Sexy Stranger(25)

A slow smile unfurled on his lips. "Come give me some sugar."

Placing one hand on my hip, I stopped next to the counter, grabbing a coffee mug from the strainer by the sink. "I'm on to you, mister."

He chuckled. "Damn. I was just about to apologize for my performance last night."

"I know the difference between a man who's fucking with me and a man who's actually fucked me. And your brother did a real good job. Nice try, Duke." I patted his head.

The twins were virtually identical in every way, from their expressive green eyes with flecks of gold to their full mouths that pulled easily and often into a smirk. They were built exactly the same-six feet of hard muscle.

"You and Molly are the only people on the planet who can tell us apart. Even our own mother couldn't do it half the time," he added, still grinning at me.

I couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was, but even from that first day, I could tell who was who. It might sound like new-age nonsense, but maybe it was their auras. Where Duke was all playful and mischievous energy, Luke was all brooding, masculine intensity. The sexy stranger captured my attention from the first moment I saw him, even though I needed a man like I needed a new Louis Vuitton bag.

A few minutes later, Luke made his way into the kitchen and Duke excused himself, leaving us alone.

"Morning," Luke murmured, his gaze traveling the length of my bare legs.

"Come here," I told him. "I've got something to show you."

I tugged him toward the kitchen table, and over coffee, laid out my marketing plan. Luke sat back with a slight grin on his lips, listening attentively to every word.

"I'm impressed that you saw straight through Duke's game," he said.

My gaze flicked up to meet his. "I'd never make that mistake now that . . ."

"Now that what, duchess? I've been inside you?"

His voice was low and seductive, and a hot shiver raced through me. I lifted my chin, waiting for the press of his lips against mine.

"I'm just getting started," he whispered, treating me to a tender kiss.

Last night had been magical. Making love under the stars, and the way Luke took care of all my pleasure first before seeking his own. It was incredible.

Part of me wanted to pretend that this was real, but the looming end of my stay here was quickly approaching. And the past I was on the run from . . . Well, I had a bad feeling that it would catch up to me sooner or later.

"I could listen to you talk business all day, duchess."



       
         
       
        

I grinned at Luke. "Good, because I'm just getting started too."





Chapter Eleven


Luke

I could have listened to Charlotte ramble on all day long about search-engine optimization, whatever the hell that was. Seeing how passionate she was about the whole marketing thing was a real turn-on. She'd worked on the plan while we ate pancakes that morning, and hadn't let up since.

That was after I caught my brother trying to pull a fast one on her. After sneaking out of bed for a quick shower that morning, I went down to the kitchen and found her chatting with Duke while wearing one of my T-shirts like a nightgown.

The naturalness of the situation had stopped me in my tracks. Her long, toned legs peeking out from the shirt and her cute little bare feet on the hardwood floor were a sight I wouldn't have minded seeing every day, but that wasn't what we'd agreed to. Whatever we were doing here had an expiration date, and I needed to remember that.

I'd waited in the stairwell to remind myself that this couldn't last when I heard them talking. Duke would never actually make a move on her-we had a bro code that forbade it. I knew he was just seeing how invested she was in whatever it was we had going on.

But when I heard her call him out on not being me from the get-go, the squeeze on my heart was unexpected. And the stroke to my ego was like a balm to my soul.

"I know the difference between a man who's fucking with me and a man who's actually fucked me. And your brother did a real good job."

I'd fucked her, all right. And it was goddamn spectacular. I could still feel the tight squeeze of her around me. Just thinking about the past twenty-four hours had me ready to go again. If I only had Charlotte until her car was fixed, I was going to make the most of it. I'd let her eat and get a little work in first, though.

"They taught you all of this in college?" I asked, stopping her in mid-sentence.

"Some of it," she said with a grin. "Marketing changes so much every year. Every day, even. A lot of it I picked up along the way or learned on the fly."