The #1 Bestsellers Collection 2011(182)
Her mirror image.
Well, her mirror image without a baby bulge since her twin wasn’t five months pregnant. “Good morning, Britt. If you wanted the scoop about Jordan, we could have done lunch today and talked about your wedding plans at the same time.”
In spite of being twins, they hadn’t always been as close as Brooke would have wished. Brittany had often complained that everyone treated her like a child. However, since Brittany’s engagement to Emilio, she’d become closer to her family.
Brittany leaned forward, gripping the portfolio briefcase on her lap tightly. “Are you all right?”
Brooke sank into a chair across from her sister rather than sitting behind the desk. “Yesterday’s showdown with the family wasn’t fun by any means, but at least that hurdle is passed. Mother reacted pretty much as expected, and both men walked away without broken bones.”
“And?”
“And what?”
Brittany eased back in her chair, her eyes sympathetic. “You didn’t read local newspapers over breakfast this morning.”
The papers? A bad feeling shivered up her spine. “I overslept. I grabbed a bagel on my way out the door.” A bagel the baby suddenly seemed determined to kick repeatedly. “Why?”
Her twin opened the monogrammed portfolio bag and pulled out a newspaper—the South Beach Journal.
Brittany flipped the paper open. “You’re the lead feature in the social section. Or rather, I should say, that you and Jordan are big news.”
Brooke’s stomach settled with a dull thud, followed by a roaring denial in her head. Blinking fast, she wiggled her fingers for the paper and sure enough, the lead story plastered a photo of her beside a photo of Jordan.
The paper shook in her hand. “How many more?”
“Three that I’ve seen, and, of course, it’s on the Internet.” Brittany twisted her princess-cut yellow diamond engagement ring around and around her finger. “I hear big cash offers are already starting to roll in for the first photo of the two of you together.”
“Great.” Brooke slammed the paper closed. “That makes me feel much better.”
“You could pose and donate the proceeds to charity.”
“Don’t make light of this, please. This is my life. My baby’s life.” She blinked back tears of frustration. “This explains why Parker has been trying to reach me all morning. I thought he wanted to badger me about Jordan, so I ignored the messages from his receptionist, Sheila, uh …” Brooke pressed her fingers to her aching temple, the woman’s full name escaping her.
“McKay.” Brittany finished her twin’s sentence. “Sheila McKay.”
“Yeah, right. Although learning the reason for the calls from his receptionist doesn’t make me any more inclined to answer.” She glanced down at the paper again. “I wonder if Jordan knows yet. Damn. What am I saying? Of course he knows. Mr. Perfect would never oversleep and miss checking the news.”
“Emilio has already gone to see Jordan and make sure his head doesn’t explode over this.”
Brooke swiped away a lone tear. She hated feeling so out of control of her life, a by-product of growing up with an alcoholic mother, no doubt. She could only imagine how someone as strong-willed as Jordan would react to having his life scooped this way. “I wonder which of Mother’s staff sold the story.”
“It could be anyone. We have so many people in and out of there making deliveries with my wedding less than three weeks away.”
“I’m sorry to add stress during what should be a happy time.”
“Shush. It doesn’t have to be all about me. As a matter of fact, it feels good to be able to offer support for a change instead of always being the one needing it.”
“Thank you for being here. It’s going to be tough winning over the brothers. And I don’t even want to think about Mother.” Brooke shuddered.
“Of course, I’m here. I owe you, anyway. Remember when the news rag got the pictures of me making out with the chauffeur and you told Mother and Dad it was you? Since you never got in trouble, they let you off with a slap on the wrist. Me, I would have lost my car.”
Brooke welcomed the laughter to replace welling tears. “The shock on the chauffeur’s face was priceless.”
“No kidding. If he couldn’t tell us apart, then he didn’t deserve to have me.”
“Damn straight.” Brooke’s mind skipped back five months to the night she and Jordan made the baby, when he’d most definitely known one twin from the other. Still … “Everything is just changing too fast for me.”