by Sierra Rose
The storm was picking up around them, flashing lightning over the trees.
“I’m a twenty-six-year-old workaholic who’s allergic to mushrooms, and once got lost in his own house.” The wind whipped his hair against his face, trickling down the sides of his neck as his clothes began to cling to the sides of his body. “I lost both my parents when I was seventeen. I work way too hard. And I don’t enjoy life. I never felt real happiness until I met you. And I don’t lie, and had we met under normal circumstances, I would have never, ever lied to you.”
She froze on the sidewalk as he took a step closer, reaching tentatively for her hands.
“You told me to go home, but Miami isn’t a home to me. It’s just a house. A big, empty house that’s starting to feel more and more like a cage. I was so desperate for something in my life to change, that I literally switched places with a virtual stranger just so I could step into residential Cleveland and pretend I was someone else. Anyone else. Living any other life. I did that with no real expectation of things to get better.” He pulled in a sharp breath, staring down at her in the rain. “...until I met you.”
Their eyes met, and for a moment, the world around them seemed to stop.
“Lacy...I love you. I can’t explain it. I don’t understand it. And I know it’s too fast. If you had told me a month ago this was going to happen, I would have never believed you.” His fingers wrapped tentatively around hers, bringing her a step closer. “But it has. And there’s no going back. Not for me. Not ever. This is it, Lacy. This is what I’ve been looking for. This is what I’ve been waiting for even before I knew I was waiting.”
He stared down tenderly at her face, pausing to brush a lock of wet hair from her eyes.
“I want you. I want us. Lacy and...Logan.” His eyes flashed up, suddenly shy as he used his real name. “I’m prepared to do or say anything you want to make that happen.”
Lightning flashed again, and the world was suddenly silent. He was staring at her with bated breath. Not daring to move. Not daring to blink. Every bit of desperate focus he had locked on the beautiful girl standing before him.
A girl who had no idea what to say.
For a moment, she simply stared. Her body had gone ice-cold, but she was too distracted to notice. Her fingers had been shaking a moment ago, but they were steady in his hands. Every single instinct in her entire body was telling her to run, and yet, something was making her stay.
Something she didn’t yet understand. Something she couldn’t possibly ignore.
Finally, as the wind died down, she gazed into his eyes and managed a single question.
“Why would a rich man ever move into Dylan’s place?”
Chapter 20
By the time Logan and Lacy got back to his brother’s house that night, the storm was in full swing. They burst through the door, panting desperately having just run in from the rain, and started peeling off layers of soaking wet clothing before coming to a sudden stop.
It lasted only a moment. A moment was all they could stand.
Then they were attacking each other.
It was impossible to see what was going on. Clothes were ripping off, wet hair was whipping back and forth, hands were groping everywhere. Spartacus ran out to meet them, then dove for cover as a discarded shoe went flying his way.
“Take me upstairs,” Lacy whispered as she leapt up into his arms, confident that he would catch her. Confident that he would always catch her. Every time.
Logan had trouble removing his lips from hers. In the end, it was the smile that did it. It was impossible to keep kissing when he was smiling so bright.
“Yes ma’am.”
They made it halfway there before the dog made a comeback. Furious had having been ignored the better part of the day, he barreled into Logan’s legs mid-step—toppling the couple over and causing a collision that could have been disastrous if Logan hadn’t caught Lacy’s head just an inch away from the stairs.
“Shit—I’m sorry!” he gasped, struggling to find his own footing as he pulled her into his lap. “It’s this damn dog. I swear, he’s still trying to kill me...why are you laughing?”
It was an unlikely turn of events, but the second Lacy started, she found herself completely unable to stop. She didn’t know what was the most bizarre. That she was in the home of Cleveland’s most notorious womanizer. That she was naked on the stairs with his identical twin brother who happened to be worth over a billion dollars. Or that the pair of them had just gotten taken down by a Great Dane big enough to demolish half the house.
“I’m sorry.” She covered her face, shaking with silent giggles. “This is just...this is just way too...” She lost herself again, dissolving in a hysterical puddle beside him.
For Logan’s part—he had no idea what to do. He shared a long look with the dog (who promptly fled, as if women’s hysterics were beyond his canine purview), before gathering her tentatively into his lap. Afraid to move too slowly, lest she come to her senses and take off in a cab after all. Afraid to move too quickly, lest it make things worse.
“Okay...” he began slowly, “is this good laughing? Or bad laughing? Or even crazy laughing—as I do believe you’ve started to cry.”
Lacy wiped her eyes, burying her grin in his bare chest as she pulled in deep breaths of his intoxicating scent. “This is good laughing. And crazy laughing. Nothing bad.”
“Yeah?” He tilted up her chin with a hesitant smile, studying her face. “You promise?”
The laughter finally subsided enough that she pulled in a deep breath, gazing intently into his eyes. “Logan Alexander Chase.” She said the name with relish, and felt his pulse quicken beneath her hand. “It has a nice ring to it.”
His arms tightened to an almost painful extent, as he beamed down at her. “I have to admit...I love hearing you say it.” The two of them laughed again before he quieted thoughtfully, stroking back a lock of her hair. “You have no idea how hard it’s been, hearing you call out the name of someone else. It’s been absolutely killing me.”
Lacy glanced down for a second, intertwining her fingers with his. “Yeah? And whose fault is that?”
“Mine,” he answered without hesitation. “Lacy, I mean it—I take full responsibility for everything that’s happened. The blame lies with me, and me alone. And I’m so, so sorry.”
She stared up at him for a moment, before gesturing down to her naked body with a mischievous grin. “Clearly, I’ve forgiven you.”
He flashed another breathtaking smile as he leaned down for a kiss, but she pulled suddenly away—leaning a few inches back so she had a better look at him.
“But that doesn’t mean that I don’t have a hell of a lot of questions.”
His shoulders fell with an almost imperceptible sigh, but the next moment, he was nodding in complete agreement. “I bet you do. And you deserve to hear the answers.” He stroked a finger down the side of her cheek, before his brow tightened with a sudden frown. “And you’re freezing. Come on—let’s get you upstairs. I can draw you a bath—”
“—and we can order in some food?” Lacy asked tentatively. He glanced down in surprise, and she flashed a sarcastic grin. “In case you forgot, my dinner date tonight got crashed before we could get to the salad course. I’m absolutely starving.”
A grinning blush colored his cheeks, as he bowed his head—hiding just the hint of a dimple. “Something else that’s my fault...although you can hardly blame me. What else was I supposed to do with you wearing that dress?”
Lacy blushed as red as him, casting a sideways glance at the crimson silk puddled on the floor. “Oh I don’t know...show even a modicum of self-control?”
“Not a chance.” He kissed her again, before glancing around for his phone. It had fallen halfway out of his pants, which were in a pile by the front door. “What kind of take-out are you in the mood for? Chinese? Italian?”
“Surprise me.” She pulled herself to her feet, prancing up the stairs to begin drawing
what was sure to be the first of several bubble baths. “Surprise me...with some Chinese.”
He chuckled and headed in the opposite direction, down the stairs. “Will do. While I’m at it, I might as well pay some of these utilities,” he muttered under his breath. “It’s colder in here than it is outside...”
Chapter 21
Only about thirty minutes later, the two of them were curled up in the bath. Talking, laughing, and occasionally stabbing their chopsticks into a pair of take-out boxes sitting on the rim of the tub. A bottle of wine was already lying empty on the floor beside them, and another one was half-gone. Half-gone and going quick. Having forgotten to grab any glasses, they were merely passing it back and forth, laughing every time it almost fell into the tub.
“So is this what you’d be doing?” Lacy asked casually, dropping her head back against his shoulder with a relaxed sigh. “If you were back in Florida?”
She felt his chest shake as he laughed silently behind her.
“You mean, would I be cuddled up in the bath with a beautiful woman before ten at night?” He laughed again, shaking his head all the while. “No, not hardly.”
“Why not?” She twisted around so she could see him better. “According to the internet, you live in a virtual palace. You’re smart. Funny. And attractive. I’m sure you have women falling all over you.”
“Thanks.” The smile was real, but it only took a few seconds for it to fade. “To be honest, I’d never be home at this hour. I can’t remember the last time I left the office before midnight. Well, aside from the night I found out about Dylan.”
This time, Lacy turned all the way around. Her legs circled around his waist as she straddled him—stroking the damp curls of his hair away from his face.
“Your adoptive parents didn’t tell you?” she asked quietly.
He shrugged, glancing down at the water with a soft sigh. “They didn’t know. At least, I couldn’t imagine that they knew. They would have told me.”
Lacy nodded thoughtfully, not wanting to pry, but suddenly realizing that despite all their countless conversations, she’d never once talked to Logan Chase. Just his brother.
“So how did you find out?”
Logan’s fingers ran absentmindedly along her ribs, as his lips twitched up with a sad smile. “I got a notification saying my biological mother had died. Cancer. I flew out to Detroit in time for the funeral. Stood in the back. Kept to myself. And then the minister said she was survived by her two sons.” His eyes lit up with a belated bit of wonder. “Two sons. Twins.”
Lacy’s heart melted, as the scene replayed before his eyes. So many different emotions were battling it out, she was amazed he was managing to stay afloat.
“I went to the adoption agency and got a name. Had my PI track down a number. Made a fake social media account so I could do a little pre-game research.”
The solemn mood suddenly broke, and Lacy threw back her head with a laugh. “I can only imagine how that must have gone. I’ve seen Dylan’s facebook page myself. It’s a little...”
“Whorish?”
She laughed again. “Your word, not mine. I probably would have gone with...colorful, myself.”
Logan chuckled, but his eyes were lost in thought. “I couldn’t believe it was him. Couldn’t believe that out of everyone in the world—this guy was my brother. But there he was. Staring back at me in a million photos. Like my reflection had somehow learned to be happy.”
Lacy glanced up suddenly, struck with the profound sadness of the words, but Logan didn’t seem to notice. In fact, he was actually smiling.
“I flew out to Cleveland to meet him. We got drunk. Went dancing. I got groped and slapped by some girl who thought I was him. Probably should have taken that as a sign of a whole slew of other misadventures to come.” He shook his head with a faint grin, looking suddenly very much like an indulgent older brother. “I was all ready to go, when he stopped me. So excited he could hardly speak. Said he had this great idea. We should switch places. Live each other’s lives for two weeks. What could possibly go wrong?”
The story came to an end, as Logan and Lacy laughed again. Quieter, this time. Almost thoughtful. When he told the story like that, when she heard all the details, it was hard to find much fault with him. It was hard to see him as anything other than a comical victim of a hair-brained scheme gone wrong. A man who had unknowingly, unwittingly, stumbled into love.
“Did you really think I would leave you?” she asked quietly, tilting up his chin to look him in the eyes. “Did you really think I would have walked away?”
He stared back for a long moment, every muscle tightening in reply.
“Yes, I did.”
She shook her head slowly, eyes warming over with concern. “But you knew that I was going to find out eventually. Why didn’t you just tell me—”
How could I have told you?” It was so quiet, it almost came out as a whisper. “What could I have possibly said? Hey—by the way—my name’s not actually Dylan. I’m living out some sort of quarter life crisis with my identical twin.”
“...well I wouldn’t have called it a crisis.”
“I couldn’t lose you.” He stared up at her, his voice tight with emotion. “I couldn’t risk that you wouldn’t believe me. Or worse, that you would believe me, but that you’d still walk away. Things were going so well between us, and I’ve never...” He trailed off, looking abruptly shy. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.”
Lacy’s heart fluttered in her chest as she squeezed her legs tighter around him.
She felt him stiffen slightly between her legs. “Oh yeah? And how’s that?”
The tension melted off his face with a single smile, as he hitched her up higher onto his waist. “Well...it might be better if I just show you.”
They held each other as they shared a fiery kiss. Her knees threatened to buckle as butterflies swirled in her stomach.
It’s like fireworks! So this is what people mean when they see fireworks!
He pushed inside her the next second. No warning. No mercy. Just a sudden thrust of his hips. Her head dropped back towards the ceiling as a low moan escaped her throat.
“It feels a little something like this,” he breathed, arching up his back to pound into her with a hard, unyielding rhythm. “Sudden. Consuming. Intense.” He picked up the pace, holding onto the sides of the tub for balance. “You keep trying, but can never really catch your breath.”
Okay. You’ve made your point.
Lacy’s body jumped a thousand degrees as she wrapped her arms around his neck, hanging on for dear life. By now, well over half the water had spilled out of the tub, but they were both too preoccupied to care. There was only one thing in the world that mattered now. Getting as close to each other as possible. Getting as close as possible, and never letting go.
Then suddenly, just as she had finally found her balance, he scooped her up into the air.
She grabbed onto him with a water-logged shriek, giggling all the while, as he carried them from the bath to the shower. The hot water flipped on. The room filled up with steam. But before either one of them could step under the scalding jets, Logan pushed her up against the wall—slamming into her again from behind.
“Fuck,” she whispered, trying to catch her breath. It wasn’t easy, the whole room was spinning and the clouds of steam were starting to make her a little light-headed. “Logan, I—”
“Say that again,” he demanded immediately.
She twisted her head just far enough to get a glimpse of his smoldering eyes. “What?”
“My name.” He lifted her hands up over her head, pinning them to the wall using just one of his own. “Say my name.”
He had been waiting for it since the moment they’d met. Dying a thousand deaths every time she called out ‘Dylan’ instead. She wasn’t about to deny him now.
“Logan.”
It was half-moan, half-breathless plea. And the effect it had on him was immediate.
His entire body stiffened as he let out a soft cry. A moment later, he was burying his face in the back of her hair—his fingers twisting over hers as he surrendered himself completely.
Lacy was just a second behind.
Her teeth clamped down upon her lip, as her entire body tightened around him. Her legs buckled, but he caught her gracefully in his arms—lowering her slowly down to the tiled floor and gathering her up in his lap. Kissing her all the while.
They stayed like that for a long time. Until the hot water finally started to wane.
The second it did, Logan reached above his head and flipped it off. His arm was still wrapped around Lacy’s shoulders, and he leaned down to give her the softest kiss.
“You want to get into bed?”
She went immediately limp, exhaling with a theatrical sigh.
“I haven’t the faintest bit of energy.”
He chuckled quietly, lifting her up as though she weighed no more than a doll. “That’s alright. I’m pretty sure I can manage. Or we could always just have sex again...”
Chapter 22
The man was insatiable. Just a few more weeks, and Lacy was bound to be in the best shape of her life. The thought brought a little smile to her face as she curled up beside him under the covers. But just as quickly as it come, that happy thought was chased away by another.
“So how many days do you have left?” she asked suddenly. Logan shot her a curious glance, and she turned onto her side—twisting up to face him. “Before Dylan comes home and you have to go back to Miami.”
Their eyes met for a split second, before he let out a quiet sigh. It was clearly a thought that had been weighing on him for a long time.
“...not many.”
It was strange. He’d only been in Cleveland a few days as it was, but that’s all the time it took to turn both their worlds completely upside-down. A few days, but he had already admitted to having fallen completely in love with her. A few days, but Lacy had already done the same.