Take It All Off

by Weston Parker

  “Fine, but mark my words. He’ll be coming out of this thing with at least one date and several phone numbers.”

  I laughed, but I didn’t argue. I couldn’t.

  “Come on, let’s go find a space around the next corner,” he said. “They’ll be out of sight for a while after that.”

  He moved his arm away from my shoulders only to slide his hand into mine. Leading us with relative ease through the crowd, he found us a new vantage point and tucked me close to him again while we waited.

  “Have you ever run a marathon before?” I asked, settling against his hard side. Somehow, despite its lack of softness, it was surprisingly comfortable under his arm. It was like the soft parts of my own body slotted perfectly into the hardness of his, fitting us together as though we were made to be that way.

  I wasn’t naive enough to believe it meant anything, but it still felt good. Especially with his clean, subtle spicy scent enveloping me.

  Hearing as well as feeling a small rumble in his chest, I glanced up to find his eyes closing for a split second longer than a blink. When he looked down at me again, he was smirking, but there was also a tenderness glowing in his dark amber eyes that warmed up my insides.

  “I’ve run a few, but that was when I was younger. I still run by myself almost every morning. I just don’t do it competitively. It’s a time for reflection and solitude for me, not a time for cheering and trying to best someone.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “I would say I understand, but I don’t. If I’m going to run, it’s going to be because some big-ass thing is chasing me and there’s nowhere to hide.”

  His answering chuckle made his chest rumble again. I snuggled just a little bit closer, liking the feeling of it. “If you don’t like running, what exercise do you like to do?”

  I frowned up at him but barely managed to hold back my grin. “Did you just use exercise and like in the same sentence? I’m not sure I understand.”

  Marco’s hip bumped into mine. “Bullshit. I’ve seen you naked, remember? I know you have to do something to keep in shape.”

  Warmth flooded my cheeks and other much more inappropriate places, but now was hardly the time to become shy about it. “Remember when you saw me naked? That was the kind of exercise I like.”

  His eyes grew wide, but as his jaw started hardening again, I nudged him with my shoulder. “I’m kidding. Jeez. Lighten up. Elena and I do yoga most days. We also have dance parties in the apartment. From time to time, we do actually go jogging. It’s not running so much as walking a bit faster than usual, but the fresh air is nice.”

  He didn’t reply immediately. Instead, his eyes bounced from one of mine to the other until he finally gave me a small smile. “You’ve really got my number, haven’t you?”

  “Sure, it’s in my phone,” I joked.

  “That’s not what I meant and you know it.” His fingers burrowed into my hair and tugged gently until I tipped my head back again. “How?”

  “I’ve already told you. You’re a big bad alpha male. There are tons of novels about guys like you. I’ve read enough of them to know certain key personality traits, dude.”

  “Call me ‘dude’ again and you might find out just how bad I can be.” His pupils dilated some and a shiver of anticipation shot down my spine, but then something else flickered across his gaze and everything about him cooled. “These novels you refer to wouldn’t be romance novels, would they?”

  “They would, actually.” I rolled my eyes before arching my brow. “But we’ve been through that part when it comes to what’s going on between us. No need to repeat it. All I meant was that I’ve learned a bit about certain traits men like you have.”

  “You’re saying I’m predictable?” A very unexpected flash of humor lit up his eyes. “Really?”

  “Yes,” I said cautiously. “Why does it look like you’re about to start laughing at me?”

  “Because I am,” he said, his voice cracking. “I’m sure those books were based on loads of research done into certain personality types, but I promise you there is a lot more to me than that.”

  “Oh, I’m sure there is. You asked the question, though. I just gave you an answer.”

  He lifted his shoulders, but they were shaking slightly as the corners of his mouth pressed in with his attempt to suppress his laughter. “Come on, firecracker. Here come the runners. Let’s see if we can spot Aldo.”

  A couple of minutes later, cheers rose up from the crowd as the competitors passed us. Aldo was around the middle of the pack, his hands up in the air as he waved his hands to encourage more cheering. The spectators obliged and a wide grin spread out across his face.

  Marco’s cheers bellowed in my ears as he cupped his hands around his mouth. A strange giddiness spread through me at his unexpected display of support, encouraging me to join in.

  When the competitors were out of sight once more, he grabbed my hand again and led me to a truck that sold iced coffees. We got our fix, topped it off with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles, which was another surprise to learn about him, and went to find our spots once more.

  As the day wore on, we cheered, talked, and I ended up having a lot more fun with him than I’d expected. I’d already known Marco was multi-faceted, just like any other person I supposed, but I liked who he was here.

  There was obviously some brotherly rivalry between him and Aldo, but it was good natured, and it was easy to see that his brother was one of his favorite people. It was another thing we had in common and something that definitely humanized him to me.

  After the race, Marco spotted Aldo crossing the finish line. “Let’s go tell him how much he sucks, shall we?”

  “Such sportsmanship,” I teased but followed him through the crowds of sweaty bodies until we reached his brother.

  Aldo stood with his hands on his hips, breathing hard but smirking when he saw Marco walking up to him. “Told you I’d finish.”

  “You might have finished, but you came in, like, one hundred and thirty-fourth place,” Marco joked, but he did get his brother’s placement right. “That’s not really something to brag about. You should have trained harder.”

  “At least I ran,” Aldo returned with a grin to match his brother’s spreading across his full lips. I had never really known a set of identical twins before, so it was startling up close to realize that they looked alike in every conceivable way. “That’s more than you can say. Plus, my goal was never to win. It was to make new… friends. That goal was achieved, so I’m a winner.”

  “I noticed you working very hard toward that goal. Congratulations, I guess?” Marco’s voice was filled with levity I hadn’t heard from him before.

  Aldo’s chest puffed out. “Thank you. We should go have a beer to celebrate, don’t you think? That was hard work.”

  “Only you would want a beer after running a marathon, but it’s your celebration.” Marco turned to face me then, reaching out to take my hand. “This is Addy. She’ll be coming for that beer with us. Addy, meet Aldo.”

  For the first time, Aldo seemed to realize that I was even there. He had been focused on his brother but he suddenly became extremely interested in me. His gaze zeroed in on Marco’s long fingers wrapped around mine before traveling slowly up the length of my body.

  “Addy,” he said once his eyes reached mine. “It’s very nice to finally meet you.”

  After hearing their banter and the comments Marco had made about him, I hadn’t been expecting him to be respectful toward me, but he was. Even the way he had looked me over a minute ago had been with curiosity only.

  “It’s nice to meet you, too.” I held my free hand out to him, which ended in a weird, wrong way round kind of shake, but Aldo didn’t question it. Nor did he hesitate to shake that hand when it became clear that Marco wasn’t letting the other go.

  The brothers exchanged a look before Aldo let go of my hand. It was loaded, but I wasn’t quite sure what with. It didn’t seem to be anything bad, though. More lik
e one of those silent conversations I’d heard twins could have.

  When it broke off, Marco muttered, “Shut the fuck up.”

  Aldo laughed, nodded, and flashed another wide grin at me. “Let me go get cleaned up. I’ll meet you guys at the restaurant.”

  “You know which one?” I asked.

  Both brothers shrugged and chuckled, looking and sounding so damn alike that it was more confusing than ever why I was so insanely attracted to only one of them. They even spoke in unison when they answered me with a simple, “Yep.”

  “Well okay then,” I mumbled, feeling out of the loop but strangely comfortable with them anyway. “I’m going to need you both to answer some questions for me, though.”

  Aldo’s eyes sparkled in the sunlight when he glanced down at me. “If it’s about our c—”

  “She wasn’t going to ask about that.” Marco cut him off, shoving his brother with his shoulder.

  I smiled. I hadn’t been about to ask about that at all, but now, obviously, I had to. “Actually, that was exactly what I was going to ask.”

  Aldo waggled his brows at me while Marco released a long-suffering sigh, but he looked more amused than exasperated. His eyes flicked from mine to his brother’s. Then he shook his head. “I’m already starting to regret this. You two together are going to be the death of me, but let’s get going. There’s no use postponing the inevitable.”

  Chapter 19

  Marco

  Addy’s comment about my behavior being predictable had snapped me out of the irrational rut I’d been stumbling into. The truth was that she had been right. The way I had reacted to the thought of her looking at another man, even if that man was my brother, had been alpha-male bullshit.

  While I couldn’t hide that I did have that inside, I didn’t have to allow that part of me to dictate everything I did. I couldn’t entirely switch it off, but I could breathe deeply and show her that wasn’t all I was.

  As soon as I had done that, I’d actually found myself enjoying the day. With the way Aldo and Addy had teamed up almost immediately, dinner was going to be interesting but fun. I was determined to be part of that fun instead of just sitting by like a brooding, moody lump of turmoil and jealousy.

  “You live here?” Addy exclaimed as I led her up the stairs and into my home. “When you suggested we go to your place to freshen up for dinner while we wait for Aldo, I didn’t expect an entire building of your own.”

  She stopped on the top step leading from my garage to the kitchen, twisting around to face me. I chuckled at the incredulity in her voice, shrugging my shoulders. “When I started making money, my financial adviser said property was a wise investment. I found this place, loved it, and bought it.”

  Rolling her pretty blue eyes, she lifted her hand to make a rolling motion through the air. “Sure. You just went and bought an entire building.”

  “Yep.” I grinned at her and offered her my hand. “Would you like a tour?”

  “Yep,” she parroted as she wrapped her fingers around mine. “Tell me about your building, Mr. Billionaire. Do you have a wine cellar?”

  “Of course,” I replied, watching as her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. I tightened my grip on her hand and lead her inside. “I also have a hot tub on the roof, a bar, a kitchen, and bedrooms, if you’d believe it.”

  “Wow. A kitchen, huh?” She smiled. “Does it ever get used?”

  “All the time.”

  As we stepped out of the stairwell, Addy came to a stop.

  We were standing off to the side of the second story of the house. The entrance hall we landed in opened up to the kitchen to the right and a living area with panoramic views of the countryside and the city in the distance.

  Chestnut beams were spaced evenly on the white ceiling overhead, stretching all the way to the end of the balcony off the living room. My furniture was minimalistic but comfortable. Rugs covered the tiled floors, and since I’d renovated before moving in, the fittings were modern and the lines clean.

  Addy’s lips parted, and she took a few tentative steps forward. “You wake up to this view every morning?”

  “The bedrooms are upstairs, but yes. They face in the same direction.”

  I’d been expecting comments on the state-of-the-art appliances, the interior design, and questions about how much it had all cost, but she didn’t ask. Outside of my mother, every other woman I’d brought home had zeroed in on those things.

  Addy’s feet carried her forward like she hadn’t even noticed any of it. The stackable glass doors leading to the balcony were open, and a fresh breeze ruffled the light curtains. She moved toward the balcony almost as if she was on autopilot, her eyes wide as she stepped outside.

  “This is gorgeous,” she breathed as she took in the grassy green valleys, copses of towering trees, and the red rooftops of the buildings in the historic city center. “Really, Marco. Wow. I mean, congratulations on the building and the wine cellar and all, but I’d pitch a tent in your yard and stay in it forever just for this view.”

  Her hands wrapped around the maroon railing and she leaned forward, strands of blonde hair lifting in the breeze. When she turned her head to face me, her eyes were filled with awe. “I didn’t know real people had views like this. I kind of thought it was just hotels and houses in the distance that belonged to people who were long dead.”

  I went to stand beside her, propping my forearms on the railing beside hers. “It took me about a year after moving in to believe I would be waking up to it every morning.”

  She paused for a moment, facing forward again. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a brother? A twin, no less?”

  “It’s been a long time since I’ve let anyone see him outside of work,” I said. “Both of us have a lot more to us than being part of a pair of twins. Somehow, though, whenever people find out that delightful little detail, it’s like it’s all that matters. Sure, it has helped shaped us into who we are, but we’re also more than that.”

  “Kind of like being an orphan,” she replied quietly, then cleared her throat. “Let’s just say I understand where you’re coming from.” Pushing away from the railing, she pasted a bright smile on her lips and motioned to the house. “We should probably get on with the tour, huh?”

  I wanted to ask about the orphan thing, but I could see it wasn’t the time. Instead of prying, I nodded and led her back inside.

  Once I’d shown her the third floor and the rooftop entertainment area, I took her to one of the en-suite guestrooms. “You can freshen up in here if you’d like. I’ll just be a moment.”

  She shrugged, held up her purse, and placed a hand on the door. “Sure, I guess I can touch up my lip gloss. See you in a minute.”

  Only a few minutes later, we were back in my car and heading to the restaurant. It was a small cafe in my neighborhood that Aldo and I frequented. Despite not wanting the label as co-dependent twins, it just so happened that he lived on the same block as me.

  We weren’t codependent, but we didn’t enjoy being separated by too much space. Besides, since we spent most of our free time together, it made sense to live close to one another. I just hoped he wouldn’t bring it up to Addy.

  Aldo smiled when we walked up to the table. He’d snagged us a spot in the garden near a glowing orange ball of light hanging from the reeds that made up the gazebo the square table was in.

  “I hope you’re okay sitting outside. I figured it was warm enough.” He pulled out a chair. “Here, have a seat.”

  “Why, thank you.” I put my hand to my heart and darted into the chair he’d offered Addy. “You’re such a gentleman.”

  He snorted, then pulled out the chair opposite me for Addy. It put him between us, but I was okay with it since it meant I would be able to look at her all night without trying to sneak glances.

  Addy chuckled, took her seat, and grinned at him. “You might be a gentleman, but clearly, your brother isn’t.”

  “Hey,” I protested. “You said I was chival
rous just a few hours ago.”

  “I was wrong,” she dead-panned.

  Aldo glanced from her to me as he sat back in his chair and grinned like the smug bastard he was. “Look at you two bickering like an old married couple. I like it.”

  “You don’t know any old married couples, do you?” she asked, laughter shining in her eyes. “I don’t know many, but the ones I do know definitely wouldn’t count that as bickering.”

  “True.” He lifted his shoulders as he placed his cloth napkin in his lap. “But it’s been a while since I’ve heard Marco so comfortable with a woman. Tell me about yourself, Adaline.”

  I shot him a glare, which he promptly ignored. On the other hand, I couldn’t be too annoyed with him. He wasn’t lying. It also hadn’t been necessary for him to tell her that, but so be it.

  Addy swallowed but held his gaze. “What would you like to know?”

  “You’re an American,” he said.

  “Well spotted,” I teased. “What else have your keen senses picked up on?”

  He flipped me off, then turned his attention back to Addy. “How did you end up in our beloved Firenze?”

  Addy told him her story, then asked a bit about his. They got to know the basics about one another before I finally re-entered the conversation.

  Wine flowed throughout dinner, and we sampled almost the entire selection of antipasto while we talked and ordered our mains before it felt like any time had passed at all. Aldo laughed at something Addy said, then shook his head.

  “No, no, no. You’re crazy.” He slammed his palm onto the table for effect. “Capital cities never give you an idea of the culture of the place you’re visiting. Countries are like women. The most beautiful parts are small and hidden.”

  Her lips curved into a smile and she choked back a laugh. “Are you serious? How did you just say that with a straight face?”