Fugitive Bride. Miranda Lee

fear of touching him. Anywhere.

      Suddenly it wasn’t the scar which was drawing her eyes but the rest of him, especially that which was being ineffectually contained by his briefs. Clearly he was an impressively equipped man, as impressive as his brother. But of course he would be, wouldn’t he? They were identical twins.

      Leah’s gaze skittered back to the scar, her fingertip quivering as it made tentative contact with the puckered skin. When he flinched at her touch her hand immediately dropped away, her eyes jerking up to his.

      ‘H… how did it happen?’ she asked, appalled by her breathless state, plus the wild hammering of her heart.

      ‘A car accident some time back,’ came the curt reply. He bent abruptly and dragged his shorts back up to his waist. ‘A truck smashed into me at an intersection.’

      Leah struggled with her feelings. Clearly the man standing before her wasn’t Gerard, yet he could still stir her sexually. Which said what of her feelings for her husband? Not much except that they must be very superficial, and shallow. Easily transferred from one twin to another.

      She shook her head in confusion. That didn’t feel right, didn’t feel right at all. She’d loved Gerard. She still loved him. She was sure of it.

      ‘You still don’t believe me?’

      She frowned up at her husband’s twin brother, and found excuses for his being able to turn her on. He did carry identical genes to Gerard, after all. When she looked at him, her brain automatically registered her husband’s face and body. It didn’t mean anything. It was simply an instinctive response which would fade in a few minutes.

      ‘No, I do believe you. It’s just hard, that’s all. I had no idea Gerard had a brother, let alone a twin. I’m still a bit shell-shocked. You have no idea how much you look like him.’

      ‘Oh, yes, I have,’ he said ruefully as he snapped the waistband of his shorts shut and pulled his T-shirt back down. ‘But looks are only skin-deep, Leah. Don’t judge me on them.’

      ‘I… I’ll try not to,’ she said, though she could not help feasting her eyes on his face and body. Slightly thinner than Gerard he might be, but he was still extremely attractive to her.

      ‘That’s good, because I’d like to speak to you further at some later date. I have to admit to being more than curious about you and my brother. For now, however, perhaps you’d better get back to doing your job before your boss loses his cool.’

      All of a sudden the man himself popped his head through the cabin door, his long blond hair swinging around his bare shoulders. ‘You two sorted everything out?’

      ‘Perfectly,’ Gareth answered for them both, in the same decisive way Gerard had when dealing with people.

      Leah groaned silently. She supposed there were going to be a lot of disturbing similarities about the two brothers. She was as curious about Gareth as he was about her, but the thought of spending more time with him sent her into a spin.

      ‘In that case, shake a leg with the food and drinks, Leah,’ Alan advised brusquely. ‘Perhaps Gareth can help you.’

      ‘Yes, I’d like that,’ he agreed, before Leah could say a word. ‘As long as my newly found sister-in-law doesn’t mind,’ he added, a sudden smile quite blowing Leah away. Smiling, he was as devastatingly handsome and charming as Gerard had been.

      ‘She won’t, if she knows what’s good for her,’ Alan grated out before abruptly disappearing.

      ‘You don’t mind, do you?’ Gareth asked, his eyes searching hers.

      ‘No. Not really. It’s just that…’

      ‘That what?’

      That I can’t look at you without wanting to touch you again, came the awful secret admission. Without wanting you…

      Leah tried to keep the shock from showing on her face.

      It was only natural, she reasoned in desperation. He looked so much like Gerard. Smelt like him. Spoke like him. It was perfectly but perversely natural that her body, long starved of sexual satisfaction, would crave it from this man who so resembled the man she loved.

      But, dear God, it was difficult to cope with.

      ‘I… I get upset when I look at you,’ she said quite truthfully.

      His blue eyes clouded. ‘You hate Gerard that much?’

      ‘Yes,’ she said. It was the truth too. She loved him and hated him.

      ‘I see,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘I’m sorry. The last thing I want is to upset you. But, other than my jumping overboard, I’m afraid you’re condemned to look at me occasionally. Under those circumstances, it’s better I help you serve, don’t you think? That way I’ll be standing beside you and not in front of you.’

      She shook her head, a small wry smile playing on her lips. ‘I see you and your brother are more alike than in looks alone. You both have the gift of the gab. Gerard could talk his way out of the gallows, if needs be.’