“No,” said Darci.
“I’m not,” said Kalissa. “You couldn’t get me to take money if you tried.”
His eyes narrowed. “That’s how all the best cons start off.”
“Look at her,” said Darci.
“We’ll want DNA,” said Shane.
“Take it, if you want it,” said Kalissa. “But it’s not necessary. I’m not going to hang around. I only wanted to warn you, well, warn Darci. Since your wedding, people have started to mistake me for her. I’m out in public. I shop at discount stores. Sometimes I swear, or get angry with a store clerk or, and this is the big one, go out on dates. I have a date tomorrow night, and I was worried I’d be mistaken for Darci. That might look bad on the two of you, and I didn’t want to cause either of you any trouble.”
Shane stared at her in silence.
“Thank you,” said Darci. “That’s very considerate of you. But seriously.” She broke into a grin. Then, without warning, she rushed forward, opening her arms to pull Kalissa into a hug. “I have a twin sister.”
Kalissa closed her eyes, unexplainable feelings coursing through her.
Darci drew back, cradling Kalissa’s cheeks with her hands. “You are beautiful.” Then she laughed. “Didn’t that sound conceited.”
Kalissa took in every contour of Darci’s face, settling on her left cheekbone. “You have a freckle.”
“You don’t.”
“I don’t,” Kalissa agreed.
Shane cleared his throat. “I’m cancelling everything for the rest of the day.”
Kalissa turned to him. “Oh, no. Don’t do that. I didn’t plan to mess up your day.”
“Of course I’m doing that. You two have a million things to talk about. We’ll go to the penthouse, order some dinner. And wine. We’ll need some really good wine.”
“For a toast,” said Darci.
Shane gave a disbelieving shake of his head. “A toast is the least of why we need the wine.”
* * *
Riley could have happily done nothing but stare at Kalissa all night long. Her hair was full and shiny tonight, bouncing around her bare shoulders. Makeup brightened her beautiful face. While her tight jeans and the breezy little tank top were already giving him fantasies.
They’d snacked their way through the food kiosks and bought matching key chains with colorful, stylized letters on the fob. He’d held her hand while they navigated the crowds, waiting in a long lineup to get on the Ferris wheel. But it was worth the wait. The skies were clear, dotted with faint stars, while the skyline of Chicago was illuminated in the clear night air.
The bustle and noise of the crowds disappeared as they swept upward in the dangling car. The wind buffeted them, cooling the air temperature. Riley wrapped an arm around her, letting his fingertips brush her smooth, bare shoulder.
“I’ve never done this before,” she told him. “Wow. Look at the city.”
“You’ve never been up here at night?”
She shook her head. “I mean it’s my first time on the Ferris wheel. I’ve never been to the Pier before.”
“I thought you said you grew up in Chicago.”
“My mom wasn’t into things like this.” They hit the outer apex of the curve and she grasped his arm. “This is fantastic.”
Gratification swelled his chest. “No wonder you seem like a little kid.”
She tilted her head to give him an unabashed grin. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all.” He liked that about her. In fact, so far, he liked everything about her.
As they swung toward the top, he impulsively leaned in for a kiss. Her lips were warm and moist against his. She tasted like cotton candy, and he couldn’t stop himself from taking the kiss deeper and deeper.
By the time he pulled back, they’d crested the top. Her eyes were shinning in the ride’s bright lights, and her rosy cheeks had a new glow.
“I used to come here with my friends sometimes,” he told her. “When I was a teenager.”
It was a rare occurrence, since his childhood years hadn’t held much in the way of amusement. His mother had been the runaway daughter of Irish immigrants. With only a tenth grade education, she’d worked as a housekeeper for Dalton Colborn for nearly twenty years before succumbing to a bout of pneumonia.
Determined to hold Kalissa even closer, he settled his free hand at her waist, finding a warm strip of skin at her stomach.
“Were you a wild teenager?” she asked.
“Occasionally,” he admitted. “We used to street race, and we partied pretty hard. We once stole ethanol from the high school science lab. Made a killer punch that got about thirty kids blasted.”
“Who’s we?”
“My friend Ashton and I.”
“I can picture that.”
It occurred to Riley that if he wanted to impress her, he should probably change the subject from his teenage transgressions. “What about you? What were you like as a kid?”
She smoothed her hair in the wind and gave him an innocent smile. “I was good as gold.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“It’s true. I studied hard trying to get a scholarship, and I had a part time job from the time I was fourteen. I wanted to go to college, and I knew my mother could never afford it.”
“So, you were the consummate good girl?”
“I was.”
He moved in to playfully nuzzle her neck. “That’s sexy. It makes me want to corrupt you.”
She tapped him in the chest. “There’s something wrong with you.” But she was laughing as she said it.
“There’s a whole lot wrong with me.”
“Do tell.”
“I don’t think so.”
The ground rushed up, and the car glided to a stop, giving him an easy way out of the conversation.
He exited first, then took her hand, keeping hold of it as they walked away.
“It’s almost time for the fireworks,” he said.
“I can’t wait.”
“The best view is at the far end of the pier.”
“Let’s go.” She picked up the pace, leaning up against his arm.
He liked the feel of her against him.
The crowds had grown thinner as the evening wore on, with fewer kids darting from side to side on the walkway. They passed under strings of decorative, white lights and along yachts moored in the lake. Her hand felt good in his, but he gave in to the urge to wrap his arm around her shoulders again. She slipped hers across his back, and their thighs brushed together while they walked.
He didn’t want the night to end. He wanted to take her home with him, make love to her, sure, but also hold her sleeping in his arms, talk to her over breakfast, maybe plan their Saturday together.
The vision prompted a wave of guilt. She was open and fresh and genuine, while he was a fraud, hiding the most basic of information from her.
Determined to get them on a better footing, he found a clear spot in the crowd. Then he urged her toward the rail, turning her there