She remembered Stefan standing stiffly beside her, all the cameras aimed at her and Nic. “No, we haven’t met.” She had denied him, and in doing so had negated that precious, wonderful time they had spent together.
“Don’t mind Angel,” Blair replied without concern, cutting into her thoughts. She turned to her date, glancing at him from lowered lids. “He doesn’t understand much English.” Poor Angel responded with a besotted smile. “Gotta scram. Stefan is heading this way. Drat, but he is bringing the Delicious Duke with him.” Blair appeared torn between staying for an introduction or getting a lecture from her cousin. Avoiding the sermon won. “See ya.” She disappeared into the crowd with current boy toy.
“You’re looking very lovely tonight, Lexie.” Julian Walkden a.k.a the Delicious Duke planted a friendly kiss on her cheek. Tall, blond, and tanned, he was an avid sportsman and frequently caught on camera without his shirt while engaging in athletic pursuits. Lexie had been subjected to Blair drooling over his photos in tabloid magazines that had shown him surfing in Hawaii, so she had a pretty good idea what lay beneath the tux.
“Thank you, kind stranger.” A year ago, his long hair had been tied back. Now he had settled for the debonair, clean-cut look.
Julian smiled at her. “Missed me, poppet?”
As her brother’s closest friend since their boarding school days, Julian had spent several summers in Seirenada. ”I’ve been languishing while you were gone.”
Julian chuckled. “Impertinent miss.”
Lexie smiled, deliberately falling into their old bantering. “How is Maggie?”
“Oh, you know my sister,” Julian nicked a champagne glass from a circulating waiter. “Unhappy until she is in some godforsaken place without water or electricity, mucking in the mud for her precious artifacts.”
“Julian is coming over to Seirenada for a visit.” Stefan looked at her expectantly.
“How wonderful,” Lexie replied, injecting enthusiasm into her tone. It wasn’t enough for Stefan. He frowned.
“You can show Julian around.” It was a command.
Yeah. Right. Like the Duke hadn’t motored around the island all those summers he had spent there when he was younger, his shirt off, obliging the village girls with an eyeful of his broad, manly chest.
Stefan spoke again. “If you’ll excuse me, I see Rupert Butler heading this way, and I refuse to discuss alledramite unofficially.”
Stefan took the arm of her surprised PA, who had just come back and was now being dragged away, albeit with finesse. Theia shot Lexie a perplexed look.
Lexie shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t see Mr. Butler anywhere.”
“Neither do I,” the Duke said.
Lexie registered the subtle change in Julian’s tone. “Oh.”
“Your brother’s about as subtle as a sledgehammer.” A pregnant pause. “I heard about Wainwright in the news.”
She glanced at Julian’s concerned face. He had been there the night when the shit hit the ceiling, or was it the fan? Sometimes she wondered if Julian knew more than he was letting on. Lexie was afraid to ask. It would surely get back to Stefan. And what was the point?
“I’m fine, Julian,” she said. “Thank you.” Apart from engaging in a mad, wild escapade last night trying to overcome the past, she was doing fine and dandy.
“Lexie, about the betrothal−“
But Julian never finished his sentence. Several popping flashbulbs heralded some latecomer celebrity arrival. She glanced at the doorway of the ballroom, and vibrant blue eyes pinned her from several feet away. The reckoning had come sooner than she expected.
* * *
Nic saw her immediately when he entered the ballroom. She was standing beside Walkden’s tall, imposing form. He noted how good they looked together, both elegant, titled, and privileged. Their eyes locked but she immediately turned away, placing a hand on the Duke’s arm. Nic’s mouth tightened. His timing had been off. The Butlers arrived the same time as he did, and now he was forced to fall in step beside them as they made their way to the royals.
“You look fabulous, Your Highness,” Tansy Butler gushed as they stopped to chat with the pair, but her gaze was riveted to the man beside Lexie. “Your Grace,” Tansy greeted, a bit breathless. Julian greeted the couple with equanimity. He nodded at Nic equally.