by Elle Casey
“You’re nervous again. Is it about this?” I hold out the paper.
“What? That? Pfff. Please. That doesn’t bother me.” She’s frowning but it’s not fooling me for a second.
I crumple the thing up into a tight ball and throw it across the room. “Get your stuff, put it in a bag, and come with me.” That paper just confirmed my decision. No way am I walking away and leaving her here.
“But…”
“I’m not taking no for an answer, so don’t bother trying. You want to move in with Larry or you want to come with me?”
She gets a sick look on her face.
“Come on, let’s go. I don’t have all day.”
“I have to go to work tomorrow.”
“Work? Where? It’s Sunday. Can’t you take the day off?”
“I have another day at the farmer’s market. Belinda’s counting on me, so I have to go. All my stuff is there.” She points to a corner of the room where some crates are stacked.
“Fine. We’ll take them with us.” I walk over and put Cassie in her arms. “Take her, I’ll take the crates.”
“But …”
“Pack a bag,” I say over my shoulder. “Or don’t. We can shop for what you need. Looks like most of your things were taken anyway.” I see three shirts and one pair of pants in the chaos that is her apartment.
“No, I don’t think they took any clothes,” she says, sounding forlorn.
I ignore her distress because I know if I pay any attention to it, she’ll start arguing with me. She doesn’t want to come, that much is obvious. But that’s just too bad. Regardless of how much I might want to see her naked, that’s not my motivator right now. No gentleman would let a woman stay in a place like this when the chances of another break-in are so high, and if I’m nothing else, I’m that. A gentleman. A guy who can keep his hands where they belong when necessary. I hope.
“This is only temporary,” she says as I walk out of the apartment, two heavy crates stacked on one another in my hands. The small glass bottles inside jingle as they’re rattled against one another with my every step.
“Sure, whatever you say.” She’s not going to get any argument from me. It’s not like I’m asking her to move in with me permanently. It’s just for a few days, until she gets her feet back under her. A week maybe. Two, tops.
The idea of having her in the guest room gets me warm in dangerous places. I force myself to think about babies and dirty diapers so I can get a handle on my sex drive. It works like a charm within seconds. Sex? What sex?
The driver comes down the stairs in my next trip up, his arms full with a crate and a bag on top.
“You got recruited, eh?”
He grunts his response.
“Thanks.” I pat him on the shoulder as he walks by.
Leah is at the top of the stairs. “You’re nice to the help.”
“He’s not the help. He’s an employee of the Towers.” I grab the last crate. “Besides, we’re all just people, right? Simple respect is the very least we deserve.”
“Tell that to the a-hole who broke into my apartment.”
“I look forward to doing that,” I say, instantly boiling over the idea of some dirtbag coming in here to hurt Leah over something I did. Why did I let Jeremy throw that ring in the fountain? Was I nuts?
Even so, I have a hard time regretting my actions. Leah would have remained a stranger to me, were it not for Jeremy being a drunk, fucked up individual. Now that I think about it, I should probably thank him. And I plan to do that, as soon as I have Leah safely ensconced in my bed.
I mean, condo.
Shit.
Chapter Sixty-Nine
AFTER WE DROP MY THINGS off in his apartment, James and I go to Cartier. The first person to see us come in is Dave the security guard. I’m tempted to stick my tongue out at him, but I don’t. The second one to spy us is Ralph. He gets one look at me and goes whiter than white. He might actually be blue, he’s so pale. He looks like a crazy mannequin. Or a robot. Beep beep boop.
I walk up to where he’s standing behind a glass case and grin big. “Hey there, Ralph, otherwise known as Joshua Livingston.”
James is a few paces behind me, giving Ralph enough time to whisper at me. “What are you doing here?” His eyeballs are bulging out.
“Good afternoon to you, too.” I wink. “I’m here with James Oliver to return the diamond engagement ring he bought from you a couple weeks ago.”
James walks up to stand at my side. “Hello.”
Ralph nods at him, standing stiff as a board. “Hello, sir. How may I be of service to you?”
I’m still smiling. “Yes, Boo, how may Ralph be of service to you?”
James looks at me out of the corner of his eye for a second before he answers with a slight smile on his face. “Ralph can refund me the purchase price of this ring.” He pulls it out of his pocket and puts it on the glass counter, shifting Cassie up higher on his shoulder when he’s done. “Minus a re-stocking and polishing fee, of course.”
Ralph reaches up and starts scratching at his neck. “Of course, I’d be happy to take a look and see what I can do.”
James narrows his eyes at Ralph, staring at him.
I notice his sudden change of mood, and it makes me nervous. Is James going to change his mind? Is Ralph going to say no? My chest starts burning in one little spot, and I have to scratch it to make it stop. I can feel a welt coming up instantly.
“Are you two related?” James asks. He looks first at Ralph and then at me.
It takes a few seconds for that question to process. Then when it does, I realize it makes no sense. “What? Related? Who?” I look at Ralph for explanation thinking maybe this is something relating to their original meeting, when James bought the ring. “What’s he talking about?”
Ralph is busy reaching behind him to scratch his lower back. “I don’t know. Sir, do you mind if I look at the ring under our microscope? It’s more powerful than the loupe.”
“I don’t mind, no, but I’d like an answer to my question first.” James sounds angry now.
“You want to know if who is related?” I ask, trying to clarify. “Ralph and who?” I look to the security guard on my left. “Him? David?”
“No, don’t be ridiculous. I’m talking about you.” James turns sideways to face me. “Are you related to this man?” He points at Ralph.
I laugh, thinking this is some kind of joke. “No. Very funny, ha, ha, but no. I have no siblings and no cousins and I’m definitely not married.”
James stares at my face and then stares at Ralph’s.
“You both get hives when you’re nervous,” he says several long seconds later.
I look at Ralph and shrug. “So? Lots of people do.”
“Actually, no, lots of people don’t.” James leans over and pushes on my cheekbone.
I lean back. “What are you doing?”
He looks at Ralph. “You have the same bone structure. Same brow line, same chin, same nose. You even have the same dimples right here.” He pushes on two spots on my chin. “Two chin dimples instead of one? That’s rare. Very rare. You both have those and at least five other markers telling me you are very closely related. At least one common parent. I’d bet that ring on it.” He points to the case where the ring still rests.
I start laughing. “Oh, that’s diabolical, James! But no, it won’t work.” I sigh, happy to find out he’s just being silly. “Karma requires that you get rid of the ring fair and square. You can’t trick someone into taking it.”
He’s frowning at me. “What are you talking about?”
“Your joke,” I explain. “How you’re trying to play this off as a trick by me and Ralph so you can unload the ring without any hassle. It won’t work. Karma sees through everything.”
James puts his hand on my shoulder. “Leah, I’m not kidding. You know I’d happily walk outside that door and hand that ring to a perfect stranger. I don’t need to make up stories about imagined geneti
c connections. You and this guy right here,” he points to Ralph, “are from the same gene pool.”
“How could you possibly know that?” Ralph says.
“I’m a plastic surgeon. I’ve studied the human skull for going on twenty years. I reshape faces to make them conform to different ideals, and I can recognize the underlying bone structure of any face. I’ve seen so many in my lifetime, with and without skin on them, that I can tell when people are from the same family. And you two are from the same family. I’d bet my medical license on it.”
“I’m adopted,” Ralph says very quietly.
“Well, I’m not,” I say, scoffing at the whole idea. “I had parents. They’re both dead now, but I had parents.”
“I had parents too, but that doesn’t make me not adopted,” Ralph says, sounding offended.
“When is your birthday?” James asks.
I think he’s talking to me, so I answer, but Ralph does too, so he answers at the exact same time I do.
In tandem we say, “June twenty-fifth.” We both pause and then at the same time, say, “Nineteen eighty-five.”
My heart kind of stops working right. First it slows way down, then it speeds up, super fast. I hear a rushing sound in my ears.
“That’s not possible,” I whisper.
“Maybe we’re twins,” Ralph says, smiling awkwardly.
I scoff. “You have black hair. I have blonde.”
“I dye my hair this color,” he says in a rush. “If I let it grow out, it would look just like yours,” he says.
I point at my face. “Freckles.”
He points at his. “Foundation.”
My mouth drops open. “You wear foundation?” I lean in and whisper, “Are you gay?”
“No, I’m not gay,” he whispers back. “I just hate my freckles, okay? They make me look like a bumpkin. They don’t hire bumpkins at Cartier, for your information.”
“Are you saying I look like a bumpkin?”
Ralph turns a panicked face to James. “Help me out here.”
“No, you don’t look like a bumpkin,” James says, frowning at Ralph before turning to me. “You look like a fresh-faced teenager who doesn’t believe in covering up her natural beauty.”
My heart’s rhythm immediately smoothes out and I feel a glow coming to my face. “Teenager? Awww, aren’t you a big fat liar.” I hug him. “But I love the thought.” When I let him go, I glare at Ralph. “I don’t care what you say, we aren’t twins.”
“Fine.” He shrugs. “Whatever.” He turns his attention to James. “I’m going to look at the ring under magnification. Then I’ll talk to the manager and see what he says.”
“Thanks. We’ll wait over here.” James points to some chairs near the door.
To say I’m freaking out now would be an understatement. The ring is almost gone, I think I’m going to be James’s temporary roommate, and both of these men think I have this mysterious and previously unknown twin who just happens to work in Manhattan just a few blocks from where I work. Yeah, right. My life’s not completely insane right now.
Karma is seriously giving me her all. I thought I respected her before, but I was wrong. Now I feel her true power and I am in awe. I’m almost afraid of what’s going to happen next. Please don’t hurt me, Karma. I promise I’ll be good from now on.
Chapter Seventy
WALKING OUT THAT DOOR WITHOUT the ring in my pocket and most of my purchase price put back on my credit card should have felt amazing. Liberating. Fantastic.
Instead, it feels bad, like a seriously terrible idea.
I turn back towards the store, doing an immediate one-eighty.
“Where are you going?” Leah asks.
“Let’s go back. Let’s buy you something in there.” Something. Anything to connect her to me will do.
“Are you completely insane?” She grabs me by the arm and turns me back around. “We are not going back in there. The next thing I know you’ll have me married to the security guard.”
“Married? What?”
She looks up at me and crosses her arms over her chest. “You tried to convince me I was related to Ralph. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re about.”
“I wasn’t kidding, Leah. You might not like what I said, but that’s not going to change the facts.”
“Oh, so you’re like a forensic anthropologist now, is that what you’re saying?”
“I could have been. I’ve had most of the training.”
“I thought you were a plastic surgeon.”
“Yes. A medical doctor with extensive training in the human body, not just from this era but many others. And I know what your skull looks like under your skin. Same with his. Deny it all you want, but it won’t change my opinion.”
“Your opinion,” she says.
“Yes. My professional opinion.”
She turns around and leaves me standing there.
“Where are you going?” I ask.
“Back to the car.”
“Do you want to get a cup of coffee first?”
She pauses to wait for me to catch up. “I don’t do cups of coffee.”
“You don’t like coffee? Okay, how about tea?”
“No, I like coffee fine. I just don’t do the whole ‘meet me for a cup of coffee’ thing.”
I laugh, thinking she’s kidding. But when she glares at me, I realize she’s telling the truth.
“Have you ever done it before?”
“No. I told you. I don’t like it.”
“How can you not like something you’ve never done?”
“I just can. I know myself.”
“I think you should give everything a shot at least once.”
“Oh really?” She gets a devilish gleam in her eye. “Like anything?”
“Sure. Once. You don’t have to like everything but you should try it.”
“Great. Because I have some freeze dried toad testicles back at the shop you can try later today, after the farmers market.”
“Bring ‘em on,” I say, knowing she’s just messing with me. “Come on,” I say nudging her arm and changing direction to the left a little. “Let’s go grab a cup of joe.”
“I’m going to hate it,” she says.
“No, you’re going to love it, because you have me and Cassie to keep you company.”
She doesn’t answer, but she does pull the door open for us to enter.
We take a seat in the back corner of the room, guaranteeing us some privacy.
“So,” she says, taking a sip of the coffee she ordered, “this is what having a cup of coffee is like.” She looks around the room and nods. “Exactly as pretentious and boring as I imagined.”
I lean in and put my hand on hers as it covers the side of her mug. Words tumble out of my mouth without any advance warning. “Leah, I want you to consider moving in with me. As a roommate.”
“What?” Her face goes pale as does mine.
Did I really just say that? Yes, I did. And I’m about to say more. My mouth opens again and I cannot stop the thoughts from coming any more than I could stop this cup of liquid in front of me from tasting like coffee.
“And if you’re looking for a job, I could use a secretary.”
I manage to keep my expression smooth and cool, even though inside I’m going crazy. Did I just say those things? Is there something in my coffee? Maybe it’s not coffee. Maybe it’s straight-up truth serum.
Yeah, I’d love to blame my recklessness on the arabica, but it’s no use. I look at that cute freckled face of hers and I want to throw all caution to the wind. Do you want to run away to Barbados, Leah? Sure. Let’s go. I’m feeling that out of control right now. I wait with baited breath to hear her answer.
“Don’t you think that’s a little much?” she asks. Her hand is trembling under mine.
“Maybe.” I’m feeling reckless and it’s as if I’m high. Wasted. Maybe this is what Jeremy is searching for, this elusive escape from reality that can only come from a certa
in woman being near. “But what the hell? Karma obviously wants us to be together. Why fight it?”
“Karma is seriously powerful,” she says in an almost whisper.
“I let my brother throw that ring into a fountain. It went into the highest level. It should have been a city employee fishing it out.”
“I stepped in dog poop. My feet were on fire. I was just trying to cool them off.” She’s getting a small smile. I’m encouraged.
“And being the rebel you are, when someone told you not to go in, you went all the way in.”
“I’m not a rebel.” She’s smiling shyly.
“Yes you are. And I love it.” I tweak her chin and leave my hand there.
She leans towards me a little.
I take the signal as an invitation. I lean forward too.
Leah’s lips are getting closer. The anticipation builds. I’ve been wondering what her mouth tastes like for way too long.
Cassie whimpers.
I realize I’m squishing her a little in my efforts to get closer to Leah.
“Ooops. Baby squash,” I say, backing up a little.
Leah stands half out of her seat, leans over, grabs me by the front of the shirt and presses her lips against mine.
My hearts feels like it’s going to explode and my dick decides to go hard as a rock. Her mouth tastes even better than I imagined.
When she finally pulls away, after sliding her silken tongue over mine, I ask, “What was that all about?”
She shrugs, leaning over to scratch at the side of her calf. “Just felt like the thing to do.” Her cheeks are pink.
“So, what do you say? Move in? Work with me? See what happens?” This is, hands down, the craziest thing I’ve ever done. I can picture Laura dancing and laughing with joy. It makes my heart warm and go soggy.
She huffs out a huge breath. “You have no idea what you’d be getting yourself into with me.”
“I have a pretty good idea,” I say grinning warmly.
“Tell me. Explain to me what you’re thinking.”
“I’m thinking … that you bring sunshine into a life that was getting way too dreary. You make me feel young again.”