Misadventures with a Twin

by Elizabeth Hayley

  Wes laughed. “You know what they say. When the boss is away…”

  “The dipshits fuck everything up and my business goes to hell?”

  That only made him laugh harder. “Absolutely.” Wes had been working for us for a little over six months, and I wasn’t sure how we’d ever survived without him. The guy was a workhorse who was always in a good mood. At only twenty-three, the kid was a total gearhead who could build and fix anything motorcycle related. But he was also a clown.

  “Jayce will be here until the end of the day in case anything comes up.” There was no way we trusted Wes to close up. Not because we thought he’d steal from us or anything like that, but because the only time his ADHD was under control was when he was tinkering with a bike. The kid would end up locking himself in the bathroom or something. And even though Jayce didn’t work with the bikes—he was in charge of our marketing and social media accounts—he still had more common sense about shop needs than Wes.

  His smile widened into a smirk. “What would I do without my three dads?”

  “I hope to never find out.” Shouting goodbye to a couple of the other guys in the shop, I made my way to the office to grab Corey so we could get to Dad’s. He’d called the day before, saying his most interested buyer was coming by and asking if Corey and I could spare a couple of hours to do some cosmetic work around the place to show that he was dedicated to making whatever improvements were necessary. It felt a little like putting lipstick on a pig, but whatever. Dad rarely asked us for anything, so we jumped at the chance to help when we could.

  “Ready to go?” I asked when I entered the office.

  Corey was shuffling through some paperwork at his desk. “Almost,” he mumbled.

  “We’re going to be late.”

  He ignored me, which always drove me crazy. A fact he knew. It made me want to brain him with the stapler sitting on his desk. “Come on. We gotta go.”

  Instead of getting up, he dropped the papers he held and leaned back in his chair, putting his arms behind his head. “Does that commanding voice work with Zara?”

  “Who’s Zara?” Jayce asked as he walked in—because of course he’d walk in at that moment—and headed for his own desk.

  “Our boy Colton here has himself a fuck buddy. Or, wait…since she thinks you’re me, does that make her my fuck buddy?”

  The thought of Corey having sex with Zara made a twinge of irritation arc beneath my skin. “Screw you.”

  That made Corey’s eyebrows shoot up, and a pleased smile spread across his lips.

  Out of my periphery, I saw Jayce’s head move back and forth between us. “I’m so confused right now.”

  “Allow me to enlighten you,” Corey eagerly offered.

  “Or not,” I said, the warning clear in my voice. Not that that had ever stopped Corey before.

  But as he studied me for a moment, a weird look passed over his face. “Fine. Have it your way,” he said to me.

  “What? No way!” Jayce yelled. “You can’t leave me hanging like that.”

  Corey stood and walked over to me, bringing his hand up to squeeze the back of my neck. “Sorry, man. It’s twin code.” Which wasn’t a thing, but for once, my brother didn’t seem to want to piss me off.

  “Twin code? What the fuck is that?” Jayce asked.

  “I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” Corey said as he grabbed his coat and shrugged it on before tossing mine to me.

  “Is it like where one of you can feel what’s happening to the other? Is that what this is about? Is Colton banging some chick and you can, like, feel it too?” Jayce’s eyes were wide, like he’d just discovered Atlantis. “Because that would be badass.”

  “Jesus Christ,” I muttered, rubbing a hand over my face.

  “Yes,” Corey deadpanned. “That is exactly what we’re talking about.”

  “Why couldn’t I have been a twin?” Jayce muttered.

  “I can’t believe I actually work with you idiots.”

  Corey barked out a laugh. “Oh, come on. Your life would be so boring without us. Especially without me, since you wouldn’t even be getting laid.”

  I swatted at his head, which he dodged.

  “Later, Jayce,” he called over his shoulder as he left the office. “Don’t forget to make sure you watch Wes leave.”

  “I may be an idiot, but I’m not a moron.”

  “Pretty sure it’s worse to be an idiot than a moron,” I yelled.

  “Only you would know the difference,” he retorted, causing me to chuckle as Corey and I left the shop and climbed into my truck.

  It only took about thirty minutes to get to the restaurant, and Dad had a list waiting for us. We unloaded the tools I’d brought and got to work. After about an hour or so, my dad popped his head into the kitchen, where Corey and I were fixing a latch on one of the freezer doors.

  “Hey, guys. The potential buyer is here. I’m going to bring her through.”

  “’Kay,” I grunted as I tried to pry the defective latch off.

  “Let me do it, fuckwad. You’re going to break the whole door,” Corey argued.

  “Corey!” Dad scolded.

  “Well, he is,” he said under his breath.

  “Just do me a favor and don’t say anything offensive while she’s here, all right?”

  Corey nodded solemnly. “I’ll do my best.”

  Dad rolled his eyes before disappearing around the corner.

  “Can you not drive him crazy? He’s going through enough without your shit,” I said, finally working the latch free.

  “Please. I’m the comedic relief in this family. You’d both be surly assholes without me.”

  “If you say so.”

  We’d just finished screwing the new latch into place when I heard my dad’s voice. “My sons are making some improvements to the kitchen as we speak.”

  “Your…sons are here?” the female voice asked.

  It took me a second to recognize the voice as familiar and an additional few seconds to figure out where I knew it from. By the time I spun around, Dad was standing in the kitchen next to his potential buyer. “Fuck my life,” I whispered, which caused Corey to straighten beside me.

  “Holy shit,” he breathed.

  “Boys, I think you know Zara Pierce, right? Zara, you remember my sons, C—”

  “Yeah,” Corey interrupted. “Yup, definitely, for sure, we know Zara. How ya been? Good? That’s good.”

  So smooth, Corey. Though I had to admit, I appreciated him trying to save my ass.

  Zara looked between us, and I willed her not to see the truth. Despite my intentions to tell her, I couldn’t have her find out here, in front of my dad. What a fucking disaster that would be. Her gaze settled on me, and heat blasted through her eyes. So she really was able to tell us apart. Kind of. In the biblical sense at least.

  My dad looked quizzically at Corey but spoke as if his sons weren’t making this moment awkward as hell. “I was just showing Zara some of the upgrades we were doing.”

  “I’m impressed by the progress,” she said, smiling at me.

  And while part of me wanted to return that smile, another part of me was pissed. She’d never said a word to me about buying my family’s restaurant. Granted, we didn’t do a whole lot of talking while we were together—and I was a hypocrite for being angry at her for lying—but still. What the fuck?

  The smile slid off her face as if she could read my thoughts, but I was saved from having to address it because my dad said started yammering on about the amenities of the kitchen, and Corey grabbed me and hauled me out of there under the guise of us moving on to the next project.

  “See you later, Zara,” Corey said as he pulled me after him by the arm.

  I stayed silent, but I did look over at her before leaving the kitchen. She looked worried, and I didn’t like seeing her that way. I nodded at her, and some of the tension seemed to drain from her posture.

  I followed Corey out to my truck and watched
him lean against it and rub a hand over his face. “Dude, what the fuck?”

  My thoughts exactly.

  ZARA

  Watching CJ leave the kitchen made my chest hurt in a way I hadn’t expected. It wasn’t that I’d wanted to intentionally keep my interest in his dad’s restaurant a secret. But we hadn’t crossed the line into sharing personal information. I could admit this might look calculated, since I was the one who always put the kibosh on talking, even though that wasn’t my reason.

  Mostly it stemmed from the same reason that prevented me from telling my family about it—I didn’t want to have anything but positive vibes going into this deal. It was the first time that I was buying a restaurant as the sole investor. I’d piggybacked on a few other deals and learned the tricks of the trade from more seasoned restaurateurs, but this was the first time I’d be going it alone, and I desperately wanted it to be a success.

  I wasn’t sure how CJ felt about his dad selling, and I didn’t want it to get unnecessarily complicated. Which maybe would have led a smarter person to not get involved with him at all. But hey, I was only human.

  Besides, there was no promise that I was going to buy this place. I definitely had plans to branch out on my own, but while Maggie’s seemed to be a good fit, I hadn’t committed to it yet. So why bother discussing something that could easily become a nonissue? And why did it even matter anyway? It wasn’t like we were dating. A couple of hot-as-hell encounters did not a relationship make.

  “Did you want to come into the office so I can answer any questions you still have, Zara?” CJ’s dad, Curtis, said.

  Dragging my eyes away from the door CJ had left through, I focused on Curtis. “I don’t think that’s necessary.” I extended my hand toward him, and he shook it. “I appreciate you taking the time to show me your renovation plans. I have some meetings lined up this week with my accountant and real estate agent, but I’ll likely be in touch within the next couple of weeks.”

  “Sounds good,” he replied with the kind of smile that clearly came easily to him.

  Curtis Jensen was obviously a good man, and it made me want to buy his restaurant all the more. But I couldn’t make any snap decisions. My accountant Marty would kill me. So instead, I said my goodbyes and ventured outside, simultaneously hoping I would and would not run into CJ.

  The decision was taken out of my hands when I saw him leaning against my car. He looked like a romance cover model standing there with his legs crossed at the ankles, arms crossed over his chest, and his head bowed. He must have heard me approach because he lifted his head, and his green eyes caught mine. We stood there staring at each other for a moment before he spoke.

  “So you’re the buyer, huh?”

  Taking a deep breath, I walked over and stood beside him, sinking back onto the car for support. “Maybe. I haven’t made any commitments yet.”

  “Is that why you didn’t tell me?”

  “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to blur the lines. This is business, and I didn’t want you to think I was trying to tie you up in it in some way.”

  “Gotcha.” He straightened abruptly, like I’d said the wrong thing, but I wasn’t sure how the truth could be either right or wrong. It was what it was.

  “I wasn’t trying to mislead you or anything,” I tried to explain. “I’m attracted to you, and I wanted to keep that in its own lane, separate from the restaurant stuff. I’m sorry if my doing that upset you.”

  Rubbing a hand roughly through his hair, he looked like he wanted to bolt. And for the life of me, I wasn’t sure why the idea of him doing that bothered me so much. We weren’t even friends.

  He exhaled a breath before saying, “Look, I know I’m kind of being a bitch about this. This is all…a lot. We just found out my dad was selling this place, and then you walk in, and I know you don’t owe me any explanations, but it also seems like something you actively chose not to tell me, and I’m not sure what to do with that.”

  I wasn’t sure how to reply to that in a way that wouldn’t make things worse, so I went with what I usually fell back on: brutal honesty. “I did choose not to tell you, because, to be frank—and I’m sorry if this is too blunt—it’s not any of your business. At least not on my end of things. I don’t even talk about my business decisions with my family. I’m sure as hell not going to bring it up as some kind of pillow talk.” I kept my voice soft but firm.

  I wasn’t trying to be dismissive of his feelings, but I wasn’t going to accept guilt when I didn’t deserve it either. I awaited his response anxiously, unsure how he’d take what I’d said. We’d had a good time together, and I didn’t want that to crash and burn over this. But that ball was in his court.

  “I get that. I do.” His reply made me breathe a little easier, especially since there was no anger or malice in his tone. “This place…” He shook his head.

  Moving closer, I put a hand on his arm. “I know the restaurant means a lot to you. I remember eating here occasionally with my parents and watching your mom bustle from table to table, always making sure everyone was enjoying their meal. That’s what drew me to Maggie’s. The love she had for it. I want to be able to share in that. I want to move around the tables of my restaurant with the same confidence and joy that she did.”

  CJ stared up at the restaurant, and I stared up at him. After who knows how long, he turned toward me, the movement making my hand slide off his arm. “She really did love this place.”

  Every word I could have offered seemed inadequate, so I stayed silent.

  Placing his hands gently on my shoulders, he leaned in and put a soft kiss on my cheek before pulling back just enough so he could look into my eyes. “If you do decide to buy, take care of it for her.”

  “I will. I promise.”

  Squeezing my shoulders, he offered me a small smile before pulling away and stepping around me.

  I turned toward him, letting him take a few steps before saying, “This feels like a goodbye.”

  If I could’ve pulled the words back into my mouth, I would’ve. They’d spilled out before my brain had even processed thinking them, and I didn’t like how needy they made me sound. Though I also couldn’t deny that I wanted to know where we stood after all of this. Not knowing for sure would drive me insane.

  Twisting around, he began to walk backward as he winked and said, “You know where to find me.”

  Once he was out of sight, I slumped back against my car again and took a deep breath. So there was still the possibility of more sexy times with CJ. Despite the warm feeling that spread through my body at the thought, I wasn’t totally sure whether that was a good or bad thing. Maybe it would be better to just walk away now before things got any more complicated.

  Or maybe it would be better to sleep with him a few more times. Surely he’d work himself out of my system eventually. Wouldn’t he?

  Chapter Nine

  Colton

  Corey had been suspiciously quiet on the drive home. Usually he couldn’t resist running his mouth or asking questions about every damn thing, but that wasn’t the case after we’d had our run-in with Zara, and his silence was freaking me out. Finally, when we trudged through the front door of our apartment and took off our coats, I turned to him. “Okay, let me have it.”

  “Let you have what?”

  “Your unsolicited two cents.”

  Corey shrugged, a gesture that was too casual to be genuine. It was as if we were on a date and he was playing hard to get—which he surely wasn’t.

  “Stop being an asshole and tell me how much I fucked up.”

  His lips quirked as he walked into the kitchen. “And here I thought I was avoiding being an asshole by keeping my mouth shut. I always get that wrong.” He opened the refrigerator and withdrew a bottle of water. “What did she say when you talked to her?” he asked after he’d drained half the bottle.

  I slid onto the countertop across from where he stood. “That she didn’t keep it from me to be shady. Basically, she d
idn’t want to mix business with pleasure.”

  My brother scoffed. “Too bad that now her pleasure is wrapped up in our dad’s business.”

  “Nah, she seems capable of keeping the lines from blurring. Not that it matters.”

  “Why doesn’t it matter?”

  “Because I gotta end it now.” I hadn’t said that to Zara when I’d had the chance, but the drive home cemented that it was the right thing to do. Not telling her the truth was already wearing on me, but I couldn’t keep it up now that the stakes were even higher. “I should’ve told her the truth today when I had the chance. Maybe it wouldn’t have seemed as bad since she withheld information too.”

  “Were you dropped on your head as a child?”

  “No?” My confusion over what he’d said caused the word to come out as a question, a fact my brother didn’t fail to capitalize on.

  “I’m glad you sound unsure, because that means it’s probably likely, and that explains a lot.”

  Jumping off the counter, I went to move around him. “I don’t know why I even bother talking to you about anything.”

  Corey grabbed my arm, causing my head to swing toward him. The two of us fucked around a lot, but we rarely put our hands on each other like he was doing. “Dude, you can’t tell her the truth, and you can’t ghost her either. You’ll cost Dad the deal.”

  I ripped my arm from his grasp and stepped into his space. “First of all, don’t grip me up like that again. Second, earlier you didn’t want Dad to sell. Seems to me like her pulling out of the deal would suit you just fine.”

  “Okay, tough guy, de-puff your chest there. I don’t want Dad to sell, but what I want doesn’t matter here. If it’s what he wants, what he needs, then I support it. And that includes making sure your clueless girlfriend is happy with everything.”

  Was I hearing him correctly? “Are you telling me to keep sleeping with some girl, lying to her, so she’ll go through with a business deal?”