None. No skill at all when it came to relationships. Apart from messing them up. That, she excelled at.

“Relationships are as individual as people, and I know Christy. I know when she’s unhappy or stressed.”

“And do you also know when to step back?”

It wasn’t natural for anyone to be so calm, was it? If it hadn’t been for that explosive encounter at the wedding that she was trying hard to forget, she would have assumed he wasn’t capable of displaying emotion.

But she’d seen emotion. She’d been on the receiving end.

She gave a gulp and tried to delete the memory.

She needed to be more like him. Cool and inscrutable. She was going to stand in front of the mirror and practice lifting her eyebrow, the way he was doing now.

“I happen to think it’s important to support a friend in trouble.”

“Sometimes,” he said, “the best support you can give is to do nothing.”

“Well, that’s where we’re different. I prefer to be more active.” Her gaze met his for a brief moment, and she felt champagne slosh onto her hand. Crap. Was she really shaking? She needed to put the glass down. “I wondered if Seb had told you anything, that’s all. You’re his friend. He talks to you. You must know what’s happening.”

“I believe in letting people handle their own issues.” He paused. “Unlike you.”

She felt her color rise. “That was five years ago, and there was good reason for my intervention.”

“The reason was that you allowed your own fear of relationships color your view of someone else’s.”

The words stung.

What was friendship if it wasn’t being honest when you thought your friend was making a huge mistake? But it had turned out the answer to that question wasn’t so simple. She’d been convinced at the time that she’d done the right thing, but now she was sure she hadn’t. And she regretted it. She regretted it deeply.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No?” He held her gaze for a long, uncomfortable moment. “If Christy had listened to you, that marriage might not have happened. And yet here they are, still together despite your best efforts. This isn’t your relationship, Alix. You don’t have to worry about it or try to fix it. So whatever is going on—if something is going on—I think the best thing you can do for them right now is remember that this isn’t your problem.”

“If Christy has a problem, then I have a problem.”

“You are Christy’s problem, Alix.” He sounded exasperated. “Because of you, she almost left my friend standing at the altar. Now, back off, and take your own issues out of the equation.”

His words added another bruise to the ones she’d already accumulated.

She wasn’t the problem; he was wrong about that.

He didn’t understand that she’d said what she said because she’d been trying to save Christy from making a terrible mistake. “Christy and I are extremely close.”