Good Twin Gone Country

by Jessica Lemmon

  Fair point. Luke had asked Cassandra to bail him out of being named most eligible bachelor by pretending to be his fiancée. Forget that they’d dated years prior and things had not ended well. Cassandra agreed, but only because she wanted a hand in Will and Hannah’s wedding. Despite their bumpy start—and bumpier restart—it’d worked out in the end. And then there was Cash, who had been set up—by Gavin, no less—to let Presley stay at his place while writing her article for Viral Pop. Gavin liked to think those two found each other again thanks to him, although Cash hadn’t had the decency to thank him for it yet. The jerk.

  “I’m not looking to be saddled,” Gavin said, his reaction more knee-jerk than authentic.

  “Don’t knock it till you try it.” Luke smirked.

  “You know what I mean,” Gavin replied before Luke could make a “riding crop” reference.

  The idea of someone romantically involved in Gavin’s life was fine. The idea of that same someone permanently involved was not fine. He had a busy career that consumed a lot of his time. He made room for fun, sure, but planning a family and a future? No, thanks. Not only did that flirt too much with settling down, but it also set him up for a huge fail. A temporary relationship ending with both parties walking away was far easier than untangling the strings of a marriage—or, gulp, children. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but he was beginning to believe his brothers were far braver than him in that regard.

  “I’m not blind. I know you each have incredible women at your sides, but you have to know you’re exceptions to the rule.” He slanted a glance at Cash. “You’re welcome for Presley, by the way. But not everyone is looking for forever.”

  “Like we were?” Cash chuffed.

  “Dude, you wrote her two songs,” Luke chimed in. Gavin was pleased to see Cash’s expression of chagrin.

  “Hallie is the one who kissed me, so don’t accuse me of being predatory. I didn’t even kiss her back.” Which was less a comment of how chaste he was and more a comment of how she’d surprised the hell out of him, but still.

  “And if she kisses you again?” Luke raised his eyebrows.

  Gavin shrugged. “If she’s interested in more, why not?”

  “Uh, a million reasons?” Cash said. “The main one being your brother is married to her twin sister.”

  “Hallie’s her own person.” Gavin was beginning to understand how irritating it must be for her to be lumped in with Hannah all the time. Though he’d lumped her in with her twin as a reason not to give in to his attraction to her, hadn’t he? Well. That was ridiculous. Hallie was an adult. He was an adult. If they wanted to do naked, sweaty, scintillating adult things to each other and never look back, that was their prerogative.

  “Yeah, and Will’s got a mean right hook,” Luke put in. He poured himself a bourbon and sat on a bar stool, a backdrop of liquor bottles behind him.

  “She was the one who asked me to help her step out of her comfort zone. I’m going to give her what she asked for.” Gavin sipped his drink. “Whatever that entails.”

  “Your funeral,” Cash said, and then Luke drank to that.

  Nine

  Hallie didn’t make a habit of drinking too much, but she’d had such a good time with Presley and Cassandra last night she’d accidentally overindulged. She arrived at Gavin’s new house with a headache and a very large cup of coffee. She supposed she could’ve put him off for another day or two, but that wasn’t her style. She’d promised to be here at nine thirty in the morning, so here she was, at 9:27 a.m. He needed her help, after all.

  And a few more kisses, her mind happily suggested.

  The more she thought about kissing him, the more nervous she became. She couldn’t very well attack him when he answered the door, now could she? And she was terrified to ask for a kiss. What if he responded with an apologetic refusal? She’d die. Which meant if they did kiss, it’d have to be unplanned—like the first time she’d kissed him. The spontaneous kiss had worked out okay. She thought.

  The driveway curved through two lines of tall trees, sun filtering through their leaves. When those trees gave way to the house, she gasped.

  Gavin’s droolworthy home was perched on a slight incline overlooking both the main lake as well as the smaller, private lake that he owned a portion of. The log cabin–style A-frame was enormous, with copious windows and several balconies.

  She stepped from her car and craned her head to take in a wide balcony on the second floor. Beyond a pair of double doors rose high cathedral ceilings. “Wow,” she heard herself whisper. Someone else heard her, as well.

  “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”

  Startled by Gavin’s sudden appearance next to her, she jolted, placing her hand over her racing heart as she gave him a smile. “Where did you come from? You scared the life out of me.”

  “You look plenty alive to me, Hals.” He grinned, his gaze briefly flicking to her lips before returning to the house. His place wasn’t quite as big as Cash’s sprawling mansion but was in no way quaint. “Fifty-three hundred square feet,” he said as if reading her mind.

  “How many people are going to live here with you?” she teased.

  “I know, right? The plans made it seem smaller. Come on, I’ll show you around.”

  She followed him in, walking up a short set of stairs to the front door. That door opened to an enormous kitchen and living room. The bold, dark wooden beams overhead were modern, charcoal gray set against a backdrop of pale pine.

  “I paid extra for those.” On anyone else it would’ve sounded like a brag, but she knew Gavin was simply being conversational. She’d always admired his ability to simply say what he thought. She overthought everything.

  “Well, they were worth it.” She stepped into the kitchen and stood between two massive islands, each with their own built-in sinks. Black bar stools were pushed beneath the overhang of one of the islands, each seat tall and padded, with shining silver rivets bolted into the leather.

  “Clearly nothing needs to be done in this room,” she said as she took in the gorgeous space. Behind the glass-doored cabinets were rows of cookbooks and canisters, as if every detail had already been decided.

  “The kitchen is the only part of the house that is done. Come with me.”

  After a tour of the bedrooms—she was still trying to wrap her head around why he had six of them—she saw what Gavin meant. Two bedrooms were unfurnished, and the others weren’t furnished to capacity.

  In the master bedroom’s walk-in closet, she smiled at the array of mismatched plastic hangers. She pointed at him with a turquoise blue one. “Tell me this is on your designer’s list.”

  “You’re in charge of this mess, not me.” He took the hanger, bringing him a step closer to her. The closet wasn’t small but seemed to shrink when he leaned one shoulder on the door frame and gave her a sexy grin.

  “Wooden hangers,” she managed, clearing her throat and her head of the idea of kissing him again. Standing over her, he was almost imposing. When he’d been across from her in the car, she’d been eye to eye with him. There had been no need to push to her toes or drag his mouth down to hers. Both of which she’d have to do if she kissed him now. Was it hot in here? She tore her eyes from his tempting frame to admire the built-in shelves and silver rods where his clothes hung in no particular order. “Dark brown or black hangers would be best.”

  She removed a suit jacket from in between two shirts and hung it with the other jackets, and then she moved a pair of suit pants to the lower rung before she realized what she was doing was strangely intimate.

  “Sorry.” She backed away from his clothes. “I didn’t mean to invade your space.”

  “Don’t be.” He straightened from the door frame and stepped deeper into the closet, his lips flinching as he looked at her lips again. “You invaded my space once before. You didn’t hear me complaining, did you?”


  Heat flushed her neck and face when he leaned a hair’s breadth closer. Maybe she wouldn’t have to initiate their next kiss. He was going to do it for her. She tipped her chin to accept what he was about to offer when a female voice punctuated the air.

  “Yoo-hoo! Gav?”

  Head still tilted downward, he didn’t move an inch, but Hallie did. She sprang away from him and darted out of the closet as a tall, dark-skinned woman stepped into the bedroom.

  “You must be Ruby,” Hallie said as Gavin came to stand next to her.

  “Yes. I am.” Ruby propped a hand on one of her hips, her expression curious as it snapped from Hallie to Gavin. The other woman was showing off her curves in an exotically patterned dress, her shoes tall and strappy.

  “This is Hallie,” Gavin introduced. “She’s going to be handling any and all questions you may have about decorating this beast.”

  “Really.” Ruby’s pink lips pulled into an almost smile, her shrewd but friendly eyes taking in Hallie slowly. She tilted her head at Gavin. “I didn’t realize you were seeing someone.”

  Ruby, with her bright green purse and glittery nail polish, seemed a better dating option for outgoing Gavin than Hallie.

  “She knows what she’s doing.” His arm hugged Hallie’s shoulders. She stiffened against him, surprised when he didn’t correct Ruby’s assumption. “I trust her.”

  “Well. Then let’s get started,” Ruby said.

  They tracked down the hallway, Gavin keeping his palm loosely pressed to Hallie’s lower back while Ruby chatted about her ideas for each room. Hallie was beginning to understand why he had needed help. She was already overwhelmed and she’d been in Ruby’s presence for a mere ten minutes.

  Downstairs, Gavin backed out of the kitchen, his palms clasped together. “I’m going to take off if you two have it under control. Hals, you’ll call me if you need anything?”

  “Of course. Yes.”

  “Great. Ruby. Always a pleasure.” With that he was off, the door shutting behind him. Hallie watched out one of the giant windows as he pulled away in the same F-150 he’d had the day they’d test driven the red car. He’d told Chad he hadn’t been quite ready to trade the truck in yet. The salesman was understandably disappointed, but covered with a toothy smile, promising Gavin he’d find him the perfect ride.

  “How new is it?” Ruby asked.

  “The truck? I think a little over a year. He was going to trade it in, but he ended up keeping it. He likes the color gray.”

  Ruby laughed, the sound throaty. “I meant you and Gavin seeing each other. How new is it?”

  Oh. That. They weren’t seeing each other, but since he hadn’t corrected Ruby, Hallie felt as if she’d be breaking some sort of unspoken confidence if she denied it. “We haven’t been hanging out long, but we’ve known each other for a while.”

  There. That was safe.

  “What about you? How long have you known Gavin?”

  Ruby regarded the beamed ceiling before jotting something into a small notebook. “Eleven, twelve years? Somewhere in there.”

  Hallie felt her mouth form a perfect O.

  “We studied prelaw together. I was going to be a lawyer when I grew up, but I changed my major.”

  “To interior design.”

  “Yep. Much more fun.” Ruby winked. “So, your sister married Gavin’s brother and you’re dating Gavin. You two always keep your romantic interests in the family?”

  Ruby’s curiosity was natural, but resentment burbled to the surface anyway. Hallie was tired of being lumped in with her twin. As if she simply followed Hannah’s lead and didn’t make any decisions for herself. Rather than be rude, Hallie covered with, “They can tell us apart, so no issues there.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you.” The other woman’s smile was gentle and Hallie waved her off, realizing she’d taken Ruby’s remark personally. “We didn’t date or anything—Gavin and me—in case you were wondering.”

  Hallie had been wondering but hadn’t wanted to pry. Plus, she liked to think if she and Gavin were actually dating, he’d have told her about dating Ruby prior to introducing them.

  Ruby set her handbag down and rummaged through it. “He raced out of here before I could show him these. Was this what scared him off?” She tossed a giant stack of fabric swatches, held together with a metal ring, onto the countertop.

  Hallie thumbed the stitching on one of the swatches. “Curtains?”

  “Unless he’d rather have bamboo blinds. Or those fancy screens outfitted with a remote, but I would never suggest hiding this view.”

  Hallie and Ruby struck an easy camaraderie from there. By afternoon they were excitedly sharing ideas and deciding on fabric. Craving a cup of coffee herself, Hallie offered Ruby one, as well. They settled at the massive countertop, mugs in hand.

  “He had his priorities straight when he chose that fancy-ass espresso machine,” Ruby quipped.

  “Agreed.” Not only did the machine grind the beans, but it also brewed the coffee and then frothed the milk automatically.

  “I have to admit, I wasn’t sure what to think when Gavin handed me off to you.” Ruby cocked her head, her expression quizzical. “You know his style well for not having been seeing him long.”

  Hallie laughed, slightly uncomfortable that Ruby had noticed. “He’s been in my periphery for a while.”

  “I can see why.” Ruby sipped her coffee. “He’s yummy. Decorating someone’s home is an intimate act. He must trust you.”

  “It’s just a favor.”

  “I bet it is.” Ruby elbowed Hallie, her laugh slightly lecherous. “You make sure he does you a few favors in the bedroom tonight as a reward for how well you did with me today.”

  Hallie grimaced and, of course, observant Ruby noticed. The other woman’s eyebrows leaped up her forehead. “Don’t tell me it’s so new that you haven’t...”

  “Um...” Hallie studied her own coffee.

  “Me and my big mouth. Ignore me, please. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

  “I’m not,” Hallie said—at least not for the reason Ruby thought. “We’re taking things slow.”

  “Slow is good for relationships. For design, not so much. You ready to check out the downstairs patio? I have a few ideas for furniture and your man will not commit to a style.”

  The idea of Gavin as her man was as titillating as the idea of them going to bed together tonight, but the reminder of him not committing was sobering. No matter what lines and boundaries Hallie crossed with the sexy lawyer, she’d do well to remember all good things came to an end. When their rule-breaking tête-à-tête reached its apex, so too would whatever was simmering between them.

  Ten

  To thank Hallie for her help this week, Gavin made reservations for them at the Silver Marmot, an upscale steak house downtown, a regular hangout for him.

  The atmosphere was perfect for private conversations as well as romantic ones. If one was inclined to romance. He was beginning to think Hallie wasn’t, given the direction she’d steered the conversation.

  “It’s the coolest toilet I’ve ever seen.”

  He coughed into his glass and nearly spit red wine on his shirt. She’d been going on about the master bedroom’s shower, supersize with a bench and multiple sprayers. Just when he’d lapsed into a fantasy involving her beneath those sprayers, her naked body pressed to his, she mentioned the toilet.

  “Sorry.” She sent a quick look around the restaurant. “I was carried away.”

  He’d say. Ever since they sat down, she’d adorably reassured him that she didn’t steer Ruby wrong with the choices she’d made for his house.

  “Don’t be sorry.” Her interrupting his shower fantasy aside, he meant it. “I was sincere when I said I trusted you. I’m sure you did a great job.”

  She smi
led prettily as she sliced into her filet mignon. The restaurant’s limited autumn menu featured additional toppings for the fine cut of beef. Gavin had chosen shrimp and clarified butter for his steak, while Hallie went with blue cheese and fried sage.

  “I didn’t mean to talk about the toilet at dinner.” She ate a bite of steak. He watched her plump lips close over the fork, weirdly turned on by the idea that she hadn’t balked at the idea of steak. He had no problems with women who ate salads for dinner, but he preferred a woman who satisfied her appetite. In every way.

  “Ruby said you nailed my style.” He popped a shrimp into his mouth, intrigued by the fact that Hallie knew what he liked. “How so?”

  “Um.” She concentrated way too hard on stabbing a piece of broccoli. “I just...pay attention to details.”

  “About me?” he fished.

  “Sure.” She shrugged.

  He couldn’t help grinning. “Like what?”

  “Like the way you dress.” She gestured at him with her fork. “You favor the same style of shirt and pair it with an immaculately tailored jacket and trousers.”

  He liked hearing she’d noticed him below the waist, but it was probably best not to say that out loud.

  “Your desk is tidy, with only a few streamlined necessities on it. Odd, really,” she said almost to herself before taking another bite of her dinner.

  “What’s odd about it?” He was curious now.

  She finished chewing before taking a swallow of red wine. “Well, you’re not neat at home. I’m not saying you’re a slob, but in your closet, the clothes are hanging everywhere in no discernible order. Which was why I was rearranging them. Jackets. Shirts. Trousers. Ties.” She sliced the air with her hand as she said each word.

  “I am not surprised you like order, Hals,” he said with a soft laugh. “What’s your closet look like?”

  “It’s overflowing with clothes. Mostly neutrals and professional styles.”

  “And the dress you looked so hot in a few weeks back,” he added.

  She sent him a smile he felt in his gut. “Yes, among others I don’t wear.”