She’s got a microscope and all this equipment and reams of notes. There’s no way she’s…”
Aidan continued watching him as Logan mentally replayed a few conversations he’d had with Grace. “Well?”
Logan shook his head with firm resolve. “Nope. Absolutely not.”
“I think you’re not looking at her from an objective point of view.”
“Duh.” Logan glared at his brother. “Just because I’m not being objective doesn’t mean I’m some naive idiot, either.”
“Fine. Prove it to me, then.”
“Yeah? How?”
Aidan smiled and his eyebrows lifted high on his forehead. “Easy enough. I say we need to pull the Switch.”
Logan leaned forward and pounded the table with his fist. “No way. Don’t even think about it.”
Over the years, the brothers had occasionally pulled the Switch on women, usually just for fun or when one of the brothers seemed to be getting too serious about a woman. Aidan had always called it a test, implemented merely to see if a woman was paying attention to which brother was which.
The last time they’d employed the Switch was when Logan suspected that his wife, Tanya, was being less than faithful to their marriage vows. He’d asked Aidan to pull the Switch on her. Tanya didn’t pass the test.
“Fine,” Aidan said, holding up his hands in surrender. “You win. But I still want to meet her. Let’s just swing by the lounge on the way back so you can introduce me to her.”
“You’re not meeting her.”
“You know how stupid you sound?”
Logan clenched his teeth together, then blew out a heavy sigh. “Yeah, I’m pretty clear on that. Fine, we’ll swing by, I’ll introduce you, you’ll say hello, then you’ll shut up and leave.”
Aidan grinned. “You’re not doing yourself any favors here.”
“I know,” Logan muttered. What was wrong with him? It was no big deal if Aidan met Grace. But there was no way he’d allow his brother to pull the Switch on her.
“So what’s her name?”
He hesitated, but his brother’s expression switched to one of such abject
Aidan smile in satisfaction. “Pretty name. Where’s she from?”
Logan rolled his eyes. “Minnesota.”
“Ah, a farm girl,” his brother murmured.
“No, a scientist,” Logan said flatly.
“Oh, right, the spores. Tell me more.”
“They’re rare spores only found on Alleria. Grace is studying their replication patterns in hope of curing diseases and saving lives someday.”
“No kidding?”
“Yeah.”
Aidan folded his arms across his chest. “Seems to me you know a hell of a lot about spores all of a sudden.”
“Yeah, I do,” Logan said, taking a long sip of his drink. “We’ve got miracle spores on Alleria and I’m swollen with pride over that.”
Aidan choked on a laugh. “Damn, it’s good to be home.”
“I’ve missed you, too,” Logan said dryly.
“Right.” Aidan grinned. “You sure you don’t want to reconsider the Switch? It’s always worked for us before. And wouldn’t you rather know the truth for sure?”
Pissed off now, Logan flopped back in his chair. Knowledge was power, even when the truth sucked. Besides, he had more than a sneaking feeling that Aidan would carry out the Switch whether Logan approved or not. And there was the added fact that once Aidan had met Grace and seen how sincere and real she was, he’d back off and leave Logan to enjoy her for the short amount of time he had with her.
“Fine,” he said, lifting his margarita glass in a toast. “Give it your best shot. But if you hurt her, I’ll have to kill you.”
“Fair enough,” Aidan said with a laugh, and called for the check.
Eight
“Hey, babe,” he said from close behind her, his tone warm and intimate. “I missed you last night.”
Grace whipped around and laughed with joy. “Oh, Logan, I missed you, too. I’m so happy to…” Her voice faded and she smiled curiously as she studied him more carefully.
He’d called her late last night after he r shift had ended to let her know he couldn’t see her. He’d sounded as disappointed as she’d felt, so Grace hadn’t worried too much that he was losing interest or whatever equally foolish scenario she could’ve dreamed up in the moment.
And now, just knowing that he’d come looking for her this morning and that he knew her well enough to know she’d be walking on the beach toward the palmetto grove, was sweetly heartening.
Would it be too outrageous if she dragged him off to the shelter of the rain forest and had her way with him? Her body tingled at the thought.
But…something was wrong. Logan wasn’t… Hmm. She gazed at him, trying to figure out what was different. Was it his ears? Was it…?
“Babe,” he said, his handsome smile fading to a look of concern. He reached out and lightly gripped her upper arm. “Are you all right?”
Yes, she was all right, but he was…different somehow.
“Ah,” Grace said slowly and her smile broadened. “You must be Aidan. Hello.” She reached out and took his hand in a warm handshake. “How do you do?”
“Babe, that’s crazy.” He took a half step back. “I’m not-”
“I’ve often wondered what it would be like to be a twin, especially an identical twin. It must be fascinating to look at another person and see your own face staring back at you.” She took her time and circled all the way around him, trailing her hand along his waistline as she examined his posture, the fine laugh lines around his compelling eyes, the shape of his head, the way his chiseled jaw met his strong, square chin. All of it was so appealingly rugged. “Well, it’s extraordinary, isn’t it? You look exactly like Logan.”
“But I
“Oh, that’s so funny,” she said, laughing at his joke as she patted his arm. “I’ve always found the concept of twins so interesting. You two must’ve been able to play the best tricks on people.”
“We don’t play tricks,” he ground out as his forehead furrowed in annoyance.
“Really? I certainly would’ve if I had a twin sister.” She sighed at the thought. “We could have practiced smiling the same way-unless you do that anyway? Do you? I mean, you and Logan of course. Do you instinctively do things in the same manner or was it learned behavior? You know, they do twin studies all the time and identical twins are in high demand. Have either of you ever thought of donating some time to scientific exploration?”
“Scientific…” He sounded confused.
Well, Grace was used to that kind of reaction, but not from Logan, she realized, and that made her smile even brighter.
She threaded her arm through Aidan’s and they walked along the shore for a bit before she stopped and squeezed his arm enthusiastically. “You do know that identical twins come from the same egg. Of course you know that. Why wouldn’t you? Oh, but what a thrill to imagine the fertile egg separating in the womb. To watch a zygote’s first cellular division as it becomes two living beings. What miracle of nature triggers the split? Do you often ask yourself that question? It’s incredible on every level, isn’t it?”
He stared at her as if she’d sprouted antennae, but again, she was used to that.
