Twin Temptations (3 page)

“Fax me any details you can, along with a copy of the operation Callum was supposed to do. I’ll look into it from my end and see you tomorrow night at the annual dinner. This isn’t some lame scheme to make sure I do turn up to the damn dinner, is it?”

“Of course not,” Alex chuckled, sounding for the first time like his usual self once again. Samantha had to smile as his relief crashed over her. At least she knew without a

doubt he was genuinely relieved and pleased she had taken the job. “But I would like to politely request you wear the red dress, Sammi. It really complements your hair and eyes.”

Samantha smiled, knowing Alexander would be able to feel her amusement as easily as she felt his relief.

“Go shove yourself, brother dear. If you like the red so much,
you
wear it.” As soon as the words left her mouth she knew what his response would be and she laughed, before he could even say it. “I know, you simply don’t have the figure for that dress, but you know exactly what I mean. Why don’t you wear that red tie with little horned devils on it that Bella bought you for Christmas?”

“I wouldn’t want to upstage you, my dear.”

Samantha laughed and closed her eyes, enjoyed the feel of the sun on her face.

“Okay, I’ll wear the red, but only for you, darling twin. Only for you.”

They said their goodbyes and she hung up the phone. Samantha silently repeated in her mind how it was only for Alexander that she had agreed to look into Callum MacLennon.

Samantha had been depressingly celibate since her encounter with Callum. She had found she didn’t want anyone else’s hands running over her skin. She didn’t want the feel of another man palming her breasts or rubbing her clit or stroking deeply inside her. It was Callum’s hands she wanted caressing her, doing those unspeakably intimate things with her,
to
her.

No man had ever made her knees so weak, had made her body fill with a craving, desperate yearning like this.

Samantha crossed back over from the window and firmly forced herself to focus on her work. Pacing over to her desk and picking up a new notebook and pen, Samantha sat down cross-legged on the couch and began to make notes. She made a list of the things she wanted to check into before going to the annual dinner for the wolf

foundation. The fax hummed softly as Alexander sent through the report she needed to go over, and she added a note to that effect to her list. Standing up, she crossed to the small machine and began pulling pages out of the tray as they came through. Glad to feel her mind busily ticking away once more, she set to work.

Chapter Three

Callum MacLennon internally winced in sympathy as he watched his cousin glide up to him on three-inch stiletto heels that sparkled almost as much as her shimmering, slinky silver gown. She had a radiant smile on her face and her green eyes—almost identical to his own—were sparkling brightly.

Nothing, however, could detract attention away from the heart-shaped diamond set in platinum on her finger, with two star-shaped emeralds cuddling close. Callum felt his heart simultaneously constrict and lift.

Only a fool would think it was anything other than an engagement ring, and while he was quite honestly ecstatic that his very best friend had found happiness, it only made his own loneliness seem all the greater. Callum knew without even needing to ask that she was the happiest woman on Earth, and for that he smiled as he warmly embraced Bella in greeting.

“I hear congratulations are in order, Bella. You could have told me yourself, you know.”

“I’m sorry, Cal. I meant to call you first thing this morning when we finally managed to get out of bed, but everything has just been such a whirl. I take it Will or Josephine told you?”

Callum stepped back, reluctantly ending the embrace and shook his head.

“Nah, with half the Rutledge clan here I heard it from one of the kids at the front door. He recognized me and was practically gushing. I think it was Julien, Alexander’s next sibling, but it could have been Theo. I’ve only met half these people a time or two, so it’s rather hard to tell some of them apart.”

Bella waved a hand airily. “You’ll be seeing lots more of everyone now that you’re back permanently. I’m sorry you didn’t hear it from me first. This is the first chance I’ve

had to speak to you—I got so caught up in everything during the day. I know you’ve been busy and upset over those cubs, so I figured you could use the good news.”

Callum could practically feel the evening begin to dim.

“I still don’t have many leads at all on them, Bella. Either there’s been a hell of a lot of money to grease the wheels or this was one seriously organized affair. But I
will
find those cubs and get them back.”

He bent forward slightly as Bella stood on tiptoes to kiss his cheek softly and give him another quick hug.

“I know you will, Cal. But Alexander has hired someone to help you.”

Callum stiffened. He tried really,
really
hard not to feel outraged. He liked and respected Alexander Rutledge, knew Bella loved him more than anything, and so he really didn’t want to upset his cousin.

“Alex can go fuck himself.” Callum barely managed to keep the heat of anger from his tone. Even so, Bella raised an eyebrow at his language. “Look, I know it was my oversight that caused those tiny cubs to get stolen. If I had been guarding them myself and traveling with them instead of packing myself up to move here then we wouldn’t have needed to hire those idiots—”

He halted his tirade when Bella placed a finger over his lips. He smiled wryly, knowing she felt just as bad, just as worried as he did.

“This isn’t meant as a punishment, Cal. Alex contacted his twin, Samantha. She’s a private investigator, and a damn fine one too. She’s just going to help you look into everything, be a second set of eyes for you. Now I know you don’t want help…”

Callum felt himself fairly bristling with the insinuation he couldn’t deal with the situation. He knew Alexander didn’t think him incompetent, or if he did he certainly wouldn’t say so aloud as Bella would tear his heart out, werewolf or not, yet he couldn’t help how he felt and reacted to the news.

“It’s not that I don’t just
want
any help in this, Bella. I don’t
need
any help. I know Samantha is a PI, but this was my mistake, my problem. The last thing I need is another Rutledge hovering over my every move and taking tales back to Brother Dearest.”

Callum resisted the urge to smile as Bella’s eyes flashed in anger.

“Samantha
won’t
be telling on you or anyone else, and don’t you dare insult her like that. I love you to death, Cal, you
know
that, but Sam is a good friend of mine. She can help you. You’re not the he-man you seem to think you are.

“I have every faith that you will do your job and do it brilliantly, but tracking down those cubs is something Sam can definitely help you with, and I don’t want your stupid masculine pride getting in the way. Am I clear?”

Callum laughed softly and shook his head. One thing he had to credit Alexander Rutledge with, he had brought his shy little cousin out of her shell and helped her become the incredible woman he had always known she was.

“So what
exactly
are you saying here, Bella? Level with me.”

For a moment, he caught a flicker of…something…in his cousin’s eyes. He had no idea what the fleeting emotion was, but his instincts flared to life. There was more going on here than he knew about.

“I want you to work with Sam, Callum. No stonewalling, no idiotic male posturing. Sam is going to be working with you and I want you to help her and stick close to her.”

Callum felt his eyes slit half-closed. Usually he could scent a lie a mile away, and Bella had never been the best of liars. He warily eyed at his cousin. Something was most definitely up, and for the first time in years he had no idea what it was and couldn’t read his cousin properly. She was deliberately not meeting his eyes and being very careful with her body language.

“Stick close with Samantha Rutledge? Work with her? That’s not a problem, Bella. I can play nicely when told to. What else aren’t you telling me?”

When Bella nibbled nervously on her lower lip he
knew
she was up to something. A million thoughts ran through his head, all of them more ridiculous than the next. He had never told his cousin about the most memorable fuck of his life—partly because he believed if Samantha wanted Bella to know about their sexual interlude she’d tell her herself, but also because a part of him still felt astonished he had been unable to control himself and taken her against the wall in a dark alleyway. Neither was he keen to admit to Bella that he had been half in love with Samantha ever since that fateful evening. Callum was used to dealing with his life himself. He didn’t want or need Bella to run interference for him.

Working with Samantha would be a pleasure. Maybe he could even work her out of his system if the opportunity presented itself correctly. If Bella was hiding something. though…

Before he could start questioning Bella more closely, Alexander had snuck up behind her and embraced her, pressing kisses to her neck. Callum winced and averted his face.

“Please, Alex, some of us want to be able to stomach these expensive canapés, not watch you make a scene.”

“Come on, Cal, I would have thought a man like you could stand to watch a few kisses.”

Callum shrugged and cast his eye over the crowded ballroom. When he caught sight of a particular brunette in a stunning red dress, he felt his breath hitch. When she turned slightly to look at him, he felt his heart accelerate, beating hard against his chest.
Samantha.

She was, if possible, even more beautiful than she had been eight months ago. He felt his cock harden, making him shift subtly in his tuxedo pants. The last thing he wanted or needed was for Alexander to notice him stiffen and all but pant after his twin sister.

Callum snagged a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and turned back to Bella.

“Play nice, huh?” he said cryptically, desperately wanting to inquire deeper into his cousin’s
real
reasons behind her little speech. Alex could just have easily told him he had hired Samantha to help him look into the cubs’ disappearance, yet it had been Bella who had taken him aside.

When Bella merely nodded and leaned back into Alex’s embrace, Callum shook his head. He stalked away to the nearest plate of funny-looking canapés. Eyeing them carefully, not wanting to eat goose liver or something equally distasteful, he finally speared a cheese and pickle concoction and popped it into his mouth.

“It’s been a while, Callum. I thought you were in Australia working with dingoes.”

Callum turned around and swallowed hard, barely managing not to choke himself. Samantha Rutledge was one gorgeous woman, all luscious curves encased just so in a perfect slinky red dress. It technically revealed little skin other than her arms and a small amount of back, but the way it clung to her breasts and whispered between her thighs with her every movement, a man couldn’t help but be able to visualize every inch of her delectable skin.

“Project finished, Sammi. I figured it was time to come home.” Callum drawled in his most jaded, arrogantly cynical tone as he tried to hide some of the lust spearing through him and heating his blood until he could swear he was about to explode. The woman looked like a living, walking, talking wet dream.
His
personal, private and exceedingly lifelike wet dream. She opened her mouth, and once again his instincts kicked into gear. She was about to tell him off for using her familiar, childhood family name. He decided to switch gears. Seduction could come after he found out if she was in on Bella’s crazy scheme, whatever the hell it was.

“I’ve been warned to play nicely with you, Sam. Do you think we can learn to play well together?”

The very faint flush that crept across her cheeks had his cock hardening even more. Yet he also saw curiosity and an uncertainty in her eyes. She was wary of him, rightly so since the only thing his mind seemed focused on was ripping the slinky red dress from her body, spreading her open on the nearest available flat surface and finally being able to take his time in exploring the luscious curves of her body. Callum had spent eight months fantasizing about her body, the way she whimpered when he penetrated her and how mewling little cries escaped her mouth when she was about to come. Nothing could give him greater pleasure than finally being able to take his time with her, to look, see, touch and taste every inch of her, and he wasn’t sure he could focus a hundred percent on anything else until he had satisfied himself with her.

Samantha’s eyes burned with lustful curiosity, but no deceit or hidden agenda lay in those dark blue depths. What he could see were her peaked nipples rasping against the slinky red material of her dress. He felt his cock lengthen and tighten even more. He knew no amount of painful shifting would hide the iron rod lodged behind the fly of his tux.

Might as well wear it with pride
, he decided.

Besides, her innocence in Bella’s plan, whatever it might be, was well worth the side benefits of
having
to stick close to her.

“I think we need to talk,” he rasped, surprised at the scratchiness in his throat. A moment of staring at this woman and he wanted to do a million wicked things to her, in front of most of her family, her parents and a quarter of the foundation’s rich, snobby donors.

He must be insane.

Callum gently grabbed Samantha’s arm, turned her so they exited the side doors and led them into the dark gardens. She laughed, the happy sound floating around him

and only making him want to hear if she would laugh differently in the throes of passion. “No one has ever accused you of being shy or hesitant, have they, Callum?”

He smiled, “Not a chance, baby. I am known for my directness.”

“I’m beginning to believe it,” she replied, looking at him and making his mind all fuzzy.

Every thought except for kissing her senseless flew from his mind. As he led her outside, they walked in step. He knew no matter what that he would enjoy working with this wonderfully sassy, beautiful woman.