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

by Barbara Dunlop

  “Oh, no, you don’t,” I said.

  “Don’t what?”

  “Start picturing... I don’t know—double dates or something.”

  It was clear she was doing exactly what I would have done in her shoes.

  “I wasn’t picturing that,” she said.

  “I’m on James’s side.”

  We stopped for another light.

  “You like Max?” Brooklyn asked.

  “Yes, I like Max.” There was no point in denying it.

  Brooklyn knew perfectly well that I wouldn’t sleep with a guy unless I liked him a lot.

  “He’s also very hot,” I said, feeling like I needed more justification for my actions. It wasn’t like I slept with every guy I liked.

  “So is Colton.”

  Her words gave me pause. I knew Colton was a good-looking man. He was identical to Max, after all. But he wasn’t hot like Max, at least not to me. There were differences in their expressions and their mannerisms, and definitely in their perspectives.

  I couldn’t see Max dating an engaged woman.

  I wasn’t sure why I felt that way, but I did. Maybe it was the way he’d reacted when I’d asked him if he was married. He was clearly appalled by the thought of breaking his marriage vows.

  An engagement might not be a vow. But it was a promise. It was a promise that deserved to be kept.

  We started walking again. The crowds thinned as the quirky storefronts turned to higher-end businesses.

  “Where is this all coming from?” I asked her. “You were so happy. You were both so excited to get married.”

  She sipped her drink through the straw.

  I figured she was composing an answer. I have to admit, if I was her, I’d have had that answer all thought up by now.

  “It wasn’t one single thing,” she said. “I was excited about the wedding, and I was happy about settling everything, becoming an official member of your family after all those years. But then we started talking about kids.”

  “I’m sure James will wait on the kids.” I was positive he would. “You must not have made it clear how much waiting meant to you.”

  Brooklyn shook her head.

  She spotted a trash bin and dropped the remains of her drink.

  I did the same.

  “It’s not just the kids,” she said.

  I had to admit, I didn’t think that could be the only reason.

  “I was living a fantasy,” she said.

  “That’s not a bad thing. It’s a good thing. What woman wouldn’t want to live out her fantasy of marrying such a fantastic guy?”

  “It’s nothing against James, you know.”

  I found that pretty hard to believe. Brooklyn was trying to replace my brother with another man. How could that be anything but a slight against James?

  “Prewedding jitters really are a thing,” I said.

  At least people sure talked about them a lot. And I could easily see how a guy like Colton might sweep an uncertain Brooklyn off her feet.

  He was exotic, handsome and wealthy. It seemed like he could give her anything she wanted. James could come off as staid by comparison.

  “I was thinking this before I even met Colton,” she said.

  “You weren’t canceling the wedding before you met Colton.”

  “I was silently panicking.”

  “Jitters,” I repeated. “I bet lots of brides feel that way.”

  Brooklyn gave a heavy sigh of what I took to be frustration with my attitude.

  “You promised you wouldn’t make a quick decision,” I reminded her.

  It was clear that if Brooklyn decided now, James would come out on the losing end of that decision.

  “You don’t want to do anything you’ll regret,” I said. “Don’t do anything you can’t take back.” I could hear the pleading tone in my voice. I wasn’t particularly proud of that, but at the same time, I couldn’t help wondering if it would work.

  “I know,” she said.

  “Maybe you should talk to James about this.”

  Her eyes got really big. “Are you kidding?”

  Hearing the words out loud made me realize it wasn’t one of my best ideas.

  “Are you kidding?” she repeated. “How exactly do you see that conversation going?”

  “I don’t suppose it would go well,” I admitted.

  “Darn straight it wouldn’t go well.”

  I watched her stricken expression, at how worried she looked. Reality seemed to be finally settling in. She was talking about leaving James, about tossing away their years together, their plans and dreams on a whim.

  “Do you think it’s a sign?” I asked.

  “Do I think what’s a sign?”

  “How afraid you are to talk to James. It could be a sign you’re not ready to leave him.”

  Brooklyn fell silent, obviously giving my words some thought.

  I started to hope.

  I couldn’t imagine a world in which Brooklyn wasn’t with James. The planet would be out of kilter, off its axis.

  I already pictured my nieces and nephews with James’s eyes or Brooklyn’s hair. They might want to stop after two, but I was thinking three or four would be better. They were both terrific with kids. I could imagine summer picnics and Christmas mornings, ballet classes or Little League.

  My future plans included James and Brooklyn’s happy family. They did not include Brooklyn bopping from Las Vegas to San Francisco to New York City with some stranger.

  * * *

  I tried to pretend Brooklyn hadn’t ditched me. I knew that was exactly what had happened, and it hurt my pride to think she’d rather spend time with Colton than me.

  I hadn’t felt that way about James. It never seemed like Brooklyn was giving up time with me to spend it with him. She and I still had plenty of time together. If I had a boyfriend, we’d double date. When we were teenagers, Brooklyn was usually at our house, so I was with them more often than not. And when I wasn’t in a relationship, which was pretty often, we’d do more group activities than one-on-one dating.

  Was it odd that James and Brooklyn hadn’t spent all that much time alone?

  Under the circumstances, I didn’t really want to ask myself if that was normal. It could easily be normal. It wasn’t a sign of anything negative. I had to be reengineering the past, seeing problems where they didn’t even exist.

  I didn’t want to spend any extra money while I was here, so I’d decided the hotel’s courtyard lagoon pool was a better choice than an overpriced lunch. It cost me nothing to find a lounger under a palm tree, help myself to the complimentary towels and suntan lotion, and say yes to the offer of ice water from a friendly pool attendant.

  It was warm, and I was comfortable. I’d even found a half-finished novel buried in an app on my phone. It was a comedy sleuth story, lightweight enough that I picked up the plot in a couple of pages. It was exactly what I needed to distract me.

  “Enjoying the sunshine?” Max’s voice alerted me to his approach before I heard his footsteps above the laughter of the children in the pool.

  I looked up and was struck all over again by his great looks. He was wearing a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up over a pair of casual gray slacks. He didn’t exactly look like he was working. He didn’t exactly look like he was relaxing, either.

  “What is it you do around here?” I asked as the question popped into my mind.

  “In what way?”

  “What’s your job? When you spend time at one of your hotels, what do you do? I’m assuming they each have a general manager, since you and—” I caught myself.

  “His name is Colton.”

  “I know that.” I took a beat. Saying his name always seemed to implicitly acknowledge his relationship with Brooklyn. But I couldn’t exa
ctly use “he who shall not be named” when I was talking to his twin brother.

  I tried again. “Since you and Colton don’t seemed to be assigned to a specific hotel.”

  Max looked amused, his eyes lighting in a way that both attracted and annoyed me. I hated that he could so effortlessly evoke an emotional reaction in me. I wasn’t an emotional person. I was a logical person. And it wasn’t logical for me to indulge in this attraction.

  He sat down sideways on the lounger next to mine.

  “We do a bunch of things,” he said.

  “Inspect the troops?” It sounded silly after I said it.

  But Max flashed a grin, like he thought it was funny. “And the equipment, and the building. We check in with the general manager and the department managers to see how things are running. We look at financial reports, guest response amalgamations, troubleshoot, that sort of thing.”

  “What kind of trouble do you find?”

  “It’s a constant fight to stay ahead of upgrading. Sometimes a restaurant has run its course, people’s tastes and trends change and we need to refresh decor and menus. There are mechanical breakdowns, human-resources issues—we once found fraud.”

  “Someone was stealing from you?”

  “They were.”

  My curiosity was piqued. It wasn’t what I’d expected him to say, and I couldn’t help but wonder about the details of the crime. “Interesting. I’m good when it comes to numbers.”

  “Meaning you could help discover fraud or help perpetrate fraud?”

  “Depends on the circumstances. You have a fraud that needs perpetrating?”

  “Not at the moment, you know, since I’d be stealing my own money. But I’ll keep you in mind in case anything comes up.”

  “I’ve always wanted to moonlight,” I said.

  He chuckled.

  “So you caught them?” I asked on a more serious note.

  “Two employees were in on it. One was cooking the books. The other was signing off on bogus expenses. Turned out they were having an affair and had cooked up a plan to take the money and move to the Caribbean.” Max paused. “Instead they moved to Nevada State Prison.”

  His tone and expression made me smile.

  I was about to express my surprise that his job involved fighting crime, when my phone rang.

  I picked it up from the little rattan table, expecting Brooklyn. But it was James’s number that showed on the screen.

  I felt a lurch of guilt for joking around with Max. But I put on a cheerful tone as I answered. “Hey, how’s it going in Seattle?”

  “Are you with Brooklyn?” James asked straight away.

  I hesitated for less than a second. “Yes. She’s here.”

  She was here somewhere, I reasoned, either in the hotel or in the greater Las Vegas area.

  “Please put her on the phone.”

  “Why? Is something wrong? Can I help?” I hoped James wouldn’t catch on to my stalling.

  “Nothing is wrong. I’d like to talk to my fiancée.”

  “Did you call her phone?”

  “Of course I called her phone. Just like I did this morning. Ask her if it’s even turned on.”

  “I, uh, can’t.” My mind scrambled for an answer to his inevitable next question.

  “Why not?”

  “She’s not exactly right here, right now.” Inspiration was right in front of me. “She’s in the pool.” And once I’d given over to outright lies, my mouth seemed to go for it. “Brooklyn,” I called out in a loud voice.

  Max gave me a look that said he knew exactly what I was doing. I ignored him. “James is on the phone,” I called to the fictitious Brooklyn.

  I waited a moment.

  “Can she call you back?” I asked James.

  “Tell her to get out of the pool.”

  “She’s...playing volleyball. It’s a close game. She doesn’t want to let down her team.” Okay, I was starting to amaze myself. Not only was I breaking my own moral code, but it also turned out I was pretty good at it.

  “This is getting out of hand,” James said with obvious frustration.

  “We’re just cutting loose,” I said, telling myself it was closer to the truth. “We’re having some extra girl time before the wedding. You had a bachelor party.”

  “The bachelor party lasted six hours.”

  “So we’re less efficient. I’ll get her to call you back.”

  “Don’t bother.”

  My stomach sank, thinking James somehow knew what was going on.

  “Why not?” I asked. I could hear the trepidation in my own tone.

  “Because I’m not waiting. I’m getting the next plane.”

  “Don’t do that,” I said too fast.

  I could feel James gathering himself across the phone line. “And why not?”

  I avoided Max’s gaze. “I met a guy.”

  “So you said this morning.”

  “I know. But it really is maybe a thing. And Brooklyn’s being my wingman. You know how worried she’s been about me being lonely now that you’re getting married.”

  James was silent for a second. “That’s true.”

  His answer took me back. Brooklyn wasn’t worried about me. Was she worried about me? Why would she worry about me? I wasn’t lonely. There absolutely was nothing for her to worry about.

  Well, not when it came to her marrying James, anyway. When it came to Colton, the story was completely different. In that, she ought to be very worried about my reaction to that.

  Max was peering at me.

  James was silent.

  I recovered my surprise and told myself to take the win.

  “Great,” I said to James. “Thanks. It’ll only be a little bit longer.”

  “Hurry up,” he said.

  “I will,” I promised.

  He muttered something unintelligible again, then the line went dead.

  I lowered my phone.

  “That was interesting,” Max said.

  “You could have given me some privacy,” I pointed out.

  “I could have,” he agreed. “I take it I’m the guy—the guy that’s maybe a thing?”

  “It’s not you. It’s not anybody. There is no guy. It was a story.” I told myself it was for a good cause. In this particular scenario the end more than justified the means.

  “I think the word you’re looking for is lie,” Max said.

  I flashed him a glare. He barely knew me, and here he was judging away. He was the one in the wrong. Well, his brother was the one in the wrong.

  Many people were in the wrong, and I was trying to make it right...by doing something underhanded. Yeah, I got that.

  “Come out with me,” Max said.

  I didn’t understand.

  “Let’s go on a date. That way your lie won’t be as much of a lie, and you’ll feel better about it.”

  “I don’t feel bad about it,” I said.

  His grin went broad. “You should see your face. It’s killing you.”

  “I’m perfectly fine.”

  He got to his feet. “You are the most painfully honest person. I should definitely offer you a job in our accounting division.”

  “I already have a job.” For some reason I felt the need to remind him, though it was irrelevant to the conversation.

  “Let’s go,” he said.

  “To the accounting office?”

  How far was he planning to carry the joke?

  “On our date.”

  “Now?” Not that I had said yes. Not that I was planning to say yes. Going forward, I was keeping my distance from Max, not dating him.

  “Yes, now. Let’s make you honest. You’ll feel better, I promise.”

  “You have no idea what will make me feel better.”

/>   “A bottle of Crepe Falls Reserve says I will.” He held his hand out to me.

  I wanted to take it, and I had to stop myself from reaching up. And it had nothing to do with my competitive instincts or with a newfound weakness for Crepe Falls Reserve.

  “There’s a hot-air balloon tour this afternoon. It’s really great. It takes you to the rim of the Grand Canyon,” Max said.

  I found myself hesitating—a hot-air balloon tour instead of waiting around for Brooklyn?

  Brooklyn pitied me. She was worried about me. She probably thought I was lonely without her.

  I didn’t like to think that I might be lonely without her.

  I sure wouldn’t be lonely while floating over the Grand Canyon. I had to admit, a tour like that sounded marvelous. It sounded downright bucket-list marvelous.

  Max wiggled his hand. “Come on, Layla. What’ve you got to lose?”

  “A bottle of Crepe Falls Reserve, apparently,” I said.

  “That’s the spirit.”

  Brooklyn didn’t need to worry about me. I could take care of myself.

  In fact, maybe I’d back off on pressing her to make the right decision. The novelty of Colton could easily fade, would most likely fade. But they needed time together—all alone together, with no distractions and nothing else to do but stare at each other.

  That’s what it would take for Brooklyn to get over Colton.

  Taking the adventure of a lifetime with Max might just be the best way to help James. I wasn’t even deluding myself. I truly believed it was worth a shot.

  “I can’t be gone too long,” I said.

  “I’ll have you back by dinner.”

  * * *

  Floating near the rim of the Grand Canyon, I was in awe. The view of the red-rock cliffs was outstanding. The sky was crisp blue, and the mottled scrub of green cacti went on and on.

  I was also afraid—not of the height. What scared me was the fun. I was having a whole lot of fun with Max on this exotic, expensive date.

  The hot-air balloon ride was exhilarating on its own. But it had started with a twenty-minute helicopter flight from Vegas over Lake Mead to the balloon-launch site. There we were greeted by a professional tour guide dressed in a suit and tie, and an obviously knowledgeable balloon pilot named Rick, who briefed us on safety.