“Maybe he has more integrity than you think.”
Her mother had no chance to reply because Noelle suddenly appeared from the other side of the salon. “Well?”
Even Olivia had to admit she looked beautiful. “Kyle will love it,” she said.
*
Pictures seemed to take forever. Noelle had decreed that Kyle was not to see her before the ceremony, so the groom and his men were sequestered in a different area of the mansion than the bride and her ladies. Callie Vanetta, one of Kyle’s best friends and part of the group he’d grown up with, owned a photography studio on Sutter Street, near the center of town, and was handling the pictures like the pro she was. First, she photographed Kyle, his best man and other groomsmen while Noelle did her makeup. Then Callie came to the bridal suite, where she snapped shots of Noelle getting ready with her maid of honor and bridesmaids.
Feeling more like a robot than a human being, Olivia smiled and nodded and offered her fair share of compliments. They toasted the wedding with delicate flutes of champagne, and took pictures of the process. They admired Noelle’s veil and jewelry and hair, and took pictures of that. They hugged and laughed and watched Noelle gaze into a giant mirror, and took even more pictures.
As soon as possible, Olivia faded into the background. She wanted this part, which required so much pretending, to be over. But she didn’t want the next part—the wedding—to begin. Then she’d have to face Brandon. Although she’d been able to avoid him so far, that wouldn’t be the case much longer.
“Olivia, I…”
Olivia turned from the window overlooking the patio where the ceremony would take place to see Callie standing at her elbow.
“I just…I wanted to say I’m sorry,” she whispered. “For… what’s happened.”
Olivia managed a brief smile, but then Noelle, who’d gone into the bathroom, returned and asked if they should take a picture of her by the window, looking down at the altar below.
“Good idea.” Olivia squeezed Callie’s arm as she moved past, to let her know she was okay. But she felt a little guilty accepting Callie’s sympathy, or anyone else’s. She knew Callie would be surprised to learn she wasn’t brooding over Kyle, that she’d slept with Brandon last night and wanted nothing more than to do it again.
*
Brandon didn’t get to escort Olivia. Noah Rackham was her partner and had been from the beginning. But she was right in front of him. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. He kept hoping she’d turn and acknowledge him in some way, maybe give him a smile that indicated she’d enjoyed last night as much as he had. But ever since she’d entered the room she’d kept her eyes averted and her attention on what was going on around them—on everything but him. He hoped it was because she was under pressure to make sure this wedding was a success.
The music swelled as Kyle, followed by the first of the groomsmen and bridesmaids, walked down the aisle. Noah and Olivia were after Eve and Baxter, two more of Kyle’s friends. Brandon watched as they moved into the dazzling sunshine, and waited several beats before stepping “on deck” with Cheyenne Christensen.
“I can’t believe he’s going through with this,” his partner muttered as she slipped a hand through the crook of his arm.
Her words surprised him. Kyle’s friends were normally so loyal to Kyle they generally ignored him when he was at home.
“What did you say?” he asked.
She turned distressed eyes on him. “I feel like someone should stop the wedding.”
“And that someone should be…”
“How about you?” she responded, but she grinned when she said it and he couldn’t help chuckling.
“It’s too late to save him now,” he said.
She ducked her head, presumably so that the guests twisting around in their seats, trying to catch a glimpse of the rest of the wedding party, wouldn’t see her disapproval. “I know.” Then they stepped into the sunlight, too, and pandered to the crowd and Callie’s camera as they approached the minister, where they separated.
Brandon thought he saw Olivia looking at him as he released Cheyenne. He smiled to see if he could get her to smile back, but she glanced away so quickly he wasn’t sure she’d really seen him. He caught Kyle glaring at him a second later so he moved on without missing a beat.
Once the line was assembled, the traditional wedding march blasted from the speakers and Noelle appeared on her father’s arm. As she glided toward her waiting groom, Brandon thought maybe he should speak up. He would have, if he’d believed it might make a difference.
But Kyle wouldn’t thank him for it. His stepbrother was determined to go to the guillotine, so Brandon kept his mouth shut as the two repeated their vows, kissed and exchanged rings.
The congratulations came next but, in Brandon’s opinion, they were rather subdued. Does anyone think this wedding has a chance?
Kyle held his bride’s hand, but his gaze strayed almost immediately to Olivia, who seemed determined not to look in his direction, either.
As soon as Callie Vanetta had finished taking pictures now that the men and women were together, Brandon made his way over to Olivia. “Everything’s working out perfectly,” he said. “You’ve done a great job.”
When she turned to face him, he again tried to get a read on what she was feeling. But she didn’t give him the opportunity. “Thanks,” she said and moved away.
*
Olivia knew people were keeping a close eye on her, wondering if it was breaking her heart to see Kyle marry her sister. She could hear them murmuring—”Poor thing…Can you believe he went through with it?” and “She even planned the whole wedding!”
She did her best to bear up under the scrutiny. Their pity humiliated her. But she’d expected as much and couldn’t focus on it. Not with Brandon in the room. It was all she could do not to head straight over to him, especially since he seemed so confused by her withdrawal. He’d tried, several times, to approach her.
He was kind to show his support. She appreciated his attempts to make this god-awful night a bit better. But she feared that if she spent even two seconds in his company he’d realize he’d been right all along—she wasn’t cut out for casual sex. She couldn’t say how it had happened, but she’d somehow lost a piece of her heart in that encounter, which was definitely information she didn’t want him to have.