Semua Bab A LADY FOR A DUKE : Bab 251 - Bab 260

The front door opened, and Lexi's heart sped up triple time. With an excited squeal Lily dashed from the room to greet them, leaving Lexi alone.Traitor.She wasn’t ready for this. Had she not been tricked, she didn’t know if she would have ever been ready to face Tyler again. Too many regrets. She'd literally begged him. She’d given him her heart and her love and he'd rejected it. She didn't care what his reasons were. Almost two weeks later and she was still very hurt and angry. She wished that she'd have had at least more time to get over him before facing him again. She heard voices from the other room, enthusiastic greetings and the unmistakable hum of Tyler's deep, easy voice. Her heart started going berserk in her chest. No matter what, she could not let him see her this rattled. She rose from the couch on rubbery legs and turned to look out the window at the taillights of the limo as it pulled down the driveway.Something was said about taking the luggage to the bedroom, the

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, sh

“It's not like that, Dee,” Lexi said, although she had no idea what it was like anymore, but clearly Dee seemed to take Tyler's presence as a sign that they were a couple again. She hoped Miss Tactless would get the message and not ask any more questions, but then Tyler said, “Yes you're right I guess, but sadly we broke each other's hearts,” Tyler said, flashing Lexi a wry grin.Lexi glanced in Lily's direction and could see the needle on Lily's stress meter creeping into the red zone. Lily eyed the Tweedles’ untouched chocolate mousse and asked, “Would anyone like seconds on dessert?”“Not me,” Tyler said, rubbing a hand across what Lexi knew was a washboard stomach. “I’m stuffed. Well, I think I’ll take a walk on the beach before it gets dark,” He rose to his feet, and with his eyes on Lexi asked, “Anyone care to join me?”As if. “I will!” Lily said, popping up from her chair with such enthusiasm that she bumped the table and sent her champagne glass teetering precariously. Dani

Tyler made his way to Lexi's room and hoped she'd be in a better mood, but since his presence alone seemed to put her in a foul mood, he couldn't count on it. Not that he could blame her. Everytime he thought about what he'd said to her in Olkfield, he cringed hard. What moron finally got the woman of his dreams and sent her away because he was angry and scared and didn't feel like he was worth it? Well, that moron was him. It had taken him a few days after she left to realise what a terrible mistake he'd made. When he couldn’t stay in his own house anymore because literally every room and everything reminded him of her.His fears had come to pass. Everything he'd been afraid of had happened, and the worst part of it was that he'd made it happen. At least before they'd become lovers, he'd had their friendship, and that had felt like torture in a way, but at least he had her in his life. He'd had something to hold on to. And now that he had none of it, nothing felt right. Nothing ma

So she’d said. He got the feeling there was something more behind her words but decided not to press. It wasn’t important. Figuring out how he’d convince her of the next step should the test be positive was. “Do you feel like eating?”Lexi didn't think she could eat anything right now so she shook her head, “No. Thank you.” She smoothed her hand over her neck and rubbed, softly at first then harder. “It’s a beautiful night,” Tyler murmured, hoping to distract her long enough to get her to breathe. “But the sky is different in Olkfield.”His attempt worked. Lexi took a deep breath, lifted her face to the heavens and, for a moment, the rubbing stopped. “I loved the sky in Olkfield,” she said. Now was his chance. Tyler cupped her elbow in his hand and gently squeezed, feeling the chill on her skin despite the warm night air. “I shouldn't have said those things I said that day, Lexi. I regret saying them, and I don't regret our time together. I'd been waiting for the opportunity to be