The Twin Switch (Millionaires Legacy Book 13; Gambling Men)

by Barbara Dunlop

  “We had dinner,” I said. “And he helped me get a discount hotel room.”

  I was going to tell her the whole story. I wouldn’t keep it from her forever. I just couldn’t tell her right now, not right this minute. She’d latch onto it, and the discussion of my sex life would distract from the central problem—which was that she had gotten confused.

  Then the wheels took a turn inside my head. “Wait. You’d already met Max?”

  I couldn’t help but wonder what Colton had told Max about Brooklyn. Was it possible Max had known or suspected I was Brooklyn’s friend? Could he have been keeping me away from Brooklyn to help his brother?

  That was a particularly mortifying thought. I’d hopped into his bed when maybe all he was doing was keeping me occupied for a few hours. We might just as well have done karaoke.

  “I only met Max in passing,” Brooklyn said. “Just for a minute when we first got here.”

  “Does Max know about James?”

  “I don’t see how. I’ve been with Colton the whole time, and Max only knew I was Colton’s date. I got the impression Colton and Max have a lot of dates.”

  Well, there was another unsettling revelation. There was a reason Max was so suave and sophisticated during a one-night stand. He was good at it because he’d had practice.

  My brain kept trailing its way to Max. But I knew I had to stay focused.

  “So Colton knows about James.” I was deciding how drastically to loathe Colton Kendrick.

  Before she answered, Brooklyn cracked a soft, intimate smile.

  I didn’t like the looks of that, not at all.

  “Colton knows all about James,” she said.

  I instantly made my decision. I completely loathed Colton.

  * * *

  Brooklyn wouldn’t leave Vegas, and I wasn’t going back without her.

  It was all Colton’s fault that I was maxing out my credit card at the Canterbury Sands Hotel. Sure, Max had bought me dinner last night and Brooklyn had signed breakfast to her room—not that I’d even tasted my waffle. But my free ride was now over.

  Brooklyn had gone to meet Colton, and I was in the check-in line wondering if I dared ask about getting a corporate rate. If I’d known the name of the company where Max worked, I might have given it a try. But without that piece of information, I didn’t think there was any way I’d pull off the ruse.

  I wondered if Max and Colton might work for the same company. That would explain why they’d both been at the Archway at the same time, and why they were here in Vegas at the same time. Brothers could go on vacation together, of course. But Max had said they were on business. So them being in the same business made the most sense to me.

  It seemed weird, being a twin, growing up together and then working together. That was a lot of togetherness. Don’t get me wrong, I love my family. But I can’t see spending every weekday with any of them.

  There were three people left in front of me when Max appeared.

  “How did it go?” he asked.

  “Did you know?” I asked outright. Brooklyn might not have told Max the whole story, but that didn’t mean Colton hadn’t found a way to share it with his twin brother.

  “Know what?” Max asked.

  I judged the space between us and the couple in front, then lowered my voice. “That Brooklyn was engaged to my brother.”

  “How would I know that?”

  “From Colton. Your brother.”

  “I didn’t. And, anyway, you never told me Brooklyn’s name. How would I have put the two things together?”

  He made a fair point.

  I wasn’t one hundred percent convinced, but I’d say I was ninety-five.

  “I’m taking her back,” I told him. “Colton can’t have her.”

  Max obviously fought a smirk. “Don’t you think that’s up to Brooklyn?”

  “She’s not thinking straight. She’ll come around.”

  “So you’re staying for a while.”

  It wasn’t a question, since there was no other reason for me to be in the check-in line.

  “I’m not staying long. She’ll come to her senses. Hopefully today.”

  I’d texted Sophie and Nat and told them they should head back to Seattle without us. I’d also sent a message to James telling him Brooklyn and I were taking an extra day to chill out before the wedding.

  It was mostly true. We were taking an extra day on vacation. And I told myself chilling was a matter of degree. We were chilling a little bit.

  My turn came and Max walked up to the counter with me.

  “You can check Ms. Gillen in under an H rate,” he said to the female clerk.

  “Of course, Mr. Kendrick.” She gave him a warm smile.

  “Do you know everybody?” I asked him.

  The woman glanced my way with a puzzled expression.

  “I’m a friendly guy,” Max said to me.

  “Any preference on the room?” the woman asked, her gaze going from Max to me and back again.

  “Did you like your room last night?” Max asked me.

  “The view was off-the-charts.” I’d easily admit that for seventy-six dollars a night, I’d take that room all week long.

  “She was on the thirty-fifth floor,” Max said to the clerk.

  “I really appreciate this,” I said to Max. And I did. Whatever else was going on here, he was saving me a fortune.

  “No problem.”

  “Do you have a preference for a north or south view?” the woman asked me this time.

  “Either is fine.” Even if I did know the difference, I wasn’t going to act like a princess.

  “Thirty-five-oh-seven or fourteen?” Max asked.

  The woman hit a couple of keys. “Thirty-five-oh-seven is available.”

  “Make it for three nights,” Max said.

  “I’m not going to be—”

  “You can always cancel.”

  “It’s not going to take anywhere near that long.”

  “Better to have a backup plan,” he said.

  “Oh, I have a backup plan all right.”

  The clerk handed me a key card.

  “Do tell,” Max said as we walked away.

  I knew my way to the elevators. “Give my plan to an agent of the enemy? I don’t think so.”

  “I’m not the enemy.”

  “Colton is the enemy.”

  “Colton is a very principled guy.”

  “He’s seducing an engaged woman. How is that a principled guy?”

  We came to the elevator bank and Max pressed the button. “Is that how you see it?”

  It occurred to me that there was little point in going up to the room. It wasn’t like I had anything to unpack. I was going to have to pick up a few things today, underwear for one.

  I’d washed my panties in the sink last night and dried them with the hair dryer. But it would be a whole lot easier if I had an extra pair.

  The hotel had provided the basics, like a toothbrush and toothpaste. It would also be nice to change my clothes. My best vacation clothes were going home to Seattle with Sophie and Nat.

  The hotel shops were superexpensive, but I didn’t want to leave Brooklyn alone with Colton any longer than absolutely necessary. She’d promised to answer her phone when I called from now on. And I planned to call her very soon and meet up.

  I stepped into the elevator and Max followed. We were the only two in the car.

  “I can take it from here,” I said.

  The thought of him in my room gave me a little thrill. I thought if we were alone again, he might kiss me. Or I might kiss him. I didn’t want to want him all over again, but there wasn’t a whole lot I could do about my attraction.

  “Room service can deliver anything from the hotel shops,” Max said. “If you nee
d clothes or cosmetics.”

  “You think I need makeup?” I asked.

  I usually wore a little bit, but it was another thing that stayed back in San Francisco when I left in a hurry.

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “You don’t think I’m pretty enough?”

  I didn’t want to be fishing for a compliment, but it turned out I wanted one. I found myself questioning his motivations again. It wasn’t like I’d looked my best, either yesterday or today. And I had a feeling Max looked his best 24/7. At least he looked that way to me. I’d truly never met a more attractive man.

  “You have a mirror,” he said.

  It wasn’t exactly the flattering remark I’d been hoping for. Then again, it ought to be a lesson to me.

  The elevator accelerated smoothly upward.

  “What’s your deal?” I asked.

  “My deal?”

  “Is this a favor for your brother?”

  “Is what a favor for my brother?”

  “Hanging out with me, keeping me busy, keeping the field clear with Brooklyn.”

  “No.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  It made perfect sense. Colton wanted Brooklyn, and he knew I wanted to take her away. I didn’t yet have a bead on Colton’s motives. I didn’t buy for a second that he was as delusional as Brooklyn over their soul-mate-ness. So probably he just thought she was gorgeous and fun and friendly and smart.

  She was all of those things. It was why James loved her.

  “You seem extraordinarily devoted to your brother,” Max said.

  “I’m completely ordinarily devoted to my brother and to all the other members of my family.”

  “Well, I’m not.”

  “You don’t even know my family.” It came as a bit of a surprise to me that I’d crack a joke.

  “Ha, ha. I mean Colton’s on his own when it comes to his relationships. He doesn’t need me as a wingman.”

  “Sure.” Skepticism colored my tone.

  Friends were always wingmen. Brothers were even better wingmen. I could only imagine twin brothers were the top of the heap. How could a person not be loyally devoted to their twin brother?

  “You’re a skeptical woman, Layla Gillen.”

  “I think you mean astute.”

  We arrived at the thirty-fifth floor and exited the elevator. I held the card to the lock and heard the tumblers click.

  “I don’t know why I even came up here,” I said.

  I had nothing to drop off or pick up. Okay. I should call Brooklyn and get her to meet me somewhere. Hopefully, she’d had a chance to think about all the things I’d said.

  Liking my plan, I entered the hotel room and was immediately struck by the view.

  The room was slightly bigger than last night’s. It was on a corner with two walls of glass and a small sitting area overlooking feature hotels, fountains and the giant Ferris wheel just off the Strip.

  I didn’t want to love it, but I did.

  I found myself drawn to the glass wall. “This one costs more, doesn’t it?”

  “A little,” Max said.

  The door banged shut behind him.

  “What are we talking, eighty dollars, eighty-two fifty?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Do you live like this all the time?”

  I loved my job, I really did. Teaching was rewarding, and I loved the kids, and I dearly loved living close to my family. But there was something exotic and exciting about fine hotel rooms in iconic cities, where you didn’t have to cook, run errands or make a bed.

  They’d deliver new clothes if I asked. Who wouldn’t love that? At least for a while. I’d like to fantasize about living that way for at least a little while.

  “It can get old,” Max said, and I realized he’d moved closer.

  “Go ahead, burst my bubble.”

  He animated his voice. “But the perks can be great.”

  “No dishes.”

  “Somebody washes your sheets and cleans your shower.”

  “It could make a person feel lazy.”

  “I suppose.” He brushed his hand lightly across my shoulder.

  A sigh of contentment rolled all the way through me. His touch had been magic last night, and I could feel the arousal start all over again. It was like my hormones remembered. They remembered Max and they craved him now.

  “Layla.” His voice was deep.

  I felt it in my chest and in the pit of my abdomen.

  I wanted so badly to lean back into him, to feel his arms around me, his kiss on my neck, his hands...well, everywhere.

  Shut up, right brain.

  I squeezed my hands hard against the urge, and I felt the rectangle of my phone against my palm.

  I summoned my strength. “I have to call Brooklyn.”

  Max’s sigh was audible.

  “She needs me,” I said.

  There was an edge of impatience to his tone. “If you say so.”

  “This isn’t a game.”

  “Nobody said it was a game.”

  I turned to face him. It was a risk. My desire for him was acute and insistent. But I needed him to understand. “I’m not going to do this,” I said.

  “Do what?”

  “Don’t play dumb. I’m not going to muddle things up by kissing you...or worse.”

  “I wouldn’t call it worse. I’d call it better.” He grinned.

  “Worse. It would be worse. I’m disgusted by your brother.”

  Something flinched in Max’s expression.

  I found it admirable that he’d want to defend Colton. It was admirable, but it didn’t change my mind in the least.

  Brooklyn was mine and she was James’s. Colton would just have to accept that. And that I was going to win her back.

  “We’re adversaries in this.” I figured we might as well have it out on the table.

  “It’s none of our business.”

  I coughed out a laugh at that. “It’s entirely my business. And he’s your brother. So keep your distance.” I took a step back to emphasize my point.

  “And what if I can’t?”

  I didn’t believe that for a second. “Summon your strength.”

  “For you, I will try.”

  I rolled my eyes. “For me. Right. I’m calling Brooklyn now.” I touched her contact name and put the phone to my ear.

  “Let me know how it goes,” he said.

  I was about to point out that we wouldn’t be having any future conversations during which I would tell him anything at all. But true to her word, Brooklyn answered her phone on the first ring.

  Max gave me a mock salute and headed for the door.

  “Layla?” Brooklyn asked into the silence. “Are you there?”

  Five

  “I’m here,” I said to Brooklyn.

  “Where’s here?”

  “My hotel room. I have a room now.”

  “That’s good.” She went silent for a moment. “Colton says he can get you a rate.”

  “Max already did.”

  “Max is there?” Brooklyn sounded intrigued.

  The door clicked shut behind him.

  “No, he’s not. I met him in the lobby.”

  I really didn’t like this new me who told Brooklyn half truths. Normally, I’d dish the dirt, however bad it was.

  If this was a normal time, I’d be telling Brooklyn all about my confusing feelings for Max, how he turned me on and made me laugh, and how I had to fight those feelings for James’s benefit. But these weren’t normal times, and I sure couldn’t tell those things to Brooklyn.

  “Well, good on the rate,” she said. “I saw the rack rates posted on the back of the door. That’ll cut into the 401K.”

  �
��What company do they work for?” I asked.

  “What? Who?”

  “Max and... Never mind. Where are you?”

  “In the car.”

  My heart sank a little. “You’re leaving?”

  “No, we’re coming back. We did some shopping.”

  “For what?”

  Brooklyn had brought her suitcase with her from San Francisco. Surely she didn’t need any new clothes. I suspected Colton was trying to woo her with expensive gifts, perfume and jewelry.

  For some reason I pictured a fancy engagement ring. Well, she already had one of those.

  Then I thought back to this morning and wondered if she’d been wearing it. I wasn’t sure. I hadn’t thought to check.

  “For you,” she said.

  I’d lost the train of our conversation. “Huh?”

  “I bought you some clothes, something for the pool. Want to meet me there?”

  “You bought me clothes.”

  “Yes.”

  “You and Colton bought me clothes.”

  “What is wrong with you? I’m not explaining Fermat’s Last Theorem.”

  “You don’t understand Fermat’s Last Theorem.”

  “I know.”

  “I, on the other hand, do understand it. Because I have a master’s degree in mathematics, and I had to study that kind of thing.” I had no idea why I was going off on a tangent. Maybe I was unsettled by the idea of Colton doing such an ordinary thing with Brooklyn as buying a bathing suit. It was one thing to woo her with extravagance, but this was everyday life.

  She and I were the same size. We bought each other clothes and borrowed each other’s clothes all the time.

  “It’s a yellow-and-black two-piece, with this cute crocheted cover-up.”

  I did need a new swimsuit. Brooklyn knew that. She’d teased me about packing my old aqua-blue standby.

  “We can get tall, frozen margaritas on the pool deck.”

  I was gazing out at the sunshine and blue skies. With all I’d been through the past couple of days, a deck chair and a margarita sounded pretty good.

  “Will I have to mortgage the condo to buy one?” I asked.

  “They’re on Colton.”

  “Colton is not bribing me.”

  “What bribing? He’s trying to liquor you up so you’ll be happy.”