Chapter 158

Yet, as she feared earlier on the balcony, it was crystal clear that he had no intention of keeping his promise. In fact, he was doing everything he could to make her as uncomfortable as humanly possible.

And he did it damned well.

Throughout dinner, every time she looked up from her plate of mostly untouched food, his eyes were on her. He wasn’t even attempting to be subtle, the big jerk.

At this rate she would be leaving this house a total basket case.

Daniel kept shooting Lexi apologetic smiles as Victor and Tyler glared at each other, and Lily had started stress eating. She had finished her own meal and was stealing bites from Daniel's plate when she thought no one was watching…

Daniel's other groomsman and best man, Calvin and Dale, observed with blatant curiosity. Lily's bridesmaids were another story. The motor-mouth twins—or as Lily liked to call them, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum—were too busy flapping their jaws to notice anything. Or anyone else for that matter. They weren’t actually twins, although they may as well have been. They had the same burnt-out blond hair and surgically enhanced, anorexic, size-one bodies. They even shared an identical flair for mindless, irrelevant conversation. Lexi was guessing that their collective IQ’s ranked somewhere in the low double-digits.

“A toast to Lily and Daniel,” Tyler said, raising his glass, his eyes still locked on Lexi. She couldn’t help but notice that he’d dropped the good ole boy twang. Tonight he sounded decidedly more upper-crust. “May you have a long, happy life together.”

Like we never had a chance to have, his eyes seemed to say. Was he suggesting that was her fault? Yeah, right.

Around the table crystal stemware clinked and everyone sipped. Lexi downed the contents of her glass in one long swallow. The champagne felt good going down. It tickled her nose and warmed her nervous stomach, although she reminded herself that she couldn't take any more, at least until she confirmed her fears.

One corner of Tyler's mouth tipped up and his eyes sparked with mischief. He was mocking her. She sat a little straighter, pulled her shoulders back, all the more determined to see this through. What was going on with him? It was crazy just how Olkfield had changed them and the energy between them so much. She was always so aware of him now. She refused to let him win. Maybe the trick to making it through this week was to drink alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol.

Unfortunately she couldn't do that. Although she did notice that he drank only mineral water with his dinner and had barely touched his champagne. As if reading her thoughts, Tyler reached for the bottle of champagne the housekeeper had left chilling beside the table. He rose from his chair and circled to her side, moving with a subtle, yet undeniable male grace that was hypnotizing. Even the Tweedles, deep in some inane conversation about the difference between clothes sizes stopped to watch him with unguarded interest.

Lexi sat stock still, resisting the urge to turn in her chair as he stepped behind her. His aura seemed to suck the oxygen from the air around her, making her feel light-headed and woozy. He leaned forward, resting a hand on the back of her chair—his fingers this close to her skin but not quite touching her—and filled her empty glass.

As he poured, his arm brushed her shoulder. His bare arm. Against her bare shoulder. Time ground to a screeching halt, and the entire scene passed before her eyes in slow motion. A twisted, messy knot of emotions she couldn’t even begin to untangle settled in her gut, and a weird, this-can’t-possibly-be-happening feeling crept over her.

Why didn’t she do something to stop him? Bat his hand away or jab an elbow into his gut? Why was she just sitting there frozen? It was not as if she was enjoying this. Yet she couldn’t deny that there was something about him, about the feel of his skin that was eerily familiar.

Not just familiar, but almost…natural. Which was just plain freaky.

Silence had fallen over the table and everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at her and Tyler. Which Lexi realized was exactly what he wanted.

Under the table, her foot was tapping like mad. If she didn’t calm down, she was going to wear away the sole of her sandal.

She forced herself to relax, to pretend she didn’t care when in reality she was wound so tight she could crack walnuts on her rear end.

What felt like an eternity later he finally backed away, making it a point to run the length of his arm across her shoulder while the hand that rested behind her chair brushed ever so softly against the back of her neck. If this was what she had to look forward to every time she emptied her glass, maybe heavy drinking definitely wasn't a hot idea after all. She was much better off keeping him at the opposite end of the table, where he could only touch her with his eyes.

“Anyone else?” he asked, offering a refill to the rest of the table.

Dee raised her glass. “I’d love some.”

As he poured, Lexi couldn’t help noticing that he didn’t rest his hand on her chair, nor did he brush against her with his arm. Everyone else seemed to notice, too. It confirmed that he had only been trying to antagonize her. Hadn’t he caused her enough grief? Couldn’t he act like an adult and leave her alone?

“Lily told us you three have all been best friends for a long time,” Dee said as Tyler returned to his side of the table and slid easily into his seat.

The way he could look so relaxed and casual, yet emanate an aura of authority, boggled the mind. He retrieved his napkin from the table and draped it in his lap. “That’s right.”

Dee’s eyes widened a fraction and she looked at Lexi, “And you guys recently figured out how you truly felt for each other…”

“Dee!” Lily almost yelled, batting her eyes at Dee to warn her that this wasn't the time or appropriate. She regretted gossiping with her friend about the issue now, but the deed was already done.