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Lara wanted to laugh, only it wasn’t funny.
Dette’s eyes darted around the room, finally settling back on Lara. “I didn’t want anyone to know this, but Adam broke off the engagement, dumped me. He was the one with cold feet. I was brokenhearted. I ran off to Vegas, wanting to get away from everything. I drank way too much. Woke the next morning with a blinding headache, a man in my bed, and no memory of how he got there.”
Lara stared at her with more than a little skepticism. There was one way to get a straight answer. “Oh my God. Maybe he drugged you.” Lara gripped her sister’s wrists, daring her with her eyes. “I’m calling the police.”
“No, no…fine,” Dette shook off Lara’s hold. “I remember taking him back to my room, but I was drunk and stupid. I should have known Adam would get over his wedding jitters and be calling to apologize the next day, but I was so self-destructive, self-defeating, maybe I just didn’t believe I deserved to be happy.” Gripping her sister’s shoulders, she stared into her eyes. “I would give anything to take it back, do anything to change it, but I can’t.”
Lara held her breath for a count, memories of Dette’s tear-streaked pleas for help all running together in her mind. The rash choices, the uncontrolled outbursts…the sorrowful eyes filled with regret. Dette had such a hot head. She acted before she thought, and it always seemed to come back to haunt her. Almost like she was still trying to get caught.
“Adam broke up with you?”
“For two days. Neither of us told anyone.”
“Maybe if you explained what happened, he’d understand.”
“Are you crazy?” Dette squeaked. “He would never forgive me, never get over it. What if this guy walks in and announces to everyone what happened? The wedding would be off. I didn’t tell Adam before and I’m not going to now. This is my life,” she pleaded. “I just want to be happy like everyone else is. I need your help, but if, now, when I need it more than ever, you are going to leave me to twist in the wind, then fine. I guess my most desperate hour is even more hopeless than I thought. I’ve been abandoned by my own sister.” She sniffed, a single shiny tear drifted down her cheek. “My best friend.”
Shaking her head slowly, Lara studied her. For all Dette’s accomplishments, grace and glamour, she believed she never got a fair shake, that everyone else had it easier. She needed to grow up, but at twenty-eight years old and days before her wedding, Lara didn’t want to be responsible for teaching her that lesson. And if Adam really broke it off, then what happened over those two days was none of his business.
Lara closed her eyes and exhaled through her nose. “We might look alike, but how are you going to get past the names?”
“Give me some credit, I crossed the country to make sure no one recognized me, of course I didn’t use my real name. Contrary to the way you treat me, I’m not stupid.”
Of course.
“Okay, what do I need to do?”
Dette yanked her down the hall into her peaches and cream bedroom, stuffing Lara into the seat in front of the mirrored vanity they’d been playing dress-up at since they were girls. It charmed Lara that her sister, who always needed to have the newest and hottest of everything, left her bedroom exactly the way it was from her childhood fantasies. Glass-front cabinets held row upon row of pristine china faced dolls in silk dresses, miniature porcelain horses, and a collection of ballerina jewelry boxes. Her attachment to her girlhood treasures was one of the sweeter things about Dette.
A silver-backed brush began to rip through Lara’s hair with determined pulls. “I slept with him one time in Vegas. He was blasted, coming off some break-up of his own. He might not even remember but, if he does, he’s going to remember that it was you. I’m going to fix you up because, when your hair and face are done right, you look more like me than I do.”
Lara’s jaw set and her eyes closed. She just needed to take this one hit for Dette.
If this Vegas guy thought he recognized her, she’d avoid him. She’d be with Cal most of the time anyway, she just needed to make sure Dette’s mishap didn’t get in the way of what they’d started.
Why did Dette always have to go for the sleaze—Adam excluded, she assumed without really wanting to know—why couldn’t she be attracted to the decent guys like Cal? What kind of a creepy pig would pick someone up like that? The one-night stand was gross enough as it was, but to lie about his name on top of it? Who did that kind of thing?
Breathing through her nose, she stopped. Dette did. Had. Still, the idea of the man calling himself Kenneth had her skin crawling. She hoped this would be the last time she’d need to bail her sister out. Five days from now, Adam would be the one Dette turned to. Hopefully.
Chapter Two
The third bedroom on the right in the guest wing was soft blue with ornate plasterwork in shades of wheat scalloped around the ceiling and draped in vines around the walls.
Caleb Daniels set his bags down next to the satinwood Adams style dresser and, exhausted by the long day of travel, fell back onto his four poster bed.
The place was huge. The house sat on ten acres of beachfront property in one of the most coveted and exclusive stretches of real estate in the county. It amazed him that with a home like this, Lara came across as one of the most down-to-earth, practical people he knew.
He blew a long breath out through his nose, trying to chill out. It had been too long since he’d talked with her and he was getting antsy to finally meet her in person. Any minute now, he’d be able to lay his hands on her shoulders and tuck her into his chest. Feel the warmth of her body against him rather than just sense it through her words. Pulling out his PDA, he checked his email. The inbox was filled with work related correspondence, but nothing since last night from Lara. The little devil was making him wait.
Well, he was here now. The tiny text was about to become a thing of the past.
Scrolling through the mail, he took care of what was important and then forwarded the rest on to the vice president of Daniels Consulting. The VP had been handling more and more of the business lately, as Cal had been stepping back, and
he knew his company was in good hands.
Adam knocked at the open door and walked in with the redheaded groomsman, Keith, in tow. “No time for naps, man. Get your crap together and I’ll give you the tour before we head down for cocktails.”
Cal pushed off the bed, stretching his arms and back. “Hey, Adam. Keith. I’m all set. A drink sounds great, but I was wondering if Lara was around.”
