she was staring at him now, she hated him.

But damn, did she look good—willowy and soft around the edges. The kind of pretty that crept up on a man slowly, then dug its claws in deep and held on.

He turned up the charm on his smile, knowing it would irritate the hell out of her, but not knowing what else to do, “How are you doing, Lexi?”

Sure enough, a telltale little crease formed between her eyebrows.

“You don’t look happy to see me,” he said, worsening the situation and hating himself even more.

Her eyes narrowed, like maybe she thought that if she concentrated hard enough she could wish him out of existence.

“Oh, right, you probably think the worst of me right now,”

Her chin rose in a stubborn tilt. “For Lily and Daniel's sake, I’m going to try to make the best of this,” she said in a master-of-the-universe tone. “I expect you to do the same.”