“Look, you two,” she scolded. “Right now you need to think about Jenna. Deal with your own issues later.”
Ryan glared at his brother and forked out his arms. “She’s my fiancee. I’ll carry her.”
Reluctantly, Jake placed Aurora—Jenna—in his brother’s arms. Her head lolled to the side, resting against Ryan’s chest. A shock of jealousy burned through Jake at the sight. A large, burly man in a tuxedo appeared, wringing his hands together.
“Is Miss Kerry alright?” The concern in his accented voice was clear.
Cindy drew the man through the gathering crowd of people surrounding them.
“Ryan, you remember Mr. Deluse, the catering manager?” Ryan nodded his head, barely turning his glare from his brother. Cindy turned back to Mr. Deluse.
“Do you have somewhere we can take her?” “Yes, of course.” He gestured toward the door. “Gentlemen, please follow me.”
He led them toward the elevators, then past them through a door to a service elevator. He inserted a key, then summoned the elevator. Ryan tapped his foot as they waited. Finally, the door slid open and they stepped inside. Mr. Deluse took them down to the lobby level, then led them down another hallway. He unlocked a door, flicked on a light switch, and ushered them inside.
“This is my office. There’s a couch over there.” The older gentleman led them to the couch and watched as Ryan settled Jenna on the burgundy leather sofa. “I’ll get some water. Would you like me to call an ambulance?”
Ryan’s face drained of blood, leaving it a ghostly white. “No, Mr. Deluse,” Cindy jumped in. She rested her hand on Ryan’s arm. “She’ll be fine.”
She said it more to Ryan than to the other man, her tone reassuring. Ryan looked at her like a drowning man might at a lifeline thrown his way. She nodded, then turned back to Mr. Deluse.
“We just need to get her away from the excitement for a bit. Please just bring the water, and maybe a couple of drinks for Ryan and Jake.”
“Of course.” He rushed out the door, closing it behind him. Ryan turned back to Jake, the storm flaring in his eyes again.
“Why in hell were you kissing my woman?” Ryan demanded. Jake almost snapped back that he loved her and she loved him and he had every right to kiss her, but he stopped himself. Remembering their first time together and how she had told him her fantasy was to have sex with a stranger, he realized that she had believed he was Ryan all along. When she’d told him she loved him yesterday, she’d thought she’d been saying it to Ryan.
Jake’s heart broke right on the spot, and the devastating pain seared every nerve in his body. He drew in a deep breath, then sighed.
“I told you. I didn’t know she was your fiancee.” He kept his voice calm and steady, even though he felt anything but. “I thought she was a woman I’ve been . . . seeing.” Cindy stared from one man to the other, her green eyes wide. Ryan scoffed. “You’re trying to tell me Jenna has an exact double in Montreal and you just happen to be dating her?” “No, I met her here.”
Ryan stopped in his tracks. His eyes narrowed as he stared intently at his brother. “When, exactly?”
“Two months ago. The day I flew down to meet with you before the meeting with Bryer Associates.”
Cindy made a choking noise. She’d obviously figured it out. Ryan’s expression turned as dark as a thunderstorm. Jake fully expected lightning to flash from his eyes. Jake raked his hand through his hair. Damn, this was a total mess. The woman he wanted to marry more than anything in the world actually loved his brother, and would be marrying him tomorrow. The fact that Jake was brokenhearted didn‘t mean his brother should suffer.
Good God, how can I tell Ryan I slept with his fiancee?
Their relationship might never recover from this.
“Where did you meet her?”
“In this hotel. She was at a wedding.” He nodded toward Aurora’s—Jenna’s—friend. “She was with Cindy here.” Cindy’s eyes widened even more and her head shook back and forth.
“How many times have you seen her?” Ryan demanded.
“Just that one time . . . and again yesterday.”
“Yesterday?” Ryan roared.
Cindy pressed her fist to her mouth, as though watching a disaster in action.
“I told you, I didn’t know—“
“What the hell difference does that make?” Ryan bellowed. Cindy grasped Ryan’s wrist. “Calm down. This isn’t helping anything.” She stroked his arm in a soothing manner. “Look, Ryan, why don’t you go to housekeeping and get a towel or something so we can put a damp cloth on her forehead?” He sucked in a deep breath, then nodded. “You’re right.
That’s a good idea.”
Jake stared at the unconscious woman lying on the couch.
The woman he loved. His brother’s fiancee.
She looked so fragile and pale lying there against the dark burgundy leather. This whole situation had certainly been a shock to all of them, but Jenna didn’t strike him as the fainting type.
“I wonder why she fainted,” Jake mused.
“Probably because she’s—“ Cindy’s sentence ended abruptly. Jake glanced up in time to see Ryan shooting her a withering glare.
“Stress,” Ryan answered between clenched teeth. “Cindy, come with me to housekeeping.”
He grasped her elbow and led her to the door.
COOLNESS ON HER forehead lured Jenna from the darkness.
“Jenna.” A deep voice said her name. “Jenna, are you alright?”
Ryan’s voice.
Confusion swirled around her, like a dark gray curtain on a stormy night, but she struggled against it.
She opened her eyes. Ryan’s concerned face stared down at her, his sensuous lips pinched in a straight line. Cindy’s head bobbed into view.
“Her eyes are open,” Cindy said to someone behind her. She smiled down at Jenna and through the numbness Jenna felt Cindy’s fingers curl around her own. “How you doing, honey?”
Cindy squeezed Jenna’s hand and Jenna squeezed back, allowing the firm grip to draw her farther into consciousness.
Her eyes drifted closed again as she drew in a deep breath.
Someone put a glass to her lips.
“Take a sip, Jenna,” Cindy said.
Cool, flavorless liquid trickled into Jenna’s mouth and down her throat. She opened her eyes, intent on the glass, wrapping her hands around it. She leaned forward and tipped more of the water into her mouth. Cindy kept her hands around the glass, guiding it forward, then took it away when Jenna urged it back. When Jenna glanced up again, she saw two Ryan’s staring down at her.
“Oh, God, I’m seeing double.” The inside of her head started to swirl. A pounding started in her temple. One of the Ryan’s took her hand. “No, sweetheart, you’re not. This is . . .”
His lips continued moving, but the words were drowned out by the increased drumming in her ears. His face was tight with concern, but she couldn‘t follow what he was saying. She blinked a couple of times, trying to clear the fog closing in on her, but then she fell into the wonderful, cushioned blackness again.
ANGER STORMED THROUGH Cindy and she batted Ryan on the arm.
“You idiots. What are you trying to do? Scare her witless? It’s a really bad idea to upset her in her—“ at Ryan’s murderous glare, she bit back the word
condition,
“—situation,” she finished.
“What situation is that?” Jake asked, eyebrows pinched together.
Pregnant,
she wanted to scream, but Ryan had dragged her aside earlier and forbade her to let Jake know anything about the baby. Not that she agreed with him, in the longer term anyway, but she realized that adding that complication to an already tense situation wasn’t a good idea. Ryan was ready to wring his brother’s neck as it was, and if Jake found out about the pregnancy and put two and two together . . . She wanted to shake some sense into them. The two of them were jockeying for position, readying for a head-butting contest. Men and their egos.
“The situation is that she’s getting married,” Ryan said through gritted teeth. “Or had you forgotten?” Cindy’s fists clenched.
“Guys, get over it. Right now your only concern should be Jenna. If she wakes up and sees the two of you again, the shock will probably send her into a coma, so I suggest one of you leave.”
Ryan settled deeper into his chair. “She’s my fiancee. I’m staying right here.” He dipped the cloth in the spare glass of water and wrung it out, then placed it on Jenna’s forehead again, turning his back to Cindy and Jake. Jake crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes narrowing. Cindy glanced from one to the other, then walked to Ryan’s brother’s side and wrapped her hand securely around his arm.
Jake. Jenna’s fantasy man.
“I really think you should go,” she said gently, using her most persuasive tone. “Just until we get her up and around again.”
Jake’s tension eased. He glanced at Jenna’s slack form and he dragged his hand through his hair. Long, wavy brown hair. A surge of heat went through Cindy. She couldn’t help thinking that whichever one of these fine hunks Jenna discarded, she’d be doing a great favor to single women everywhere. Jake nodded.
“Yeah, okay.” He pulled a card out of an inside pocket of his suit jacket and handed it to her. “I won’t be far. Call me on my cell as soon as she’s awake. I want to talk to her.” Cindy took the card and ushered him to the door. “I will. I promise.”
She felt for Jake right now. This must be a terrible shock.
She couldn‘t imagine what he must be thinking. She thought back to when Jenna had told her about Ryan playing out her fantasy. Jenna had been so excited that her cheeks had glowed with happiness. But the fantasy stranger had not actually been Ryan. Chills rippled through Cindy. She imagined herself in Jenna’s shoes and a stream of butterflies twirled through her stomach. She couldn’t help thinking how terribly exciting and illicit that made the whole situation. Of course, Jake might not share her view, and Ryan definitely wouldn’t.
Cindy’s eyes strayed back to Jenna, lying there totally oblivious to the whole situation. No wonder she didn’t want to wake up.
Good heavens, Cindy hadn’t experienced this much excitement since the time . . . Her thought trailed off. She dug back deep into her memory. Actually, she had never experienced this much excitement.
CHAPTER NINE
RYAN PATTED JENNA ‘s cheeks. She felt so cold. His heart wobbled at seeing her so fragile. “Jenna?” He pushed her hair behind her ears then patted her cheeks some more. “Jenna, wake up, sweetheart.” “Mmm.” Her eyelids slowly lifted. “Ryan?” She ran her hand across her forehead, then wrapped it around the damp cloth and dragged it away. Ryan drew the cloth from her fingers and set it on the tray on the table beside the couch.
“What happened?” She raised her hands to her temples and rubbed.
“You fainted.” He stroked her cheek and smiled down at her. “Don’t be silly, I don’t faint.” She glanced around. “Where am I?”
“We’re in the catering manager’s office.” He took her hand and patted it. “It’s okay, it’s just the two of us here.” The sound of a clearing voice interrupted him, reminding him that Jenna’s friend sat behind him. “And Cindy.” “Cindy?” Jenna glanced past him.
“I’m here, Jenna.” Cindy moved beside Ryan and peered at Jenna from over his shoulder. “You’re fine, honey. You just had a bit of a shock.”
Cindy gave Ryan a quick stare and nudged her head toward Jenna. She mouthed some words to him.
Tell her.
“Jenna, I’ve never told you much about my brother.”
Jenna’s hand tightened in his.
“Jake,” Jenna said weakly and her eyes started to glaze. Cindy pushed past him, kneeling beside the couch, taking Jenna’s hand from Ryan. “No, Jenna, stay with us, honey.” She grabbed the cloth and patted Jenna’s cheek with it. “Sweetie, it’s okay. Ryan has a brother. His name is Jake.” Cindy patted Jenna’s hand. Ryan watched helplessly, his gut twisting at the thought of Jenna in his brother’s arms. It killed him knowing she’d had sex with Jake, knowing the baby was
Jake’s
baby.
“Listen to me, Jenna. Jake is Ryan’s brother. His twin brother. But it’s okay.” Cindy enunciated each syllable clearly. She sent Ryan a quick follow-my-lead-or-else stare. “Jenna, are you still with me?”
She didn‘t answer.
“Jenna,” Cindy said sharply.
“Yes,” Jenna responded weakly.
“Everything’s okay, because Ryan understands. He knows you thought Jake was really Ryan. Right, Ryan?” She nodded as she stared at Ryan, daring him to contradict her. “Of course I do, Jenna.” He stroked her shoulder. “I know you thought it was me. I don’t blame you for anything.” He leaned in close, waiting until her eyes focused on him.
“I don’t blame you for anything.”
And he didn’t. This was all Jake’s fault, not his sweet, innocent Jenna’s.
Jenna shook her head. “Really?” she asked weakly.
“Really,” he stated firmly.
Jenna burst into tears.
“WHAT THE HELL’S going on?” Jake demanded as he stormed into the room. The sight of the woman he loved sobbing uncontrollably on the couch dragged out all his protective instincts.
“Jake, it’s okay.” Cindy stepped toward him, placing her body in front of his to stop his forward momentum. “She’s just letting out her tension. This has been a terrible shock for her.” “Join the club,” he grumbled, watching his brother hold Jenna in his arms. A deep longing to shove Ryan out of the way and drag her into his own arms burned through him. “Look, I want to talk to her.”