Free Good with His Hands by Tanya Michaels Page A

be a problem.
With her crappy judgment in men, she’d be dating a felon in no time.
    * * *
    D EEMING THE STORY too surreal to be discussed over the phone, Meg came over, bringing with her a jug of orange juice and a bottle of champagne. “At this hour, I figured our only acceptable options were mimosas or Bloody Marys.”
    â€œI’ll get cups,” Dani said. She’d taken a quick shower, trying not to recall the tenderness with which Sean had washed her hair or the heat of his mouth on her, and changed into yoga pants and a funny T-shirt Meg had given her to make her laugh after the breakup with Tate.
    Now, her vision blurred as gratitude swamped her. “What would I do without you? Every time I get screwed over, you come pick up the pieces.”
    Meg squeezed her shoulder. “You’ve done the same for me more times than I want to think about.” Her luck with men had not been stellar. Some guys were scared off by her effusive personality. Others were attracted to her wholesome appearance and tendency to use exclamations like “fudge!” but felt deceived when they glimpsed her naughtier side.
    Dani frequently teased her friend for her use of G-rated substitute expletives. Meg said it had become a lifelong habit because her mother took serious offense to swearing and in a home with five kids, there was always someone waiting to tell on you. “So you won’t say
hell
,” Dani had asked once, “but your mom is okay with you and your sister running a store filled with sexy items?”
    â€œMy parents aren’t prudes. How do you think they got the five kids?”
    It was starting to feel like a miracle to Dani that any couple stayed together long enough to have five kids. Two man disasters in the space of a month was a new record. Meg had been putting in a lot of overtime lately in the cheering-up department.
    â€œSeriously,” Dani said, “I owe you. I’m beginning to feel like our friendship is one-sided.”
    â€œYou don’t owe me anything. Being your friend is its own reward.” Meg gave her a wry smile. “Plus, your life is never dull. Who would have guessed Hot Architect had a Hot Twin?”
    Not me.
In retrospect, she felt stupid. Hadn’t she subconsciously catalogued the ways Sean seemed different, from his unexpectedly outgoing manner to his biceps? But as an only child herself, she’d never given any consideration to whether Bryce had siblings, much less one who was identical.
    She and Meg took their champagne-heavy cocktails into the living room, where Dani sat as far from the couch as possible and explained what she could. There were some blanks only Sean could have filled in—such as what he’d been doing at his brother’s office on a Saturday afternoon in the first place. By the time she’d shared as many of the details as she could bear repeating, they were on their second round of mimosas.
    Meg had kicked off her shoes and sat with her legs tucked under her. “I wonder if he’s done it before, pretended to be his brother. Some sets of twins think it’s funny to swap places and prank other people.”
    â€œWhat happened between us went beyond a ‘prank,’” Dani said stiffly, recalling how foolishly close she’d felt to him. She honestly wasn’t sure what ticked her off more, his dishonesty or how dumb she’d been.
    Time to use your brains, Yates.
A smart woman wouldn’t spend another second dwelling on last night or the way he’d touched her. The way he’d coaxed her into laughing and revealing silly anecdotes. The way he’d—
    No more! Kicking him out of her thoughts might not be as easy as kicking him out of her apartment this morning, but she would manage it. After all, she was pretty sure that a guy hard-hearted enough to lie about his identity just to get some action wasn’t giving
her
a second thought.
    * * *
    B Y LATE AFTERNOON ,