Sebastian’s brows knit together in confusion. “Don’t you have staff that can handle things?”
“Yes...” But she wasn’t the kind to leave her metal-and-rubber babies without supervision.
“You took last Saturday night off. I think you can do it again.”
Lauren sighed. “I’ll talk to my team and see what I can do.” She supposed everything did go fine last weekend with the trucks. Amy and Javier were competent sous chefs. She just wasn’t great at relinquishing control. That was why Amy had entered her in the contest to begin with.
“Great.” Sebastian leaned in, his eyes asking the question she wasn’t prepared to answer yet. But she didn’t pull away. She let it happen, closing her eyes as his lips met hers. It was a brief kiss. A soft, gentle kiss. But a kiss completely unlike any of the ones they’d shared Saturday night.
She’d let the kiss happen in the hopes that it would spark something between them. That perhaps their bodies would finally remember what they’d shared and the fires would light in her belly again.
Nothing.
When he finally pulled away, Lauren noted a flicker of disappointment and frustration in his green eyes. She knew exactly how he felt. They could both tell something was off, but neither of them knew what to do about it. Maybe a casual day in Dallas would make the difference.
She hoped so.
“Good night, Lauren.” Sebastian raised his hand in parting and walked back to his BMW.
She watched him drive away before closing and locking her door. Stepping inside, Lauren kicked out of her heels in disgust. She walked over to her junk drawer on the kitchen island, where she kept a collection of pens, batteries, loose change and hair ties. Without hesitation, she swept the shoulder-length strands of her hair back off her face and into its usual bun on the top of her head. It looked nice down with the new highlights, at least her stylist had said so, but it just got in her way. She was pretty sure she got some butternut squash soup in it earlier. Sexy.
With it out of the way, she went over to her Sub-Zero refrigerator and removed a bottle of her favorite sparkling water. Then she pulled out a stool and sat at the large quartz island to think. The kitchen, and this kitchen in particular, was her happy place. There was something soothing about the stainless steel appliances, the cool stone countertops and the sleek white cabinets that calmed her nerves and cleared her mind. She wasn’t remotely hungry, but she thought about getting up and cooking something.
After a moment of resting her toes, Lauren got up and unzipped the shift dress she’d worn to dinner. She let it slink into a puddle at her feet and stepped out, leaving it there. In her bra and panties, she went to the pantry and pulled out an apron. She returned to the island a moment later with an armful of vegetables and set to work cleaning and chopping.
It would become either soup or a frittata in the morning, she hadn’t decided yet. But for now, she would chop.
The therapeutic rhythm pounded through her brain and when the last pepper was obliterated, she set down her knife and took a deep breath.
She never should’ve sought out Sebastian Wingate. She knew that now. He was a perfectly nice guy, even more handsome than she imagined he would be under the mask. But that night at the club had been special. A once-in-a-lifetime kind of night. And in trying to locate him, in reaching out to him in real life without masks and the late-night haze of vodka, it just wasn’t the same.
Lauren would go with him to Dallas. She would see it through because she’d said she would. But she needed to accept the fact that it would probably end there. She would never have another enchanting night in the arms of her masked suitor. She hadn’t given much thought to what a physical relationship with Sebastian would be like, but she knew in her heart it wouldn’t be anything like what they’d already shared.
The spell was broken. The stroke of midnight brought all that to an end. And now Cinderella and the lovely fantasy that came along with it had turned back into a big, old pumpkin and some mice.
* * *
“For someone who just got home from a date, you look positively miserable.”
Sutton looked down at his watch and then back at his brother as he came through the front door and tugged loose his tie. “Then again, it’s nine o’clock. Not a good sign to be home this early.”
Sebastian frowned at him and shook his head. “Thanks for the blow-by-blow commentary on how badly my date went. I should’ve brought you along to narrate.”
His brother dropped his keys onto the coffee table and flopped down on the couch beside Sutton, who had been watching a college football game. “Beer?” he offered.
“Hell yeah.”
Sutton got up and grabbed two fresh beers from the kitchen. He popped the tops and carried them back into the living room. They both took a few sips and silently watched football until it went to a commercial break. Sutton took the opportunity to press his brother for information. “So what happened?”
Sebastian shook his head. “I wish I knew. On paper, it should be perfect. And yet, it’s nothing like before. If she didn’t show up on my doorstep insisting she was the woman I met before, I wouldn’t believe it.”
Sutton frowned. He and his brother hadn’t had many conversations of depth recently. Too much had been going on in their lives. But he’d obviously missed something major and he needed the pieces filled in. “Back up. Who is this woman again?”
“Her name is Lauren Roberts. She’s the owner and chef of the Street Eats food trucks that are usually parked around downtown.”
Sutton recognized the name. He’d even eaten at Street Eats a couple times. The food was really good and it was quick for when he was moving from one meeting to the next without time to sit down for a meal. “Where did you meet her?”
“Well, that’s not so simple. I met her at the masquerade ball. I think. Then she showed up a few days later to introduce herself and apologize for acting out of character that night. At first, I was ecstatic. Now...not so much.”
“I get the feeling you’re skimming over the important stuff. Go back to the party. What happened there?”
“What didn’t?” Sebastian said with a sigh. “I don’t know what it was. Something about that night was different. She was different. Beautiful and exotic looking. With our masks we could pretend to be other people. I got caught up in it.”
“I know what you mean,” he admitted. It hadn’t felt like the typical club party. He’d met women at those things before. He’d danced the night away with them. He’d even left with one before. But it wasn’t like this. She hadn’t lingered in his mind the way Red had. “It had to be the masks.”
Sebastian nodded. “You know that I’m not the kind to get caught up with a lady at something like that. But she was entrancing. Yet somehow familiar.” He sighed. “I felt so comfortable around her, I guess I let my guard down...and touching her was almost a religious experience. I can’t even describe it. We had an extraordinary connection. And then the party ended, she was gone and I thought she was out of my life for good.”
Sutton’s nose wrinkled at his brother’s words. While they were twins, they rarely did anything alike. They were night and day. And yet, they seemed to have had very similar experiences at the masquerade ball.
“I felt like such a fool for letting her get away. No name,” Sebastian lamented. “No way to contact her. I hadn’t even seen her face without the mask on. I spent the nights after the party lying in bed beating myself up for how I handled things. Something good finally happens to me and I let her slip through my fingers.”
“It was an honest mistake,” Sutton said. He’d made the same one. His masked temptress had run out while he slept and he only had her mask to show for it. He’d held it in his hands as he sat on the edge of his bed thinking about what a fool he’d been. On the plus side, misery loved company. He and Sebastian could lament their stupidity together.
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“Then she showed up on our doorstep and I thought I’d been given a second chance with the woman of my dreams.”
“You mean she just showed up at the house one day?” Sutton had never been jealous of his brother before, but there was a first time for everything. He wished his mystery woman had tracked him down. Instead, she’d fled in the night without a trace.
“Yes. She said she saw my picture in the newspaper and realized who I was. Told me she had to talk to me because of the way everything happened. I was stunned to have her just drop in my lap like that, so I jumped at the chance and asked her out to dinner. And now here I am, sitting with you, wondering where it all went wrong.”
“So it wasn’t the same?”
Sebastian shrugged. “I don’t know how to describe it. I mean, Lauren is lovely. She’s pretty and smart and honestly, a fling with a masked woman could’ve ended much worse when identities were revealed. But it’s not like it was that night. The electricity, the draw...it’s gone. She’s just a nice woman and nothing more. That’s all I can say about it. There was no spark.”
“That sucks.”
“You could say that,” Sebastian grumbled. “And I don’t understand it. I can’t stop thinking about the masked woman. I’ve even dreamed about her. She was everything I wanted, like a fantasy that stepped out of my head and onto the dance floor. But Lauren is just not the same woman. She said she wasn’t quite acting herself that night, but I don’t think you can fake chemistry like that. She says she is the woman from that night, but in my gut I know it just can’t be true.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “I wish she’d left behind a glass slipper I could try on her foot to prove her identity one way or another.”
That’s when a dull ache started to worry at Sutton’s stomach. There were so many similarities to their stories and yet Sutton hadn’t mentioned much about that night to his brother or anyone else. Maybe there was more to this than just an innocent fling. But what were the odds that both of them would have a night like that, then the woman would show up on their doorstep claiming to be the one Sebastian had been with?
He didn’t like having such paranoid thoughts, but with everything going on with Wingate Enterprises, they couldn’t be too careful. Maybe someone had hired a couple women to come to the party and seduce them for information.
“Tell me more about her. But focus on that night at the party, not your date tonight, since we’re not certain they’re one and the same. Describe her as though she were two different people.”
Sebastian nodded and closed his eyes. “The woman at the party had dark brown hair and large, dark eyes. Her hair was up, but I could tell it was longer. She was wearing a black mask and a long, red dress—”
“Stop,” Sutton said, holding up his hand. “Are you sure about all of that? She had brown eyes, a red dress and a black mask?”
Sebastian rolled his eyes at his brother. “Of course, I’m certain. She’s been on my mind ever since that night. I couldn’t forget what she looked like if I tried. Why are you giving me the third degree on her?”
Sutton took a deep breath and tried to gather his thoughts. “Well, because I had a very similar experience at the party. And it happened to be with a brown-eyed brunette in a red dress and a black mask.”
“That’s a weird fluke.”
“Perhaps. But what if it was the same woman?”
Judging by the expression on his twin’s face, he wasn’t buying it. “No way. There had to be more than one woman in a red dress there that night.”
“Yes, but everything else seems too coincidental. We both meet a mystery woman in red and have anonymous affairs at the party? Maybe me, but you? You never do things like that. It’s like we were targeted.”
“Are you suggesting that we both slept with the same woman that night? And that she did it on purpose?” Sebastian winced with disgust as he said the words. “That’s not possible. And even if it were...why would she want to do that?”
“Why would someone want to set us up to get the family kicked off the board and all our assets frozen?” Sutton countered.
His brother sat back in his seat and took another long swig of beer. “You think it’s all related somehow? That the woman at the party targeted us on purpose because of something to do with the drug charges?”
It seemed far-fetched. He knew that. But so was both of them being under the seductive spells of such similar women on the same night. “Maybe. I wouldn’t put it past anyone, anymore. No place is safe, not even the club.”
“But why? Whether it was one woman or two dressed similarly, what does sleeping with us both get them?”
That, Sutton wasn’t sure about yet. But he’d piece it together eventually, just the way he’d eventually get to the bottom of who had framed them. “Maybe just to set us up for some scandalous photos. More bad press for the family could ruin what little positive public opinion we have left. Or maybe she was hoping to get some information about us. Did you talk about the family or business at all with her?”
“No,” Sebastian insisted. “Nothing personal, really. You?”
“No. We took full advantage of our anonymity at the party. What about at dinner tonight?”
His twin shook his head again. “It was all fairly light subjects. Mostly small talk. I’m not even sure Lauren knows much about the family, much less that she’s the mastermind of the whole plot. She’s not a club member or involved in Royal society at all. She’s an outsider to all of this.”
“Or so she wants you to think.”
“That just doesn’t ring authentic to me,” Sebastian insisted. “I think you’ve got too much time on your hands if you’re thinking up evil plots.”
“And yet she knew enough about you to show up at the house even though she wasn’t supposed to know who you were?”
His brother shrugged. “She said she realized who I was when she saw a picture of me in the paper the next day.”
Sutton got up from the couch and went out to the garage to find Sunday’s paper in the recycling bin. There, he found a picture of his brother wearing his wolf mask and a caption with his name. He carried it back inside and tossed it into Sebastian’s lap. “That part could be true enough.”
Sebastian read over the paper and then put it on the coffee table. “All that article tells anyone is that I was at the party in a wolf mask. So were you. What of it? If she is the woman I was with, wouldn’t seeing that picture be enough to inspire her to track me down?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s just my imagination making more of this than there really is. Perhaps she got carried away and had a fling with us both. Maybe two women were dressed similarly and I don’t know enough about fashion to tell them apart. But I think at the very least we should have Miles do a background check on Lauren. Make sure there isn’t more to this.”
“That’s not a bad idea. Just to make sure.” A muscle ticked in Sebastian’s jaw. “But the more we talk about it, the more I really think it’s just a case of chemistry gone awry. We’re going to go out again. Maybe things will finally click. I was going to take her up to Dallas.”
Sutton packed away his conspiracy theories and decided to call it a night. His team was losing, and, even with the lack of chemistry on Sebastian’s date, he wouldn’t be able to hide his jealousy of his brother for long. If it wasn’t all a setup, then fate had brought Sebastian his mystery woman, but not his.
He made noises about being tired and went up to his suite. There, he flopped down onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling for a moment. Then he rolled over and opened the bedside stand to pull out the black mask Red had left behind.
Sutton turned it over in his hands the way he had every night since the party. When he looked at it, he could see her beautiful brown eyes looking back at him. Those eyes had been so trusting. So open.
He didn’t want to believe those same trusting eyes ha
d an agenda and were just using him. He didn’t want that night’s memory to be tainted. It was his escape from the other problems in his life, not a part of them.
In that moment, he made a decision. If Red wasn’t going to track him down, then he was going to find her. Whether she was Lauren Roberts or a spy or some other person entirely, he was going to get to the bottom of it all.
Five
Sutton studied the list his sister Beth had given him. On it was every single person that bought or was given tickets to the gala. On his computer, he’d filtered out all the men and the women that had come with their husbands. He’d like to think a married woman couldn’t spend the whole night with him without her husband noticing. By the time he’d discarded family and all the women he knew from the club, he was left with a list of about ten women’s names.
One of which was Lauren Roberts.
He considered giving the list to Miles when he asked for the background check on Ms. Roberts. A little digging could help him pinpoint which, if any of them, might be the woman he met that night. Of course, he wasn’t sure how he’d explain to his younger brother that he wanted him to weed out any women without brown hair and eyes from the list. That would prompt a lot of questions he didn’t want to answer. How could he explain that he was obsessed with a woman but didn’t know who she was? Or that he couldn’t be sure she wasn’t some spy sent to help ruin the family?
No. He’d have Miles run the check for Sebastian, but he would keep the rest of the list to himself for now. Decision made, he sent the filtered list to his printer and looked over it again once he could hold it in his hands. One of these women was the one he was looking for. He knew it. His heart hammered in his chest as he read the list again and again. He was so close to finding her.
“I’ve got an idea.”
Sutton set aside the papers he was going through and looked at his brother, who had arrived suddenly in the doorway of their shared office. “Dare I ask?”
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