Identical Disaster (The Sterling Shore Series Book 8)

by C. M. Owens

  I really want to ask who Dixon is right now, but... This is getting old.

  “Of course,” Jax says dryly, rolling his eyes. “Then I’ll grab the gas while you and Bora talk.”

  Hell no.

  “I’ll help you,” I say quickly, too quickly, giving myself away.

  His mother smirks as I retreat, almost sprinting toward the SUV. This is going to be a long three weeks.

  Chapter 6

  JAX

  Bora is curled up on the bed, looking a little lost, but still exhausted. She slept the entire plane ride, then crashed last night the second we got into the room. I’m still confused by the small pillow barricade she placed between us last night.

  Then again, I’ve never slept—actually slept—with her, so maybe that was her way of drawing the line. Now it’s well into the afternoon, and she’s sleeping again, as though she can’t sleep enough.

  Hell, usually she runs on two hours of sleep and fifty energy drinks, so I’m not surprised she’s crashing now. It had to happen eventually.

  I cover her up and jog back down the stairs to see my mother eyeing me from across the room.

  “I can’t believe you actually brought her,” she says on a sigh.

  They went into town early this morning and are just getting back. I’ve been on the beach and exploring for most of the day by myself since Bora has been sleeping.

  “You invited her,” I remind her, smiling like the cheeky asshole I am. “Hope you brought your earplugs.”

  She gasps, and I wink while backing away. Dad smothers his laugh with his hand, and he claps my shoulder while following me outside.

  “So is this serious, or are you just pissing off your mother?” he asks as we head down to the beach.

  “What do you think?”

  He laughs under his breath, walking barefoot toward the water. It’s nice as fuck out here. Even better than Sterling Shore. Hotter too.

  “You sure you want to spend three weeks with someone you don’t really care about, in a place full of little bikinis, just to piss off your mother?”

  That has me frowning. A girl jogs down the beach, as though he paid her to do that at this moment. She smiles at us on her way by, doing a double take, but I cut my eyes away.

  Bora might not be someone I plan on staying with, but she’s here with me now.

  “We aren’t necessarily a couple, but we do have a monogamous agreement. Besides, I’ve never been all about the quantity. I can get along with Bora just fine for three weeks. She’s low maintenance, no drama usually, and does her own thing most days. Mom needs to learn I’m running my own life. Not her. When I’m ready to find something serious, I will. Until then, this should shut her up.”

  He gives me an I-know-you-don’t-really-believe-that look, but I ignore it. It’s not a permanent fix, but it really will shut her up for a while. And I’ll make it worth it to Bora. Considering there’s really only one thing she ever wants from me, it won’t be hard to do. Especially if she keeps laughing, smiling, and acting like she has been today.

  “What’s that grin for?” he asks, and I immediately wipe away my smile.

  “Nothing,” I lie. “The place is nice.”

  Dad rolls his eyes. “Your mother is in heaven. Your sister is in a pissy mood, thanks to Dixon. Jackass. If I can take off work, so can he. He’s a low-level nobody. He’s barely even a manager, and that’s only because he used me as a reference.”

  I decide to keep my nose out of it. The last time I interfered in my sister’s marriage to help her, she told me she was older and wiser. I’ll kick his ass when she’s not looking if he’s doing what I think he’s doing.

  “The auction apparently secured us a housekeeper-slash-personal cook for the stay. Didn’t know about that,” Dad says, drawing me out of my thoughts. “Your mother will die when she realizes Mick’s personal assistant is also here.”

  I swallow my own tongue. “What?”

  He laughs and nods. “Yeah. I’m letting your mother put her foot in her mouth for a while. It might humble her a little when she realizes how she’s been looking down her nose at people lately. She really wants to meet Mick, and this woman is his favorite person. I used to think they were a couple.”

  “Why the hell would his assistant be here?”

  He shrugs. “Hell if I know. He might be worried we’re robbing the place so he sent her to make sure everything stays where it’s supposed to. I’m pretending I don’t know who she is.”

  That makes sense. A smile curves my lips. Dad’s right; this could definitely be a humbling experience for my overly snobby mother.

  Chapter 7

  BO

  “Bora,” Jax murmurs close to my ear, making me jolt awake.

  I look up to see him now hovering close to my lips seconds before I feel his soft, velvety brush of a kiss. “You’ve been asleep for a while. Dinner is almost ready.”

  Oh shit. I fell asleep again? I was just trying to hide, not sleep. Apparently working every waking second has taken its toll on me, and my body has decided to rebel while it can.

  I groan as I sit up, ignoring how my body is reacting to him being so close.

  “Sorry. Should I bring a suit of armor? Your mom looked like she was ready to tear into me when we got here last night.”

  Fortunately, I haven’t had to deal with her today. Or Jax.

  He laughs, and it actually forces me to smile because I love the sound of it.

  “I have to go help Dad with the jet skis he rented for our stay. You can head on down and join Viv and Mom for pre-dinner cocktails. No suit of armor should be necessary. She doesn’t bite.”

  Double shit. Viv? His sister? Is that her name?

  “Um... I could help with the jet skis. I’m actually pretty good on them.”

  His brow cocks up in amusement.

  “Is that so? Well, I’ve learned more about you in two days than I have in two weeks. This trip is apparently making you different. In fact, you’ve barely touched me. Got a problem with this shirt?” he asks playfully, mocking a pout.

  His puckered lips make me want to lick mine. My eyes hungrily rake him over, admiring every inch of him. He’s wearing another sleeveless shirt, and it is very, very nice on him.

  “No,” I say, cringing at how breathy I sound.

  His lips come down on mine, stunning me, and suddenly I’m pushed back and pinned beneath him. When his tongue slips in, I’m pretty sure I moan—or make some weird noise. Damn, he’s screwing with my head.

  “We’ll have to continue this after dinner,” he says while pulling back just slightly, and that’s when I feel it.

  Oh. My. Damn. Why did I have to feel it?

  His hard length is pressed against me, and just to be sure that it’s what I think it is, I squirm, pushing myself closer. When it presses against the center of my shorts, I whimper. Whimper!

  “Don’t go making sounds like that, or I’ll say fuck dinner and lock you in here all night,” he says in a tone that makes me shiver. I’ll never make it three weeks.

  I have to. I have to make it.

  “You should go,” I whisper, lacking strength in my vocal chords.

  His devilish grin promises me I’m a weak, weak woman. He offers me a chaste kiss before climbing off the bed and heading toward the door, and I release the breath I’ve been holding when he’s gone.

  Very quickly, I pick up my phone and dial Shanna.

  “Bout damn time you called me back. I’ve been dying to know what’s going on. Bora hasn’t answered me. Bitch.”

  Normally I would laugh, but I’m too panicked. In several rushed breaths, I break down my drama and fill her in, praying for insight. I even tell her that I’m in her father’s house—of all the coincidences.

  I’d love to call Ruby, but she hates the way Bora does me worse than Shanna does. Shanna just yells at me, and I can handle that. I’m afraid Ruby might actually go beat the hell out of my sister, and then I’d have to bail her out of jail.

&
nbsp; Sort of hard to do from Hawaii. Besides, Bora is a pain, but I still love her.

  “Damn it, Bo! That girl has got to start being her own person, and you’re just her enabler if you continue to do her dirty work.”

  “Yes,” I groan. “I realize that. Now tell me what to do. Obviously I can’t have sex with him, but apparently that’s all they do. He’ll expect it. I can’t. How do I keep from having to?”

  She chuckles lightly, and I swear I hear her head shaking. “Bo, you think the guy is hot, right?”

  “Probably hotter than anyone I’ve ever seen in real life, but that’s a moot point. Even if he wasn’t off limits, I wouldn’t screw him just because he’s sexy.”

  She laughs again, sounding a little condescending. “Listen, fuck your sisterly rules. She doesn’t give a damn about you. Hell, she probably has a date tonight. This guy is up for grabs, and if you’re smart, you’ll take advantage. I would. The way you’ve described him makes him sound almost perfect.”

  I frown as I stare out the window, my eyes inadvertently finding the man she deigns as almost perfect. He’s moving the jet skis up the sand, shifting in between the two.

  “Almost perfect? What’s his flaw? Because I need one to focus one.”

  “He likes Bora.”

  All the life is sucked from me as I let that finally resonate. If nothing else keeps me in check… that will.

  “And any guy who is into Bora, would never be into me.”

  “Ah hell, girl. That’s not at all what I meant. Any guy who’s into Bora doesn’t really deserve you, but you definitely deserve their attention. All I was saying is that’s his flaw, because that girl is skin deep and nothing more.”

  I frown again, even though Shanna can’t see me. She knows I don’t like her bashing Bora, but my sister makes it hard to defend her when she does shit like this. She’s deeper than the skin, but she doesn’t show it as often as she should.

  “Even if it wasn’t weird to have sex with someone my sister has been with, I still wouldn’t have sex with him without a committed relationship. I don’t work that way. I expect a real relationship, and he’s obviously not the type. Bora does monogamy, but not serious.”

  “If you go marking off all the men Bora’s had sex with as a no-touch rule, you’ll be marking off all of Sterling Shore before long. Nothing wrong with her getting around; I’m envious she has that sort of power. But don’t limit your options because of her. She sure as hell wouldn’t hold back because of you.”

  Bora would never touch someone I’d touched. This isn’t even the argument I’m making. As usual, Shanna twists it to say what she wants to say. It’s a pointless argument, and I hate pointless arguments with stubborn people.

  Sucks that I’m always surrounded by them.

  “I should go. He wants me to have cocktails with his mother and sister. I’ll call you later. I may possibly need you to pick me up from the airport when he realizes I’m nothing at all like the fun girl he’s used to.”

  That might actually be the solution to the problem: Be me instead of trying to be Bora.

  She mutters something under her breath before saying, “I doubt very seriously he’ll find you less interesting than Bora. I still say to fuck his brains out. You’re stupid if you don’t.”

  As Jax moves along the sand, meeting his dad halfway, my lips tighten to a thin line.

  “I’ll talk to you later,” I murmur before hanging up.

  Steeling myself and preparing for the worst, I make my way down the stairs and toward the living room. But when I reach the bottom of the staircase, I hear the none-too-quiet chatter from Mrs. Marshall—whose first name I don’t know—and Viv… which is probably short for something.

  “She’s a gold digger, and this trip will prove it to him. Jax always thinks more clearly when we’re in Hawaii,” Mrs. Marshall says, and I tilt my head.

  It’s obvious they’re referring to Bora, and that actually elicits a smile from me. Bora is a number of things, but not a gold digger. There’s no need for her to be.

  “She’s definitely got him twisted around her finger. I didn’t believe you until I saw him with her. He’s been following her around since they got here.”

  “Only because she’s practically naked,” his mother scoffs, making me frown.

  Hell, I thought I was decent, compared to what Bora normally wears.

  “By the end of the week, she’ll be ready to go or he’ll be done with her. You don’t survive our family unless you’re Marshall strong,” the mother states proudly.

  I cock my eyebrow. She has no clue how tough I am, even if I hate social things and groups. I might have a blind spot for my sister, but you don’t own a multi-billion dollar business by being weak.

  Wait... This will be perfect. They can run me off, and then I can say I’m not comfortable with his family. He loves them; he’ll side with them over a girl he’s known for less than two days—er, I mean, two weeks. He can dump me instead of me having to dump him.

  I was joking with Shanna when I said I should act like myself. But if I’m going to do this, I can’t play Bora full time. It’s too confusing. I can wear her clothes, wear her makeup, and even swear a little more, but I can’t answer to her name—though it’s also my name. Damn rockstar father.

  “There are my two favorite ladies.” Jax’s voice is sudden and unexpected, and given their simultaneous gasps, they didn’t hear him enter either.

  “There’s my handsome son. We were just discussing you.”

  After a short pause, Jax says, “Were you talking about me with Bora? She was on her way down when I went out with Dad.”

  “No. Bora hasn’t come down from the room yet. Is she always so rude?”

  Rude?

  Hermit? Yes. Antisocial? Definitely. Rude? Never intentionally. Of course, I consider talking about your guest like they’re gum on the bottom of your shoe to be rude, but that’s just me. What do I know?

  My sardonic mind spews on about the two hypocritical women, but I tune it out when Jax is suddenly in front of me, almost running me over. Crap.

  His eyes widen, and then a dazed and confused look comes over him. “You hiding in the stairwell?”

  I hear a couple of whispers, probably a little panicky, and I frown. “Jax, can—”

  “Did you just call me Jax?” he asks with a laugh, his head tilting.

  My whole face turns red, and I stutter several unintelligible things. “Is that... um... but I thought... That’s...”

  He laughs when I give up, and he leans down to give me a grinning kiss. “Thank you. You’ve refused to call me that, and quite honestly, it was starting to get on my nerves, considering my father’s name is Jaxon. It’s a libido killer.”

  Note to self: If we get in a situation where I need to drown out the lust, I’ll call him Jaxon.

  He winks as he withdraws, and my mouth waters. He’s too sexy.

  Skin deep. It’s just skin deep. Lust is a driving toxin that leads to the bedroom, not the altar… It’s just a saying. I’m not looking for a trip to the altar.

  If he’s with Bora, he’s just as shallow as she is, because I know how Bora operates. All sex, no depth.

  Knowing that doesn’t make me less shallow in this moment, but it keeps me sober. So does reminding myself that he’s been with my sister.

  “You ready for cocktails?”

  I nod shyly when his hand comes up to my face, and he leans down to kiss me harder this time. Um… What was I thinking?

  “You’re so much sweeter than usual,” he murmurs against my lips. “A guy could get used to this.”

  Sweeter? I taste sweeter, or I’m acting sweeter? So frustrating.

  “Come on,” he says, tugging my hand.

  The trolls who were talking about my sister are staring at me with artificial smiles, making sure to line the curl of their lips with just enough sugar to sell it. Jax keeps his arm around me as we make our way to a sofa in the oversized living room and sit down.

&nb
sp; Clean, contemporary art hangs on the walls, and I can’t help but smile when I see the Pretty Posh logo framed and hanging amongst them. Jax follows my eyes, and laughs lightly when he sees it, too.

  “I didn’t expect Marsh to be a fan of a girly design empire.”

  I glance down at my hands, wishing I could explain.

  “So, Bora, have you ever visited Hawaii?” his mother asks in her syrupy sweet, fake-as-plastic tone.

  She’s good at hiding her evil side.

  “Yes. Many times. Not in a few years, though.” The surprise that registers on her face is almost priceless, so I obnoxiously add, “I prefer Bora Bora. Less crowded.”

  Her brittle smile is rewarding. I sit back, allowing her eyes to coolly assess me. She doesn’t assess me long before I see the disbelief. She thinks I’m making it up. That’s fine. I don’t need her approval.

  “Bora Bora, eh?” Jax asks with a grin.

  If he only knew the significance. Bora Bora was where my mother ended up pregnant with twins. My father, being the eccentric man he is, took it as a sign from the universe. Twin named location leads to twins. There’s really no logic, but it’s Vince Jaggons.

  To pay respect to the universe, he named us Bora Bolivia Brendon and Bolivia Bora Brendon. As if life isn’t confusing enough when you share a face. Why not also share a name that’s been flip-flopped?

  “Well,” Jax’s mother says, clearing her throat, “Bora Bora hasn’t ever been our style. Hawaii is our preferred vacationing spot.”

  I nod slowly and allow Jax to move in closer, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and drawing me flush against his side. Sheesh. He’s always so hands-on. Not that I’m complaining, but—no. I need to be complaining.

  A pretty blonde walks in, and my eyes widen with familiarity. Shit.

  Her eyes glow warmly when she sees me, not seeming the least bit surprised, and she hands me a margarita on the rocks—my favorite drink. It’s Helen—Uncle Mick’s personal assistant. What’s she doing here? Uncle Mick never goes anywhere without her.