A Winter Wedding(60)

“Your life is getting interesting,” Morgan said.

He didn’t respond. He was too busy wondering when news of that article would reach Derrick—and what Derrick might do when he learned that Lourdes wasn’t alone in some remote farmhouse, crying over their breakup. Would he try to contact her again? Attempt another reconciliation?

Kyle hoped not. It’d been only a few days, but already Lourdes seemed to be getting over him. At times, Kyle got the feeling she was as relieved about being out of that relationship as she was about being out of the spotlight. She’d told him that leaving Nashville had been necessary for her to feel human and real again. He believed separating from Derrick was part of that. One less burden to carry. He felt she’d been trying to make something work that’d been doomed from the outset. What she and Derrick had in common was a love of music and similar professional goals, and that was it.

Last night, he’d convinced her they should sneak into a hot tub. After thirty minutes or so, they got caught and had to run for it. They were laughing so hard by the time they reached his truck, which he’d parked well down the street, they could hardly climb in. He didn’t tell her that the people who owned the hot tub were some of his best friends and wouldn’t mind in the least. He didn’t want to make her feel she had to be polite and meet them. Besides, the daring nature of slipping in and out of Ted Dixon’s backyard was half the fun.

“There you are,” Olivia said.

Kyle waited until Morgan started back to her own desk. The way his assistant was dragging her feet, he knew she was hoping to catch part of their conversation. He motioned to suggest she should move a little faster. Then, when she was far enough away not to hear, he closed the door. “What can I do for you?” he asked.

Obviously realizing that his smile wasn’t entirely sincere, Olivia stiffened. “You can get over our tiff at Sunday dinner, for one,” she said.

“I am over it.” He shrugged. “In case Mom didn’t tell you, I apologized to her. And now I’m apologizing to you. I’m sorry for causing a scene.”

She stared at him as if she wasn’t sure whether his apology was any more sincere than his greeting.

“Now it’s your turn,” he said.

“My turn?”

“To apologize.”

“For...”

“Believing that shit your sister told you.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time exes have...remained intimate.”

“The sex in exchange for money or favors element—that’s what really bothered me, and you know it. For one thing, I’m not so desperate that I need some sort of leverage to get a woman in my bed. For another, she’s the last person I’m interested in.”

“I admit it didn’t sound like you,” she said. “But she’s my sister. And sometimes she’s so insistent.” She shook her head. “Anyway, what’s gotten into you lately?”

“What’s gotten into me?” Normally, he wouldn’t grumble about Noelle to her. He felt it was his fault Noelle was in his life, and he had to stand up and carry that cross without complaining, especially to Olivia, the person he’d wronged by getting involved with Noelle in the first place.

But perhaps it was time for Olivia to understand the situation from his perspective. “Your sister is driving me nuts, that’s what,” he said. “We’ve been divorced for five years, and she still won’t leave me alone. She calls me for money constantly. Asks me over to fix something when it’s not really broken—or she broke it on purpose. Shows up uninvited at my place, sometimes at odd hours, like when she’s getting off work late at night. Stops if she sees my truck in town so I can’t visit a restaurant in peace. Calls to tell me a certain show is on. Hints that I should take her to romantic places—or just to dinner. Offers me sex, even though I don’t want to be with her in that way and haven’t been since before the divorce. Tell me, what does a guy have to do to get rid of her?”

She sat down. “Have you ever loved her?”

“That’s your response?”

“It’s a fair question.”

Maybe it was a fair question, but it struck at the heart of his guilt. “What do you think?”

She gave him a pleading look. “Can’t we have an honest discussion, Kyle? Please? So much between us has gone unsaid. We were both involved in the same emotional...wreck, for lack of a better word. There was a lot of painful drama. And now there are scars. Maybe it’s time to...to finally address it all.”

“Does Brandon know you’re here?”

“Of course. He agreed I should come.”

“Fine.” He thought they might both live to regret the next few minutes but sank into the chair behind his desk. “What do you want to address? I never loved Noelle. You already know that.” And she knew why, although he wasn’t willing to state the reason. “I tried, but it was a losing battle from the start.”

Her lips slanted down. “Don’t you see how tragic that is?”

So this was going to be a pity party for Noelle? Kyle wasn’t feeling it. “Of course I can see it. Or can’t you see that her inability to function in life is what shackles me to her?”

When she studied him without speaking, he nearly stood as a signal that she should take her leave. What else could the two of them have to discuss? It didn’t matter what residual feelings he might or might not have; nothing would change the fact that she was married to Brandon.