I try not to read too much into it, but my heart pumps out a staccato beat.
A couple holding hands leisurely skates by us, the male in the couple glancing over his shoulder when they pass. When I see him do a double-take, I groan because here it comes. He pulls the woman he’s skating with to a stop, says something to her,and she turns and looks at us before a huge smile transforms her face. And now they’re coming over.
“Get ready,” I whisper to Carter, who looks baffled until the couple stops right next to us.
“Oh my god, I loveShelter Bay!” the woman practically shouts.
“Except your hair is different,” the man says.
Carter stiffens in surprise, then slowly releases my hands, shifting to my side and wrapping his arm around my waist to keep me steady.
I smile at them as nicely as I can. “Actually, I’m not her. It’s my twin sister on the show.”
The guy scoffs. “Yeah, okay. You look exactly like her.”
Carter frowns. “Did you miss the part where she said they’re twins? Identical twins?”
The man glances from me to Carter. “Listen, if you don’t want to talk to some of your fans, just say so. You don’t have to make shit up.”
The woman tugs on his arm. “What’s it like being on a TV show with Rick Selleck? He’s so gorgeous. Do you think he’ll be your love interest on the show next season?”
Her face fills with excitement. Here comes the bad part. I brace myself. I always feel bad when I have to burst people’s bubble and make them really understand that I’m not her.
“It’s my sister, honest to God.”
Her eyes narrow, and her gaze tracks me up and down, taking in all my features. “You’re right. You’re a little curvier than she is.”
“And not as pretty,” the guy says.
Carter skates in front of me, as if he can block the insults. I lose balance but grip the back of his jacket, holding steady for the moment.
“What’s wrong with you guys? You two don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Ashley is a thousand times better.” His head whips over his shoulder. “Don’t tell Steph I said that.”
A laugh bubbles out of me. Despite the insults these two strangers have just leveled at me, I find the humor in Carter’s reaction.
“Whatever,” the guy says and rolls his eyes.
The two of them skate off, grumbling to themselves, and Carter turns around, gripping my hands as he circles. It’s a sexy-as-hell move. He pulls me in and wraps his arms around my waist.
“Thanks for coming to my defense.”
His forehead wrinkles. “You know what they said was total bullshit, right?”
“Yeah, I know. I’m used to it.”
The wrinkles on his forehead deepen. “Does it happen a lot?”
“Not quite like that, where people are that nasty, but most people don’t believe me when I say I’m not Steph. It takes some convincing.”
“Now I understand why you reacted the way you did on our first date. Which makes me feel even more like an asshole.” The pain in his tone soothes a little of that hurt I’ve been harboring.
“Honestly, things like what just happened bother me less than when someone knows me and still thinks my sister and I are carbon copies of each other.”
Carter kisses the tip of my cold nose. “I’m sorry I ever made you feel that way.”
“I know you are. But listen, I can be a little too sensitive about it, and I probably overreacted that night. I was really into you and felt this instant connection during dinner, and I was hopeful about where things might go between us. So, when you did a one-eighty, I was embarrassed and disappointed.”
He cringes and inhales through his nose, his eyes never straying from mine. “Rest assured, now that I know you better, I can’t imagine why I ever saw Steph in you. I wasn’t kidding about what I said to them. You are a thousand times better.” Then he gives me a good, long kiss. “But seriously, don’t tell Steph because she’d probably cut my balls off, and that would hurt you as well as me now.”
