When We Touch(15)

The others must have shared the details of the past few weeks with her  because he hadn't had the chance to say much since she hit town. She  lived in L.A., was the only member of their group to have moved away and  had been gone since starting her public relations firm over a decade  ago.

Normally he loved it when she came home. She had the best stories about  the movie stars she represented. At last count, she was working with  several box office hits, including Hollywood heavyweight Simon O'Neal.  But they hadn't had a chance to catch up on any of that this time  around.

"It's just extra hard," he said. "With Olivia here."

"I've let my work take over my life, so I'm no expert on relationships,"  she said. "But … if you won't cancel this, you should at least put it off  until you're more confident in your decision."

He laughed. "Are you kidding me? The wedding's tomorrow, Gail. There's  no way I can change anything." If he backed out, he feared Noelle would  make it impossible for him to ever see his child. As long as she got her  way, she was tractable. But if he embarrassed or upset her, she'd fight  him on everything.

"Kyle-"

"There you are."

They both turned to see Eve, who managed The Gold Nugget, the bed and breakfast owned by her family.

"Did you tell him what we think?" she asked Gail.

Gail shot Kyle a meaningful glance. "I told him."

Eve gave him a stern look. "So are you going to call it off?"

Once again, he searched for a better way to handle the situation but  couldn't find one. "No. I'm going to be a father. Nothing can take  precedence over that."

* * *

They were almost out of the room, almost free, when Kyle's father caught  up with Brandon and pulled him off to one side. "So what are you doing  to keep busy now that the cast is off?" he asked.

Olivia gritted her teeth at being detained. She couldn't wait to leave,  to put the rehearsal dinner behind them and return to the peace of  Brandon's secluded cabin. She needed to regroup, but she couldn't allow  her eagerness to show. Everyone was watching her too closely, wondering  if she'd been late in some passive-aggressive attempt to make her  unhappiness known.

"Just working out every day, trying to get in shape for the season."

Brandon answered Bob's questions politely, but Olivia could tell he was  purposely playing up the ski bum image. He'd already told her that  spring and summer were almost as busy as fall and winter. When she'd  acted surprised, he'd explained that he had to meet with his sponsors,  be available to film commercials and participate in photo shoots, most  of which required travel to New York or Los Angeles. He also had to  appear at various events, including children's camps and autographings,  and increase his presence on social networking sites. Professional  skiing was a business as much as a sport, and the stacks of paperwork on  his desk-mostly contracts of one kind or another-seemed to prove it. So  did the poster samples he'd been sent. One showed him dropping,  seemingly without effort, down the face of an alarmingly steep mountain  wearing an expensive brand of ski gear. Another captured his smiling  face in a pair of Oakley goggles with ice crystals caught in the beard  growth along his jaw.

He could've told his stepfather about these things. He could also have  mentioned that he was making a tremendous amount of money. Although they  hadn't spoken about that aspect, Olivia could tell it was true. But  Brandon refused to vie for Bob's approval, and Olivia couldn't help but  respect that.

"Can the leg take another season?" This question was spoken with  apparent concern, but Olivia heard the subtext. Bob thought Brandon  should hang up his skis and get serious about life.

She guessed Brandon interpreted his tone the same way and that made her  sad. Brandon was one of the best skiers in the world, yet Bob treated  him as if he hadn't accomplished anything. He seemed to think Brandon  should be a horse breeder like him, or something else more "legitimate,"  like Kyle.

"Leg's getting stronger all the time," Brandon assured him. "It'll be fine."

Olivia imagined the pain Brandon must've suffered from that injury.  Another daunting descent would require courage, but she had no doubt  he'd do it. His daring made her smile.

She was still smiling when she realized that Brandon was watching her  with a speculative expression. He had somehow guessed that her smile was  related to him. His lips quirked slightly as if he was tempted to grin  back at her, even though a grin wasn't appropriate to the conversation  he was having with the disapproving Bob.                       
       
           



       

"Well, you've got several months before you go back to Europe. You want  to learn what it's like to put in a hard day's work, come on out to the  stables," Bob was saying. "We've got our hands full this year. Might be a  great way to make some extra cash."

Brandon thanked him for the opportunity but begged off, saying he was  going backpacking in Nicaragua. That didn't win him any points with Bob,  but it made Olivia chuckle. Brandon knew just how to tweak his  stepfather's nose without appearing to be impolite.

She turned to hide her mirth and came face-to-face with Brandon's  mother. Paige had been talking to Nancy and Ham, who'd just left.

"I'm sorry about how things worked out for you with Kyle," Paige said,  almost conspiratorially. "We miss seeing you at the house."

"I miss you, too," Olivia responded, feeling an odd tug for what used to be.

"Brandon's far more of a handful," she responded. "But it's impossible not to love him."

Another warning-in case Olivia wasn't already a believer. "We're just  friends," she said, but Paige had already started a separate  conversation with Cheyenne Christensen, whose mother was suffering from  cancer. Olivia didn't think Paige had heard the rejoinder.

"What'd she say?" Brandon had finally broken away from his stepfather.

"She said she loves you."

Taking hold of her elbow, he guided her out. "Was she shaking her head as if it's against her will?" he asked with a laugh.

* * *

Olivia had been so eager to get to Brandon's house, but even before they  walked through the door she knew she wouldn't be able to unwind the way  she'd envisioned. They no longer had to cope with the myriad emotions  swirling around the wedding party. Her father's disapproval. Noelle's  jealousy. Kyle's sullenness. The palpable concern of Kyle's friends. All  of that suddenly seemed far away … part of another lifetime. Instead they  had to cope with each other, and that was almost more difficult,  because every word they'd spoken on the drive back, every incidental  touch as he let her in, felt like foreplay to a sexual encounter she  knew she'd be foolish to allow.

It wasn't so unusual for a woman in her situation to want to jump into  bed with the next handsome guy. Another relationship, one with a quick  flame, could assuage the loneliness and ease the sting of rejection.  But, oddly enough, this was different. It didn't feel as if Brandon  would be a substitute for Kyle. It felt as if Kyle had always been a  substitute for Brandon!

She was fairly certain the rebound experience wasn't supposed to work  like that and couldn't figure out why her situation was so different.  She and Kyle had only been apart for about four months, and thanks to  his betrayal, those four months had been the most miserable of her life.  That meant she still loved him, didn't it?

So how could she care more about being with Brandon than she did about  being hurt and angry over Kyle's Big Mistake? What he'd done meant they  could never be together again.

But that didn't seem to matter so much anymore.

"Would you like some herbal tea?" Brandon asked as she put her purse on the counter.

"What kind do you have?"

"A blend I found in Thailand." He reached into a cupboard to get the box, which he showed her. "You should try it."

She pictured them drinking tea together, talking into the night and  eventually ending up in his bed. She wanted that exact scenario so badly  she almost chose satisfaction over caution.

Maybe she would have, if not for his mother's words: It's impossible not to love him.

She had an inkling that might be true. She'd always been drawn to  Brandon, but never more so than in the past two days. She figured it was  better to get away while she could. So, after a brief hesitation, she  shook her head. "No, thanks. I've got to get up early. I wouldn't want  to oversleep the way I did today."

She halfway hoped he'd try to convince her to stay up with him. But he  didn't. He told her he understood and added a polite good-night.

Forcing a smile to hide her disappointment, she nodded, but before she  turned away, she caught sight of something that held her fast. When he  moved, a grimace crossed his face and he shifted to take his weight off  the leg he'd broken in his skiing accident.