Then Summer Came Page 2

“Anyway,” I said, avoiding her habit of analyzing, “how’s school?” She looked peeved that I’d just abruptly changed subjects, but she couldn’t resist.

  “There are so many guys,” she gushed. “I try to get to them all but it’s just so hard.” She stuck out her lip, pouting. “There are so many of them, and there’s just not enough time in a day!”

  I laughed at her placated exhaustion, as she fanned herself dramatically.

  “So, Derek’s twin is coming to stay at Wilshire…in Derek’s apartment.” I changed the subject again.

  “Twin! I know nothing of a twin!” she shrieked.

  “Yeah, they don’t really talk. And he lived in, like, Hawaii or something.”

  “Hmm…” Her eyes narrowed in thought. “And he’s coming to stay at Derek’s apartment?”

  “Yeah, he and Derek decided on it. Derek says he doesn’t stay there, so someone should.”

  “You do…”

  “Well, not really. If I said that he’d just rub it in my face that I wouldn’t move in with him. Hell,” I shrugged, “maybe that’s why he’s moving someone else in.”

  “A twin…” A wry grin spread across her glossy, pink lips.

  “Em, no! Identical, they’re identical. It’d be too weird…”

  “Ugh,” she scoffed, crossing her arms. “It would be kinda weird…damn.” She sipped her latte. “But,” she straightened a finger out at me,

  “if you and Derek ever split up—”

  I threw my hand up. “He’s all yours,” I said, finishing her thought.

  

  I got ready for our date at Derek’s apartment, where he’d said he’d meet me. He was right-on-time. He came in, shouting his arrival, and I slipped my dress over my head and grabbed my heels.

  He was sitting on the sofa when I came into the living room. He seemed to be engrossed in his phone. He was reclined back, his ankle resting over his knee as his fingers pecked the screen of his phone. I stared at him, while he stared at his phone; I just wanted to look at him for a minute. It’d been days since I’d seen him. It made me wish I could see him sitting on the sofa like that every day.

  "Ahem," I cleared my throat to grab his attention.

  He looked up at the sound, and his eyes lit up. "Lis, you look amazing…" he admired, stuffing his phone into his coat pocket.

  "Thank you," I said and scurried to kiss him.

  He stood and pulled me into his arms. A low sound rattled in his throat, and he leaned in and inhaled the scent on my neck deeply. "And you smell amazing," he said in a low, husky voice and stamped soft kisses along my neck and back to my lips. "I forget how much I miss you."

  "Well maybe we should stay here instead, and I'll remind you just how much you've missed me?"

  He jerked me into him. "Normally, I couldn’t say no to that dress…" he trailed off, running his fingers across the edge of the bust line. I shivered at the soft tickling as his fingertips grazed my breasts. I pulled his mouth to mine and kissed him like I’d wanted him for a month—because I had. It’d been over a month since I’d even spent a night in his bed with him, and I wanted him badly.

  “Lis…” Our kiss died, and he held me at arm’s length. “I wish I could, but if you want to do our date night, we have to go now. I have an appointment afterwards, and I can’t be late.”

  I pouted dramatically.

  He laughed and nudged me. “Sorry, babe. You know I wish I could.” He kissed the corner of my mouth and tugged me anxiously toward the door, bound for his favorite restaurant.

  Dinner was nice…for about twenty minutes, and then Olivia and Walden started blowing his phone up. He took every call, of course. Before our date had even reached a full hour, he drove me back home with some talk of an emergency, some crisis with a stock drop.

  “Do you want me to walk you up?” he asked as the limo slowed to a stop in front of Wilshire.

  “No, it’s fine.” I leaned in to kiss his cheek. It was soft and made me feel a little weak and nostalgic. I sucked in a breath as the driver opened the door.

  “I love you,” he said after me. I returned my love and strutted inside…slowly. Maybe he’d be watching me and follow me up anyway, not being able to resist the way I looked in that dress.

  I heard the limo speed off, and I tried to ignore the disappointment that settled in my stomach.

  I had every intention of just going on up to my apartment, but I missed him already. So, I went into his apartment and changed into my shorts and tank top. I considered going out, but it was late and I was already tired. Plus, Em had to study so she couldn’t go anywhere with me. So, I decided to work on some designs.

  I’d finally been so exhausted that I couldn’t hold my eyes open any longer. I curled up in Derek’s bed and wrapped up in his blankets, welcoming the scent of him. I’d made sure to tell Lidia, his housekeeper, to never wash his sheets. She’d done it anyway, until I finally explained that I liked them to smell like him. I honestly think she only stopped washing them because she felt sorry for me.

  I forced my eyes to open. The light pouring into Derek's room was blinding to my unadjusted eyes. I was so sleepy. I shut my eyes for another second, enjoying the feeling of the mattress and blankets, soft against my weak, sleepy body.

  The only sound was the low roar of the fan in the corner. I always turned it on when Derek was gone to drown out the quiet of the apartment. I reached out under the empty blankets, wishing Derek was there to cuddle up to. I sighed at how lonely the room immediately felt, and then I decided to get the day started. No since in moping; I'd see him soon enough.

  I slipped Derek's t-shirt over my head and headed to the kitchen for breakfast before work. I made it halfway down the hall when I heard a loud moan followed by another. My eyes immediately went to the sofa, where I caught the side profile of a completely naked blonde woman straddling a man’s lap, her hands gripped on his shoulders as she bounced rhythmically on his lap, moaning and screaming in pleasure.

  She was groping her obviously fake breasts, and his fingers were dug into her hips as he guided her on and off of him. He was clearly enjoying himself; his head was thrown back against the sofa, eyes squinted shut, a wry smirk on his lips…his very familiar lips.

  "Derek!" I screeched. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

  It took a few seconds—painful, angry seconds—but the whore in my fiancé’s lap finally stopped and scrambled off of him, gathering her clothes quickly, but she hardly looked embarrassed. In fact, she looked extremely irritated that she’d been interrupted.

  Derek stood up, and I eyed his tattoos. One ran up his right side, which looked like large, old, leafless trees, and one sleeved his left arm in sketchy words from his mid forearm to his shoulder; I assumed they were lyrics or quotes, maybe. They were both gray wash and extremely sexy.

  "Oh God…" I said as it sank in. He casually stuffed himself back into his jeans, and I covered my mouth with both hands as I realized that it wasn't Derek at all. Derek didn’t have tattoos. "I'm so sorry!" I threw my hands up to shield my eyes from what we both knew I'd already seen. "Y-you're Derek's brother!"

  The blonde sauntered past me and opened the door. "I'll call you," she said over her shoulder to Beck and slammed the door behind her.

  He jerked his head toward the door and then in my direction. "She doesn't have my number," he said, cutting his eyes back over at the door as if she'd been crazy for even suggesting such a thing. “There’s no way she has my number,” he clarified.

  "I am so sorry! I-I didn't realize—"

  "It’s okay," he laughed, and I lowered my hand when I noticed he was decent. Shirtless…but decent. "I'm Beck." He walked over to me with his hand out, and I shook it, embarrassed.

  Not much embarrassed me, and I don't think I'd have been nearly as embarrassed then, had I not yelled at him, thinking he was my fiancé cheating on me.

  "You're…Lissa, right?"

  I nodded.

  “Sorry about that," he said with a charmi
ng smile. "I came in early this morning, and I guess I didn't realize anyone was here…"

  "No, it's okay." It really didn’t bother me. I’d seen much worse than two people screwing on a sofa. I glanced over him, trying not to be obvious. He looked just like Derek. I knew they were identical…but it was weird…weirder than I thought it would be.

  He was every inch of six feet, like Derek. He was head-to-toe muscle in that subtle, attractive way, like Derek. His smile was sexy, like Derek’s. His eyebrows were thick and his face was clean shaven, like Derek’s. He was attractive and confident and distractingly gorgeous…just like Derek, but there were a few differences that I noticed instantly: The tattoos were the most obvious. Then there was his perfect shade of tan; Hawaii had done nice things for him. Also, his eyes were a deep, chocolate brown, flecked in black; nothing like the pale blue of Derek’s. The last thing I noticed was that his dark-brown hair was only slightly different; short, well-trimmed and edged, like Derek’s, but Beck’s looked a little untamed, where Derek’s was almost always gelled perfectly in place. Other than that, they were definitely identical. If you didn't know Derek well enough, you probably couldn't point out the differences without taking a really good look at them side-by-side.

  "While you're here,” he said, interrupting my examination. “Do you think you could show me around the place?"

  “Sure…uh, yeah, I could do that,” I nodded.

  I walked him through the apartment like a seasoned tour guide. It was difficult not to take a quick peek at his bare chest, every so often, or his sex-matted hair. He looked so much like Derek, and I never got to see Derek, so it was kind of nice.

  Derek had the three bedroom apartment at Wilshire. The upstairs bedroom was set up as an extra bedroom, and the extra room downstairs was where he kept the books and the piano. I played when I had time, but its keys were rarely touched. Derek and I used to play once a week or so, but that died off when he started working all the time.

  “And then the upstairs, you probably already know, right? Did you sleep up there last night?” I asked after I’d showed him the entire downstairs.

  “Oh, I haven’t been to sleep,” he said, oddly.

  Did he really just fly in to Los Angeles, pick up a hooker on the way, bring her into an apartment he’d never even been in before and start fucking her on his brother’s sofa?

  “Oh, well it’s just a bedroom and bathroom up there…that’ll be your space.”

  “Okay, great,” he smiled. “So, where do you stay?”

  "I actually have an apartment a few floors up. I don't stay here. I just pop in a few times a week."

  “Oh…” he said in a flattened tone. “So, it’s cool if I have…company and stuff?”

  “Yeah, of course, just make yourself at home.”

  “Cool, thanks. I’m just gonna take my bags up and grab some shuteye.”

  “Sure.” I smiled.

  I watched him as he lugged his bags upstairs, and I couldn’t help but notice, again, that he looked so much like Derek…from all aspects. I know that I should’ve known that from the start, considering they were identical twins, but having him there in front of me was…surreal. It felt like Derek was there.

  Chapter Three

  I showered, got ready and headed out to work. I was heading Mom’s fashion show in two weeks to release her new line, so I was meeting with her every day, which was pretty unusual.

  “Lissa, sweetie, you look lovely!” she said as I closed the conference-room door.

  My mother was standing in a huddle of women who were pointing and chatting about the designs that were scattered across the long meeting table.

  “Hey, Mom.”

  She was always dressed in a trendy pantsuit, but they never looked the same. Her head towered over the other women, which was where I got my height, since my dad was short. She was dainty looking, and she was always covered in jewelry. Her face was virtually wrinkle-free, and her hair was a light-brown bob that made her look several years younger than she truly was.

  “Come see the drafts for the final dress picks.” She waived me over.

  “Mom, these are gorgeous,” I gushed as I looked through the designs. “I love all of them!”

  She smiled proudly, pleased with how they’d turned out. “Thank you, dear. Your opinion is always so valued.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  “Excuse us, ladies,” she said, and the room cleared out immediately.

  She took a seat in the chair next to me and poured us both some tea from the steaming pot that sat in the middle of the table. “So, where are we with the wedding?”

  “Well…it’s mostly still the same. I did find a veil that I liked better, but it’s all kind of at a standstill right now.”

  “Well, let’s fix that then,” she said, blowing the surface of her tea. “Let’s take the day to meet with the wedding planner tomorrow.”

  “I’d rather wait,” I said.

  Her face fell, and she sat her tea cup down, looking a bit serious.

  “It’s just that I’m not sure when Derek will be able to pull himself away, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be soon. So, I was thinking, maybe we can set a date for next winter. That way it gives him plenty of time to get the company ready for his absence.”

  She scrutinized me. “Don’t you think we could go ahead and continue to plan, and when he’s ready everything else will be, too?”

  “We can’t really make any plans when we don’t have a date…” I explained. “We don’t even have a date. How can we decide on a venue when we don’t even have a date?”

  She smiled, sensing my irritation of the subject. “I suppose you’re right.” She sipped her tea and continued. “Maybe I need to have a chat with Derek and remind him of the importance of the wedding.”

  I laughed at my mom’s serious tone, and she smiled over the rim of her cup.

  “Well, it’s seems it might be necessary, Lissa,” she added.

  “I know…”

  “How’s Emily?”

  Thank God! I didn’t think I could talk about the wedding anymore.

  “She’s great. She said she wants to model your new line if you’d like her to.”

  “Of course!” she beamed. “I’d love her to. I’ll have Mitzi gather her wardrobe, and it’ll be waiting for her at the show.” She jotted something down on the paper in front of her and looked back to me. “Will you be wearing something, too?”

  “If you want…”

  “Well, I always want you to, but it’s up to you.”

  “Then, I’d love to, but only if I can wear this one.” I shuffled through the designs and pointed at my favorite dress.

  After my meeting with my mom, I stopped back by Derek’s apartment. I really needed the designs I’d drawn up the night before that Beck had probably had sex all over—I suddenly remembered where I’d left them.

  A small part of me suddenly hoped he would be there. Yes…I was sort of also going back because I wanted to see Derek again. I mean…I knew he wasn’t actually Derek, but the thought was inebriating. It kind of made me feel stupid and delusional, but I really didn’t care. I missed Derek, so maybe I was a little stupid and delusional.

  “Oh, hey,” Beck said as I entered the living room. He was walking out of the kitchen with a sandwich in his hand, and I wondered momentarily how he’d made a sandwich in an apartment that never had anything other than a box of cereal in it.

  “Hey.” I was just staring at him. It was so weird to walk in and him just be standing there, like he had all the time in the world. It took me a second to remember that it really wasn’t Derek.

  He was in a snug, blue t-shirt that didn’t bother concealing the muscles I’d seen that morning and ripped jeans that were far too ripped, and he was barefoot.

  “What is it?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at me.

  “Hu? Oh, sorry…” I shook off my stare. “It’s just weird.”

  He lowered his brows, and his face smoothed in
to a smile. “Oh,” he said smiling wickedly. “You mean the twin shit?”

  I snickered, and I’m pretty sure I blushed.

  “I bet it is weird,” he added, and I nodded. “So…are you attracted to me?”

  “Hu?”

  “I’m just kidding,” he laughed and walked around to sit on the sofa. “Seriously though, you are attracted to me, right? I mean, it’d be an insult to Derek if you weren’t.”

  My mouth dropped open a bit at his forward statement. “Uh…”

  He laughed at my expression and smiled a huge, charming smile. “I’m truly just kidding, Lissa,” he said, again, propping his feet up on the coffee table.

  I saw something out of the corner of my eye, and I turned to see a blonde sashaying down the stairs in an unzipped miniskirt, her bellybutton ring peeking out from under her cutoff halter top.

  I eyed her the whole way down, and she eyed Beck. He looked at her over his shoulder and gave her a wink and a head nod, while chewing the bite of sandwich in his mouth, and turned back to the TV. She smiled at me awkwardly and left through the front door without saying a word.

  I sat my stuff down by the door and walked over to the coffee table in front of him. “Excuse me,” I said politely and gathered the scattered papers from the sofa cushion, and he lifted his feet for me to gather the rest from the table.

  “Are you some kind of designer?” he asked around his mouthful of sandwich.

  “Yeah, I run my mom’s shoe line at her company.” I straightened the stack and held them to my chest.

  “That’s cool.”

  “Yeah, it’s my dream job, I guess,” I admitted. “What do you do?” I asked, and sat down beside him.

  “Well, I sold a domain name when I was eighteen and made a killing off of it, so I’ve really never worked,” he shrugged. “I’m kind of a song writer, too. I make enough that I don’t really have to do anything else.”

  I nodded. “Couldn’t blame ya.”

  “I don’t really care to spend every day of my life in a stuffy office with people kissing my ass all day. That’s what my dad wanted, but that’s just not gonna happen.”