The Love Twin

“If this is a bad time—”

“Oh, no, you’re perfect, I mean, it’s okay,” she stammered, her heart fluttering. “I’ll be right back.”

Becky anxiously switched to her sister. “Pam, it’s Jarrid. What am I going to tell him?”

“Beck, here’s your opportunity!” her sister said, excitedly. “Will you treat him special for me? Ask him to lunch. That’ll make him feel great.”

“I can’t!” Becky blurted. “I’ve never asked a man to lunch before.”

“Jarrid won’t believe you’re me if you play Ms. Shy and Reserved,” Pam said. “Let go of your silly inhibitions. Be spontaneous for once in your life.”

“Pam, I don’t know if I can—”

“I gotta go,” Pam quickly cut in. “I love you, sis! Good luck!” Then she hung up.

Becky’s hand was sweating as she held the phone receiver, knowing Jarrid was waiting for her on the other line. She felt weak at the knees, exhilarated and terrified at the same time.

Get close to Jarrid? That was her ultimate fantasy the very second she met him.

Her heart was thumping as she put a trembly finger on the button that would connect her with Jarrid. She couldn’t do it! Pam had to understand. It wasn’t in her to pursue a man, especially someone as incredible as Jarrid Browning!

Two

In the small office at the back of his store in Santa Monica, Jarrid anxiously squeezed the phone in his hand. He was so hyped up he couldn’t even think straight. He wondered why Becky was taking so long to come back to his call. Was she thinking of excuses to hang up on him?

Stop being paranoid, he told himself. He was sure she sounded excited when he first called. Or was he just imagining it to convince himself that he could steal back into her heart?

He didn’t even know why he was calling. He had an appointment at a customer’s house in Beverly Hills to deliver a sixty-inch, high-tech television screen. His technician, Pete, was waiting for him in the van out front. But he couldn’t go until he talked to Becky.

“Jarrid, I’m sorry I took so long,” her soft voice suddenly whispered in his ear.

He swallowed. “Becky, I know you don’t want to talk to me.”

“Yes, I do,” she quickly cut in.

He held his breath. “Then why did you pretend you didn’t know me at the pool?”

“Because my mind was all foggy and cluttered,” she rushed on. “Yours would be, too, if your nose and throat were clogged with chlorine.”

He had to smile. “Maybe I was a bit overly sensitive.” He instinctively put the receiver closer to his lips. “Wouldn’t you still be sensitive if you were on my end the night of your prom?”

He felt her hesitate. “Jarrid, I was really immature then,” she began. “I didn’t know what I was saying.”

Jarrid’s hopes rose. “What do you mean, Becky?”

Becky felt a rush of excitement hearing Jarrid’s deep, masculine voice so close to her ear. She nervously glanced at the framed photograph of her and Pam arm in arm hanging on her living room wall. Pam, help! she silently begged.

“Jarrid, I wasn’t very good at communicating my feelings back then,” she disclosed, trying to think of what her sister might say. “I was too abrupt and insensitive. I should’ve told you I was too young to get married. I should’ve been more gentle with you.”

Jarrid was silent for a long moment, and she wondered if she’d said the wrong thing. She didn’t want to mess it up for her sister. Becky knew she shouldn’t have agreed to this and planned to call Pam back and tell her she couldn’t pretend to be her a moment longer just as soon as she hung up with Jarrid.

“I’m confused, Becky,” Jarrid admitted. “Half of me wants to see you again. But the other half—”

“Do you think you might be able to ignore that second half?”

His voice was almost a whisper. “Do you really want me to?”

She could almost feel his warm breath on her cheek. A tingle of pleasure cascaded from her breasts down to her toes. Her heart fluttered wishing it was her he was talking about wanting to see. But remembering her sister’s love for him, she ignored her own response to him.

“Jarrid, can’t we start over? I mean, seven years have gone by, and we’re both so different now.”

“I want to, Becky, but I’ve got to be honest with you.” She heard him hesitate. “My sister-in-law, Marie, is setting up a date for me with her friend.”

Becky suddenly panicked. She had to do something fast before Pam lost Jarrid a second time. Should she ask him to lunch like Pam wanted?

“Jarrid, would you like to, I mean, I was wondering if—”

“Becky,” Jarrid interrupted as a male voice called him in the background. “I’m late for a business appointment. Can we continue this conversation?”

“Yes, definitely! Where? When?” she blurted.

What was happening to her? She was never that bold.

“I could drop by where you work late tomorrow afternoon,” he said.

“Oh, no, not there.” She didn’t dare take that chance. What if someone at the salon said something that might let him know that she wasn’t the same Becky? “How about at your job?”

“Great!” Jarrid said, excitedly. “I’ll show you my home entertainment store.”

“You own a store?” she asked, surprised and impressed at the same time.

“Yeah, it’s kind of small, but it’s mine.”

She was so nervous and excited that she could barely remember writing down the Santa Monica address of his store before she hung up the phone. She knew she should immediately call Pam to tell her that she couldn’t pretend to be her with Jarrid.

Yet she couldn’t back out on her sister now, not when Jarrid was about to meet another woman and Pam wasn’t in Los Angeles to win him back.

Why deny it? She couldn’t wait to be with him again. She couldn’t wait to see his store. She couldn’t wait to continue their talk. She couldn’t wait—

The sound of the phone ringing interrupted her wayward thoughts. She quickly came back to reality when she heard Charlotte’s voice on the line.

“Becky, how about dropping by my office tomorrow after lunch instead of today?” Charlotte suggested.

“Sure, Charlotte. I’ll be there about 1:30. Thanks so much.”

Suddenly, a rush of anxiety filled Becky’s body. Her twin might be moving to Los Angeles in a few short weeks. So why didn’t she feel as joyous about it as she did before?

Because of Jarrid Browning, that’s why!