Falling for the Wrong Twin (17 page)

“No, it’s fine. It’s my brother’s fault for canceling his reservation and then changing his mind.” He laughed as his niece pinched his nose. “He just gives me weird dreams, that’s all.” Then he winced as Henry ran off into the dining room. “I better go chase him. See you later, ladies.”

He moved into the dining room, saw that his nephew was already settling in with his mother and aunt, then nabbed a high chair for Darla. He glanced around, seeing that some of the locals had braved the storm enough to come here for breakfast. On a usual day, Miranda’s place had at least a dozen regulars, and though he missed the privacy of a dining room to themselves, he understood that the business needed the income. Even if it did make things a tad more awkward given what he planned to say to his mother this morning.

He settled Darla in her chair while his mother poured him some coffee. He hadn’t even taken a sip when Aunt Tilde began the inquisition.

“We didn’t see you last night when you came in. How did the date with Anna go?”

He took a sip of coffee and was pleased when it wasn’t scalding. In fact, he lengthened his drink to appreciate the rich taste and to stall while he thought up a good answer. He failed, so in the end, he answered with the truth. “It was a lovely date, lovely evening, thank you.”

His mother leaned forward to touch his hand. “So there isn’t a problem? We think she fits right in with the family, but of course it’s up to you. Does she make you laugh? Did you kiss her? Did you do more?”

Thank God, he’d put down his coffee mug or he might have choked. This was why he lived in Illinois. Because his mother pried. Put her with Aunt Tilde, and the two were going to pester him to death. “Listen, Mom,” he began, his tone taking on a stern note. “My night with—”

“They just want to know why you’re still single, Mike,” said a warm voice from directly behind him. Anna. He winced even as his groin thickened from just the sound of her voice.

He stood up from his chair, turning to face her in what had to be the most awkward moment in his life. After all, this was a kind of morning after and it was being witnessed by not only his family--both the over sixty and under five crowd--but a half dozen strangers. And yet all he could think was how beautiful she looked. Her hair was pulled back into a casual ponytail, but her eyes were warm and her smile hovered on the edge of outright laughter. Was she laughing at him?

Well, he supposed one of the reasons he liked her was because of her sense of the ridiculous. He just hadn’t expected that
this
would be the ridiculous situation she appreciated. Meanwhile, she walked around to his aunt and swiped up the woman’s iPad and started tapping on the screen.

“Good morning Aunt Dee, Aunt Tilde, kids,” she said as she greeted everyone in turn. “To answer your questions, yes we had a lovely date last night. In fact, I’m hoping we can repeat it sometime soon.”

Both ladies dimpled prettily as if they had just been told they’re would be a new grandchild soon. And then they turned to him.

“Well, darling,” his mother pressed. “I think you should take her out for Chinese food tonight.”

“Mom, I’m on vacation with my family.”

Aunt Tilde was frowning at her iPad which Anna was still using. “Well, Anna’s becoming like family, aren’t you dear?”

Anna laughed. “Let the man do things on his own time, ladies, in his own way.”

“Thank you,” Mike said, relief in every syllable. Until Anna passed the iPad back to the ladies. As one the women looked at the screen then gasped, their eyes bugging wide as they turned to him.

His mother struggled for words, her mouth gaping open and closed. His aunt started coughing. A loud fit of choking gasps that required a fresh glass of water. And all the while, alarm bells were going off in Mike’s head.

“Can I see that iPad please?” he said, his voice low with threat.

His mother hastily grabbed the pad and started tapping buttons, apparently trying to erase the screen. “It’s not important dear,” she said, panic in her tone.

“I think it is,” he said as he held out his hand.

Meanwhile, Aunt Tilde had recovered enough to look with huge saucer like eyes at Anna. “Really?” she whispered.

Anna laughed. “No.”

His mother whipped around. “What?”

“It’s not true,” Anna said clearly. “But don’t ask questions unless you’re willing to hear bizarre answers.” She winked at his mother. “We’re not talking.”

That took a long moment for everyone to absorb and in that moment’s inattention, Mike grabbed the pad. It was ridiculously easy to find what Anna had done. His mother didn’t know how to erase her browser history, but when he finally pulled up the image, his jaw went slack with shock.

She hadn’t. She couldn’t have shown
this
to his mother. But one look at her sparkling eyes and he knew she had. He was staring at a picture of a dominatrix in leather. She wore stiletto boots, a dog collar, and carried a flogger. Just staring at the image had his mouth going dry as he envisioned all sorts of scenarios. Some with him in the dominant position, some with her. He was about to deny every aspect of this image when he remembered that Anna already had. And while he was still struggling with find words, a miracle happened. His mother gave him a fond smile.

“Anna’s right. There are some things a mother doesn’t need to know. I shouldn’t have pried.” And with that she picked up the iPad. Meanwhile, Anna leaned over and carefully deleted the picture before Henry could look. “Oh thank you, dear. Have you tried the omelets? I don’t know how he does it, but that chef makes a divine spanish omelet. I’ve never had the like.”

“I think he puts cream in it,” inserted Aunt Tilde.

“No, I think it’s the cheese.”

“No, I’m very good at tasting…”

The discussion went on with the two sisters arguing breakfast just like they’d been arguing every morning of every family reunion since he was a boy. Mike spent a few moments gaping at the women, and then his gaze turned to Anna. She was smiling at him, sipping her coffee while watching him with clear amusement. He stiffened, then abruptly grabbed her arm to guide her back out into the thankfully empty foyer.

“I don’t know whether to strangle you or kiss you.”

“Do I get to pick?” she quipped.

He glared down at her, but his lips curved into a slight--very slight--smile. “No, you don’t. Though I did have some rather violent thoughts about that flogger and your backside.”

She giggled, her eyes and lips darkening. “Lord, you do take my brain places I never thought I’d go.”

Didn’t his dick just love that response? His gaze went to her lips, his body tightened, and he would swear he felt her knees weaken as if she were about to go down before him.

Shit. These were not the thoughts to have when in the middle of a family vacation with his mother. And yet, Anna was here in front of him, and she smelled great. And even though he’d already decided that she wasn’t the woman for him, his body didn’t care. He took a split second to check his surroundings. The door from the dining room had swung shut, which meant that if he crowded her a bit more…

She backed up. One step. Two. Bam, she hit the wall where he could then crowd her until their bodies were separated by less than an inch. Heat built in his blood and he angled his head to more perfectly align their mouths.

He watched her swallow as her eyes fixed on his mouth. He couldn’t stop himself. He slowly lowered his mouth to hers.

She released a whimper that was half relief, half demand, and the sound went straight to his groin. What he’d meant to be a light, quick kiss abruptly deepened into a thrusting duel of tongues. Despite her sound of surrender, she gave as good as she got. The only reason he might have claimed dominance was because he was in the superior position, trapping her hard against the wall.

Then her pelvis started moving, and it was all he could do to keep from throwing her over his shoulder and dragging her upstairs to a bed. Any bed. Her fingers twined into his hair, holding him tight, and damn if her tongue didn’t become a frenzy of need. Or was that his? His hands were sliding down her sides, grounding her hips as he…

What the hell was he doing? In public!

He froze, dragging in a breath as he forced himself to step back. Her breath was a ragged sound that filled the space between them. Then their eyes met and held. Hers had the same shock and horror that was probably on his face.

“This is insane,” she whispered.

“You’re telling me.” He rubbed a shaking hand over his face. “It was hell sleeping one room away from you last night.”

She nodded her head. “I dreamed about you again. Not the vampire thing. Something else.”

“It wasn’t a vampire thing the first time,” he said. “It was an android genetic thing.”

She laughed, the sound a release of tension more than anything else. “Oh right. I forgot.”

Then they both froze. He was still leaning in, but at her words, he shifted enough to look more directly into her eyes. He watched as she frowned--obviously thinking back--and then refocused on him. Slowly, she opened her mouth and then a few seconds later, she spoke.

“How… Did I tell you about my dream?”

He pulled even further back until his weight was fully on his heels. “It was my dream,” he said. “You were being chased. I was Arnold Schwarzenegger.” He glared down at her. “It was my dream.”

“It was mine,” she whispered. “I’m sure of it.”

“So am I.”

They just stared at each other. His mind churned over his memories. It had been his dream, right? But he’d told her about it last night. And now she was pretending it was hers? Why? What could she possibly have to gain?

“Look,” he finally said. “I get that you like telling stories, and if my mom enjoys hearing tales of Alan Alda, then whom am I to argue? But I’m a nuts and bolts kind of guy. I don’t get these kinds of games. They just ring a really sour note--”

“I’m not making this up, Mike. This was my dream. I told you about it last night. You know, being chased down the alley. That’s why I wanted to go down there, remember? Deja vu and all that?”

He did remember and he’d thought it kinda bizarre. But he’d been so into her that he hadn’t thought about it. And frankly, one alley was the same to him as another. But she’d pulled that story from him, right? He’d told her about it or he thought he had. He couldn’t remember.

Either way, there was one thing he was sure of: it had been
his
dream. It was too damn real for it to be anyone else’s. And somehow, she had learned about it and was turning it around.

He took a step back. “I don’t understand this. I don’t understand you.”

She dropped her head back against the wall as she stared at him. “Right back at ya, big guy. Right back at ya.”

And there it was. She was a flake, like he’d thought from the beginning. And yet he stilled tried to make sense of it. “Why would you steal my dream? Anna, it’s not a big deal but you have to understand, it feels like you’re lying to me. Or that you don’t understand what reality is.”

She glared at him. “I’m not lying, Mike. Cripes, do you seriously think I don’t know fantasy from reality? It was
my dream.
”

“No, it wasn’t.”

They stared at each other, confusion and frustration thick in the air. He tried to rationalize it away. It was just a dream, after all. Maybe she’d gotten confused. But he’d been thinking about this all morning. She told lies about Alan Alda and showed his mother inappropriate things. And he really didn’t have time for an out-of-state girlfriend anyway. The sex was great—beyond great—but hadn’t he decided that this wasn’t going to work? That’s what he’d told his brother. “You turn me upside down,” he finally said. “And not in a good way.”

She swallowed and shuttered her eyes, drawing in on herself even as she straightened up off the wall. “Well that’s new,” she said softly. “Usually I’m the one to cut and run.”

“I’m not—”

“Save it,” she said as she held up her hand. “I’m going to go take a walk. Check on my car.”

He frowned for a moment. “I thought you’d decided to give up on it.”

She winced. “Yeah, I suppose I had.”

He felt bad then. He knew letting go of this last tie to her mother was hard. “I’ll…um…I’ll do some internet research later. See if there is a good deal to be had locally on a used car.”

“You don’t need to–”

“It was part of our deal, remember? If it was a good date, then I helped you pick out a new car.”

She was silent a moment, then gave a slow nod. “Mike–”

He cut her off, not willing to argue technicalities. He was doing this. “You don’t have to get a new car, you know. Do you care about being the first owner of a thing?”

She shook her head slowly. “No, I guess
new
doesn’t hold a lot of appeal for me. I like things with character. Stupid to think that way about a car, but new can be boring.”

“Character,” he repeated. “Got it. I’ll see if I can--”

“Mike, stop. You’re on vacation with your family.” She flashed him a rueful smile. “This was never going to last anyway, right? It’s fine.”

No, it wasn’t fine. Nothing was fine right then, but he didn’t argue because she was right. “Was this always just a fling to you?” he pressed. “Nothing more?”

She shrugged. “Did you want it to be more?”

He shook his head. “The logistics won’t work.”

“I know.”

And there it was. One great date and it was done. By his choice, even. Except she was stuck here until she found a way to get home. “I like shopping for cars. It’ll find you something.”

She nodded, a graceful dip of her beautiful face. “Thanks.”

And then his niece wailed. The sound was high and piercing, and they both jerked at the sound. Mike swallowed. He’d just dumped the kids on his mom while he’d come out here to molest Anna. Lord, he was turning out to be a terrible uncle.

“I, um, I should go back in there.”

“Yeah,” she said. She turned and sidled past him on the way up the stairs.

He stepped away, heading toward the dining room while his gut waged a war with his dick. After all, he still liked Anna. He wasn’t even sure why, except that she made him laugh and was hot as hell. His dick didn’t care that she was on the flaky side, but hard experience told him that the last thing he needed was an unstable woman. So he kept his back to her and went through the dining room door, only belatedly hearing as someone else stepped into the foyer.