It's ten years past when I should have gotten my shit together and shown that I could be stable.
So why the fuck is temptation on my brother’s front porch? Why when I pop the door open do I feel an instant connection to the innocent beauty? Not the kind I’d had with hookups but the kind that tells me I have to get to know this woman. Why the hell am I imagining her belly swollen with my baby while she carries another on her hip?
“I have your contract.” Her voice is soft and delicate, like her. She holds up the folder. A business associate? That explains the clothes, but she’s too young. Her innocence could be deceiving, but I don’t place her much above a teenager.
Her big eyes look up at me with more than a business relationship brewing behind them.
“Right,” I say, opening the door further. This isn’t right, but I can’t find it in me to tell her who I am. Devilish thoughts play through my mind.
“I should go.” She looks at me with hope and desire while extending the envelope. Her eyes rake down my t-shirt and athletic shorts, the same as most women do. Thankfully, I manage to keep my cock from tenting my pants.
All of the self-control I’d been so proud of lately is urging me to invite her in, which can’t possibly work out. This is going to be wrong on a few levels.
“Wait.” My words pull her eyes back to mine and the faintest hint of pink covers her cheeks before her expression turns to something akin to idolizing.
This insanely gorgeous woman idolizes my twin? Time to explore. Nothing will happen. He’ll be home soon. He’ll have to fess up that he has a carbon copy…physically anyway. His corporate path and my entrepreneurial struggles bear no resemblance.
“Come on in.”
Her eyes go wide and she worries her lower lip. That does a number on my cock, but I remind it we’re going to bed alone tonight.
“You want me to come in?” Why is she surprised? This rules her out as a girlfriend or mistress.
I test the waters. “Sure, why not.”
She enters and glances around as if she’s never been inside before. “What a beautiful home you have, Mister Adams.”
Thatismy name, and this will be my home for the next few months. “Make yourself comfortable.”
“I thought I was just dropping this off. I didn’t plan to stay. You said to use the key—”
“I didn’t expect to get in until later.” The truth fits rather well, and old habits find my hand on her lower back as I guide her to the living room.
She glances down, where my arm disappears behind her, and from the angle her head is turned, I see a hint of a smile. Has my brother ever touched her like this? Does he see her for the doll that she is?
Welcoming her into my home feels so right, like my hand is where it belongs. Lincoln’s may not belong there, but mine does. But old habits are exactly that…old…not me anymore. I promised myself not to date anyone until I got my son back.
The problem is that the tightness in my chest and the primal need to please her feel sonew. This isn’t how I pick up women. It was always in a bar with lots of alcohol and bad decisions. She hesitantly makes herself comfortable in a high-backed easy chair. I’m about to take the seat across the room when I remember my manners.
“Would you like something to drink?”
“Sparkling water would be great.” She sets the contract on the table and pats it.
I return with our drinks, no better able to control my attraction to her. She studies my every move.
Lincoln and I had fun tricking people when we were younger. It was a rare chance to live in someone else’s shoes. Let’s call this a trip down memory lane.
“What’s on your mind? You look curious.”
She purses her lips, takes a sip, and looks everywhere but at me.
“Am I that scary to talk to?”
“You’re so different at the office. You never…” She pauses then waves her hand between us. “Anyway, it’s good to see that you’re relaxed at home. Sometimes, at the office, I worry that you work too hard.”
I can't stop myself? “Work hours are over. Let your hair down, and take your jacket off. Hang out…relax.”
Her brow furrows.