Lance turned and saw his sister’s friends headed down the path toward the beach. He gave himself the luxury of appreciating the exposed expanse of Willa’s long legs as the sound of her laughter carried across the distance to them. In the two years Kenzi had been bringing the twins around, they’d blossomed from giggling girls with braces to beautiful women—uncomfortably beautiful. “That’s Willa and Lexi.”
“No shit,” Andrew said. “Wow. I should come home more often.”
Grant made a disapproving sound. “Stand down. Those two are off limits. Kenzi considers them sisters. You should, too.”
Andrew groaned. “That’s not fair. How old are they?”
Asher went to stand beside Andrew. “Too young for you. They’re eighteen.”
Andrew made a face as he considered it. “Four years. Not that bad. But yeah, that’s young. Damn, though. What a shame.” He gave Lance a sideward look. “You, Lance, are the only one of us young enough. Lucky son of a bitch.”
Lance opened his mouth to say that he would never see them as anything but Kenzi’s friends but stopped when his eyes met Willa’s. Despite the distance, his blood shot directly to his dick and his breath caught in his throat.
Ian clapped a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “Not that lucky. Let’s be really clear about something. None of us will ever get involved with any of Kenzi’s friends, no matter who they are or how close they are to any of our ages. Things like that never end well.”
Grant agreed. “It’s already hard enough to get Kenzi to come home.”
Looking unimpressed, Asher added, “If you’re lonely, come see me when we get back to Boston. Trust me, there are plenty of women who look just like that who you can be with without the hassle.”
Andrew gave Asher a skeptical look. “Twins? Who looks like that? I’d definitely be interested, but damn—”
Lance shook his head. He didn’t care what Andrew thought of Lexi—but Willa. He didn’t want anyone looking at her that way.
Andrew gave Lance a punch in the shoulder. “Don’t try to tell me it hasn’t crossed your mind.”
“They’re not even that alike.”
Andrew threw back his head and laughed. “Now I know you’re fucking with me. They’re creepy identical.” When Lance didn’t answer, Andrew gave him a curious look. “You can really tell them apart? How? Is it a mole or something?”
Lance watched the approaching twins and knew he’d never share his method. He’d confused them when they were younger, but since he’d seen them at their graduation a few months earlier he’d had no problem telling them apart. His body had a preference. When he looked at Lexi he saw a beautiful woman, but that was all. When he looked at Willa his whole body clenched like someone had punched him in the stomach and his dick throbbed painfully.
In the silence that followed Andrew’s question, Grant said, “Willa dresses conservatively. So, Lexi’s probably the one in the pink bikini.”
Asher made an impatient sound. “Does it really matter which is which? Are we going out on the water, or not?”
Ian picked up the cooler and put it back on the jeep. “We’re going.”
Andrew threw his empty beer can down. “Yeah, this is getting old.”
Willa and Lexi joined them. After shyly smiling at Lance, Willa walked over to Grant and handed him a cloth bag. “It’s sunblock. Your mother is worried that you’ll all burn.”
Lexi winked. “If any of you need help putting it on . . .”
Three eldest male voices rang out in unison, “No.” Grant passed an aerosol can around and each of them sprayed themselves down quickly before passing it to the next.
Lance didn’t realize it was his turn until the can hit him in on the arm and dropped to the ground beside his feet. He bent to pick it up and sprayed himself absentmindedly. He couldn’t look away from Willa. Hell, he could barely think. He reminded himself she was his sister’s friend. Untouchable.
Willa smiled at him, and he struggled to not simply stand there, drooling. Damn. “Have you seen Kenzi?” she asked. Her perfectly pink lips were mesmerizing.
Grant answered, “Earlier. She said she’d be here. There are chairs and umbrellas set up if you want to wait for her over there.”
“Oh,” Willa said and then seemed embarrassed to have uttered that aloud. She blushed. “I mean, that’s great.”
Lance saw the disappointment in her eyes and swallowed hard. “Do you like to jet-ski?”
Her eyes were wide and innocent. “I don’t know. I’ve never tried it.”