Page 24 of The Bet
Chapter 8
“Iwant more champagne on tables and make sure none of the bottles are less than a quarter empty.” Luke’s orders sent his waiters rushing off.
He turned to him again. “Your brother’s still mad at you?”
“When isn’t he?” Xavier replied.
“He doesn’t look so angry now,” commented Luke, as he looked over his shoulder. Xavier turned around. On the makeshift dancefloor laid out on the soft sand, Tobias and Savannah were dancing and with eyes only for one another. His brother looked like a different man altogether. Xavier turned his back on them. “He’s dancing with his bride, of course he’s going to be happy.”
It seemed that the only person Tobias ever got angry with was him.
As if to confirm his thoughts, Luke winked at him and said, “I reckon it’s just you, pal.”
“Are you deliberately trying to piss me off?”
“Well, just look at him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen your brother look so happy.” Xavier looked again. Sure, that smile on Tobias’s face was rare, but dammit, that smile had been glued to his face all day, only disappearing when he’d spoken to Xavier.
The newlyweds moved slow and close to one another, lost in their own private world under the rows of lanterns which hung above their heads. It was the kind of pretty that would have impressed Gisele if she had come along.
Xavier turned his back on them and knocked back a tequila shot.
“Are you deliberately trying to get drunk?”
“I’m celebrating my brother’s wedding.”
“Take it easy. You don’t want to make a scene and get Tobias even more riled up.”
“It’s not as if I forgot the ring completely.”
“True.”
“And it’s not as if he had to wait more than a few seconds.”
“I was at the back, dude,” Luke retorted. “I didn’t know what had happened then, but even I could tell something was wrong.”
“He didn’t have to wait too long.”
“Your brother is stinking rich and insanely successful, and I bet you he was never late for the important things.”
“Who’s fucking side are you on?” Xavier knocked back his second tequila shot. “Another one.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yup.”
“Coming right up.”
While he waited, he shifted around on the bar stool, his gaze floating around the crowd, trying to find someone interesting. A relaxed vibe permeated the air tonight. The wedding banquet had lasted all afternoon, and there had been plenty of food and drink. Against a setting of sun, sea and sand, the only thing missing was sex.
As the afternoon darkened into evening, there was more food, more canapes, more cocktails, more champagne and more music and dancing.
Xavier lowered his head, and ran his hands through his hair, and when he looked up, Kay was at the other end of the bar. She was laughing and talking with Luke, the way she had with him yesterday.
But today, for some reason, she was deliberately avoiding him.
He turned back to his drink and would have busied himself in checking his cell phone if it hadn’t been taken away from him just before the newlyweds were going to cut the wedding cake. Tobias had remembered.
He looked across the bar again, to see Kay leaving. She hadn’t so much as even glanced at him.
