Page 20 of The Bet
Everything was running according to schedule, even in the hot mid-morning sun which often slowed everyone down.
When the wedding march began, Xavier knew, even before he looked at his watch, that it was noon.
He stared at his brother’s profile, at his strong jaw, and the prominent forehead, and the smile that settled on his lips as he gazed ahead. Xavier stood to the side and looked over his shoulder. Savannah walked down the pathway strewn with petals, on her father’s arm. She looked pretty in her long white dress, wearing no veil and carrying a bouquet of brightly colored flowers.
Xavier placed his hand in his trouser pocket—and froze when he couldn’t feel the ring box in it.
Crap. Fuck. Shit.
The ring.
The goddamn ring wasn’t in his pocket.
He jerked upright, as if an ice-cold pole had jabbed him.Where the fuck had he put it?
Somewhere along the periphery of his panicked vision, he caught sight of Lime Green Bikini as she walked Jacob over to sit in the front row with Savannah’s parents, and then she moved to a seat at the back.
And then he remembered.
Fuck. When Gisele had called, before he’d left the room, he’d put the ring box on the table when he’d checked the caller ID.
“I’ll be back,” he whispered to Tobias’s chin, not daring to meet his brother’s gaze. And he raced away, as discreetly as it was possible to be, knowing that there would be hell to pay for this fuckup.
~ ~ ~
Where was that idiot rushing off to?
Izzy watched Xavier turn a deathly shade of pale as he rushed away. She preferred to sit in the row at the back, observing from the sidelines, even though Jacob’s grandmother had told her to sit with Jacob in the front row. She didn’t want to impose or get in the way of such an intimate occasion.
At least this way she could observe everything and everyone. It took her breath away, to see how pretty everything looked—to see the garlands draped around the seating area, and to see the chairs done up so elegantly. She had kept her call to Cara last night as brief as possible, but her friend had wanted a minute-by-minute report of the wedding. She’d even had the cheek to ask for pictures.
Izzy gave nothing away.
She looked at the front, at Tobias and Savannah standing together, at the wedding official who hadn’t yet started the wedding, and wondered what was causing the delay.
The answer revealed itself a moment later, when Xavier rushed back.
Her head snapped back in amazement.
He couldn’t have.
Oh, goodness.Had he?
She pulled her shades down and looked over the rims, observing everything with an eagle eye.
He had forgotten the ring.
The guy was a bigger asshole than she had ever given him credit for. Not only had he messed up the one job that Tobias had given him, he was cheating on his girlfriend, and with Savannah’s cousin of all people. She felt a sudden sense of solidarity for the poor actress he’d been dating. Any girl stupid enough to go out with Xavier needed her head examined.
