“Was being in his bed worth it?” Noelle hissed in Olivia’s ear.
Olivia turned to see her sister filing into the room behind her as everyone fanned out, trying to find a seat.
“Worth what?” She edged toward the middle table, where the bride and her family and the groom and his family were to sit. She was hoping to avoid a confrontation by slipping away before Noelle could really engage her, but Noelle managed a parting shot all the same.
“Looking like a slut in front of both our families and all of Kyle’s friends!”
Those friends used to be her friends, until Noelle had stolen Kyle and made it too awkward for Olivia to hang out with them. Incensed to think her sister would dare take that tack after what she’d done, Olivia almost let her have it. But then she glanced up and caught Brandon watching her. As he walked through the crowded room, he gave her a half smile and a wink that reminded her to take it on the chin—or at least pretend to.
Ignoring Noelle and Gail DeMarco, Noah Rackham, Baxter Solomon, Callie Vanetta, even Cheyenne Christensen, her favorite of Kyle’s friends, Olivia began to circle the center table. She was hoping to put several place settings between her and Noelle. But her sister had saved the seat next to her.
“Olivia, why don’t you sit here by me?” she said as sweetly as if she hadn’t just called Olivia a slut.
Olivia suspected her sister of trying to keep her from sitting beside Brandon, but she had no intention of doing that, anyway—not under the watchful eyes of both sets of parents, neither of whom seemed pleased by their friendship. Maybe they believed Noelle and thought she and Brandon were trying to ruin the wedding.
“Noelle!” Kyle’s chastening tone surprised Olivia. Clearly he wasn’t happy. He seemed to be cautioning his fiancée against baiting her, but Noelle ignored him.
“Well?” Her sister lifted her eyebrows.
Feeling Kyle’s parents’ attention on her, Olivia suppressed her anger. She’d be damned if she’d let Noelle make her look any worse than she already did. “Coming.”
Once they were all seated, the tension eased enough for polite conversation. Everyone joined in except Kyle. He remained silent, drinking far more than he ate.
Noelle didn’t seem to notice that her groom was upset. Her gaze darted to Brandon every few seconds, even though he didn’t pay her the slightest attention. When he did look up, it was to catch Olivia’s eye.
Determined to get through the meal as fast as possible, Olivia concentrated on her salad and champagne and tried to block out everything else. But Brandon’s mother whispered something to him, and Olivia couldn’t help straining to hear what was said.
“Why on earth were you so late? You promised me you’d be on your best behavior!”
“I am on my best behavior,” he said with a mock scowl that nearly made Olivia laugh. He hadn’t answered his mother’s question, but when he leaned back and put his arm around her, she seemed so pleased by the loving gesture that she let the rest go.
Smooth, Olivia thought. Too smooth. She was going to have to be careful not to fall for him like everyone else.
Chapter 9
Kyle felt as if the night would never end. He knew he was drinking too much, but he had to do something. Otherwise, he’d get into a public argument with his soon-to-be wife. Noelle was playing games, taunting Olivia wherever and whenever she could. She didn’t realize that it made her look jealous and inferior and foolish.
This was the woman he was marrying. But the sense of doom that acknowledgment brought him wasn’t the worst of what he was suffering. Not tonight. The worst was watching Brandon and Olivia together. The way they’d walked into the room, united against everyone else. The intimacy of the looks they exchanged across the table. The smiles. They were captivated with each other. He’d never seen his brother so attentive to a woman. He wanted to believe Brandon was just trying to get under his skin, but he knew better. Brandon had his faults. He was competitive and stubborn and determined to live life on his own terms, but he was honest, and he wasn’t petty.
Kyle had expected this wedding to be difficult, but it was proving to be almost impossible.
'So have you decided where you’ll live?” his future mother-in-law asked.
This had been a subject of much contention. He wanted to stay in the same house he’d been living in for five years, the one he’d had built near his manufacturing plant. It wasn’t big or ostentatious, but it was comfortable and convenient.
Noelle wanted him to buy her a mansion in town. She worked at a dress boutique, making minimum wage, and used the excuse that it was closer to her job.
“We’re going to knock down the old Foreman house right there on the turn as you leave town and build our dream home,” Noelle gushed.
Kyle gaped at her. Where had that come from? She’d been trying to talk him into that plan, but he’d never agreed. “No, we’re not,” he said. “Noelle will be moving in with me.”
“We can’t live in that cracker box!” she snapped. “Where will we put the baby?”
“There’s room.” He finished his champagne and searched for the waiter. “I can move the storage I have over to the plant.”
“But there’s no need to go to the trouble. If we build in town, we can have everything just the way we want.”
The way she wanted. That was all that ever mattered.
He could tell he was making his parents uncomfortable by not respecting her wishes, but the alcohol was interfering with his ability to control the negative thoughts and emotions rising to the surface. “I’m not ready to build in town.”
“That’s not what you said when we talked about it last,” Noelle pressed, despite the look he gave her, asking her to drop it. “You said you’d think about it.”
He shrugged. “I have. The answer’s no.”
“What I want doesn’t count?” Her voice grew shrill. “We’re going to stay in that dump just because you like it?”
His place was one of the nicest in the area. It wasn’t even close to being a “dump.” She was just trying to get her own way, like the spoiled child she really was, but before he could say so, someone touched his shoulder.
“Hey, you.”
Gail had left her table in the middle of the main dish to rescue him. He knew that as soon as her gaze cut to the waiter filling his glass on the other side.
“What’s up?” he said.