But he just grinned up at me. “You can tell us apart. No one can tell us apart.”
It was a petty part of me that wanted to say, Lena can too. I just looked him over. “Your words are coming out clearer. Do you want me to get an ice pack?”
“Hey, he’s the one who came at me,” Leander said, eyes dark and face stormy as he glared at where I was crouched over his brother.
Janus just kept grinning up at me, blinking a little dazedly. “You’re perfect,” he whispered. “Help me up?” He lifted a hand for mine.
“He’s fine,” Leander repeated dismissively. “I hardly touched him.”
Janus scoffed at that as I reached down a hand to him. He took it, even though he barely put any weight on me and I had the feeling he was using it as an excuse to touch me. Especially when he didn’t let go even once he was on his feet again. He held my arm as if he needed it for balance, which he obviously didn’t.
“My knight in shining armor,” he said with a wink down at me.
I rolled my eyes but doubted he missed the flush in my cheeks if the self-satisfied expression on his face was anything to go by. “Yeah, well, it’d be great if you two didn’t land bruises on each other. Unless you like spending extra time in the makeup chair.”
Leander just frowned harder, easily hopping to his feet in a single, smooth motion. Oh, wow. I’d seen him do that on his TV show but thought it had been a stunt double.
“Oh, I’m careful never to leave marks,” Leander said in a low, intentional voice, his eyes on me, then dropping down to where his brother still clutched my arm. The way he said it made it sound like a double entendre.
My stomach was doing all sorts of swimmy flips, especially as Leander took a step closer so that I was sandwiched between the two, tall, intensely masculine twins.
My breath caught in my throat as I looked from one to the other, their eyes trained only on me.
“I j-j-j-just came down— D-d-d-dinner’s ready,” I finally managed to stutter out.
“Perfect,” Leander said, eyes dark. “We’re starving.”
So much promise hung in those words, until, as if fighting himself now instead of his twin brother, Leander wrenched back from us and turned to jog up the stairs. With a wink at me, Janus led me to follow him.
“He has a sweet tooth,” Janus whispered when Milo was out of earshot. “He can only resist a craving for so long.”
Why did I have the feeling he wasn’t talking about the pineapple upside down cake I’d made for dessert?
11
SURPRISE SURPRISE
After what I’d witnessed last night, I decided the boys needed to let off some steam before Europe. So instead of taking them for a last round of press, together with Milo, I worked out a surprise instead.
“Almost there,” I said, barely concealing my excitement as I turned around from the front seat to look back at the twins.
Janus blinked awake from the nap he’d been taking—he hated all the early mornings. Leander looked up from his phone and frowned when he saw trees all around. Manhattan obviously didn’t have trees and certainly not forests.
Janus sat up straighter and frowned at Leander. “No seriously, where the hell are we? Milo, did someone pay you off to kidnap us or some shit?”
I looked back at him, horrified. “What? No! I was trying to surprise you two. Milo and I arranged for you guys to have a fun day off today.”
Janus just blinked, as if what I’d said didn’t register, or maybe he still wasn’t fully awake yet. But Leander seemed to have caught on because he was looking around and smiling wide, the first time I’d seen him look actually relaxed since I’d met him.
“For once you aren’t in control, brother,” Leander laughed, clapping Janus on the back. “So where are you snatching us away to for the day?”
“Didn’t you hear the lady?” Milo called over his shoulder. “It’s a surprise. So shut your traps and wait like good little boys.”
Janus reached up and smacked Milo on the back of the head. A slight problem since Milo was driving. When he ducked out of the way, the car swerved on the narrow road.
“Could we not?” I cried, grabbing for the oh-shit bar.
Leander just laughed, obviously enjoying the chaos that had been delivered into his day. That was good. I wasn’t sure how the twins would take the surprise—though Milo promised it would be good. I was a little amused to see Leander taking it better than Janus.
We finally pulled onto a long, tree-laden roadway, way off the beaten path.
Late August in LA meant hellacious temperatures and in New York City it had been pretty hot too. But as soon as we parked and stepped out of the SUV here upstate, we were hit by a refreshingly cool breeze that smelled... fresh. Like nature.