Page 41 of Dopplebanger

In the blur of rushing over and talking and all the conflicted feelings over what today would bring, I’d nearly forgotten about Evan.

Something I doubted would’ve happened yesterday, but thinking about that wouldn’t help anything, so I was doing my best not to.

He placed his hand on my lower back as he leaned in to shake Madison’s hand with his other, and his touch set off acurrent of electricity, one that shocked me to my core. It was like that first drink of water when your mouth’s so dry you’re sure dehydration’s already set in.

How can you forget how amazing water is, but it happens on a daily basis, until you crave that next drink as much as you do your next breath. And somewhere along the way, I’d apparently become that dependent on Evan’s touch.Great. Now I’m going to be dealing with today while conflicted and thirsty and ugh.

“Sorry,” I said, forcing myself to focus on the here and now. “I’m slacking on my duties. Evan, Madison. Madison, Evan.”

Did I imagine that flinch, or did Evan actually flinch? The masochist in me whispered that maybe touching me was suddenly that much of a hardship, but then surely he would’ve moved his hand off of me instead of sliding it around my waist and hooking it on my hip. “So nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“I need to hear more about you,” Madison said, assessing him with her foxlike gaze.

“You have a wedding to get ready for,” I reminded her.

“Not to worry. I’m good at multitasking.” In spite of her words, she began pulling away from us. “See both of you in a few hours?”

“With bells on!” I cocked my head. “Wait. What’s with that saying? For one, that would take attention away from you, the bride, and of course we’d never do something like that, but why would anyone wear bells anyway?”

“Ah, my little squirrel. You haven’t changed a bit.” Madison raised an eyebrow, her gaze moving to Evan. “Hope you can keep up with her.”

“Not a chance,” Evan said. “Even if I took all of her coffee and consumed it myself, I’d still fall short.” His grip on me tightened and he pressed his lips against my temple. “But I’ll do my damnedest.”

Madison grinned, full out, and pointed a finger at him. “I like this one. I think he’s a keeper.” Back in high school, I tended to go with her opinion, whether I fully agreed or not.

But when it came to this one, I one-hundred percent agreed. During this road trip, I’d realized he was a keeper.

With the way he’d been acting today, though, I was just afraid that he’d decided I wasn’t.

TWENTY-ONE

Holy shit.

Since her dad was in the room, I should really stop ogling Gwen and the way the pink dress showed off her curves and her killer legs, emphasized by heels that made her legs seem even longer and also managed to give me dirty thoughts about those sharp heels digging into my ass as I drove into her.

Yeah, I better look away now because I don’t have Horny the Unicorn to help mask my reaction to her.Of all the lies I’d told over the past few days, the biggest one I’d told was the one last night when I’d said I was tired.

Sleep wouldn’t come after I’d retreated to the made-up futon in the office, no matter how much I told myself it was for the best. If her parents had set us up in the same room—hell, if I would’ve gone to her bedroom for “just a little while” I would’ve lost the fraying thread on my control, forgotten I was trying to be some twisted version of noble, and ended up having sex with her.

I could tell she was hurt I hadn’t gone up, and for the billionth time I’d wanted to come clean, even as I’d justified holding back and convinced myself it was for her own good. Lastnight at the bottom of the stairs I’d peered into her eyes, begging her to see I wasn’t my brother.

Then she’d told me she saw me, and I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest.

The instant she’d tacked on “Evan” it’d thudded and tumbled somewhere down by my feet. She didn’t have all of the facts, so it was stupid to think she’d see anything but the lie I’d sold her.

I didn’t deserve to touch her or to kiss her or to even look at her.

But as she stepped in front of me, nervousness plain on her face as she gnawed on the lower lip I desperately missed biting myself, it didn’t matter what I deserved. It was about what she needed.

“You look amazing,” I said, dragging my fingertips down her arm and then linking my fingers with hers.

A hesitant smile broke through, and I hated that the way I’d acted today was responsible for her holding back. If I tried to do the right thing, I messed things up between us now, and if I didn’t do the right thing now, I’d screw up ever having a chance with her.

You don’t have a chance. Not really.

But a fruitless sliver of hope refused to go away, regardless of how many ways it could crash and burn. Maybe if I could just get her to listen to me for long enough to convince her that while I wasn’t my brother, what we had these past few days was real, and I’d do anything to make up for the fact that I hadn’t come clean from the start…

Of course if I’d done that, I would never know that it could be like this.

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