Page 19 of My Twin Sister's Extremely Famous and Incredibly Hot Neighbor

Itry to laugh off his comment. “What, you think there are two of me?” I cringe. Stupid thing to say. I might as well just tell him I’m a twin. His close proximity is making my thoughts all muddled.

His gaze softens. “No. I think you were having a terrible day, and I made it ten times worse. I had no idea, Jera. I’m being honest.”

I know I shouldn’t ask. I should just change the subject and let things go, but I am too curious and the words fly out of my mouth. “You had no idea about what?”

“I had no idea you’d had work done. I never would have said that stuff to your friends had I known. You believe me, right?” He rakes his hand through his hair.

I don’t know what was said but I can piece together that he’d totally embarrassed Jera without meaning to, and it had something to do with plastic surgery. Heck, I didn’t even know she’d had plastic surgery until recently. I guess she’s had more work done than just her eyelids. Since she’s going to such great lengths to hide this, she’s probably self-conscious about it all.

He looks so distraught I can’t help myself. I grab his hand. “I now know you wouldn’t say anything on purpose to embarrass me.”

He runs his thumb over my knuckles and my knees go weak. “And I’m sorry for everything else I’ve said since you served me those papers. I—I didn’t mean those things. I was angry.”

The sincerity in his eyes stirs my emotions. “I can tell you’re speaking the truth.”

Dustin gazes at me for another moment before he takes a step back and drops my hand. “I’m glad we got a chance to talk. I’ve been feeling bad for all that.”

“Me too.”

He pulls out a drawer and grabs a potato peeler. The mood lightens. “Would you rather peel the potatoes or grate the cheese?”

“Give me the peeler. Last time I grated cheese I got my knuckles.”

Dustin cringes. “Ouch. I wouldn’t want you to do anything to your beautiful hands.”

“Well, I do make a living with my hands. I kind of need them.”

“You…what?” Dustin shoots me a confused look.

Oh. Right. I’m answering as Mackenzie again.

“I mean, an actor needs her hands, right?” My gaze flicks over to Squint, curled up in the sunlight from the patio door.

Dustin gives me a funny look. “I guess so.”

I open the potato sack, my fingers shaking. I need to be more careful. “How many should I peel?”

Thankfully, Dustin gets to talking about the recipe and ignores my error. We boil the potatoes, strain them, and add the cheese. Dustin pulls out the hand mixer.

“Ooh,” I say, taking it from him. “I want to do this part.”

“Okay.”

“When I was little, my mom would make chocolate cake, and she’d let me lick the beaters.”

Dustin gives me a devilish grin. “Yep. Me too. That’s why I’m such a great kisser.”

I blush. “Just saying, I always wanted to use the mixer, but mom never let me, and I don’t cook so I’ve never used one.” I hold it out like a weapon. “It looks fun.”

Dustin lets out a laugh. “Not like that. Here,” he says, coming up behind me. He plugs the mixer in and pushes the beaters down into the warm potatoes and melting cheese. “Hold it upright or we’ll have a mess.”

His warm body presses up against my back, and my heart speeds up. I look at the buttons on the mixer. “Which one do I push?”

He points to the dial. “This will turn it on and control the speed. Just start with it on low.”

I use my thumb to flick on the power. The beaters come to life. I move them around the potatoes. I like how they turn the chunks of boiled potatoes into a smooth mixture. I stare, transfixed at the patterns it makes in the potatoes.

“You can probably turn it on higher now,” he says.

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