“I dropped a glass,” she said quickly, realizing what had precipitated his tumultuous entrance, “I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“I wasn’t asleep.” Moving more slowly now, he crossed the room, bare feet making no sound on the plush carpeting, “Are you okay? Did you cut yourself?”
“I’m fine.” She rose and dropped the shards into a plastic-lined metal wastebasket. They landed with a tinkling, almost cheerfully musical sound.
Though her fuzzy blue slippers protected her own feet, she felt obligated to warn him, “I think I found all the pieces but be careful walking around over here with bare feet.”
He’d changed from his tuxedo into a white V-necked t-shirt and a pair of grey lounge pants. His formerly neatly combed hair was now tousled into unchecked curls. And he looked just as gorgeous as he had in the tailored suit earlier.
She had long since grown accustomed to the unwelcome flutter she felt every time she saw him.
No matter how he was dressed, Brian was undeniably the best-looking man Genae had ever met. Usually she could ignore the sensations, but it was a bit harder in the late-night intimacy of this private suite, with both of them dressed in their ultracasual lounging clothes.
He leaned against one end of the bar, “Having a little trouble unwinding?”
She shrugged and took another glass from the cabinet beside the bar, “I’m just thirsty.”
“There’s a pitcher of fresh-squeezed orange juice in the fridge. I like to have a glass before bedtime.”
“Another one of your special requests?” She asked as she opened the door to the small refrigerator built discreetly into the custom woodwork.
“Yes.”
“It must be nice to have everything you want at your fingertips.”
“It is,” he agreed equably. Apparently he wasn’t going to let her push any of his buttons tonight.
He nodded when she motioned with the pitcher, silently asking him if he wanted a glass. She filled an extra one and handed it to him.
He carried the glass to the sofa and sat on one end. After hesitating a moment, she perched on a chair arranged in conversation-group fashion nearby. She thought their casual clothing looked incongruous against the very formal gold-and-cream upholstery, but Brian was obviously accustomed to making himself comfortable in such rooms. He lounged back against the cushions and cross his legs at the ankles on the low mahogany table in front of him.
“Are we still on for our high-profile lunch tomorrow?” he asked, “Or would you rather bail out and go home early?”
She wondered if he suspected how tempted she was to accept that escape, but she shook her head, “You said being seen around town together would strengthen the impression that we’re a couple. That’s what we came here to do.”
“You think you can get through an entire meal without dumping a plate of food in my lap?”
“You think you can get through an entire meal without making me mad enough to dump a plate of food in your lap?” She countered.
He grinned, “I can try.”
Her lips tilted into an answered smile, “Then so will I.”
It was so rare for them to smile at each other that the moment caught her off guard. When she realized that he was suddenly staring at her mouth, her smile faded.
Lifting his gaze to her eyes, he asked, “What is it about me, exactly, that annoys you so much? Just so I don’t end up with food on my lap tomorrow...”
She looked down into her orange juice, “I promise I won’t throw food at you. I know how important it is for us to divert the gossips’ attention way from Raylene and Jonathan so they can plan their wedding in peace.”
“Actually, throwing food at me would be a very effective way of diverting attention to us.”
She wrinkled her nose, “Not the right type of attention, perhaps.”
He shrugged, keeping his gaze on her face, “I’m serious, Genae. What is it about me that you dislike so much? I know you didn’t approve of me as a potential suitor for your sister, but that’s over. So...is it something I said? Something I did? You don’t like the way I walk? Talk? ...Smell?” He chuckled softly at his last thought.
She couldn’t help smiling again, “You smell quite nice, actually.”
“Eternity. It’s all I really wear--my housekeeper picks it up for me all the time when she goes shopping for groceries and cleaning supplies. So I guess I’ve grown kind of fond of it.”
She blinked, “Oh.”
“That surprises you?”
“No...I guess it doesn’t surprise me that you have a housekeeper. Probably one for every house you own.”
“So it’s my money that bothers you.”
She squirmed uncomfortably on the chair, “Let’s just say I’m not accustomed to the kind of wealth and power you command.”
“Would you like me better if I gave it all away?”
Frowning, she shook her head, “No. I mean--”
“So it isn’t entirely the money. It’s me you don’t like.”
She sighed gustily, “I never said I don’t like you.”
“Actually, I believe you said you hated me.”
She gave him a reproachful look, “You know I didn’t mean that. I was just blowing off steam after that awkward evening.”
“So you do like me?”
Making a faint sound of frustration, she set her half-empty glass on the coffee table with a thump, “I barely know you, Brian. You swept into my sister’s life, and almost convinced her to marry you. I didn’t approve of that scheme because I know Raylene deserves better than a businesslike marriage--she deserves the happiness she found with Jonathan.”
“She met Jonathan because of me,” he reminded her.
“She was also kidnapped and put through four days of hell because of you,” She retorted, making him wince, “And now the gossip columnists are titillated by the possibility that Raylene jilted you, one of the richest, most influential men in the country--a man who made the news a year or so ago for breaking up with one of the most beautiful and famous starlets in the world. And now Raylene’s marrying your best friend and business associate, instead. That vicious prattle has mortified Jonathan--who’s so obsessively loyal to you that he almost broke Raylene’s heart rather than risk betraying you with her. And knowing that Jonathan is upset bothers Raylene so badly that it was affecting her joy in planning her wedding.”
“I’m aware that her association with me has caused problems for her,” he acknowledged stiffly, “That’s why I wanted to take some of the pressure off her by leading the gossips away. Since she and I only dated a short time before the press found out about her--so briefly and discreetly that they were never quite such which Landon twin I was with--this seemed like the ideal scheme. Now that Raylene’s engaged to Jonathan and you and I are acting like an established couple, the gossips are beginning to wonder if they had it wrong at the start. If Raylene and Jonathan met and fell in love because you and I were already seeing each other, rather than the other way around.”
“I hope that’s what they believe, anyway,” Genae muttered, thinking that all this trouble would be for nothing if they hadn’t fooled anyone.
"Several are already beginning to speculate in print that the natural confusion that results when two best friends date identical twins is what led to Raylene and Jonathan being kidnapped. They believe Donovan had them snatched because he thought I would pay any amount of money to ensure the safety of my best friend and my fiancée.”
“Which was pretty much what he was thinking. He underestimated you, of course, as well as Jonathan. He didn’t realize Jonathan would escape so quickly with Raylene, or that you had so many resources at your fingertips to track down the identity of the kidnappers.”
“I learned a long time ago that having a lot of money means being targeted occasionally by people who want to help themselves to some of it. That’s why I’ve made security such a priority in my organization.”
“I’m well aware of that,” she muttered, thinking of the discreet, but ever-present bodyguards who had shadowed her so frequently during the past two weeks.
“Cheer up. The wedding’s only a month away. After that, we can cut back on the number of public appearances, and eventually stop them altogether. We’ll simply imply that we’ve drifted apart--though we will, of course, decide to remain friends, since we’ll be seeing each other often through Jonathan and Raye.”
“Once we’ve ended this ridiculous playacting, there’s no reason at all we shouldn’t be friendly towards each other.”
“No reason at all,” he parroted gravely.
She’d amused him again. She supposed she should be used to it by now.
She pushed herself off the chair, “It’s getting late. We’d better be getting some sleep.”
“You’re right,” Following her lead, he removed his feet from the table and stood. He carried his empty glass to the wet bar, stopping to take hers on his way, “I’ll just put these in the sink...”
She had just reached her bedroom doorway when Brian made an odd squeaking sound behind her. She glanced over her shoulder, then grimaced when she saw his expression. She knew immediately what must have happened, “You stepped on a piece of glass, didn’t you?”
He lifted his right foot, leaving a smear of bright red on the cream carpet, “Looks like it...”
Brian half expected Genae to chew him out for being careless enough to step on a piece of glass. Instead she hurried toward him, a frown of concern on her face, “Let me see.”
“It’s no big deal. Just a small--”
She already had her hands on him, pushing him toward one of the two tall wooden stools that flanked the bar, “Let me see.” She repeated.
Surprised by her vehemence, he sat and allowed her to bend over his foot. He couldn’t help inhaling rather sharply when she gingerly touched the sharp wedge of glass sticking out of the wound.
Her frown deepening, she pulled her hand back, “I have a small first-aid kit in my room. Sit still and I’ll get it.”
“I’m sure I can--”
Pointing a finger in his face, she huffed, “Do not move.”
He settled more comfortably on the stool, “Yes, ma’am.”
She wasn’t gone long. Returning with a small plastic box, she opened it and laid it on the bar. He could see that it held a thermometer, single dose packs of pain relievers, fever reducer, a small pair of scissors and adhesive bandages in assorted sizes, “You seem to be well equipped for emergencies.”
She had already taken his foot in her hand again, “I like to be prepared. This will probably sting when I remove the glass.”
“I can take it.” Braced for her touch this time, he didn’t even flinch when she eased the glass from his skin. He was somewhat surprised by the gentleness of her touch. Based on his past experiences with her, he might have expected her to be a bit rougher with him. Even when she cleaned the bleeding wound with an alcohol pad, she took such care that he hardly noticed the unavoidable burning, “You’re quite a nurse, huh?”
Reaching for the medicated cream and bandages, she sounded distracted when she answered, “I have some experience. My former fiancé was into rodeo. He thought he was a cowboy,” she rolled her eyes, “I was always patching him up after...”
She stopped midsentence, as if she’d caught herself saying something inappropriate. When she spoke again, it was a brusque, “There. That should keep you from bleeding all over this pretty carpet. The cut wasn’t very deep. I don’t think it will give you any problems.”
He waited until she had turned to close the first-aid kid before asking casually, “Fiancé?”
“Ex-fiancé.” She closed the plastic box with a snap, “And, no, I don’t want to talk about him.”
“Fine.”
“Fine. Can you walk on that foot?”
He stood, paying little attention to the twinge of discomfort. His concentration was focused, instead, on Genae’s flustered expression, “No problem. You’ve patched me up nicely.”
“Yes, well, don’t expect me to make a habit of it. I just felt bad because I was the one who broke the glass.”
He nodded, amused by her gruffly self-conscious tone. Genae was cute when she was embarrassed, though he knew better than to say so aloud. A remark like that could earn him a few more injuries--intentional on her part next time. But it seemed he liked to live dangerously. “I don’t suppose you’d like to kiss it and make it better?”
She lifted an eyebrow and gave him a cool onceover, “Did you just suggest that I kiss your foot?”
He chuckled, “Darlin', you can kiss any part of me you’d like.”
Keeping her chin high, she seemed to make an effort to reply nonchalantly, “Save it for the tabloids, Littrell.”
He was grinning again when she closed her bedroom door behind her with suspicious speed.
Cute, he thought. Genae Landon was definitely cute. Even if she was very likely to drop-kick him if he told her so.
“High profile” was definitely the term to describe the lunch Brian treated Genae to just after noon on Saturday. He’d selected a trendy restaurant known for hosting celebrities who wanted to be seen while pretending to be incognito. The chef/owner hosted his own television program and was almost as famous as the majority of his patrons. The most successful gossip columnists had their own regular tables where they could eavesdrop in undisturbed silence.
Brian played to his audience shamelessly, treating Genae to such solicitous attention that she wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d started spouting sonnets. He kept an arm around her as he escorted her to their cozy little table, sat very close to her, rarely looked away from her. She tried to play her part as convincingly, looking back at him with what she hoped would be perceived as an adoring gaze, but mostly she just felt self-conscious and silly.
“You’re doing fine,” Brian murmured at one point during the meal, as if sensing her doubts. He covered her hand on the table with his own, giving a bracing squeeze, “I doubt that anyone here knows how much you would love to pour your ice water over my head.”
She couldn’t help smiling, “I must be a better actress than I thought.”
Brian was even better. Toying with her fingers with the ease of someone intimately familiar with her body, he murmured, “Love, I imagine you’re very good at anything you put your mind to.”
She hated herself for blushing at that unmistakable innuendo in his tone--and for the shivery little sensations that seemed to be running from her palm, where his thumb was making slow, lazy circles, all the way to the pit of her stomach.
He was entirely too good at this. If she wasn’t careful, she could start believing that he found her very attractive.
She tugged her hand from his, annoyed to realize that it wasn’t quite steady when she reached for her glass, “I think it would be better if--”
“Mr. Littrell. What a nice surprise to run into you today.”
The man who had stopped by their table, interrupting Genae’s words, was tall, slender and very fashionably dressed. His bleached, moussed and sprayed hair swept back from a face tanned in a salon, tucked in a plastic surgeon’s office, and accented with vivid-blue contact lenses and pearly white dental caps. It took Genae a moment to put a name to the striking face; she had seen him a few times on the entertainment channel, where he regularly dished celebrity tidbits and dissed their choice of clothing.
Brian flashed one of his famous smiles, and Genae couldn’t help noticing that he needed no artificial enhancements to make him gorgeous. Nature had taken care of that quite adequately, from his silky blonde hair to those naturally blue eyes in a face that had made many a red-blooded woman go weak in the knees. Genae’s own knees showed a distressing tendency to fail around him--and she didn’t even like him very much. Or so she regularly reminded herself.
After exchanging a few meaningless pleasantries with the other man, Brian turned to Genae, I don’t believe you two have met. Genae Landon, this is Terrence Bishop.”
“Yes, of course. I’ve seen you on television,” she said, extending a hand.
His fingers were cold, his grip a bit weak--or maybe that was only in comparison to Brian’s warm, firm touch. He seemed pleased that she had recognized him, “It’s delightful to meet you, Ms. Landon. Are you enjoying your visit to our city?”
“Yes, very much, thank you.”
She could see him cataloging her simple hairstyle and the scoop-neck cut of her emerald-green blouse and oatmeal linen skirt. He’d also noted the rhythm of her barely noticeable Southern accent, “You’re from Arkansas, aren’t you?” he asked as if he found it hard to believe that anyone would actually choose to live in such a place.
“Little Rock,” she confirmed with a determinedly pleasant nod, “Have you been there?”
“Oh, goodness no.” he appeared to be amused by the very idea, “I seem to always be flying from one coast to the other, with very few stops in between.”
“Then you’ve missed a great many fascinating places,” Brian inserted smoothly, “I grew up in Little Rock, you know, and I still maintain a home there, though I don’t get to spend as much time there as I would like now.”
Bishop’s gaze turned speculative as he looked from Brian to Genae, “I understand you’ve been spending quite a lot of time there lately.”
Brian sent Genae a warm smile, “As much as I can manage.”
“You led the press on quite a chase, you know.” Bishop shook a finger in a gesture of indulgent reprimand, “That was very tricky of you to keep everyone guessing which lovely twin you were actually dating.”
Brian shrugged, “My personal life is my business, of course. Still, I noticed that most got it wrong. You were one of the ones who reported that I was all but engaged to Genae’s sister, weren’t you, Terrence?”
A faint touch of red stained the other man’s throat, but he managed a credible chuckle, “I’m afraid so. And you did nothing to set us straight. You practically confirmed that you were seeing Raylene. But you must admit it appeared as though your old friend swept in and wooed your fiancée away from you. It’s quite a coincidence that you and Mr. Lawver fell for sisters, don’t you think?”
Brian’s grin deepened, “The dreaded love triangle--another bit of gossip fabricated through sloppy reporting. At least you’ve managed to avoid that one--haven’t you?”
“Certainly. I finally remembered how much you enjoy toying with the media. That wicked sense of humor just might lead you into trouble someday.”
“I’ll keep your warning in mind. Yet, while the media was busy trying to figure out the players, Genae and I had a chance to get to know each other in relative privacy, didn’t we, sweetheart?”
She only smiled when he took her hand again.
“So--” Looking searchingly from Brian to Genae again, Bishop asked bluntly, “Can we expect another wedding announcement in the family soon?”
“One wedding at a time is plenty for my family, Mr. Bishop.” Genae replied, “Brian and I are quite happy as we are for now. Isn’t that right, darling?”
He lifted her hand to his lips, “Deliriously.”
Their gazes met and held over her hand. Genae found herself momentarily unable to look away, captured by the gleam of his eyes and the brush of his mouth against her palm. Her fingers curled inward almost instinctively, as if to prevent the kiss from escaping.
Bishop cleared his throat, “Well. I’ll leave you two lovebirds to finish your meal. Perhaps we’ll see each other again soon.”
Brian looked away, breaking that disconcerting moment of connection with Genae, “I’m sure we will.”
“And you will let me know if there are any announcements in the future, won’t you?”
“You’ll be the first to know,” Brian replied with such cheerful insincerity that Bishop was almost sulking when he strolled away.
Brian turned back to Genae, “I think that went well, don’t you?”
His sudden transformation from her loving boyfriend to smug co-conspirator made Genae blink. Pulling herself together quickly, she snarled, “You licked my hand, you degenerate!”
He laughed softly, “I kissed your hand! And you taste delectable--as I suspected you would.”
She scooted nearer to him, gazing at him through her lashes and keeping her voice a low, husky croon, “Brian?”
His gaze fell to her moistened lips, “Mmm?”
Some evil impulse made her lean even closer, well aware that the neckline of her shirt gaped when she did so. In typical male fashion, his gaze dropped slightly lower, “When this is all over--”
“Yes?” He prodded without raising his eyes.
She straightened away from him, “I’m going to have you killed.”
He laughed and reached for his water glass, “It’s always nice to have something to look forward to.”
Raylene and Jonathan were waiting at the airport when Genae and Brian arrived in Little Rock early that evening. Raylene rushed forward to greet them, Jonathan following a bit more slowly at her heels.
It still startled Genae sometimes to see the short, fashionably choppy hairstyle her twin had sported for the past few months. They’d always worn similar styles in the paste--and Genae had traditionally been the one to break rank and try something new. They’d stopped dressing alike in elementary school, and had maintained separate apartments for years, but their lives had still been tightly intertwined, both personally and professionally. Genae was well aware that many things would be changing between them once Raylene and Jonathan married and formed their own family.
Raylene hugged her, then stepped back to look at her as though it had been longer than a couple of days since they’d seen each other. “Did you have a good time in New York?”
“It was very nice,” Genae answered without a blink.
Glancing quickly around them, Raylene lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “Do you think you accomplished your goal? Keeping the gossips confused about us, I mean?”
Genae smiled with a patience she reserved only for Raylene, “I know what our goal was. And yes, I think we made some progress on that front.”
Brian and Jonathan had greeted each other with slaps on the shoulders--a ritual Genae had always considered the male version of a hug. Brian then turned to Raylene, taking her hand in in both of his and bending to brush a kiss across her cheek, murmuring a complimentary greeting as he did so.
Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, Genae watched the interplay between Brian and her sister, trying to read his expression. Only a few short months ago he had asked Raylene to marry him. Though he’d seemed to accept Raylene’s relationship with Jonathan graciously enough, Genae couldn’t help wondering how he really felt about Raylene now. Surely he’d had some sort of strong feelings for her if he’d actually considered spending the rest of his life with her, raising children with her. Frankly Genae couldn’t imagine anyone not loving Raylene.
But Brian had managed to move on from several previous relationships without ever looking back--at least according to those gossip columnists who’d been making their lives so stressful lately.
They all pretended not to notice the attention they received from others in the airport terminal, though all four were aware they’d been recognized by at least a few. When Brian draped an arm casually around Genae’s shoulders, drawing her closer to him as they headed for the exit behind Raylene and Jonathan, she knew he was making sure they were seen as a couple. She saw Raylene slant them a sideways glance, but she didn’t return the look. If she was going to bluff her way through this, she couldn’t meet Raylene’s eyes.
They went out to dinner, choosing a restaurant that was popular enough to keep them in the public eye, yet quiet enough to allow them to talk comfortably. Though they chatted about Brian and Genae’s trip to New York, they were careful not to even obliquely refer to the purpose of that excursion. They were always aware of the possibility of being overheard.
Genae wondered how Brian could stand living such a fishbowl existence. The average wealthy businessman could live in relative privacy, but Brian, with his looks and influential, highly visible circle of friends and associates, was hardly average. Something about him had drawn interest of the media from the time he’d broken away from his prominent family’s long-successful business holdings to strike out on his own, finding success at a very early age, even in the era of twenty-something multimillionaires. His predilection for beautiful and famous women had placed him solidly in the gossip columns, even though he’d once told Raylene that he’d long since moved beyond that fascination.
Still, a man with his looks, his money and his access to the most exclusive social circles was bound to stir the imaginations of a celebrity-obsessed society, and Brian hadn’t been able to take himself out of the public eye once he’d moved into it. Rather than running from the attention and becoming a privacy-obsessed hermit, he had learned, instead, to manipulate it--as he was doing now with Genae. There were still drawbacks to the fame, of course--the constant awareness of security among the worst, in her opinion, but he seemed comfortable enough with his life as far as she could determine.
She wondered if he’d given up on finding a suitable girl to share that life with, or if he was only waiting until after Raylene and Jonathan’s wedding to resume his carefully calculated search.
Not that she was particularly interested in Brian’s future private life, she assured herself, even as he asked for the benefit of a hovering waiter, “Would you like dessert, sweetheart? The strawberry cheesecake is excellent here...”
The one thing she looked forward to when this farce was over was shoving his pet names right back in his face. Genae was sure no hint of that rather ferocious fantasy was evident when she smiled and murmured sweetly, “No, I’m fine, thanks.”
She could tell from the gleam in his eyes that he’d guessed at least the essence of her thoughts.
They’d been spending entirely too much time together if they were starting to read each other’s thoughts, she promptly decided.
Raylene was watching them again, and for some reason that made Genae uncomfortable. Though they’d never had that eerie psychic bond some identical twins claimed, there were times Genae had to make a real effort to keep Raylene from reading her too closely. There were aspects of herself that even Raylene didn’t know, and Genae kept it that way deliberately. She had always disliked feeling stifled. As much as she loved her sister, there were times when she felt smothered by being half of an identical pair. She had her ways of rebelling, of breaking loose at times, but she kept that part of her life completely separate.
“Don’t forget about your fitting tomorrow afternoon,” Raylene reminded her as the two couples prepared to part after the meal.
Genae wrinkled her nose, “I don’t know why I need to be measured and pinned and fussed over. Just try on my dress while you’re being fitted for yours. If it fits you, we know it will fit me.”
Raylene sighed, “I know you hate fittings, but it won’t take long. You really do need to try the dress on yourself--just in case. Besides, you haven’t even seen it. What if you don’t like it?”
“It doesn’t matter if I like it. It’s your wedding. That gives you the right to choose the maid of honor’s dress.”
“You see how difficult she is?” Raylene complained to the men.
Genae watched as Brian and Jonathan exchanged a quizzical look, “Difficult?” Brian asked tentatively, “She’s letting you make all the decisions. That sounds pretty cooperative to me.”
“Now you’re being difficult,” Raylene accused him with a shake of her head.
Brian turned a questioning glance at Genae, who shrugged, “Bridal jitters.”
He seemed satisfied by that explanation.
