The Twin Switch

“No.” That would be bad. It would be very bad to leave Brooklyn and her faux soul mate alone for the night. I had to find her as soon as possible.

“I’m assuming she’s over twenty-one.”

“She’s twenty-six.”

“There you go. She’s perfectly capable of making her own decisions.”

Technically that was true. But I knew Brooklyn wasn’t thinking straight. Something was wrong, and I had to get to the bottom of it before she made a life-altering mistake.

“We can eat in the Grill Room,” he said. “See that curved booth right there, the one facing the lobby? I’ll get the hostess to seat us in it.”

I gauged the view from the table. It was probably better than the view I had from here. And I was truly starving at this point.

“It’s probably reserved.” It looked like a prime spot.

“I’m sure they’ll fit us in.” He sounded confident in his ability to get preferential treatment.

“Do you come here often?” I asked. Then I laughed at myself. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

“You weren’t going for a cheesy pickup line?”

“No.”

“Too bad.”

I ignored the flirtatious lilt to his words, refusing to let myself meet his gaze. It would be all too easy to let my imagination run away with me. And the last thing I needed was a further distraction right now.

“I’m a fairly frequent guest,” he said.

“My lucky day.”

“I was going to say it was mine.”

This time I did look at him. I’m not made of stone. His smile was warm, and his eyes had an inner glow, and my heart fluttered again.

Before I could sigh or swoon or do anything else ridiculously humiliating, he started across the lobby to the restaurant entrance.

“Mr. Kendrick.” The hostess’s greeting was friendly as we approached.

“Hi, Samantha. Can you put us at the front booth?”

“Of course, sir.”

She extracted two leather-bound, gold-embossed menus from below the counter. “Bernard will seat you.”

“Hello, Mr. Kendrick,” Bernard said. “It’s great to have you with us tonight.”

Max waited while I slid in one side of the booth, going partway around. I set my purse and shopping bag beside me.

I felt outclassed by the surroundings, and I was grateful to have ditched the jeans.

Max slid in the other side of the booth and matched my position. It was cozy with the high-backed plush seats, a flickering candle, the two of us sitting only a couple of feet apart.

I had an expansive view of the lobby, but the table still felt intimate.

“Can I have the waiter bring you your usual?” Bernard asked Max.

“Please,” Max said to Bernard.

To me, he said, “It’s a classic martini with a lemon twist.”

“Sounds good.” It did.

I hoped the drink would take the edge off my worry. Fretting over Brooklyn wasn’t going to help me find her any faster. When she showed up, she showed up.

“The drinks will be out right away,” Bernard said. “Please let me know if there’s anything else you need.”

“They really do know you,” I said to Max as I took yet another scan of the lobby.

“They do. But they treat all their customers well.”

That had certainly been my experience so far.

“This isn’t the kind of place where I usually eat,” I said.

He moved the glass-encased candle so we had an unobstructed view of each other. “What’s the kind of a place where you usually eat?”

“The Rock a Beach,” I said. “It’s a funky little seafood place on Moiler Bay. They have picnic tables on a covered deck. There’s great local beer on tap. You can get fish and chips served on newspaper or a wooden hammer to crack your crab. In the winter, they close it in with plastic sheeting and light a central fireplace. My family loves it.”

“It sounds great.”

“You wouldn’t need a suit.”

“It sounds like I’d need a bib.”

“Recommended.”

We both smiled.

“I’d like to take you there sometime,” he said.

I could see it. I could picture that. And it was great. The image was so compelling that it took me a second to realize what he was doing.

He was good. And I was a fool for following along like a little puppy dog.

I wasn’t usually swayed by emotion like this. I’m usually nothing but rational. I pride myself on it. I drew back, forcibly pulling myself from his spell. “Wow.”

“Wow what?”