“What?”
“I meant that you should go on the date, but as me, not as you. She won’t know the difference and it will give you a chance to spend time with her one-on-one. Be Sebastian for the day and see what happens.”
Coming from the brother that normally eschewed his twin-swapping shenanigans, Sutton was stunned. “That’s an awfully big risk to take just because you have a hunch. What if she can tell the difference between us?”
“Come on, bro. Our own family and friends struggle with telling us apart. Do you really think a woman that’s seen me twice without a mask would do any better?”
It was an interesting proposition, but one that was completely risk free for Sebastian. But he, on the other hand, was the one that would be stuck all day in another city with Lauren if things went wrong. Then again, she was on the short list of single women at the party. What if his brother was right and she was the one he’d spent the evening with?
“Counter-proposal,” he murmured after a few minutes of consideration. “Let’s test the waters first and see if I can pull this off. It’s been a long time since I’ve pretended to be you to mess with people.” Sutton reached for his phone and pulled up Lauren Roberts’s Street Eats account on Instagram. Her trucks moved around each day, so you had to go online and see where they would be on a given day.
He started to look at the most recent post, but another caught his eye. It was a professional shot of a dark-haired woman with dark brown eyes. Her hair was up in a bun and she was wearing a white chef’s coat. It was nothing close to the glamorous image of the woman in a red, beaded gown, but there was something about her that was just as striking. Maybe it was the bold confidence that he liked. Something about the pout of her lips and the heart-shape of her face seemed familiar, too. He tore his gaze away from the photo to read the description. It was the Street Eats owner and executive chef, Lauren Roberts herself.
Sebastian might just be right. This could be the woman Sutton had spent the most incredible night of his life with. There was something about her that drew him in. He couldn’t imagine his brother spending time with Lauren and not being intrigued by her knowing smirk and bewitching, dark gaze. He scrolled back up to the daily post to see where he could track her down today.
“It looks like she’s going to have the original truck at the Courtyard Shops, and Street Eats 2 will be at Royal Memorial Hospital today. What if I take your car into town under the guise of being you and pay her a little visit?” He tried not to suddenly sound too eager about his brother’s idea, but his pulse was racing at the chance to potentially track down his mystery woman.
“If she doesn’t suspect anything,” he continued, “then I’ll see if I can pull off a whole date this weekend as you. Hopefully, by that time, we’ll get the information back from Miles and we’ll have an idea if she’s someone that can be trusted or not.”
Sebastian grinned. “Brilliant. How do you know which truck she’ll be at today?”
Sutton looked over the account. “Seems like she’s always with her original truck based on what I see here, so I’ll start there first.”
“Excellent idea.” Sebastian fished his car keys out of his pocket and tossed them over to his brother. “Don’t scratch my baby.”
Sutton rolled his eyes. He was the car aficionado. The car he’d just been forced to sell was worth three times what Sebastian’s BMW would run. “Don’t worry. I’m pretending to be you, so I’ll drive like an old man.”
“Ha, ha!” Sebastian retorted as he got up and left the room. “Good luck pretending to be as charismatic and suave as I am,” he said over his shoulder as he disappeared down the hallway.
What a joke, Sutton thought to himself. Sebastian and he were alike in some ways, but polar opposites in others, especially when it came to the ladies. He loved his twin, but he was so uptight he squeaked. It didn’t surprise him that any chemistry he might have with a mystery woman would be snuffed out by reality. Sebastian’s dating habits were enough to put Sutton to sleep.
Over the years, his brother had brought around a long parade of sweet, southern debutantes that Mother would approve of. Not once had Sutton ever looked at one of his brother’s girlfriends with the slightest bit of interest. He had a completely different taste in women from his twin. That alone should’ve been enough to convince him that there were two women in similar red dresses at the party that night. There’s no way he and Sebastian would both be taken with the same woman, even if she was playing them both somehow.
Which meant that if Lauren Roberts wasn’t Sebastian’s girl, perhaps his brother was right and the pretty chef was his mystery lady. There was only one way to find out. He glanced down at his phone and noted the menu available for today.
“Tamales,” he said with a satisfied grin. It kept getting better. No matter what, the trip wouldn’t be a total loss because one of his favorites was on the menu.
* * *
Lauren was swamped. Tamales were always one of the more popular items at her food trucks. They sold well and they were assembled ahead of time, so it made for a less stressful day. She would do them more often, honestly, but she didn’t want to get pigeonholed into one type of cuisine. There was a whole culinary palate out there in the world and she wanted to cook and taste it all.
They’d made it through lunch to the afternoon lull. Between about two and five, the crowds dropped down enough for them to reevaluate supplies, do additional food prep and if the site wasn’t doing that well, to move to another spot.
Fortunately, she’d chosen a good place near the Courtyard Shops today. Priceless, the antique shop in the old barn, always seemed to do good business, as did Natalie Valentine’s bridal salon. People said this time of year was the start of proposal season and it looked to be true. There were more than a few crowds of ladies heading into the store to try on gowns with th
eir families and girlfriends.
Wedding gowns were of little interest to Lauren, she could barely get through a successful first date, but she actually planned to head over to the artisan cheese shop later to see what she could find.
Amy was loading another batch of assembled tamales into the steamer when Lauren looked out front and saw a black BMW pull up. It wasn’t an uncommon car, but the moment she laid eyes on it, she knew who it was. Her heart kind of sank at the idea of having to face Sebastian again so soon. He was a nice, handsome man and came from a good family. And her mother’s voice in her mind urged her not to screw it up. But whatever they’d shared that night had been smothered by reality. Pretending otherwise was a painful experience for her and she was a terrible liar.
Sorry, Mom.
“We’ve got a customer,” Lauren said to Amy, turning away from the window to busy herself on the other side of the kitchen.
She dismissed her friend’s sigh of irritation as Amy dropped what she was doing to greet the diner waiting for them.
“Lauren, it’s for you. Sebastian Wingate has come to pay you a visit.”