Page 79 of Just the Wrong Twin

“Oh, please,” Katia said. “We don’t have time for confessions and tears. Just trust me on it.”

Nate looked uncertain about that and rightly so.

“Pink,” she muttered. “Why do you like pink so much?” Without waiting for an answer, Katia grabbed a pair of faded jeans and a T-shirt from Sonia’s wardrobe, sending a whole pile of clothes tumbling to the floor. She didn’t pick them up, just headed for the washroom. She left the door open, treating the washroom like a fitting room. Her leather pants were the first things to come flying toward Sonia. Sonia caught them instinctively, blinking at the strength of her sister’s perfume.

Katia peeked around the door frame. “You’re going to have to dress the part,” she chided, gesturing to Sonia’s outfit. “No one will believe you’re me when you look like that. The suitcase is for you, filled with all the good stuff. They’re coming to New York with their entourage of photographers.” She gave Sonia a hard look.

Sonia sat down hard on the bed, the leather pants piled in her lap.

They were coming.

She would see them again.

Hewas coming.

But she wouldn’t freak out. She was an adult and her life would be the one she chose. It would be the way she wanted it to be.

“This is your chance to make a run for it,” Katia continued. She came out of the washroom in Sonia’s jeans and her own shirt, using a make-up wipe on her face. Once her eyeliner and lipstick were gone, she rummaged in her purse again. Sonia couldn’t remember when she’d last seen her sister without make-up. “We can even swap ID. The only person who will know is the war hero here, and I’m going to guess that he can keep a secret.”

“You can’t just rope Nate into your scheme,” Sonia said sternly. “He has an actual life…”

“All he has to do is take you away from here and not tell me where. If I don’t know, I can’t spill it.” Katia did Sonia’s eyeliner in two expert swipes, then stepped back to check her work. “You need the eyelashes,” she advised, then turned to Nate. “You up for that?”

“Not the eyelashes,” he said. “So not my style.”

“Smart ass,” she said when Sonia smiled. Nate winked at her and she smiled a little more. “You know what I meant,” Katia muttered.

“I did and do.”

“And?”

“Sure, if Sonia wants,” he said to Sonia’s astonishment.

“I like him, after all,” Katia confessed, then retreated to the washroom.

“You would take me with you?” Sonia said to Nate. “What about one-and-done?”

“What about friends?” he countered. “Changes happen when there’s more information.” He dropped his voice to a whisper and the heat in his tone made Sonia catch her breath. “Satan and his handmaiden?”

“It was a long time ago.”

“Tell me what you want me to do,” he said with an undercurrent of steel.

Sonia could seriously get used to having a hero in her life. She knew better than to ask Nate for more than he wanted to give, though, so despite his obvious expectation, she didn’t ask for it.

This was her problem.

She would solve it herself.

“Stay a few minutes?” she asked and he nodded, settling back against the counter again.

The leopard print T-shirt flew toward Sonia and she caught it by reflex. It just might have been the tackiest garment she’d ever seen. A moment later, Katia flung her black bra at Nate.

He didn’t immediately realize what it was, from his expression, then smiled when he had it untangled. “It’s totally you,” he said, then tossed it to Sonia.

“I don’t dress like this,” she said, looking down at the spike boots and leather.

“That’s the point,” Katia and Nate said in unison.

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