Page 109 of Midnight Confessions

“Hi, Winnie. We missed you last Sunday.” He gives me one last squeeze, then lets me go.

“Cal,” I say, leaning into hug twin number one, then reach across and hug twin number two. “Bennie. I missed you guys.”

“Hey, Winnie,” they say in unison.

Then I feel Aleck’s warm static soaking into my back. Pine, fresh soap, andmandestroy my senses, forcing a stutter before I choose my next words.

“Uh, t-this is Aleck Fox.” I step aside, feeling the need to bebesidehim, rather than infrontof him. “He’s Preston’s best man. We’ve…” Aleck’s warm eyes watch me with a glimmer of amusement. “We’ve become close.”

Aleck’s hand slides across the small of my back, making it very clear I’m not referring to a closefriendship.

“Aleck, this is my father, Gary Sommers.” I gesture to my father.

Aleck extends his free hand to my father. “Mr. Sommers, it’s very nice to meet you. I hear you’re a financial advisor for Hiller and Ashby?”

My dad grins, a spark of interest making his eyes come alive. Some say, if he hadn’t found my mother, he would have married his career. He brings everything back to numbers, probabilities, and odds. He taught me how to balance a checkbook when I was nine. If one was so inclined to talk numbers with my father, he’d hold them at a higher regard no matter whose daughter they were banging.

“Yes. Twenty years now.”

“Barron Hiller is a good friend to my family. I also do a lot of business with Hill and Ash.”

My dad lifts his brow with awareness. “Aleck Fox… Oh! You’re aFox, with Fox and Lathim. Of course. Are you a lawyer, then?”

Aleck displays his best crowd-pleasing smile. “Yes, sir. Corporate. I was running our New York branch for the last few years, but I’ve recently come back.”

“I hear your father has announced his retirement for next spring…”

“Yes, sir. My brother Hayden and I will take over the firm.”

Man, he’s putting it on extra thick. I almost roll my eyes. This is an Aleck I’ve never seen before. Smiling, agreeable, sir this and sir that… He’s the perfect match. For my father.

“And this is Calvin and Bennie,” I jump in. “My brothers. They’re twins.”

“I’m obviously the more handsome twin,” Bennie says, extending his hand.

Bennie’s the “younger” twin because he was born six minutes after Cal. Even though I’mactuallythe youngest sibling, we call Bennie the baby. He’s the friendliest of the two. He’ll shoot the shit with anyone about anything and only after a very long and pleasant conversation will he tell you he’ll murder you if you hurt his sister.

“Nice to meet you,” Aleck says, shaking his hand.

“And this is Calvin. Or Cal, depending on who you are.” I gesture toward my other brother.

“Calvin is fine,” he deadpans. “Only my friends and family call me Cal. You’re currently neither.”

Cal is the grump with a spiky exterior. Inside he’s a teddy bear, but mess with someone he loves, and… well, justdon’t. He’s taller than most by a couple of inches, bigger by a few dozen pounds of muscle, and quieter. But with that silence comes body language that tells you everything you need to know. There is no mistaking Cal’s intentions.

“Nice to meet you…” Aleck extends his hand, but Cal doesn’t take it.

“Cal…” I grit through my teeth.

Aleck smiles, slipping his outreached hand into his pocket, completely unfazed. His other hand, still firmly planted on my lower back.

“It’s okay, Winter,” Aleck says, still meeting Cal’s glare with a smile. “I wouldn’t like me either. I’m a shithead lawyer they know nothing about.”

Bennie nudges Cal with his elbow. “The last guy Winnie dated cheated on her. We didn’t like that. We broke his nose.”

I laugh. “No, they didn’t.”

“Yes,” Cal says, still glaring at Aleck. “We did.”

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