Page 5 of Love Off-Limits
Tyler: Nah. Just honest. Goodnight, Olivia.
Twelve hours before, I would have listed a dozen reasons why I wasn’t looking for a relationship. And they were good ones. Perfectly practical and legitimate reasons.
But that didn’t stop me from falling asleep counting down the seconds until I would see Tyler at the wedding the following day.
***
We met at the back of the hall, ushered into place by Jake, the very attentive and surprisingly chill wedding planner. I glanced down at the Kelly-green sneakers Tyler wore with his dove gray suit, a perfect color match to his skinny tie and my dress. The groomsmen all wore Converse—the most Rosie thing about the entire wedding. I’d half-expected her to put the bridesmaids in sneakers too, but we’d ended up with chunky heels the same color as our dresses—a decision likely influenced by Dani, who was an accomplished fashion designer. I was just grateful Rosie had chosen green. I couldn’t ask for a more complimentary color with my red hair and fair skin.
“Nice shoes,” I whispered to Tyler, nudging him with my elbow.
He lifted one foot. “They’re very Rosie.” He cocked an eyebrow. “You get any sleep last night?”
“Eventually. No thanks to you.”
He only grinned as Jake shushed us and motioned us forward. Just before we started our trek down the aisle, Tyler leaned close, his breath brushing across the bare skin on my neck and shoulder. “You’re gorgeous in that dress, Liv,” he whispered just beside my ear.
Goosebumps erupted across my skin and my breath caught in my throat. He’d called me Liv instead of Olivia. It’s what Rosie and her parents called me, so it wasn’t all that surprising. And yet, on Tyler’s lips, the nickname felt personal. Almost . . . intimate.
“And . . . go,” Jake whispered to us.
I looped my arm around Tyler’s and gripped my bouquet a little tighter. At the end of the aisle, Tyler grabbed my hand as I dropped it from his arm and gave it a quick squeeze before we parted and took our places on either side of the church. Once we were in place, his gaze stayed on me, a knowing glint in his eyes, his lips lifted in a sexy half-smile. Had it been anyone but Rosie walking down the aisle, I might not have been able to pull my gaze away from Tyler’s roguish expression.
As Rosie began her approach, it was Isaac who captured my attention. From where I stood, I could see his face as he watched his bride walk toward him.
What I wouldn’t give to have someone look at me like that.
My eyes darted to Tyler long enough to see his earlier confidence and swagger morph into something else entirely as he watched Rosie take Isaac’s arm. It wasn’t jealousy, exactly. More like longingfor what Isaac and Rosie had, an echo of the desire pricking my own heart.
I looked Tyler’s way one more time, not at all surprised to catch him staring right at me, his dark brown eyes warm with an unspoken invitation.
A pulse of guilt throbbed in my midsection.
That was not the look of a man hoping to enjoy a little harmless flirtation.
I dismissed my worry as the officiant began the ceremony.
Tyler was a grown man. He knew I didn’t live in Charleston and that hadn’t stopped him from expressing his interest. Maybe he was fine with something temporary, same as me.
The longer I held his gaze, the more certain I became.
What Tyler was really longing for . . . was me.
Chapter Two
Tyler
“She’s cute.”
I followed Alex’s gaze to where Olivia stood in front of a massive live oak tree, its swooping branches dripping with Spanish moss. She stood between Rosie and Dani, smiling wide as the wedding photographer took shot after shot of the bride and her attendants.
“Yeah. She is.”
I shrugged out of my suit coat and draped it over a branch of another live oak, this one only marginally smaller than the one the photographer had chosen as the perfect backdrop for the wedding photos. I appreciated her eye; nothing said Lowcountry more than live oak trees. The setting would always remind Rosie and Isaac of the sprawling Charleston gardens they’d booked for the ceremony. As a bonus, they provided enough shade to combat the late May heat. Since I was no longer needed for photos, I rolled my shirtsleeves up to my elbows. The weather wasn’t that bad—a lucky break since the wedding was outdoors—but it was still warm enough to make the double layers of a suit feel stifling.
Alex hoisted one of his twins higher on his hip. Isaac and Dani’s parents had done their best to keep the twins corralled while the wedding party finished up pictures, but Alex’s daughter, Coco, had toddled over anyway, clearly preferring to stay in her dad’s arms.
“She’s from Kansas, right? Does she still live there?” Alex asked, his gaze still on Olivia.
