I leaned closer to Van, pressing against him. “That’s not to say that I’m not a bit disappointed we won’t be alone.”
“Oh, we’ll be alone in our bedroom. They’ll each stay in rooms in the south wing. Tomorrow, assuming they take the offer, they’ll move to the guesthouse. Only one night of keeping our volume under control.”
Kissing his lips, I stepped back and removed my coat, laying it on one of the chairs. “Where is the guesthouse? I’ve never seen it.”
“On our property.”
“Our,” I repeated with a grin. “I really do want to marry you.”
“That’s good because I want to marry you.”
I turned toward the front doors and back. “I have a question that may be dumb.”
Van too had taken off his coat. Laying it next to mine, he turned my way. “Questions are never dumb, Julia. Questions are a search for knowledge. Why would smart devices be so popular if people didn’t ask millions of questions a day?”
“I suppose you’re right. I could just ask my phone—when I get one.”
“Connie has your new one at the office. You’ll have it tomorrow. What’s your question?”
“You said you and Phillip are identical.”
“We share the same genetic blueprint.”
“Okay, I understand enough about genetics to know that identical twins come from the splitting of a fertilized egg. What about the sensor?”
“What about the sensor?”
“The one by the door. If it’s set to recognize your handprint, won’t it also recognize his?”
Van shook his head. “Interesting fact about identical twins, they don’t have matching fingerprints. It’s a myth or a fabrication of mystery writers and crime shows. We’re also not genetically identical. We started with the same genetic material as one another, but as soon as the fertilized egg split, our cells wove their own strands of DNA and split into more cells. The difference is usually only about five percent of our makeup, but it’s enough to prove we’re not the same person.”
“I didn’t know any of that,” I answered honestly.
“Well, my pursuit of that knowledge was fueled at a young age, primarily by my need for autonomy. You can say that I was happy with the findings.” He gazed past me to the kitchen. “Are you hungry?”
I peered down at my watch. It was nearly ten at night. “A little.”
“Let’s look in the kitchen for something to eat, and I’ll get us a bottle of wine to take upstairs.”
As I followed a step behind him, we entered the kitchen. As I opened the refrigerator my mind stayed on our conversation. “Who is older?”
Van turned. “If I answer you, will you drop this subject until tomorrow?”
Basking in the refrigerator’s illumination, I crossed my arms over my breasts. “My need to know increased significantly when I was ambushed slash kidnapped by a man who I didn’t know looked like a man I do. Oh, and there’s the part about him demanding to marry me and the theory he was going to break my heart in front of guests and allegedly send me running back to Skylar.” I took a deep breath. “I think under the circumstances, I deserve answers.”
“And our birth order will help how?”
My arms fell to my sides. “I don’t know. I’m curious.” I lifted the lids off a few dishes. “Oh, this looks like artichoke dip. Do we have crackers or bread?”
Van selected a bottle of wine from the rack and gathered two glasses. Before he answered any of my questions, the sound of the men’s footsteps descending the staircase came into range.
“If you go up to our room,” Van said, “we’ll secure the house. I’ll show them where they’ll sleep, and I’ll warm the dip and find something to go with it. Once I join you, I’ll grant you three questions.”
I lifted my eyebrows and closed the refrigerator. “You’llgrantme? Is this like a wish thing?”
He came closer, lowering his timbre. “No, there’s no limit on the number of wishes I’ll grant or orgasms. Questions tonight are limited to three.”
Attempting to swallow, I noticed that my mouth had suddenly gone dry. I lifted my chin, keeping Van in my sights. “You’re doing that thing with your voice.” And words, but honestly, he could be reciting the Declaration of Independence with his deliberately deep and sexy tone and my nipples would grow hard.