The sounds of the car boot being opened and loaded reignited some of my earlier nervousness. I stroked the sterling silver drop necklace my mother had given me for my sixteenth birthday, reassuring myself that I was worrying for no good reason. It didn’t stop me from giving a brief cry of surprise when a head poked through the car window and looked straight at me. A very, very good-looking head.
The slow, lopsided smile when he saw my reaction made my heart stutter into an unsteady rhythm. Wow.
“Hey, Dad. Who’s the little mouse?”
I could almost imagine Marcus’ weary sigh. Little mouse, huh? You’re a full-grown woman, Ella. Well, almost. My eighteenth birthday was two months away. Not that that would change all of five-foot-three me into something more substantial.
“Hans,” Marcus said in a warning tone.
The door behind me popped open, jolting me. I whirled around to see an unsmiling, grim-faced carbon copy of the grinning guy I just saw on the other side. He sidled in, his tall, muscular frame making my breath catch and banged the door shut. I willed myself not to stare and instead gave him a halting smile, which he ignored. Continuing to stare straight ahead, as if I wasn’t within a fingerbreadth of him, he made no move to greet me or my mother, who was standing in front next to the open passenger door. Her own unsure smile reflected my thoughts – what did we get ourselves into?
“Hi,” the guy to my right said. I took his outstretched hand and shook it, feeling foolish as I did so. “So you’re the new stepsister. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“Ella.”
He nodded. “I’m Cole. That’s Hans.”
“Hans,” Marcus repeated in that same warning tone. “I guess turning eighteen changed nothing.”
His smile was blindingly white, and I wondered how long his list of admirers was. He had strong, buff shoulders and that dark, dreamy eyes that would easily make girls swoon. Even those who never showed much of an interest in the opposite sex – a.k.a. me – was unlikely to come away unaffected.
“Just kidding. Let’s start over. I’m Hans. The cooler of the Isaac heartthrobs. That’s Cole. Good luck getting an introduction from him.”
I braved a glance at the twin to my left, whose jaw tightened at his brother’s words. For some reason, the sight made my pulse race. His unsmiling face was all sharp lines and planes, and his lips were full and now pressed into a displeased line. “Are you done gawking?” he bit out in a tone low enough that only I could hear. My head snapped forwards so fast I swore I could hear my neck crack. My cheeks heated up and I sat up stiffly, focusing on remembering the way to my new home, barely daring to breathe and doing my best not to lean into either twin as the car went around corners. My stomach rumbled and I tried my best to silence it, to no avail, as I had missed breakfast earlier.
The drive back wasn’t as unpleasant as I expected it to be, with Hans filling in the silence with stories of their visit. From the way he spoke, it seemed as if there wasn’t any bad blood between their divorced parents. But I could feel Cole becoming more and more wound up as Hans continued to talk, and wondered if he would uncoil and finally snap.
About halfway through the ride, just as I was beginning to relax and lie back into the cushy leather seat, I felt a large hand slide onto the small of my back, causing me to jerk straight up and sit up as stiff as a board like before. I waited for it to move away, assuming it had landed there by accident, but the slow and sure way with which it inched up my skin, as if it had every right, made my mouth dry. I was too close to either twin to be able to tell for sure whose hand it was just by looking out of the corner of my eyes. Hans had his eyes shut, and was leaning back into the seat appearing fast asleep, and Cole, from what I could see, was looking out the window, jaw still set in a hard line. Frozen, I waited with bated breath, wondering what the hand would do.
It slipped under the hem of my floral chiffon top, a favorite of mine as it was both feminine and modest at the same time, and I felt a shiver as it slowly, sensuously caressed my skin, a touch between lovers. I squeezed my eyes shut, unable to comprehend the burning it caused within me. More, I wanted more. Then I felt a finger pull back on my bra strap and snap it, causing me to let out a muffled cry and snapping me out of the trance I had been placed in. Neither my mother nor Marcus seemed to notice, and the twins remained in the same positions, giving me no indication as to which of the two perfect strangers were harassing me. As soon as it happened, the hand withdrew and I was left unsettled, my heart beating fast for the short remainder of the ride, unsure of what had just transpired, and why.
Chapter 2
Hans
The play of emotions across Ella’s face was a dead giveaway of how unsettled she felt. She was too easy to read, an open book, demure in the too-formal full-sleeved blouse that should have been worn by her mother instead of her. Even now, with Cole’s hand inching towards her bra, she did her best not to react. But her eyes squeezed shut, and her breath caught, and I was enjoying every second of it. I didn’t blame her – facing one Isaac twin was formidable enough, let alone two. And Cole was being his usual impenetrable, unforgiving self today. I didn’t want our soon-to-be stepsister to hate us right away, which would be a given if I didn’t
