Page 8 of My Twin Sister's Extremely Famous and Incredibly Hot Neighbor

“Again?” My voice squeaks. I find out this is not the right response, because Dustin cocks his head at me as if he doesn’t understand.

“What?”

“What?” I repeat. Great. Now I’m gaslighting him. I shake my head. “I mean, why did you think that?”

“I believe it’s because you shouted at me that you would never set foot in my house again.” His grin fades and he stares at me.

Fantastic. I’m going to kill Jera for not telling me any of this. What exactly happened between her and Dustin? “I’m sorry,” I say, my gaze falling to my lap. “I behaved badly.”

“Well, I had some blame in the matter. I honestly wasn’t trying to embarrass you in front of your friends. And the wine down your front was a complete accident.”

I’m dying to know the whole story, but I can’t ask him. “Accidents happen. Let’s forget the past.”

“I’m glad you feel that way.”

I take a bite of the pasta and gulp back a moan. “This is amazing.”

A smile spreads across his face. “Thanks.”

“I’m not just saying that. This is probably the best alfredo sauce I’ve ever had.” I scoop up another generous bite.

“I admit, this is one recipe I’ve worked hard to perfect.” A lovely blush graces his cheeks. “And now I’ve revealed how much I wanted to impress you.”

“Me?” It’s my turn to blush. I’m not sure what else to say, so I spend time chewing. Finally, I say, “Consider me impressed.”

We eat in silence for a few minutes before he speaks. “In the spirit of starting over, why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

I slowly nod. “Okay.” I rack my brain for tidbits of things Jera might have told me in conversations. Not much comes to mind, so I decide to jump in the way back machine. “I was born in Colorado Springs and grew up in a town called Larkspur, which is one of those blink and you miss it kind of towns.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Yes,” I say before I can think. I do miss Larkspur. The town is charming and quiet and has the best views of the mountains and the red rock formations.

As soon as I look at Dustin, I realize my mistake. Jera hated living in such a small town. It wasn’t even a town. It’s a municipality, population 203. Every chance she could get, she’d go to Denver, which is quite close.

“What do you miss about it?”

I was committed now. I couldn’t take back my answer. “I miss the bright stars in the sky. On a clear night you can see millions of them, twinkling like diamond dust sprinkled across the heavens. I miss the picturesque setting. The quiet. The smell of the mountains and nature. The wildlife. A lot of things.”

Dustin slowly nods. “That sounds so lovely.”

“I don’t live far from there now, so I go back often to paint, but it’s not the same as living there.”

He pauses, his fork halfway to his mouth. “You don’t live far?”

Panic grips my stomach as I try to think of a way out of what I said. “I mean, the flight isn’t long.”

Lame! I should have been more careful, and now Dustin is going to think I’m all kinds of crazy. He can’t think that Jera would fly all the way to a small town in Colorado to paint. I’m so busted.

But instead of questioning my sanity, he just studies me. “You paint?”

“Yes.”

“Oil?”

“Watercolor.”

“I’d love to see your work sometime.”

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