Two is Twice as Nice (3 page)

With one last thrust, he grabbed her, holding her close to him. His semen spilled, a hot rush of heat singed her core and trailed onto her leg. She waited a moment before pulling away and turning around.

“Wow,” he said, picking his pants up from around his ankles. Resituating her own clothes, she glanced in the mirror. One look at her hair, and anyone would know exactly what she had been doing. Running her fingers through the tangled mess, she smoothed down parts of it, but the rest remained untamed. She decided it didn’t matter. At least this time, people would be staring at her for something she was happy about. “Ready?” He motion toward the door. Taking a deep breath, she nodded and took his hand. The lock clicked as he turned the knob.

In the hall, a couple of people stood holding drinks, none seemed concerned with what had gone on behind the closed door, but the giggles as they passed meant their secret had not stayed hidden.

As soon as they were outside, Anthony kissed her softly on the cheek, his lips grazing over the scar. Instantly, her knees felt weak. When they had first removed the dressing after the accident, she had barely been able to look at herself, let alone touch the area. In fact, it had taken her months to get up the courage to run her hand over the jagged surface. Even after she had convinced herself that Anthony might like her, despite her appearance, she never imagined him or anyone else kissing her there.

Chapter Four

“I’m glad you were free tonight.” Anthony met her in the parking lot downtown. Every article she’d read on safety said it was a bad idea, but he seemed trustworthy enough, so she agreed to the arrangement.

“Me too. So what’s the surprise?” On the phone, he hadn’t been clear on what they were doing, just that she should dress warmly.

“Not so fast. Close your eyes.” He took her hand and held it close to his chest. While last night had been amazing, she hoped that if tonight included any sex, it would be behind closed doors at home.

“You’re not going to kidnap me and ransom me off to the highest bidder, are you?”

“You’ll just have to find out.”

She stared at him a minute, then sighed loudly and closed her eyes, covering them with her free hand. “Fine.”

As she followed behind him to whatever surprise he had in mind, she could smell his cologne wafting in the breeze. The scent reminded her of their first night together. She made a mental note to mention to him later that he should wear it more often.

“How much farther?” Like he’d requested, she’d dressed warmly—tights under her jeans and a thick sweater—but he hadn’t said anything about wearing comfy shoes. Though they had only been walking a few minutes, she could feel blisters forming on the backs of her heels.

“Okay, we’re here.”

“Where is here?”

“Open your eyes and find out.”

Slowly, she lowered her hand, taking in the scene around her. In front of them stood the most magical Christmas scene she had ever seen. A giant tree covered in white twinkling lights stood in the middle of an ice skating rink. A shining angel topped the display, its glow reaching into every corner of the square. Children and adults were skating around it, some making graceful movements and twirling, others toppling over every few feet.

“It’s incredible. I’d always heard there was a rink like this here, but I’ve never actually been able to come.” She turned to look at him, wondering if it was even possible for all of this to be true. Just a week ago, she thought there was no way she would ever find a guy who’d look at her again, and now, she not only had the guy, but he had renewed her faith in the magic of Christmas.

“Then I guess tonight is your lucky night.”

She smiled. He had no idea how lucky she felt.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her over to one of the benches. He motioned for her to stay put then he disappeared around the corner. A few minutes later, he came back carrying a pair of skates in each hand. Her heart beat like a kid on Christmas morning as he handed her a set. Excitement ran down her spine.

Cara pulled the skates on over her socks and laced them up. “I’ve never actually done this before.”

“Tie laces?” His eyes were twinkling, bits of green swirling through them.

She ignored his sarcastic remark. “No, ice skate. I’m probably pretty bad at it.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m bad, too. It will just be fun.”

It did sound like a lot of fun to skate around holding his hand. This was exactly the kind of date she enjoyed—full of surprises and laughter. Here, they had the ability to talk and connect, something they wouldn’t get at a bar.

She stood up and her ankles wobbled as she struggled to balance on the thin strip of metal. He took her hand, and they trudged to the edge of the rink. Stepping out onto the ice first, he led her out, allowing her to glide a few feet toward him, before helping her turn to face the proper direction. Almost instantly, she tripped. His steady arm kept her from hitting the ground as she regained her balance.

“You have to watch the toe pick. Maybe I should have gotten you hockey skates.”

“I’ll figure them out.” She focused on keeping the tip of the skate from the ice. She wasn’t entirely sure what a toe pick was, but she knew she shouldn’t be using it.

“See? You’re already a pro.”

She looked at him disapprovingly. “So far all I’ve managed to do is slide six inches and almost fall down. I’m not really sure that qualifies me as a pro.”

“Ah, but you didn’t fall. That makes you a pro.”

For the rest of the night, he held her tightly, guiding her around the rink until she got the hang of it, then he’d help balance her when she tried to push off on her own. Despite falling flat on her ass a couple times, by the end of the night she had actually gotten good at it.

“My hands are freezing,” she said, rubbing her palms together.

“Let me see.” He cupped her hands between his and blew warm air onto her pink skin. “You know what would warm them up?”

“What?” She imagined the things he had in mind—the acts that he could perform and would undoubtedly warm more than just her hands.

“A big mug of hot chocolate.”

“With marshmallows?” she asked, smiling. If nothing else, it might get them back to her place.

“Is there any other way to have it?”

She nodded and followed him to their cars.

***

The teakettle on the stovetop whistled. She turned off the burner and poured the boiling water into two mugs filled with hot chocolate mix. Stirring carefully until the last of the mix had been dissolved, she added the finishing touch: two giant marshmallows for each cup.

She walked slowly into the living room and handed him his drink.

“You built a fire?” She sat down on the floor in front of the fire and cradled her cup in her hands.

“I figured the rest of you might need to be warmed up as well.” He took a sip, a speck of marshmallow remaining on his nose when he lowered the glass. For a moment, she contemplated leaning forward and licking it from his nose, but he was too fast and had wiped it away before she had the chance.

“It does, but I was thinking there might be a faster way to warm it up.” Her cheeks turned hot, and she was sure her whole face was bright red.

“Hmmm…I can’t seem to think of anything.” He set his cup down on the coffee table and slid next to her, his arm circling her back.

“Really? You can’t think of anything you could do to help warm me up?” Setting her own hot chocolate down, she scooted closer to him, placing her palm on his upper thigh.

“Nope, can’t think of a damn thing.” Pursing his lips together, he shook his head. His dimples gave him away though.

She pressed both of her palms flat against his chest, shoving him down onto the carpet. “Can’t think of a thing, huh?”

“Oh, that.” He laughed, as she shook her head.

Leaning forward, she tasted his soft lips with her tongue, tracing their outline before finally kissing him. His hands felt their way up her body; his warmth replaced the soft feel of her sweater. “You know, as much as I loved last night, I much prefer this.”

He sat up suddenly, lifting her off of him and onto the floor. “Last night?”

“I’m not saying that it wasn’t wonderful, because it was, I’m just saying that I like this better. In front of the fire is just a little more romantic than a bar bathroom.”

The blank look on his face was not a good sign. Opening her big mouth never did her any good, and now she had gone and spoiled what would otherwise have been a perfect evening. “It really was fantastic though. I enjoyed it and would do it again.”

She could practically see the hole she was digging for herself, and it was already deep enough to bury her entire body, plus that of her family.

“I have to get home.” He stood up and moved toward the front door.

“Can we please talk about this? I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You didn’t. I have to be up really early in the morning and should get home to get some sleep.”He walked over and kissed her. It wasn’t like his normal kisses. This was brief and lacked the passion she usually got from him. “I’ll call you.”

“Okay,” she called after him, but he had already grabbed the last of his stuff and left the house.

“Damn it,” she whispered. A really amazing guy had finally come along, and she managed to completely blow it. Why did she have to mention the night at the bar? Stupid mouth always got her into trouble. Santa had practically thrown this guy at her as a Christmas present, and she couldn’t manage to keep hold of him for an entire week.

Chapter Five

For the next two days, Cara made multiple attempts to call and offer another apology. Afraid she might dig herself another grave, she even went to the trouble of writing out exactly what she wanted to say. Each time she tried though, his phone went straight to voicemail. The first time she left a message, but after that, she just hung up. Though she was still kicking herself for losing the perfect man, Christmas was quickly approaching, and she had plenty of presents that needed to be wrapped.

Then two days before Christmas, her cell phone rang, the caller ID showing his name. She thought about not answering. After all, he had walked out on her without any explanation, but she decided that he deserved a second chance. He’d been nothing but sweet when they’d first met. Surely he had a good reason for his strange behavior. Right?

“Hello.”

“Hi, Cara. It’s Anthony.” She stayed silent. “You have every right to be extremely angry at me. I shouldn’t have left without talking to you, but I got spooked and needed to work some things out on my own.”

Hearing his voice uncorked all the anger she’d been holding inside. She’d trusted him. After spending a whole night crying and trying to figure out where she’d gone wrong, maybe she shouldn’t be so forgiving. “I told you everything about my problems, all the crap that I’ve been through. I trusted you with my secrets, but you couldn’t manage to stay and talk to me about whatever sent you running for the hills?”

“It isn’t that easy to explain, and I had to be sure before I said anything.”

“Sure of what? You’re being very cryptic.”

“I don’t want to explain it to you over the phone. Will you agree to meet me for coffee? Same place as we had coffee the first day we met?”

She thought about it for a minute. Getting anywhere near the mall this close to Christmas meant risking life and limb, but if she really thought about it, he’d been the one to restore her faith in the magic of the season. Maybe she owed him an opportunity to explain. “Okay. I’ll be there in two hours.”

“Thank you. I promise you won’t be disappointed.” She hung up. More than anything, she hoped he was right. A few days ago, she had actually started to believe in the power of the holiday season again, and then he walked out the door, taking all her dreams with him. Honestly, she couldn’t imagine anything he had to tell her could be that terrible. Short of being married or committing a felony, she wanted to be able to forgive him. He’d changed her outlook on life, and she wasn’t ready to give that up.

***

Cara couldn’t manage to sit still, so she drove to the mall early and browsed through some of the stores. As expected, the place was a complete zoo—people running from store to store, and hitting their heavy bags against the calves of strangers. It took every bit of self-control she could muster, but she forced herself to look through a pile of towels near the door of one of the department stores for the last few minutes, determined not to be the first to get to the coffee shop. The last thing she wanted was to appear too eager.

When she finally allowed herself to enter the coffee shop, she immediately spotted Anthony. He picked up one of the cups sitting on the table, gesturing that it was for her. Taking a deep breath, she walked over and sat down in the chair across from him.

“You still accepting peppermint mochas?”

She took the cup from his hand, keeping an arm’s length between them. Until she heard what he had to say, it was better if she kept some distance. Things got confusing when he touched her, and she wanted to be able to think straight. “That depends on who is offering.”

“How about if it comes from a guy who is really sorry that he screwed up and walked out on you the other night?” His dimples were shallow, but she could still see them forming near the ends of his mouth.

“I think I’ll wait to hear what you have to say before I answer that question.” Her free hand moved up to rub the skin on her cheek.

“Please don’t do that. I thought I had managed to convince that you are beautiful even with the scar, perhaps even more beautiful because of it.” He reached out to grab her wrist, but she pulled away quickly, tucking her clenched fist between her thighs. She struggled to think of something to say back to him, but no appropriate words came to mind. “I’ll take your silence to mean that you no longer believe that.” He sat back in his chair, a disappointed look on face.

She picked up her cup and took a sip. The whipped cream had already completely melted into the liquid, a sure sign that he had been sitting there a while before she showed up. “I just want you to tell me the truth.”

“Whatever happens today, I want you to know that I meant every word I had ever said to you. You are the most beautiful woman I ever met, don’t forget it.”

Her heart fluttered. Using her cup to hide her smile, she cleared her throat. “What did you need to tell me?”

“Cara, what I’m going to tell you might come off as a little strange, and I’m a little nervous about how you will react.” He bit his lower lip, turning the soft pink skin red.

Her stomach churned. Before now, she’d assumed it would be something little, but seeing how nervous he was made her worry. “I’ve been told a lot of pretty crazy things by guys before. I’m sure you will rank low on the list.”

“I’m not so sure about that, but we’ll give it a try.” He drew a deep breath and stared off into the distance. “It will be easier for me to show than to tell you.”

Preparing herself for whatever was coming, she tried to remember all the wonderful times she’d had with him. He waved to someone at the entrance. Turning in her seat, she stared at the guy approaching. If she hadn’t been positive that Anthony was sitting at the table with her, she would have sworn that he was the one walking toward them. “Cara, this is my twin brother, Devon.” The stranger stuck out his hand, and Cara took it, simply because she was too stunned to do anything else. Her gaze bounced back and forth between the two. “The reason I left the other night is that, well…” Anthony stopped and looked at his brother. “I didn’t meet you at a bar. I’ve only been on three dates with you before today. The first day at this coffee shop, the movie at your house, and the ice rink.”

The words barely sunk in. Devon had pulled a chair over to the table and sat down, leaning back with his arms crossed. They were practically impossible to tell apart, but if she looked carefully, the slight differences quickly became noticeable. Devon was slightly more muscular, but his brother had deeper dimples.

“I don’t get it. I know we met at the bar.” She looked at Anthony, snippets of memories of their time together ran through her mind. Then the whole conversation snapped into place. “So I actually met Devon at the bar?” Both guys nodded. The words made sense, but trying to put it in perspective made her brain hurt. “And in the bathroom?” Devon grinned at her. “Did you know about this?” Her question was directed at Anthony. She prided herself on the fact that she had never been the kind of girl who slept around or cheated, now she wasn’t so sure. The whole time, she thought it was Anthony.

Anthony wrapped his hands around his cup. “Not until you said something the other night. That’s why I left so quickly. As soon as you said that we had been at the bar, I knew Devon had met you. I had to go home and find out for sure before I could say anything to you.”

“Does this happen a lot?” Her face was burning. It was embarrassing to be sitting in public, talking to two guys she’d slept with in the past week as though the whole situation was as normal as the weather. Why would they do that to her? Did they think it was funny?

“Well, not a lot, but sometimes.” Anthony turned to glare at his brother, who sat with a satisfied smile across his face. “He likes to meet and check out the girls I am dating. Normally, he just buys them a drink, talks to them for an hour, then leaves. You’re the first one he’s ever actually, well, you know,” he said the last part in a hushed voice. “Don’t think I let him get off scot-free either.” Tension filled the space between them. Cara spotted the exchange of glares between the two. The physical distance Anthony kept from Devon made it obvious that all was not right in their relationship.

She dropped her trembling hands to her lap, afraid they would see how shaken she was. Anthony leaned forward to grab her arm, but she pulled away, sending her drink flying. The entire store stopped to stare. She would have killed to be invisible at that moment. Her fingers lifted to hide her cheek as she bent to pick up the empty cup. One of the teenagers working the bar met her with a large stack of napkins.

“It’s okay, miss, I have it.” Returning to her chair, she scrunched as low as she could get. She watched the teen mop up the puddle of coffee and thought about what she wanted to say. Part of her wanted to just leave, without explanation, but her gut told her stay. “You’re telling me that in the past two weeks I’ve slept with both of you?”

They nodded.

She cringed. She knew better than to jump into bed with some guy right away, but he had seemed so normal, and so wonderful, that she had stopped thinking. Sighing, she tried to decide whether she should be mad at herself or them. A few seconds later, she decided
they
were both mostly to blame.

“We realize this is a lot to take in, but I needed you to know.” Anthony had lowered his voice so that the conversation seemed more intimate, but she couldn’t stop looking at Devon, who gave her a wink and she couldn’t stop the heat that trailed down her spine. She turned her attention back to Anthony, recalling his recent words.

It was admirable, she supposed. After all, Anthony probably could have kept dating her without ever letting on. She never would have figured it out. In fact, she almost felt bad for the guy. He had been incredibly good to her, and maybe he really didn’t have any idea what his twin had done until she mentioned it, but still. Here she was in a coffee shop having a conversation she would only be able to explain by telling people that she was dating a guy with an evil twin.

“I’m not really sure what you want me to say now. It’s weird that I’ve slept with your brother. How are we supposed to have a relationship?”

“That’s part of what we wanted to talk to you about,” Anthony said, slowly. “See, we both really like you. You are an amazing woman, and we both really want to be a part of your life.”

She started to open her mouth, but then closed it. There was nothing she could say that would express the range of emotions she was feeling. If they were suggesting that she be shared, well, that was something she’d never considered. Sure, she’d read books where the heroine got to have sex with two hunks, but that sort of thing didn’t happen in real life.
At least not in hers.

“We were kind of hoping you would be willing to date both of us.” Anthony reached out and took her hand, his forefinger stoking her thumb. Her mind flashed back to the incredible night she had spent wrapped up with him in her bed. Two people who were barely more than strangers, sharing the most intimate parts of themselves. She’d divulged things to him that she hadn’t told anyone else, not even her family.