Chapter 157

The tears spilled over onto Lily's cheeks and rolled down, leaving wet dots on the front of her shirt. “Thank you.”

“Besides, Tyler and I talked, and we’ve reached somewhat of an agreement. I’ll avoid him and he’ll avoid me.” Lexi gave Lily's hands a reassuring squeeze and forced a smile. “Really, how bad could it be?”

It could be bad, Lexi realized fifteen minutes later after Lily left to see about dinner. Really bad.

She experienced the same eerie, familiar feeling as she had downstairs when Tyler had entered the room, and she looked up to find him a stone’s throw away, leaning on the edge of his own balcony on the opposite end of the house. His eyes were on her, steady and intense, as if he was biding his time, just waiting for her to notice him there.

“Hi!” he called, wiggling his fingers in a casual, friendly, good-ole-boy wave. He looked out across the ocean, his chest expanding beneath his T-shirt as he drew in a long, deep breath. “Hell of a view, isn’t it?”

Oh, yes it is, she agreed silently, her eyes wandering over his solid frame. And she could feel it coming on, that little shimmy thing her heart did whenever he was near. Here it comes… No, no, no! She lowered her eyes back to her book. Don’t look at him. Don’t encourage him in any way. Maybe he would take the hint and leave her alone.

He didn’t.

“What are you doing?”

“Reading,” she answered, not looking up from the page. Maybe if she kept her answers short and succinct he would get a clue. He would realize she wanted him to leave her alone. Like he promised he would.

He didn’t.

She could still feel his eyes on her, feel him watching. Goose bumps shivered across her skin, and she felt fidgety and uncomfortable. Ignore him and he’ll lose interest, she assured herself. Keep reading and he’ll get bored and go away. But she could feel her anxiety level climbing again. Her foot had begun to tap, the way it always sometimes when she was really nervous, and she was grinding her teeth. She forced herself to relax.

“Good book?” He used a tone that suggested he was making friendly conversation. Maybe to break the ice, so the situation would be a bit less awkward.

He was wasting his time. The only conversation she was interested in having with him was the nonexistent kind. She had too much to worry about now. She didn’t want to break the ice, and she had no desire to make things less awkward.

She just wanted him to go away. There was also the distinct possibility that, despite his promise to leave her alone, he was doing this to annoy her. Either way, she was beginning to feel like a specimen under a microscope.

She took several deep, cleansing breaths, tried to concentrate on her book and not on the man staring at her.

After a few very long, tense moments he said, “Must be a good book.”

“It is.” Up until a few minutes ago, anyway. Now, as she tried to focus on the small print, the words ran together in a nonsensical jumble. Was a few minutes of peace really too much to ask for?

Several more minutes passed quietly by, but she knew without looking up that he was still watching her. The question was, why?

When she couldn’t stand it any longer she looked up and met his gaze. “Was there something you wanted?”

“No, Lexi,” he said, his eyes never straying from her face. “Just enjoying the scenery.”

Something in his eyes, in the intense way he stared, suggested that the scenery he was referring to was her. He was beginning to annoy the hell out of her, and she had the sinking feeling that was exactly his intention.

“Do you think you could possibly enjoy it from somewhere else?” she asked as politely as possible, despite her rapidly mounting irritation.

“What’s wrong, Lexi?” He leaned forward on his elbows, deeper into her personal space. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”

That was the last thing she wanted him to think. He no longer had any power over her. She was strong and independent, and she wanted to put it behind her that she'd thrown herself at him and gotten bluntly rejected. She answered to no one but herself. “No, but I would like to read a few more chapters before dinner.

If you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. You go on ahead and read.”

“Thank you.” She turned her attention back to her book. He was quiet for several minutes, but in her peripheral vision she could see that he hadn’t moved from his spot. He was still watching her.

He was definitely doing it to annoy her. There was no other logical explanation. It was clear that he didn’t intend to leave her alone. Rather than spend an hour or so before dinner enjoying the sun, she would instead have to remain indoors, where he couldn’t bug her.

Lexi rose to her feet and grabbed her book. “I guess I’ll see you at dinner.”

“I thought you wanted to read.”

“It’s been a long day. I think I’ll take a quick nap.” It was a lie, but there was no way she would admit that he’d irritated her to the point of driving her away.

She hoped this was just his misguided way of trying to make amends. She hoped she was wrong and he wasn’t actually doing this to annoy her.

“See you later,” he called, and as she was shutting the door, she could swear she heard laughter.

___________

Tyler was a big, fat liar.

Lexi sipped her juice and glanced up at him through the pale pink, lingering light of sunset across the patio table. Green eyes stared back, tangling her up in their gaze like a fish in a net. A shivery zing of awareness started in her scalp and rippled with lightning speed down to her toes. And though she mentally squirmed and flopped, she couldn’t seem to break loose.

Instead, she stared him down with a cool, disinterested look. Hoping he couldn’t see the frantic flutter of her heartbeat at the base of her throat. The goose bumps dotting every conceivable inch of her flesh. He was supposed to be avoiding her. He had agreed to leave her alone, hadn’t he?