Online Book “Taking Chances” Chapter 10:
Identical twin? My mind reeled. How could Seth have failed
to mention that? And what had I just done? Thank goodness it hadn’t gone any
farther, but I would never be able to face Sam again.
And what about him? I wondered disdainfully. Was he just
going to screw a stranger in the bathroom? Well, he is a guy, my mind retorted.
And I was totally coming on to him out there. It’s not like a man to turn down
easy sex.
I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My boobs were
hanging out and my dress was askew. I quickly went over and snapped the lock
into place before someone walked in on me in this state of complete disarray.
I splashed cool water on my face and patted my chest with a
damp paper towel in an attempt to calm down. Never in my whole life had I been
that excited, or this humiliated. What a difference a few seconds can make.
As I attempted to fix my appearance, I thought about Sam. He
really was identical to Seth physically, but he was darker, more dangerous. The
bathroom had felt electrified when he was near me.
I touched up my lipstick and vowed to steer clear of him.
He’s exactly what I don’t need, I thought as I breezed out the door. I was,
however, prepared to give Seth an earful for not warning me about him.
Returning to the great room-turned fairy forest, my eyes
were immediately drawn to Sam. He was standing near the stage with a bevy of
lovely ladies hanging on his every word,
including a life-sized Barbie doll who had her arm
possessively curved around him. I shook my head, immensely grateful that our
fooling around in the bathroom had stopped when it had.
“There she is.” Seth approached me, smiling. He had a
dark-haired beauty with him. The woman’s enormous green eyes were accentuated
by the longest, thickest, black eyelashes I had ever seen,
outside of a magazine. She was stunning in her floor-length
midnight blue gown, and I recognized the family resemblance immediately. “Abby,
this is my sister Jessie. Jess, meet Abby.”
“Abby! Seth has told me all about you. It’s great to meet
you.” Jessie extended her hand and flashed a dazzling smile directly at me. She
seemed friendly and kind, and I liked her immediately.
“You’ll have to tell me what he said.” I smiled trying to
hide the rush of excitement I felt at finding out he had mentioned me to his
sister. “And I have tons of questions for you about what he was like growing
up.”
“I have plenty of answers.” She gave Seth an ornery grin
before adding, “I know all of his secrets.” Then she finger waved at me and
said to track her down later.
After she fluttered off, I turned on Seth. “Told your sister
all about me, huh?”
“She has a huge mouth. I’ll get even with her one of these
days,” he added in my ear as he kissed my cheek. “Sorry I was late. Did my
family take good care of you?”
I coughed, thinking of how Sam had almost taken care of me.
I wasn’t sure how to bring that particular topic up with Seth. I finally
settled for, “I met your brother because I thought he was you.
You didn’t feel the need to mention that he is your
identical twin?”
“Didn’t I mention it?” He seemed truly surprised.
“No, I’m positive I would have remembered that.” I tried to
figure out how to continue. How does one tell her lover that she almost banged
his twin in the bathroom?
It wasn’t a problem that I had encountered before, so I
wasn’t at all sure how to broach the subject.
“You really do look exactly alike,” I hedged.
He smiled as he answered. “We are identical on the outside,
except for a scar that Sam has on his shoulder. We’re very different on the
inside, though,” he added. “Oh, and I’m older by a few minutes,
which really gets his goat,” he chuckled.
It was clear by Seth’s expression how much he loved his
twin. My eyes were drawn involuntarily to Sam. He wasn’t looking at me, but
something inside me felt like he recently had been.
I didn’t know how to tell Seth what had happened, but I knew
I needed to. The words just wouldn’t form in my head. It had been an honest
mistake. I knew he wouldn’t be angry, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell him.
Maybe we will laugh about it someday. My mind was hopeful,
probably a little too hopeful.
Seth asked me to dance and whisked me onto the dance floor.
I spent the next few songs with my head against his broad shoulder, relishing
the feeling of being enveloped in his strong arms.
I felt that he was near before I heard or saw him. “May I
cut in?” Sam’s voice was deep and clear, and so similar to Seth’s. Seeing the
two of them standing together like reflections in their dashing
tuxedos nearly took my breath away. They were perfection.
Seth gave a mock bow and walked away, unaware of the tension radiating from me.
Sam’s eyes slowly perused me from head to toe, and then back
up again. My body burned under his gaze. I could feel my nipples puckering
under my dress when his eyes paused at my breasts and his
mouth turned up slightly, knowingly. When he finally made it
back up to my eyes, he held open his arms in invitation as he lifted his brows
and said, “Shall we?”
I didn’t want to be in his arms again, but I couldn’t cause
a scene. His eyes twinkled as he sensed my reluctance. That bastard is enjoying
making me uncomfortable, my mind screamed as
I vowed not to let him see how much he affected me.
I stiffened myself into a formal dance pose as he expertly
guided me around the dance floor. My body was acutely aware of the places where
he touched me. The nerve endings in my hand, lower back,
and waist were all teeming with activity. I consciously
slowed my breathing because it had become quick and shallow. I attempted to
keep my face a passive mask as the rest of my body betrayed me.
My eyes scanned the room, desperate to look anywhere but at
Sam.
He drew me in closer, and I sucked in my breath. “Since I
didn’t get punched in the jaw, I am assuming you didn’t tell Seth about our
little tryst in the bathroom,” he growled near my ear.
“It was hardly a tryst,” I snarled back at him. “More like
an unfortunate mistake.”
“I didn’t find it unfortunate at all. In fact, I rather
enjoyed myself, until you called me by my brother’s name.”
He had the audacity to grin. Then he continued. “I don’t
generally share my brother’s taste in women, but with you he did okay.”
“Okay?!?” I spluttered. Then I lifted my chin, deciding not
to let him push my buttons. “You know, instead of rating me, you might think
about how hurt Seth would be if he knew about us.”
“Us?” he asked. “So, now we’re an ‘us’? I didn’t know you
cared so much.”
“You know what I meant.” I glared at him. This man was exasperating.
He leaned forward to whisper in my ear. “When I’m fondling
my date’s fake tits tonight, I’m going to be thinking about your real ones.”
That did it. My mouth fell open, appalled. My eyes felt like
they might pop out of my head. I whirled away from him and headed for the bar.
I needed a glass of wine. Pronto.
“Your brother is a pig!” I said loudly when Jessie hopped up
on the bar stool next to me.
“I take it you’ve met Sam,” Jessie chuckled. “Yes, he can be
a bit of a pig. But he can also be generous, and kind, and hilarious, and a
pain in the ass, but I love him to pieces. I love both of them to pieces,” she
gushed.
She leaned in as if telling me a secret. “You definitely
picked the right one to date, though. Seth is the real deal, and Sam leaves
behind a trail of broken hearts.”
By the way her words were slurring together, I could tell
the glass of wine she ordered wasn’t her first of the evening. “I think that’s
why Sam settles for the never-ending stream of gold-digging ‘I’ girls,” she
continued.
“What’s an ‘I’ girl?” I asked her.
“Oh, you know,” she waved her hand around. “Candi with an I,
Terri with an I, Sandi with an I, Cami with an I. The parade of leggy blondes
with enormous jugs that he shows up with always introduce themselves that way.”
She mimicked shaking a hand and began fluttering her eyelashes. “Hi, I’m Bambi
with an I.”
She started cracking up at her own joke. Her laughter was
contagious, and I soon had the giggles as well. I was enjoying being with her
and laughing at her despicable brother.
“You know what else,” she went on, leaning in further. “He
doesn’t ever kiss them on the lips. They all think they are going to win him
over and marry him and take his fortune, but he gets tired of them after a few
dates and sends them along their merry way. Then POOF,” she snapped her fingers
for added affect, “he finds another one just like the last 412.”
I had the feeling she wouldn’t be telling me all of this if
she wasn’t tipsy. I wondered why Sam treated women like they were disposable.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to worry about figuring him out because I had Seth,
and he was wonderful. I decided to see what Jessie had to say about him.
“So tell me about your sweet brother.” I nudged her elbow
gently.
“They are both sweet to me,” she replied. “But since I know
you’re talking about Seth, he’s one of the good ones, Abby. Please don’t hurt
him.”
Her sudden rush of sincerity surprised me. “I won’t,” I reassured her, and I meant it.
“Speak of the devil.” Jessie smiled at Seth as he came up
behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. “I’ll let you two be, since
you’ve barely seen each other all evening.” With that, she hopped off her stool
and disappeared into the crowd.
“I’m almost afraid to ask what you two were talking about.”
Seth slid around and plopped down on the stool Jessie had just vacated.
“You, as a matter of fact,” I answered. “Your sister seems to think rather highly of you.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t have interrupted then, but I feel like my
siblings have had more of you tonight than I have.” I attempted to push the
unwanted thought of Sam having a whole lot of me in the bathroom out of my
mind. “Is it my turn to get to hang out with you?” Seth asked, batting his dark
eyelashes playfully.
“Absolutely,” I answered. “Can we get out of here or do your
family duties require you to stay longer?”
Before I finished the question, he had already downed the
last of his drink and was standing up. “Let’s go. I’ve been wanting to rip that
little black dress off you all night.”
“Deal.” I stood, taking his hand. As we exited, I tried to ignore the electrifying chill that went up my spine. I knew, without a doubt, that Sam was watching me leave with his brother.
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