Taking Chances (The Chances and Choices Duology - Book 1 of 2 - Contemporary Romance) (5 page)

Identical
twin?
My mind reeled.
How could Seth have
failed to mention that? And what had I just done?
Thank goodness it hadn’t
gone any farther, but I would never be able to face Sam again.

And what about
him
? I
wondered disdainfully.
Was he just going
to screw a stranger in the bathroom? Well, he is a guy
, my mind retorted.
And I was totally coming on to him out
there. It’s not like a man to turn down easy sex
.

I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My
boobs were hanging out and my dress was askew. I quickly went over and snapped
the lock into place before someone walked in on me in this state of complete
disarray.

I splashed cool water on my face and patted my
chest with a damp paper towel in an attempt to calm down. Never in my whole
life, had I been that excited or this humiliated. What a difference a few
seconds can make.

As I attempted to fix my appearance, I thought
about Sam. He really was identical to Seth physically, but he was darker, more
dangerous. The bathroom had felt electrified when he was near me. I touched up
my lipstick and vowed to steer clear of him.
He’s exactly what I don’t need,
I thought as I breezed out the
door. I was, however, prepared to give Seth an earful for not warning me about
him.

Returning to the great room, turned fairy
forest, my eyes were immediately drawn to Sam. He was standing near the stage
with a bevy of lovely ladies hanging on his every word, including a life-sized
Barbie doll who had her arm possessively curved around him. I shook my head,
immensely grateful that our fooling around in the bathroom had stopped when it
had.

“There she is.” Seth approached me, smiling. He
had a dark-haired beauty with him. The woman’s enormous green eyes were
accentuated by the longest, thickest, black eyelashes I had ever seen, outside
of a magazine. She was stunning in her floor-length midnight blue gown, and I
recognized the family resemblance immediately. “Abby, this is my sister Jessie.
Jess, meet Abby.”

“Abby! Seth has told me all about you. It’s
great to meet you.” Jessie extended her hand and flashed a dazzling smile
directly at me. She seemed friendly and kind, and I liked her immediately.

“You’ll have to tell me what he said.” I smiled
trying to hide the rush of excitement I felt at finding out he had mentioned me
to his sister. “And I have tons of questions for you about what he was like growing
up.”

“I have plenty of answers.” She gave Seth an
ornery grin before adding, “I know all of his secrets.” Then she finger waved
at me and said to track her down later.

After she fluttered off, I turned on Seth. “Told
your sister all about me, huh?”

“She has a huge mouth. I’ll get even with her
one of these days,” he added in my ear as he kissed my cheek. “Sorry I was
late. Did my family take good care of you?”

I coughed, thinking of how Sam had almost taken
care of me. I wasn’t sure how to bring that particular topic up with Seth. I
finally settled for, “I met your brother because I thought he was you. You
didn’t feel the need to mention that he is your identical twin?”

“Didn’t I mention it?” He seemed truly
surprised.

“No, I’m positive I would have remembered that.”
I tried to figure out how to continue. How does one tell her lover that she
almost banged his twin in the bathroom? It wasn’t a problem that I had
encountered before, so I wasn’t at all sure how to broach the subject.

“You really do look
exactly
alike,” I hedged.

He smiled as he answered. “We are identical on
the outside, except for a scar that Sam has on his shoulder. We’re very
different on the inside, though,” he added. “Oh, and I’m older by a few minutes,
which really gets his goat,” he chuckled.

It was clear by Seth’s expression how much he
loved his twin. My eyes were drawn involuntarily to Sam. He wasn’t looking at
me, but something inside me felt like he recently had been. I didn’t know how
to tell Seth what had happened, but I knew I needed to. The words just wouldn’t
form in my head. It had been an honest mistake. I knew he wouldn’t be angry,
but I couldn’t bring myself to tell him.

Maybe we
will laugh about it someday.
My mind was hopeful, probably a little too
hopeful.

Seth asked me to dance and whisked me onto the
dance floor. I spent the next few songs with my head against his broad shoulder,
relishing the feeling of being enveloped in his strong arms.

I felt that he was near before I heard or saw
him. “May I cut in?” Sam’s voice was deep and clear and so similar to Seth’s.
Seeing the two of them standing together like reflections in their dashing
tuxedos nearly took my breath away. They were perfection. Seth gave a mock bow
and walked away, unaware of the tension radiating from me.

Sam’s eyes slowly perused me from head to toe
then back up again. My body burned under his gaze. I could feel my nipples
puckering under my dress when his eyes paused at my breasts and his mouth
turned up slightly, knowingly. When he finally made it back up to my eyes, he
held open his arms in invitation as he lifted his brows and said, “Shall we?”

I didn’t want to be in his arms again, but I
couldn’t cause a scene. His eyes twinkled as he sensed my reluctance.
That bastard is enjoying making me
uncomfortable,
my mind screamed as I vowed not to let him see how much he
affected me.

I stiffened myself into a formal dance pose as
he expertly guided me around the dance floor. My body was acutely aware of the
places where he touched me. The nerve endings in my hand, lower back, and waist
were all teeming with activity. I consciously slowed my breathing because it
had become quick and shallow. I attempted to keep my face a passive mask as the
rest of my body betrayed me. My eyes scanned the room, desperate to look
anywhere but at Sam.

He drew me in closer, and I sucked in my breath.
“Since I didn’t get punched in the jaw, I am assuming you didn’t tell Seth
about our little tryst in the bathroom,” he growled near my ear.

“It was hardly a tryst,” I snarled back at him,
“more like an unfortunate mistake.”

“I didn’t find it unfortunate at all. In fact, I
rather enjoyed myself, until you called me by my brother’s name.”

He had the audacity to grin. Then he continued,
“I don’t generally share my brother’s taste in women, but with you he did
okay.”

“Okay
?!?
” I spluttered.
Then I lifted my chin, deciding not to let him push my buttons. “You know,
instead of rating me, you might think about how hurt Seth would be if he knew
about us.”

“Us?” he asked. “So, now we’re an ‘us’? I didn’t
know you cared so much.”

“You know what I meant.” I glared at him. This
man was exasperating.

He leaned forward to whisper in my ear. “When
I’m fondling my date’s fake tits tonight, I’m going to be thinking about your
real ones.”

That did it. My mouth fell open, appalled. My
eyes felt like they might pop out of my head. I whirled away from him and
headed for the bar. I needed a glass of wine. Pronto.

“Your brother is a pig!” I said loudly when
Jessie hopped up on the bar stool next to me.

“I take it you’ve met Sam,” Jessie chuckled.
“Yes, he can be a bit of a pig. But he can also be generous and kind and
hilarious and a pain in the ass, but I love him to pieces. I love both of them
to pieces,” she gushed. She leaned in as if telling me a secret. “You
definitely picked the right one to date, though. Seth is the real deal, and Sam
leaves behind a trail of broken hearts.”

By the way her words were slurring together, I
could tell the glass of wine she ordered wasn’t her first of the evening. “I
think that’s why Sam settles for the never-ending stream of gold-digging ‘I’
girls,” she continued.

“What’s an ‘I’ girl?” I asked her.

“Oh, you know,” she waved her hand around, “
Candi
with an I, Terri with an I, Sandi with an I,
Cami
with an I. The parade of
leggy blondes with enormous jugs that he shows up with always introduce
themselves that way.” She mimicked shaking a hand and fluttered her eyelashes.
“Hi, I’m Bambi with an I.”

She started cracking up at her own joke. Her
laughter was contagious, and I soon had the giggles as well. I was enjoying
being with her and laughing at her despicable brother.

“You know what else,” she went on, leaning in
further. “He doesn’t ever kiss them on the lips. They all think they are going
to win him over and marry him and take his fortune, but he gets tired of them
after a few dates and sends them along their merry way. Then POOF,” she snapped
her fingers for added affect, “he finds another one just like the last 412.”

I had the feeling she wouldn’t be telling me all
of this if she wasn’t tipsy. I wondered why Sam treated women like they were
disposable. Thankfully, I didn’t have to worry about figuring him out because I
had Seth, and he was wonderful. I decided to see what Jessie had to say about
him.

“So tell me about your sweet brother.” I nudged
her elbow gently.

“They are both sweet to me,” she replied, “but
since I know you’re talking about Seth, he’s one of the good ones, Abby. Please
don’t hurt him.”

Her sudden rush of sincerity surprised me. “I
won’t.” I reassured her, and I meant it.

“Speak of the devil.” Jessie smiled at Seth as
he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. “I’ll let you
two be, since you’ve barely seen each other all evening.” With that, she hopped
off her stool and disappeared into the crowd.

“I’m almost afraid to ask what you two were
talking about.” Seth slid around and plopped down on the stool Jessie had just
vacated.

“You, as the matter of fact,” I answered. “Your
sister seems to think rather highly of you.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have interrupted then, but I
feel like my siblings have had more of you tonight than I have.” I attempted to
push the unwanted thought of Sam having a whole lot of me in the bathroom out
of my mind. “Is it my turn to get to hang out with you?” Seth asked, batting
his dark eyelashes playfully.

“Absolutely,” I answered. “Can we get out of
here or do your family duties require you to stay longer?”

Before I finished the question, he was already
downing the last of his drink and standing up. “Let’s go. I’ve been wanting to
rip that little black dress off you all night.”

“Deal.” I stood, taking his hand. As we exited,
I tried to ignore the electrifying chill that went up my spine. I knew, without
a doubt, that Sam was watching me leave with his brother.

I looked in my rear view mirror to make sure
Seth’s Jeep pulled out of the museum lot behind me. We had decided to go to my
house, and I was suddenly nervous about having him in my space.

Courtney had worked the dinner shift tonight; so
she wouldn’t be there when we arrived, but she would be coming in later. I
wasn’t sure how to let her know not to disturb us. I wondered if I should tie a
‘we are screwing our brains out’ scarf to the doorknob, but decided that was a
little crass. She would just have to draw her own conclusions when she saw
Seth’s vehicle parked in our driveway.

I was hornier than I ever remember being in my
entire life. In fact, I briefly considered pulling over and having my way with
Seth in his Jeep on the side of the road. I pictured myself climbing through
the
doorless
driver’s side and mounting him in one
smooth move. I could have him inside me, easing this aching desire within
seconds. I tapped the brakes, but at the last minute decided that we would have
more room to fool around at home.

I refused to acknowledge the idea that this extreme
randiness
might be in any way related to my encounter
with Sam in the bathroom.
Besides,
I
told myself,
I thought he was Seth when
we were in there. Any lust that I felt for Sam had to be due to the fact that
he looked exactly like his brother.

Even though it only took a few minutes to drive
to my house, it felt like an eternity. I was so excited that my fingers shook
as I tried to work the keys in the lock of our mahogany front door. When I
managed to open the door, Buster thumped his tail a couple of times, but didn’t
bother to get up. Tabitha lit out of the room as if her tail were on fire when
she saw me entering the house, not Court.

As soon as Seth shut the door behind us, I
turned and pushed him back against it. I kissed him, plunging my tongue into
his mouth. When I reached down, I happily discovered that he was already hard
and ready. His groan of pleasure at my touch increased my urgency.

“I need you inside me now,” I pleaded as I
worked to loosen his tuxedo pants. I freed him and wrapped both hands loosely
around his thick cock, enjoying the velvety smoothness as I stroked up and down
the length of him.

He whirled us around, lifting my dress and
yanking my lacy thong down. I stepped out of the panties and leaned my back
into the door as he lifted me over him. My hand guided him to my opening. I was
so slick with desire that he slid right in. I tilted my head back and wrapped
my legs around him, as he kissed my neck and started circling his hips.

He held me against the front door with one arm
as his other hand reached down to rub over the front of me. I was strung so
tight that a few quick brushes of his thumb over my clit had me convulsing
around him. I cried out as I came hard, wrapping my arms around his neck and
ramming my body onto his dick with every fiber of my being. His orgasm was
powerful, and he yelled my name as his body tightened and he spilled into me.

We stood there like that for several seconds,
breathing hard. Once my brain started to operate properly, I marveled at how
strong he must be to have held me like that. I wasn’t a large woman, but I
certainly wasn’t a waif. I preferred the word curvy, and he had held me with
one arm and a very large penis.
Impressive.

After he lowered my feet back to the floor, I
did a hand motion indicating the rest of the house, beyond the entryway and
said, “So, this is my place.”

“I love it so far,” he replied, and we both
chuckled as we straightened our clothes.