Taking Chances (The Chances and Choices Duology - Book 1 of 2 - Contemporary Romance) (7 page)

Even though I had figured out that Seth’s family
was wealthy, I was not prepared for the estate that we pulled into. The stone mansion
was massive and gorgeous, with clean lines and a classic look. The house paled
in comparison to the grounds, though.

The perfectly manicured yard had the feel of an
English garden with an abundance of comfortable sitting areas, bright flowers
and quirky fountains. I laughed in surprise as we walked down the brick path to
the backyard and a charming, winking baby elephant statue sprayed a mist of
water on us.

Seth shook his head, “My mother enjoys searching
for the most whimsical oddities.”

“We should introduce her to my boss, Annie,” I
answered. “She’s the most whimsical person I’ve ever met. They would probably
get along famously.”

It seemed like Seth was about to disagree with
that when he opened the gate to the back yard, which caused me to completely
forget about our conversation. It was the most breathtaking setup I had ever
seen. From the amazing view of the lake and marina, to the full outdoor kitchen
and infinity pool, this was a back yard that was meant to be in magazines.

My eyes drank it all in, and then I felt him. He
had just stepped out of the sliding glass door at the back of the house. I
didn’t have to look to know. The hair on my arms was standing up and my body
felt tingly. I swept my gaze quickly past him, just to confirm what I already
knew. Sam was standing there, looking amazingly gorgeous, like his brother. He
lifted his glass in greeting, and Seth nodded at him.

Seth’s mother walked over to welcome us. Janice
was classy and lovely, and I felt like a frump standing next to her. She
tsk’d
me for stealing Seth away from the charity auction
before dinner had even been served, and I started stammering my way through an
explanation. Seth gallantly saved me by saying he had wanted to leave early,
due to a headache. Thankfully, she seemed to buy that.

Janice told me to make myself at home and glided
off to check on the caterers. I shook my head, pondering the idea that anyone
had caterers for a weekly family brunch. It was beginning to feel like I had
somehow stumbled my way into the Kennedy compound, yet they all seemed so
down-to-earth and likable, with one glaring exception.

Sam was making his way towards us when a little
girl came running to him at full speed. “Kit Kat!” he said, as he picked her up
to twirl her around, both of them beaming.
That’s
kind of likable,
I admitted, grumbling silently to myself.

Jessie walked up the path, carrying a Barbie
backpack. “Abby, I‘m so glad you’re here,” she said, smiling kindly. Then she
leaned in to whisper, “It will give me a break from having to attempt to make
small talk with the latest ‘I’ girl.” She snickered, nodding her head to the
left.

I followed her eyes and saw the longest,
tannest, most perfect pair of legs I’d ever seen sticking out from a lounge
chair by the pool. I couldn’t see the rest of her from my angle, but could only
assume that these gorgeous legs belonged to Sam’s date. I don’t know why my stomach
did a little flip-flop at that idea.

Sam set the little girl down and she quickly ran
over to greet Seth. He kneeled down to her level and said, “How’s my little
Katiedid
today?”

I watched her telling him about her adventures,
since she had last seen him. She talked animatedly, and he seemed to hang on
every word. The little girl had huge blue eyes and long blond hair. She didn’t
look like her dark-haired mother and uncles, but she had inherited their
striking beauty.

Suddenly, she took notice of me. “Who’s that?”
she demanded.

Jessie jumped in to answer. “Katie, this is
Uncle Seth’s date, Abby.”

Katie squinted her eyes, looking me over, then
gave
a
‘
hmph
’ and asked Seth
to push her on the swing. He gave my hand a squeeze, before following the little
girl to do her bidding.

Her mother chuckled and said, “Don’t mind her.
She’s just not used to Seth bringing women around. That’s usually Sam’s forte.
She’ll warm up to you once she gets to know you,” she reassured me. “She
doesn’t usually bother with Sam’s friends because he never keeps them around
long enough for us to get to know them.”

I wondered why Seth didn’t bring women around
more often, but Sam walked up to join us, so I didn’t have a chance to ask.
“Hello, ladies,” he greeted his sister and me, slinging an arm casually around
Jessie.

Before we could answer, the blonde goddess in
the lounge chair bellowed, “Sam Darling, the wait staff hasn’t bothered to
check on me. I’m parched. Would you be a dear and have someone fetch me a
mojito?”

“Of course,” he responded and turned on his heel
to go track down someone.

Jessie raised her eyebrows, but refrained from
saying anything about the exchange. She smiled as she watched Seth playing with
her daughter.

“He’s really sweet with her,” I observed out
loud, thinking silently that he would make a terrific father someday.

“He is,” she agreed. “They both are.” We watched
Sam personally deliver the requested mojito before walking back to where we
stood.

“Are you a waiter now?” Jessie teased her brother.

Sam shrugged a shoulder. “She likes to be
pampered, and I humor her.”

The hair on my arms was already prickling from
being this close to him, so when his elbow brushed lightly against mine, I
almost jumped out of my skin.
Did I hate
him so much that he literally made my skin crawl?
I wondered. It didn’t
feel like hatred, though. As much as I wanted to dislike him, I knew that deep
down, I didn’t.
It must just be confusion
because he looks so similar to Seth,
I decided. I refused to think about
the fact that I didn’t have this strong of a physical reaction when Seth was
nearby.

“I’ll go rescue Seth from kid patrol, so he can
spend some time with you,” Jessie said to me as she left for the
playset
.

Sam turned and my skin heated as his eyes bored
into me. With every pore, I could feel how close he was. “Alone at last.” He
grinned and raised his eyebrows at me. “Did you tell Seth about us yet?”

“I didn’t feel it was important enough to
mention,” I lied.

“Or too important to mention,” he guessed
correctly.

He was so cocky and infuriating. I willed my
body not to react to him, even as I could feel my barely-covered nipples
puckering as if they were reaching out to him.

His eyes travelled slowly down me to my breasts
and lingered there. I prayed that my erect nipples weren’t visible through the
top of my dress.

Seth walked up to us, saving me from Sam’s
intense gaze. He casually put his arm around me, completely unaware of the
tension vibrating between his brother and me. “Hi, Gorgeous,” he said giving me
a quick peck on the cheek. I smiled at Seth, glad for the distraction from Sam.

All three of us had our attention diverted when
the long-legged beauty arose from her sunbathing chair. I couldn’t blame the
boys for gawking because I couldn’t look away either as she stretched her
gorgeous, lean body. She was a vision with her long, golden hair; perfect,
pouty lips; and lovely, tan legs peaking out of her barely-there sarong. Her
voluptuous, perky breasts were covered by the tiniest red triangles that I had
ever seen claim to be a bikini top.

As she walked towards us, all three of us were
openly staring. She must have been used to such attention because she didn’t
seem to notice as she placed an arm possessively on Sam and whined, “When will
the servants bring the food? I’m starving.” I cringed inwardly at her condescending
choice of the word ‘servants.’

“Soon, Baby.” He soothed her with a kiss on the
cheek then introduced us to
Jenni
. I tried to ignore
the twinge of jealousy in my gut by telling myself silently that I was just
envious of her astounding good looks.

Jessie rejoined us indicating that Grandpa had
taken Katie for a walk down to the pier. She greeted
Jenni
with an obvious lack of enthusiasm, and I was surprised by her near-rudeness.

The surprise wore off when
Jenni
spoke next. She turned to Seth and told him that he was just as handsome as
‘her Sam.’ He smiled politely, but didn’t respond. Unfazed, she continued,
“I’ve never been with twins before, but I have enough holes to entertain you
both. You would never forget the experience.”

I was completely astounded. I had never heard
anyone say anything so
outrageous,
especially not to
someone she had just met. I was also a little hurt that she would say this
right in front of me, as if I didn’t even exist. I did feel invisible next to
her radiant beauty, but there was no reason for her to openly come on to Seth
with me standing right here.

The three siblings all looked as taken aback by
the brash statement as I felt.
Jenni
giggled, then
added, “Another time, then. Come on, Babe,” she said to Sam. “Let’s go crack
the whip on this incompetent wait staff.”

“That will be the end of her.” Jessie shook her
head after they walked away. “Did you see the look on Sam’s face? I’m surprised
he didn’t ask her to leave right then.”

Seth said, “I can’t escape the mental image of
being with her while my brother fills another of her holes.” He gave an
exaggerated shiver of disgust. It was just the comic relief we needed, and the
three of us started laughing uncontrollably.

The brunch was going well after our hysterics
calmed down from
Jenni’s
scandalous and outlandish comment.
She and Sam were seated at the far end of the table from Seth and I, so I
pointedly ignored them. I was a firm believer that women need to stick
together, but this chick had seriously crossed the line.

The conversation became boisterous as Seth and
Sam got into a competition of one-upmanship. For each story that Seth told, Sam
told one that was a little bigger and better. They both looked so handsome as
they tried to top each other with their tall tales. We all laughed as the tone
of the game switched and they started telling stories on each other.

We heard about the time in high school when Sam
yanked down Seth’s shorts and shoved him in the girls’ locker room. “Joke was
on you,” Seth taunted him “because seeing me naked is just like seeing you naked.”
I shifted in my chair, trying not to think about that.

“It must not be exactly the same, or I wouldn’t
bag all of the hottest babes,” Sam quipped, making
Jenni
preen. His mother inhaled a sharp breath, shocked by his words. “With the
exception of one, apparently,” he turned and looked directly at me. I could
feel my cheeks burning red as the whole group turned their eyes towards me.

Seth narrowed his eyes, clearly not liking where
his brother had taken things. “No matter what you win, you’ll never be older.”

“You always make sure it comes back to that, don’t
you?” Sam sat back in his chair looking annoyed that Seth had brought up their
miniscule age difference.

“Boys.” Their father’s deep voice made the simple
word a warning.

Seth lightened the mood by saying, “No, what it
comes back to is that you saved my life, and I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t
for you.” He held up his glass and said sincerely, “Here’s to Sam, my hero.”

“Here, here.” The group clinked glasses and the
merriment of the day resumed, but my eyes were drawn to Sam. His gorgeous,
green eyes had taken on a dark look, and I wondered why. He caught me looking
and raised his glass towards me, but his smile didn’t reach his haunted eyes.

After eating more fantastic food than I remember
ever ingesting in any three full days, I excused myself from the table to go
find the bathroom. The pool house was larger than most people’s homes, so once
I was finished in the powder room, I decided to have a look around. The décor
was island-y and comfortable with a plethora of wicker and Bahamian artwork. It
was the kind of place where you could plop down with a good book and take a
nap.

I was studying a family portrait from when the
boys were toddlers, when I felt him come in. It was so strange how my senses of
sight and hearing took a backseat to some sixth sense of heightened awareness
where Sam was concerned.

He looked so handsome standing in the tall
archway of the entrance.
Just like Seth,
I reminded myself, annoyed that I was so drawn to Sam. I couldn’t make myself
stop looking at him, as he sauntered over. “Can you tell us apart?” he asked,
leaning over me. I could feel his hot breath on my ear, and it made me tingly.

“You’re the one on the left,” I responded
confidently. My voice sounded remarkably calm, considering the visceral
reaction my body was experiencing from having him so near.

“Impressive.” He seemed surprised that I had
been able to determine which one he was in the photograph. “Or was it just a
lucky guess?”

“I knew it was you.” I didn’t offer further
explanation.

“We confused caretakers and teachers for years.
Hell, half the time our family couldn’t tell us apart. So, Miss Brown, do tell
how you were able to know me from my brother.”

I pointed to his face in the photo. “It’s
something about your smile. You have a slightly crooked grin. Seth’s is
perfectly straight.”

“Oh, I should have known, you’d find a physical
flaw in me that perfect Seth, my
identical
twin doesn’t share.”

“It’s not a flaw, necessarily. Some people might
find a slightly crooked smile to be attractive.” I told him honestly.

“Do you find it attractive?” He grinned at me.

“There it is now.” I pointed at his mouth,
trying to avoid answering his question.

He took my silence about it as an affirmation
and started chanting and dancing around the room, “Abby thinks my crooked smile
is hot. H-O-T. Hot.” The last word was whispered in extremely close proximity
to my ear, and it sent a chill down my spine.

I forced myself to glare in his direction and
say, “You’re such a child.” Despite my words, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from
him, and when I looked at him, all I could think of was mounting him and riding
him to completion. My mouth fell open as I visualized myself climbing on top of
him and taking his thick cock deep inside me. I knew his dick was huge because
I had felt it pressing urgently into my back in the restroom at the museum.
Besides, he was sure to be impressively hung, since Seth was. Realization
dawned on me then that I technically knew what Sam looked like naked. The
mental image surfaced and made me damp. Sam’s eyes travelled to my mouth and
stayed there as I nervously licked my lips.

We stood there, eyes locked for several seconds.
I hoped that he couldn’t sense the horny turn that my thoughts had taken, even
though he had to feel the sexual tension that was zinging between us. Finally,
he spoke. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you.” Then he turned and darted
outside.

I leaned back against the wall and released the
breath that I didn’t realize I had been holding.
What the hell is wrong with me?
I wondered, placing a cool hand on
my forehead.
I have finally found a
handsome, sweet, wonderful man, and I have the
hots
for his pig of a brother.

It has to
just be his similarities to Seth,
I told myself.
Seth is so perfect, and Sam looks just like him. Of course it’s
confusing. Even the
chickipoo
that looks like a
Barbie doll out there is attracted to both of them.
I snorted, remembering
just how attracted and willing she was. At least I wasn’t that bad.

I took a few deep, calming breaths. It all made
sense when I thought it through. They were both physically attractive. Scratch
that, they were both physically perfect. Seth was the one who was sweet and
funny and kind and thoughtful, though. He was the one I cared about, not Sam.

The reaction I had to Sam was purely physical,
and I had a strong physical reaction to Seth as well. Beyond the physical,
though, I had real feelings for Seth.

Feeling renewed, I went back outside. I found
Seth and we walked down the path to the bluff overlooking the lake and marina.
Seth stood behind me with his strong arms wrapped around me. I felt safe and
happy in his embrace, and I staunchly ignored the tingling feeling deep down in
the pit of my stomach that told me Sam was watching us.