Falling for the Wrong Twin (4 page)

She blinked. “What?”

“Was it planned all along? Or did you just see an opportunity and grab it?”

His mother looked up from where she was helping Darla with her muffin. “You’re being rude, Mike.”

“Really?” he drawled.

Anna slowly straightened in her seat, anger slowly heating in her belly. “Yes, really. What happened between last night and now that you suddenly hate me?”

“This,” he said as he pulled out his phone and passed it to her.

She looked down and saw the Mike’s picture. The one of him dripping wet with the pink barrette in his hair. She’d uploaded it to her blog last night with the caption Loving Uncle Gets Caught in the Rain.

“Yeah?” she said. “I told you I’d put it on my page.”

“And I said no!”

Had he? She didn’t remember. But wait, wasn’t that why she hadn’t given his name? She’d just captioned him uncle…wait a moment. She adjusted the image, shrinking it down so she could see the caption.

Soccer Mega-Star caught in the rain. Could Smithson be gay?

“Oh no,” she breathed. Then she looked at the page header. This wasn’t her blog. This was a celebrity gossip site of the worst reputation ever. Oh shit. Oh double shit. No wonder Mike was mad.

The irony was that she’d completely forgotten that he was related to the soccer star. That’s why she’d posted the picture to her blog. She hadn’t thought two seconds about his famous twin. And she certainly hadn’t realized the paparazzi would lift the picture and create a whole new rumor out of it.

Rick’s cold voice jolted her out of her misery. “I think you’ve overstayed your welcome, Miss Lopez. Bethany will help you find a new hotel. Good day.”

She swallowed. So much for her birthday celebration with the hot new guy in her life. And the worst thing was, she couldn’t even blame him.

Chapter 3

Mike watched Anna rises with innate grace, an apology in her melting doe eyes. Damn it, why did she have to be yet another fan girl? How could he have judged her so wrong? Lord, she even had Rick’s publicity photos sticking out of her bag.The answer was obvious. Last night’s dream of her coming to his hotel room made it clear who had been doing the thinking yesterday. With her sleek brown hair, perfect skin, and even more perfect body, his dick had been doing the thinking yesterday. But he couldn’t afford to have a fan girl hanging around here. Not with his family here. And certainly not now that his brother had somehow managed to show up after all.

Yup, last night well after midnight, his twin had shoved his massive body into Mike’s room. Apparently, he’d managed to make the reunion after all. But with Anna in his room, Rick had been forced to bunk with Mike. And wasn’t that a tight fit? The two hadn’t shared a room since they were ten.

Meanwhile, matchmaker Tilde was clueless as to the problem Anna had created. Damn it, if she’d put a location tag on the photo, they’d be buried in crazies within the hour.

“But her breakfast is just arriving,” his aunt said. And damn it, the woman was right. Bethany was just bringing in a steaming hot omelet, fruit, and more coffee. His nose twitched at the scent of food and coffee, but his responsibilities came first. After all, since his father died a few months ago, he was the newly crowned Head of the Family.

“Bethany, would you box that up please? Miss Lopez won’t be eating it here.”

Meanwhile, his mother snapped in her most motherly tone. “Stop being rude! So she posted a picture of you looking silly. That’s hardly a crime --”

Anna spoke again, her tone conciliatory as she grabbed the photos. “It’s all right. He has a right to be mad, and this is your family reunion. I’ll leave as soon as my car is fixed—”

“Oh look, Dee,” aunt Tilde exclaimed. “She has that
People
magazine issue. My friend Rachel said there was a feature in there about Rick. Anna, dear, do you mind if I take a peek? You just wait right here and chat with Mike while I take a look.” Then without waiting for a response, the woman snatched the magazine right out of Anna’s bag.

To her credit, Anna tried to stop her. “I really don’t think you should read that…” she said, but Tilde was already flipping to the spread. And even his mother had put on her glasses to read over Tilde’s shoulder.

“Oh my!” said his mother as she peered closer. Aunt Tilde didn’t say a word. She was already reading the article, her lips moving slowly whenever she wanted to repeat certain phrases. A lifetime of dealing with his aunt made it easy to read her lips as she mouthed “three-for-all” and “cheating scandal.” Thankfully, his mother just shook her head and looked away. Not so good was that her gaze landed thoughtfully on him and Anna.“Mike here never played soccer. He was a wide receiver.” She passed the baby another grape as she continued to muse out loud. “My boys were always fast, but only Mike here had the gentle hands.”

“Magic Mike!” giggled Aunt Tilde.

Holy hell, had she really just said that? Apparently so, because Anna nearly choked on her laughter.

“That’s it,” he snapped, his patience worn out. “This is a private party, Miss Lopez, and you aren’t welcome.” Bethany had thankfully returned with the boxed breakfast. He pulled out a twenty from his wallet and slapped it down. “Here’s cab fare. Go get your car and leave.”

“Michael!” his mother gasped.

“Why would you make her go--” began Aunt Tilde.

“Remember Miss Cindi with an i?”

“That sweet thing I met in the grocery store?” asked his mother.

“She has thirty-seven restraining orders out on her and one felony assault. And a blog complete with detailed accounts of all the celebrities she’s slept with.”

His mother blinked. “A blog?”

“Misti May has a blog too. And she’s filed three paternity suits against three different athletes.”

Aunt Tilde frowned. “Well, if they slept with her--”

“Did you know that Rick has a lawyer on retainer just to handle spurious suits?”

His mother reared back, obviously appalled. “Has he fathered a child?”

Mike groaned. Good God, didn’t his mother realize she was making his point for him? “Not to my knowledge, Mom, but he has a lifestyle that draws the crazies to him.” His gaze moved pointedly back to Miss Anna Lopez, if that was her real name.

“I’m not a nutcase, Mike. “

Meanwhile, his mother sniffed--actually sniffed--at him. “You’re too paranoid Mike. “

“It doesn’t matter,” he said, trying to moderate his tone. He just wasn’t going to take chances. “Given Rick’s history, I’m not exposing my family to any possible risks. We’ve all had our share of crazy.”

That was a lie. The truth was
he
had had his fill of crazy. It wasn’t just his brother’s celebrity lifestyle that attracted nutsos, it was his whole damn family. His Aunt Tilde had modeled her life on the word “eccentric,” his mother had become completely lost since his father’s passing, and his sister was now a war widow with two little kids in tow. He didn’t blame them, of course. He loved them. But that didn’t stop their needs from draining him dry. He was willing to drop everything to help his mother handle inheritance taxes, he ran straight to his sister’s side (even though they lived a state apart) when her basement flooded and someone had to handle the disaster, but he’d be damned if he drew a celebrity groupie into their mix. He had enough on his plate.

Meanwhile, Anna gathered her things, even pulling the magazine out of Tilde’s hands. Her chocolate brown eyes were cold, her words even more so, and he couldn’t help but admire the dignity in her demeanor. “I understand that you’re just being psychotically protective, but I’ll pay my own bill, thank you.” She all but threw his money back at him. She turned to the women at the table. “Thank you, ladies, for a truly fun morning. I’ll just go check on my car. Hopefully, I’ll be on my way to Chicago by lunch.”

“Don’t forget to take a picture of The Bean!” said Aunt Tilde. “Wait! Send the picture to my email. Mike set me up with an account.” She turned to her sister. “I’m getting so technosavy!”

Mike all but lurched across the table. Good God, did the woman understand nothing? One did
not
give fandom your private email address!

Meanwhile Ms. Lopez pulled out a business card from her tote -- one that really did say
Parties For Celebrities Like You
-- and pressed it down on the table. “I’ll post it on my blog and you can see it there.”

His mother’s eyes widened in dismay. “You have a blog too?”

“Yes, but only about the lovely parties I’ve hosted and bits about my life. Nothing as exciting as three-for-alls. I promise.”

“Oh good. That would be tacky.”

Yes, because tacky was what he was worried about. Meanwhile, Anna pointedly turned her back on him, grabbed her boxed breakfast and walked away. He told himself he was watching her leave because he wanted to be sure she left the B&B. Yup, that’s what he was doing. It had nothing to do with her long legs or the way she walked in those low heeled sandals. The way her pants sculpted her fine bottom or that she was nearly as tall as he. That her hair was neatly coiled in an artful knot, but that he was imagining pulling out the clip just to see it tumble down her back.

Was he being too harsh? Well, of course he was. But he had to protect his brother. Didn’t anyone else see that? He said the words to himself. Even muttered them, but in his heart he had one question: Had he just tossed out the closest thing to elegance that he’d seen in a long time?

“I really don’t think she was a fan, honey,” said his mother. “She didn’t talk about sports at all.”

“There are clever loonies too, Mom. That’s why Rick has a security detail.” That his mother’s words closely echoed his own thoughts bothered him way more than it should.

Meanwhile Aunt Tilde sniffed. “How are you ever going to meet a nice woman if you accuse all of them of being crazy stalkers? Your brother lives in Los Angeles, dear. And no one in the US really cares about soccer.”

If only that were true.

“Besides,” added his mother. “Rick isn’t even here. If she were simply a fan girl, she would have found that out and left. No muss, no fuss.”

Actually, he knew from personal experience that that was absolutely
not
true. He’d learned in high school that many women thought he as the identical twin was as good as the real thing. Or close enough. And most fangirls had a habit of ignoring the word, “no.”

But instead of saying that, he focused on what his mother really needed to know. “Actually, mom, Rick showed up last night.”

“What?” gasped both ladies at once.

“But he cancelled,” continued his mother. “I got the email just yesterday.”

“Yes, I know. But he broke up with…” He pointed at the photo spread. “Kym.” Didn’t any of these women have a normally spelled name? “Hopped the first flight and got in a few hours before dawn.”

“But-- but where’s he sleeping? Beth gave his room to Anna.”

“With me,” he said dryly. And sharing a room with his professional athlete brother was not his choice in bed partner. Thank God the B&B had a trundle bed or it would be really awkward. Not a prayer that the two of them could fit on one bed.

“Uncle Mike,” inserted the sweet voice of his niece. “Is all the yelling done now?”

He winced. He hadn’t been yelling, had he? Well, no, he hadn’t but to a five-year-old, his angry tones would have been just like a gang fight.

“Yes sweetie, it’s all over. I’m sorry I got angry.”

The girl stood up in her chair and easily climbed into his arms. “You have to yell at bad ladies.”

“Yes, honey, I have to.”

“Just remember,” inserted his mother, “that Uncle Mike sometimes guesses wrong about people. And much too quickly.”

With those unsettling words, he turned his attention to what he did best: taking care of his family. And that included ordering a healthy breakfast for his niece and nephew.

…

Anna moved with as much dignity as possible out of the room, but her insides were quaking with rage. What the hell was wrong with her? In her years as a party planner, she’d faced angry drunks, psychotic exes, and worst of all, arrogant caterers. She’d handled them all with her usual calm charm. She’d managed to cajole, threaten, or just trick them into doing what she wanted. And yet faced with one not-superstar from her dreams, and she was frozen into silence.

The reason wasn’t hard to figure out. It was because he’d been
right
. Not about the stalker bit. She really couldn’t care less about some soccer star or his supermodel girlfriend. But she had been infringing on his family reunion. She had been slipping her way into the welcoming embrace of two elderly sisters who were trying to matchmake her into their family.

It was the dream of every orphan: to be accepted into a ready-made family filled with the kind of warmth featured in every good sit-com. Open the door Cosby, she was moving in.

Except, of course, she wasn’t in a sit-com, and she wasn’t really an orphan in the traditional sense. Her mother had died four years ago which meant Anna had had a family--albeit a small one--and she shouldn’t be feeling so lost in the world.

But she was. So when she traveled, she found other families to settle in with, became a participant in their small celebrations, and pretended for a little while that she wasn’t so alone in the big, bad world. And if those vacations included a little action in the bedroom, then it made the fantasy all the hotter. At home she was a responsible business woman. Out here where no one knew her, she could be Jennifer Lopez’s long lost cousin as she slipped into bed with the hot guy who’d rescued her and her derelict car.

But then she’d screwed up. She’d posted that picture and in less time than it took her to finish a cup of coffee, he had exposed her as clearly as if he’d stripped her naked.

This is a private party, Miss Lopez, and you aren’t welcome.

She bit her lip, tightening her belly and spine until she stopped feeling so shaky. Okay, so she wasn’t welcome here. Fine. She’d just find some other place, some other party, some other people. She was on her 27
^th
birthday vacation, and she had no intention of staying where she wasn’t wanted.