The Right Twin (Times Two Book 2)

by Laura Marie Altom

  Could she help him find his heart?

  Probably, but her gut instinct was that he first needed time to help himself.

  WAITING CURBSIDE IN front of her sister’s mirrored high-rise office building, Sadie switched the AC higher in Hale’s Jeep. He’d left her the keys, in the event his mission took longer than expected. Which apparently it had.

  Sadie had told Trevor all about the situation, and although at first he’d been furious at seeing her in another man’s arms, he now saw the humor in it—and also sympathized with Sarah and Heath.

  Sadie felt awful about meddling in her sister’s life, but considering the fact that neither Sarah nor Heath would’ve found themselves in this predicament if it hadn’t been for Sadie and Hale and their misguided schemes, it was the least she could do.

  Wiping sweating palms on the thighs of her navy jogging suit, she checked her watch for what felt like the tenth time since Hale had headed for Sarah’s office. Would Sarah buy his acting job? When it was Sadie’s turn to play Sarah, would Heath take the bait?

  “Glad that’s over,” Hale said a few minutes later, hopping into the driver’s side.

  “So?” Sadie asked, angling on the seat to face him. “How’d it go?”

  “I think all right.” Leaning his head against the seat back, he sharply exhaled. “A couple times I caught her eyeing me funny. Like she was sizing me up—comparing me with her memory of Heath. But once I apologized, then launched into Heath’s sad saga, she was back in love—or at the very least, lust.”

  “You think?”

  He winked. “I know.”

  “Hope you’re right.” Digging in her purse for Sarah’s favorite shade of lipstick, Sadie pulled down the sun visor to peek in the mirror. With her hair styled like her twin’s and wearing one of Sarah’s favorite outfits for a weekend of hanging out, she prayed she’d pull this off.

  Sarah had been through so much with Greg that Sadie felt honor-bound to see that her sister had a proper chance to find out if Heath was the man for her. If, after this gentle nudge from the people who loved them most, the couple stuck with their decision to call it quits, so be it.

  At least Sadie would know she’d tried.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Late Thursday afternoon in his office at home, Heath had gotten himself so deeply befuddled with his latest game’s code he feared he might never find his way out. Sounded familiar. Like a certain relationship he’d recently entered into.

  Leaning back in his desk chair, rubbing his stinging eyes with the heels of his hands, he couldn’t help but wonder what had possessed him to go off like that with Sarah. While he knew in his head what she’d done was no worse than the stunt he and Hale had pulled, he couldn’t work past the feeling that since she’d lied she was essentially no better than Tess.

  Which Heath knew was ludicrous. Right?

  Gazing around his penthouse apartment with its floor-to-ceiling St. Louis views, it occurred to him that it had been a very long time since the place had felt like home. When he’d moved in two years earlier, he hadn’t had time to mess with the settling in himself, so he’d hired someone else to handle everything. On the advice of his brother, he’d found a decorator to do away with all of his ragtag bachelor furniture and replace it with futuristic primary-colored leather sofas and original art, along with plenty of chrome, stainless steel and glass.

  Architectural Digest had done a feature on it, so he knew it was a nice enough space, but four thousand square feet on top of the world was too much for one guy to handle. He wanted more. A wife and kids to share it with. He’d moved downtown to be close to all the things he loved. Including Busch Stadium, where he held season tickets for every Cardinals home game.

  Up from his desk, roving into the living room, where he paced before a stunning view of Gateway Arch, he prayed for a sign. Something to tell him Sarah was the right girl for him.

  But then he’d known Tess for over a year before he’d declared himself in love with her and yet he’d never truly known her. He’d sort of known Sarah for a weekend and still he felt as if he’d always known her. That his life had never been complete until he’d held her in his arms. Sappy as hell, but there you had it.

  He owed her an apology, but at this point—after the immature name-calling he’d indulged in—would she even agree to be in the same room with him? Let alone be gracious enough to listen while he stumbled through some sort of an explanation, when really he had none.

  What was there to say other than he was sorry? That if she’d give him another chance he’d—

  The doorbell rang.

  He sighed.

  The last thing he needed was Hale showing up again, urging him to give Sarah a call. If he called her, it’d be on his own terms. When he decided he was mature enough to stop comparing Sarah’s every action to what Tess had done.

  The doorbell rang again.

  Figuring Hale wouldn’t leave without having his say, Heath yanked open the door only to get a shock. Instead of confronting his brother’s goony grin, there was Sarah, stone-faced and yet more gorgeous than ever.

  Mouth dry, he looked to his feet. “How’d you know where I live?”

  “Hale told me.”

  “Sure.”

  “May I come in?” She wore a velvety navy jogging suit that hugged her every curve. Her hair was in one of those trademark ponytails of hers that usually started out neat and ended up in a mess—something he found phenomenally attractive. Par for the course, when he was around her, he wanted to touch her so badly that his fingertips itched.

  Stepping aside, he let her enter.

  “Nice,” she said with a cautious smile.

  How many times in the past few days had he imagined her here?

  “Your view’s amazing.”

  “Thanks.” In the time they’d been apart, her voice had grown a shade more husky. Her complexion struck him as paler, too, instead of sun-kissed from the morning they’d spent fishing.

  Hugging herself as if she were cold, she said, “It feels like you could just reach out and touch the arch.”

  “Yeah. Even as a kid, I was fascinated by it.” Finally remembering to close the door, he asked, “Can I get you anything? Coke? Beer?”

  “No, thanks,” she said with a faint smile and blowing him away with her subtle beauty. Had she always been this gorgeous? “Do you mind if we just talk?”

  “That’d be great,” he said, leading the way to a pair of soft red leather sofas that framed the view.

  He waited for her to perch on one, then he took the other.

  Just being near her sent his pulse haywire. His thought process clicked into gear. In an instant he knew he’d been a fool.

  All along, he’d been an overemotional oaf. Tess might’ve done a number on him once, but not anymore. It was high time he took a turn behind his own wheel.

  She licked her lips, sucked in a gallon of air. “I’m sure you’re wondering what we could possibly say to each other, but—”

  “Let me,” he said.

  “Okay.”

  “You can’t imagine how sick I am for reacting the way I did at the inn. I was wrong. Damned wrong. And I’m sorry.”

  Her wavering smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. In an instant telling him volumes about how she really felt.

  “Why’d you even come?” he asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” He laughed. “I’d hoped you were here because you saw something we shared worth salvaging, but—”

  “Of course I do,” she said, angling on the sofa to face him. “That’s why—”

  “No,” he said, palms out to make the universal sign indicating stop. “I know this is going to sound awfully convenient, but before you showed up I was seriously contemplating calling Sadie to ask where I could find you. But seeing you now, I feel like we’re strangers. It’s as if every shred of chemistry we shared is gone.”

  “You’re wrong, Heath. In fact, I was just thinking h
ow…”

  Ding-dong.

  Arching his head back and closing his eyes, Heath couldn’t imagine his twin having picked a worse time to visit.

  “Expecting company?” Sadie asked.

  “No,” he said, the muscles in his jaw popping as he headed for the door, planning on telling Hale to get lost.

  He opened the door, and sure enough there was his twin, hunched over and breathing heavily. “Bro…I’m so glad I found you, man. Listen, we’ve got to go.”

  “What’re you talking about?” Heath asked. Why? Why couldn’t Hale have picked any other afternoon—any other moment—to crash this private party? “Sarah’s inside. Trust me, it’s you who’s got to go.”

  “Hale?” Sadie asked, meeting him at the door. “You seem upset. Something wrong?”

  Heath wrinkled his forehead. What was up with Sarah’s bizarre expressions? Eyes twitching and winking. Lips pursing and puckering. A glance at his brother showed him doing the same.

  “Uh, Sarah,” his twin said with a suddenly jovial chuckle, “I hate to interrupt your meeting, but Heath and I have urgent business to hash over.”

  “What business?” Heath said, damn near close to slamming the door in Hale’s face. “Just a minute ago you said we had to go.”

  “Right. Go do business. I’ve gotta get you to sign stuff for me, man.”

  “What stuff?”

  “A will?” Sadie suggested.

  “Yes—a will. Thank you.” Chuckling, he mocked himself with a conk to his forehead. “It’s been a long day.”

  “In that case,” she said, grabbing her purse from a chrome-and-glass table, “I’ll leave you to—”

  In the hall, the elevator chimed and the doors swished open.

  “Crap,” Hale said under his breath.

  “Heath?” a woman who sounded suspiciously like Sarah said. “I called and called for you in the lobby, but you took off up the stairs before I could—” Upon seeing the trio gathered at Heath’s open door, she froze.

  Heath glanced over his shoulder at the woman to whom he’d been pouring his heart out just moments earlier. “Just a wild guess here, but I’m thinking the reason you and I felt no chemistry is because you and I, Sadie, have never officially met?”

  She started to say something and then clamped her lips tight.

  “Hale,” Heath asked, “are you the spokesperson for this thankfully busted mission?”

  “I’m not believing this,” the genuine Sarah said—unless she was actually a triplet and hadn’t yet gotten around to telling him. “So then your apology this afternoon at my office wasn’t real?”

  “What apology?” Heath demanded.

  “Um, Sadie,” Hale said, “wanna come help sign those papers?” He was already in the open elevator, furiously jabbing a button.

  “Absolutely.” She hustled past Heath, skimmed her hand along Sarah’s shoulder and left, jogging into the elevator alongside Hale just as the doors swished shut.

  “CAN YOU BELIEVE THOSE two?” Sarah said, flopping her hands at her side. “I’m sure Sadie’s the ringleader. She controls every inch of her world at the inn. Guess all that power’s gone to her head, and she now thinks her circle of influence includes me.”

  “Here I was guessing Hale was in charge. He’s a fixer. Lose a race? Drive faster. Bored with your job? Get another one. Hell, if you’re too busy to work, call your sap twin brother—he’ll stand in for you.”

  “Add that onto my speech about Sadie,” Sarah said with a sad snort. “Those two are so alike they should’ve been the twins.”

  “Where are my manners?” Heath said. “Come in.”

  Reflexively she shook her head. “I—I’m not sure why I’m even here.”

  “Without sounding egotistical, presumably to see me?”

  Despite her best efforts to hold it together, she cracked a grin. “You got me there.”

  “How’d you know where I live?”

  “You told me,” she said, brushing past him to enter a space so grand that it nearly stole her breath. “Wow,” she said, hands over her mouth, feeling as if she’d stepped into a church. “The view…it’s everything you said and more.”

  I’ve got a penthouse with floor-to-ceiling windows and a view of the whole world. One of these days I want to explore you there—every inch of you. I want to erase every trace of heartache Greg put you through. With the tickling that’d followed, he had made her forget her ex—along with her every other problem.

  Hit hard by the memory of not just kissing the man but of tickling, wrestling and living alongside him, Sarah had to force herself to breathe. How could he not remember saying those beautiful things? How could she have been so wrong in her assessment of his character?

  She stood close to the window wall overlooking the Gateway Arch. She never should’ve come here. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m just going to go. After our talk this afternoon—or I guess that would be my talk with your twin—I…”

  Heath stood behind her, so close that his radiated heat seared her from head to heel. Her nerves were on fire. How could her body feel so electrified yet her heart so dull?

  “Just so you know,” he said softly, “I remember. We were horsing around. Kissing. Right after we’d damn near made love. That’s when I told you about my view.”

  Something deep inside her released. He remembered. And the part of her that had been wounded over the notion he’d forgotten such a special moment was soothed. But then the crux of their problems wasn’t about physical chemistry. That’d always worked between them. The issue here was that he didn’t trust her. And that she doubted her innate lightning-quick trust of him.

  “For the record,” he said, close enough for his warm breath to brush the nape of her neck, “none of what I went through with Tess hurt half as bad as what went down between us.” Curving his fingers around her shoulders, he said, “I’m sorry, Sarah. So damned sorry. The way I behaved was unforgivable. When I thought you and that Neanderthal hunk were an item, I was out of my mind with jealousy. The thought of that man touching you…kissing you…it was too much. I snapped. I’m sorry. So—”

  “Stop,” she said, turning to press her cheek against that wall of his chest that she’d so grown to love. But was love enough? Weren’t they both still, in a sense, damaged goods? “As for this weekend, I’m sorry, too. The whole thing was a start-to-finish disaster.”

  “Even meeting me?”

  Judging by how miserable I’ve been, meeting you was quite possibly the biggest mess of all.

  Hugging him with freshened fervor, she denied the hateful thought. It scared her how hard and fast she’d fallen for the man. How could she feel as if she’d known him forever yet didn’t really know him at all? It didn’t make sense. Couldn’t make sense. She didn’t need this complication in her life.

  Yet pressing against him made her quiver with need. Suddenly she was tired of talk and ready for action. Ludicrous, but there it was. Being in the same room with him was the equivalent to landing a sumptuous dessert buffet in the middle of a Weight Watchers meeting!

  “Sarah?” Easing her back, he tipped up her chin, forcing her gaze to meet his. “Do you think meeting me was a mistake?”

  Throat aching, she said, “I don’t know what to think. Being with you again, I can’t get past this craving to just devour you. Which is wrong but—”

  He silenced her with a kiss so elemental and raw that her heart thundered and her legs refused to hold her weight. Which didn’t matter, seeing how she was falling and he was falling and in a fevered tangle they ended up on the thickly carpeted floor with him on top.

  A few minutes later, her breath ragged, she said, “Th-this is crazy. The way, whenever I’m around you, I lose all sense of control.”

  “Ditto.”

  “So what do you want to do?”

  “Truth?” As usual, his sexy grin stole what little remained of her breath.

  Unable to speak, she nodded.

  “Do something equ
ally out of control—like run off to Vegas and marry you, then keep you in my arms for the rest of our lives.”

  “Sounds great,” Sarah said, pulse racing. “But Sadie’s got her heart set on a double Christmas wedding.”

  “Assuming you’d even consider giving her what she wants, does that mean you’ve forgiven me for pulling the twin switch?”

  “If you forgive me. It really is kinda funny, if you think about it.”

  “Yeah, only I’m not going to laugh till I have something of mine around you, binding you to me.”

  “Sounds doable,” she said, slipping her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek to his deliciously solid chest. “How about sealing our deal with a hug?”

  “Mmm…no good. Should be something more substantial. Jewelry. For you—” kiss, kiss “—pricey jewelry.”

  “I like the sound of that.” Pushing free of him, she said, “And I think I have just the right thing.”

  “What’re you doing?” he asked while she dashed off to grab her purse.

  “You’ll see.” Seconds later she withdrew a crumpled white bag.

  “Is that what I think it is?” he asked, eyebrows raised. “I figured you’d thrown it in the lake for swan food.”

  “Never,” she said, holding the bag and its contents to her heart. “The necklace and earrings are beautiful, but they don’t compare to the beauty of the sentiment behind your giving them to me. I love you, Heath.”

  “I love you, Sarah.”

  Handing him the bag, then turning her back to him and raising her hair, she asked, “Would you please put them on for me? I couldn’t bear the thought of wearing these without you.”

  “It’d be my pleasure,” he said, fulfilling her fantasy of the moment by brushing the backs of his warm, strong fingers along her neck, then pressing a tingle-inducing kiss behind her right ear. Giving her a gentle spin, he surveyed his handiwork against the backdrop of the open vee of her blouse. “Gorgeous. Just like you.”

  “Nope,” she said with a firm shake of her head. “Like you.”

  “You.”

  “No, you.”

  “Woman,” he said, scooping her into his arms, then hushing her with a kiss, “are we going to stand here arguing or are we finally going to get around to making love?”