Opal Carew

by Twin Fantasies

  He grasped her elbow and led her to the door.

  COOLNESS ON HER forehead lured Jenna from the darkness.

  “Jenna.” A deep voice said her name. “Jenna, are you alright?”

  Ryan’s voice.

  Confusion swirled around her, like a dark gray curtain on a stormy night, but she struggled against it.

  She opened her eyes. Ryan’s concerned face stared down at her, his sensuous lips pinched in a straight line.

  Cindy’s head bobbed into view.

  “Her eyes are open,” Cindy said to someone behind her. She smiled down at Jenna and through the numbness Jenna felt Cindy’s fingers curl around her own. “How you doing, honey?”

  Cindy squeezed Jenna’s hand and Jenna squeezed back, allowing the firm grip to draw her farther into consciousness. Her eyes drifted closed again as she drew in a deep breath. Someone put a glass to her lips.

  “Take a sip, Jenna,” Cindy said.

  Cool, flavorless liquid trickled into Jenna’s mouth and down her throat. She opened her eyes, intent on the glass, wrapping her hands around it. She leaned forward and tipped more of the water into her mouth. Cindy kept her hands around the glass, guiding it forward, then took it away when Jenna urged it back. When Jenna glanced up again, she saw two Ryans staring down at her.

  “Oh, God, I’m seeing double.” The inside of her head started to swirl. A pounding started in her temple.

  One of the Ryans took her hand. “No, sweetheart, you’re not. This is . . .”

  His lips continued moving, but the words were drowned out by the increased drumming in her ears. His face was tight with concern, but she couldn’t follow what he was saying. She blinked a couple of times, trying to clear the fog closing in on her, but then she fell into the wonderful, cushioned blackness again.

  ANGER STORMED THROUGH Cindy and she batted Ryan on the arm.

  “You idiots. What are you trying to do? Scare her witless? It’s a really bad idea to upset her in her—” at Ryan’s murderous glare, she bit back the word condition, “—situation,” she finished.

  “What situation is that?” Jake asked, eyebrows pinched together.

  Pregnant, she wanted to scream, but Ryan had dragged her aside earlier and forbade her to let Jake know anything about the baby. Not that she agreed with him, in the longer term anyway, but she realized that adding that complication to an already tense situation wasn’t a good idea. Ryan was ready to wring his brother’s neck as it was, and if Jake found out about the pregnancy and put two and two together . . .

  She wanted to shake some sense into them. The two of them were jockeying for position, readying for a head-butting contest. Men and their egos.

  “The situation is that she’s getting married,” Ryan said through gritted teeth. “Or had you forgotten?”

  Cindy’s fists clenched.

  “Guys, get over it. Right now your only concern should be Jenna. If she wakes up and sees the two of you again, the shock will probably send her into a coma, so I suggest one of you leave.”

  Ryan settled deeper into his chair. “She’s my fiancée. I’m staying right here.” He dipped the cloth in the spare glass of water and wrung it out, then placed it on Jenna’s forehead again, turning his back to Cindy and Jake.

  Jake crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes narrowing.

  Cindy glanced from one to the other, then walked to Ryan’s brother’s side and wrapped her hand securely around his arm.

  Jake. Jenna’s fantasy man.

  “I really think you should go,” she said gently, using her most persuasive tone. “Just until we get her up and around again.”

  Jake’s tension eased. He glanced at Jenna’s slack form and he dragged his hand through his hair. Long, wavy brown hair. A surge of heat went through Cindy. She couldn’t help thinking that whichever one of these fine hunks Jenna discarded, she’d be doing a great favor to single women everywhere.

  Jake nodded.

  “Yeah, okay.” He pulled a card out of an inside pocket of his suit jacket and handed it to her. “I won’t be far. Call me on my cell as soon as she’s awake. I want to talk to her.”

  Cindy took the card and ushered him to the door. “I will. I promise.”

  She felt for Jake right now. This must be a terrible shock. She couldn’t imagine what he must be thinking.

  She thought back to when Jenna had told her about Ryan playing out her fantasy. Jenna had been so excited that her cheeks had glowed with happiness. But the fantasy stranger had not actually been Ryan. Chills rippled through Cindy. She imagined herself in Jenna’s shoes and a stream of butterflies twirled through her stomach. She couldn’t help thinking how terribly exciting and illicit that made the whole situation.

  Of course, Jake might not share her view, and Ryan definitely wouldn’t.

  Cindy’s eyes strayed back to Jenna, lying there totally oblivious to the whole situation. No wonder she didn’t want to wake up.

  Good heavens, Cindy hadn’t experienced this much excitement since the time . . . Her thought trailed off. She dug back deep into her memory. Actually, she had never experienced this much excitement.

  CHAPTER 9

  RRYAN PATTED JENNA’S cheeks. She felt so cold.

  His heart wobbled at seeing her so fragile.

  “Jenna?” He pushed her hair behind her ears then patted her cheeks some more. “Jenn, wake up, sweetheart.”

  “Mmm.” Her eyelids slowly lifted. “Ryan?”

  She ran her hand across her forehead, then wrapped it around the damp cloth and dragged it away. Ryan drew the cloth from her fingers and set it on the tray on the table beside the couch.

  “What happened?” She raised her hands to her temples and rubbed.

  “You fainted.” He stroked her cheek and smiled down at her.

  “Don’t be silly, I don’t faint.” She glanced around. “Where am I?”

  “We’re in the catering manager’s office.” He took her hand and patted it. “It’s okay, it’s just the two of us here.” The sound of a clearing voice interrupted him, reminding him that Jenna’s friend sat behind him. “And Cindy.”

  “Cindy?” Jenna glanced past him.

  “I’m here, Jenna.” Cindy moved beside Ryan and peered at Jenna from over his shoulder. “You’re fine, honey. You just had a bit of a shock.”

  Cindy gave Ryan a quick stare and nudged her head toward Jenna. She mouthed some words to him. Tell her.

  “Jenna, I’ve never told you much about my brother.”

  Jenna’s hand tightened in his. “Jake,” Jenna said weakly and her eyes started to glaze.

  Cindy pushed past him, kneeling beside the couch, taking Jenna’s hand from Ryan. “No, Jenna, stay with us, honey.” She grabbed the cloth and patted Jenna’s cheek with it. “Sweetie, it’s okay. Ryan has a brother. His name is Jake.”

  Cindy patted Jenna’s hand. Ryan watched helplessly, his gut twisting at the thought of Jenna in his brother’s arms. It killed him knowing she’d had sex with Jake, knowing the baby was Jake’s baby.

  “Listen to me, Jenna. Jake is Ryan’s brother. His twin brother. But it’s okay.” Cindy enunciated each syllable clearly. She sent Ryan a quick follow-my-lead-or-else stare. “Jenna, are you still with me?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “Jenna,” Cindy said sharply.

  “Yes,” Jenna responded weakly.

  “Everything’s okay, because Ryan understands. He knows you thought Jake was really Ryan. Right, Ryan?” She nodded as she stared at Ryan, daring him to contradict her.

  “Of course I do, Jenna.” He stroked her shoulder. “I know you thought it was me. I don’t blame you for anything.”

  He leaned in close, waiting until her eyes focused on him. “I don’t blame you for anything.”

  And he didn’t. This was all Jake’s fault, not his sweet, innocent Jenna’s.

  Jenna shook her head. “Really?” she asked weakly.

  “Really,” he stated firmly.

  Jenna
burst into tears.

  “WHAT THE HELL’S going on?” Jake demanded as he stormed into the room. The sight of the woman he loved sobbing uncontrollably on the couch dragged out all his protective instincts.

  “Jake, it’s okay.” Cindy stepped toward him, placing her body in front of his to stop his forward momentum. “She’s just letting out her tension. This has been a terrible shock for her.”

  “Join the club,” he grumbled, watching his brother hold Jenna in his arms. A deep longing to shove Ryan out of the way and drag her into his own arms burned through him. “Look, I want to talk to her.”

  “Now isn’t the best time,” Ryan commented tightly. Jenna pulled back, staring down at her hands. Ryan handed her a tissue and she blew her nose.

  She leaned close to Ryan, her hand resting lightly on his shoulder, and murmured something Jake couldn’t hear. He hated the easy intimacy they shared.

  “I really don’t think it’s a good idea, Jenna. Not right now,” Ryan responded. She murmured something more. “Are you sure?”

  She nodded, staring down at her hands again. “Just give me a minute.” She pulled another tissue from the box on the table beside her and wiped her eyes, then took a few calming breaths. Finally, she glanced toward Jake. When her gaze hit his, she quavered a little and it ricocheted away, but slowly she brought it back.

  “Jake, I’d like to talk to you, too.”

  “Thank you, Jenna.” He smiled reassuringly, despite the twisting of his stomach at the way she looked at him. Like a complete stranger.

  Ryan leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear. She glanced up at him sharply.

  “But I don’t think—”

  He leaned in and whispered some more. She nodded.

  Ryan stood up and strode to the door, giving Jake a warning glance on the way by. Cindy patted Jake on the arm, then followed Ryan out the door and closed it behind her with a gentle thump.

  Jake stepped toward the couch, noticing the look of panic on her face as he approached. He held out his hand.

  “Hi, my name’s Jake. I’m Ryan’s twin brother.”

  She stared at his hand, as though afraid to touch it. Finally, she reached out her own hand, tentatively, and laid it in his. He shook hands with her, gently but firmly.

  “How do you do?” he asked.

  “I’ve been better.”

  He sat down beside her, folding his hands between his knees. Now that he had his audience with her, he didn’t know what to say. Why not run off with me and get married? seemed totally out of the question.

  “So, you’re going to marry my brother tomorrow.”

  “That was the plan,” she agreed.

  Why had she said “was?” Could it be she was reconsidering? Could it be she loved him more than Ryan? His heart filled with hope, then crashed as he asked himself if he could really run off with his brother’s bride.

  “Look, I need to know something.” She glanced up at him, then fiddled with her fingers. “That kiss . . . in the ballroom just now . . . Was that the first time?”

  “The first time? What do you mean?”

  “Did I . . . when I kissed you like that, did I just catch you by surprise? Did you just sort of get caught up in it?”

  “So let me get this straight. You think it’s possible that we met for the first time this evening and when you kissed me— mistaking me for Ryan, of course—that I joined into that redhot kiss, even though I knew you were my sister-in-law-to-be and thus totally off-limits?”

  She glanced up at him hopefully.

  “No, Jenna. This was not the first time. I met you over two months ago, in this hotel, when you led me up to my room and made love with me. Though back then I thought your name was Aurora. A fascinating woman very much into sexual fantasies.”

  Her face turned bright red.

  He was still a little ticked that she would suggest such a thing, so he decided to turn the tables on her.

  “Okay, now tell me something. Be honest. Did you really mistake me for Ryan that night we met or were you actually looking for a stranger to fulfill your fantasy? Did finding your brother’s twin become a thrill for you, so much so that you orchestrated our whole affair knowing I wouldn’t jeopardize my relationship with my brother over a woman?”

  She flinched at the word “affair,” but her head lifted in indignation.

  “Of course not. I wouldn’t do such a thing.”

  “Well, neither would I.”

  Her indignation drained away. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that.” Her tiny fists clenched in her lap. “I just want it not to be true.”

  “But it is true, Jenna,” he said gently. “Our meeting in the lobby yesterday and our first meeting, where you wanted me to fulfill your fantasy of having sex with a stranger. And the elevator.”

  “The elevator,” she wailed. She dropped her face into her palms. “Oh God, this is so embarrassing. I don’t even know you.”

  His lips turned up in a half-smile. “That was rather the point, wasn’t it?”

  She looked close to tears again. He rested his hand on her shoulder and his heart clenched when she stiffened under his touch.

  “Look, Jenna, it happened. There’s nothing we can do about it now. And as much as I hate it, you’re going to marry my brother tomorrow.”

  He felt a stabbing pain through his chest, but as much as it hurt, he couldn’t stand in the way of his brother’s happiness. After all, when Jenna had said she loved him, she’d been saying it to Ryan. The tightness in his chest threatened to topple him over, but instead he smiled.

  “Honey, we’ll just have to put this behind us.”

  She shook her head. “It’s not that simple.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She grabbed a new tissue and blew her nose again, then released a crumpled mass of tissues from her fist onto the table. She took a sip of water, then set the glass down firmly.

  “I have to tell you something. Ryan asked me not to, he said it would make things too complicated right now . . . but things are already complicated enough, so . . . I have to tell you.”

  “What is it?”

  She drew in a deep breath, then settled her gaze on him, keeping it steady this time. She reached for his hand, clasping it gently. The feel of her fingers in his, the awareness that she’d taken his hand knowing he was Jake, not Ryan, sent wildly erratic emotions storming through him.

  “Tell me what?”

  She squeezed his hand gently.

  “Jake, I’m pregnant.”

  His heart flopped over.

  “Oh . . . I see.” He drew his hand from her grasp, instantly missing her warmth, but needing space from her. “Congratulations.”

  She laid her hand on his sleeve. “No, you don’t understand. When I mistook you for Ryan that first time, when we . . . uh . . . when you and I . . .”

  “Lived out your fantasy?” A vague feeling of uneasiness grew within him.

  She nodded. “Right. Ryan and I weren’t . . . we hadn’t been . . . intimate in several months.”

  He froze.

  “My God. Are you trying to tell me. . . ?” His voice trailed off, his thoughts in turmoil, not quite allowing himself to frame the words.

  She nodded.

  “Yes, Jake.” She stared down at her hands as she wrung them together. “You’re going to be a father.”

  A father. Good God. His brother’s fiancée, the woman Jake loved, was carrying his child. Elation swirled through him, chased by raging consternation.

  He was going to be a father. All else drained away at the wonderful thought that the woman he loved carried his child.

  He took her hands in his.

  “My baby?” A note of awe tinged the words.

  Her gaze met his and she nodded.

  He grabbed her and hugged her tightly.

  “My baby.” His smile split his face from ear to ear.

  She frowned. “I don’t think you’re fully understanding this situation. I’m
supposed to marry your brother tomorrow and he thinks . . .” Her eyes grew wide. “Oh, God.”

  “He thinks what?”

  Her eyes glazed over and she stared into nothingness.

  “Jenna?” Was she going to faint again? Suddenly, he realized that’s why she’d been fainting, because she was pregnant.

  “Jenna. Do you want me to get you a drink? Wait, no alcohol. Do you want some water?” He took her hand and squeezed it. “Jenna, can you hear me?”

  “What?” Her eyes focused on him.

  “Ryan thinks what?”

  “Don’t you understand?” She shook her head. “I thought he thought it was his baby . . . Because I thought it was his baby. But he knew it wasn’t his baby all along.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “And that means . . . Oh, God.” She dropped her face to her hands.

  “Are you saying he’s known it was my baby right from the beginning?”

  “No,” she wailed. “He thought I’d slept with a stranger .” She moaned. “He actually believed I’d gone out and had a one-night stand with a stranger . . . and got pregnant.” She grabbed Jake’s lapels, scrunching the fabric tightly in her fists. “And he asked me to marry him anyway.” Tears rolled down her cheeks and her voice lowered to a mere whisper. “He must really love me.”

  “You got that right.”

  Jenna’s gaze darted to the door at the sound of Ryan’s voice. He stood just inside the room, his hands in his pants pockets, his tie hanging loose.

  “How long . . .” Jenna took a shaky breath. “How long have you been standing there?”

  “Long enough to know you’ve figured it all out.” He walked toward her and kneeled by the couch, pushing past Jake. Ryan took her hands in his. “I know you, Jenna. You’re reconsidering the wedding tomorrow. You want to postpone or maybe even cancel. But don’t do it.”

  Guilt crept through her. He knew her so well.

  He kissed her palms, the gentle touch of his lips on her hands sending tender feelings of love quivering through her. She rested her hand on his cheek and stared deep into his eyes.

  “Ryan, you’re so sweet, so caring. I can’t believe you wanted to marry me believing I’d cheated on you.” Horror washed through her and her hand skittered away from him. “Oh, God, I did cheat on you.”