Kaleb (35 page)

Since
his personal demons had begun making a daily visit, Luke had sworn off those
little sexcapades.

Granted,
Luke liked Sam. And as far as Logan went, she was a perfect match for him.

The
fact that they had gotten married shouldn’t surprise him as much as it did. Or
perhaps the fact that his identical twin brother hadn’t bothered to mention
that little tidbit of information prior to Luke taking some time off was what
kept throwing him off. Either way, he tried not to think about it too
much.  Especially knowing that what they had shared before could never be
again, especially after that last night…

 Luke
brushed off the thought. He didn’t have time to dwell on what couldn’t be.

“I’m
glad you’re back, Luke, but we need to talk.” Though Logan’s tone was slightly
less frustrated than before, Luke easily picked up on the insistence his twin
had thrown in for good measure. Luke hated when his brother did that shit. He’d
much rather face the anger than to have to face the fact that he had let his
brother down.

“Then
talk.” Luke stated, leaning back in his chair, thinking twice about propping
his size 15 boots up on the polished wood top.

He
could almost predict what Logan wanted to talk about after all their twin bond
was strong, and for most of their lives, they could finish each other’s
sentences, sometimes even knew what the other was going to say before they said
anything at all. And now wasn’t much different.

“I’ll
drop by around lunchtime. Don’t disappear on me.” Logan stated flatly before
the line disconnected.

“Sonuvabitch.”
Luke mumbled to no one in particular. He might deserve to have Logan show up on
his doorstep and read him the riot act, but it didn’t mean he was going to be
happy about it.

Luke
hit the switch to turn on his computer screen so he could scan through his
recent emails. While he had been away, he’d managed to stay on top of things as
best he could. He couldn’t abandon his responsibilities altogether, though he’d
been so fucked up in the head that he had wanted to. Even now he had a hard
time keeping his focus. So many things had happened in the last couple of
months, Luke wasn’t sure he knew which way was up anymore.

As
much as he wanted to blame everything on what had happened that last night with
Logan and Samantha, Luke knew he couldn’t do that. Sam might’ve come into
Logan’s life, and in turn Luke’s, but the woman hadn’t done anything specific
that would have thrown Luke’s life off course the way it had been. No, he only
had himself to blame for that, but his own denial wouldn’t allow him to admit
that either.

“Fuck.”
Luke ground out as he pushed out of his chair, nearly sending the damn thing
over backward. He had too much shit to do to sit around pondering the reasons
why he felt so off kilter lately.

He
should just leave again, take another extended vacation and get away by
himself. Not that it would do him any good. After all, he’d spent the better
part of two months doing exactly that and
look
where
it had gotten him.

Not
a damn place.

Resigning
himself to staying at the club and attempting to take care of business, Luke
grabbed an invoice off of his desk and headed back downstairs to talk to Kane
Steele, his bar manager. According to their earlier conversation, it appeared
that there were some issues with the deliveries while Luke had been away.

Either
that or someone was fucking with him and stealing his inventory. Luke didn’t
even want to contemplate that happening; Heaven help the asshole who would be
brave enough to steal from him in the first place.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Sierra
Sellers wasn’t all that enthusiastic with the idea of being set up, regardless of
how hot and mysterious – her mother’s words, not hers – the man might be.
Apparently her mother was under the impression that Sierra needed a date, and
rather than asking her if she were capable of finding one on her own, Veronica
Sellers had chosen to make her own arrangements. Those arrangements had led to
Sierra piling into the backseat of Logan McCoy’s supercharged Cadillac CTS
while he and his wife talked quietly in the front seats.

After
a very brief, very one sided conversation with her mother, Sierra had resigned
herself to this outing. Very reluctantly she might add. Veronica’s argument
consisted of the words “new to Dallas”, followed by “essential to network”,
with the cherry on top of the conversational sundae being “get your business
established”.

So,
no, Sierra hadn’t come up with a strong enough excuse not to go along with her
mother’s logic, though she still didn’t understand how a date was going to help
her in that regard.

When
Veronica had mentioned that XTX – the company her mother worked for – was
holding their annual vendors conference in just two days, Sierra hadn’t thought
anything of it. Why would she? XTX didn’t have anything to do with the interior
design company that Sierra had yet to even name.

Only
when Veronica mentioned that the conference was in Las Vegas had Sierra’s ears
even perked up. And here she was on the next leg of this journey that she only
hoped would turn out the way her mother intended.

And
yes, she was incredibly nervous, despite her reluctance and despite the fact
that she felt as though she were being led to an execution. Even armed with a
few details about the man she was going to meet, Sierra wasn’t feeling all warm
and fuzzy about the outcome. The positive side of this endeavor was that she at
least knew what the man looked like. Or at least she thought she did.

According
to both her mother and Samantha, she was off to meet Logan’s identical twin
brother. That had immediately piqued her interest because hell, she had to
admit, Logan McCoy was smoking hot. Not that she would share that little tidbit
of information with anyone, especially the man’s wife whom she had become close
to over the course of the last few weeks.

But
realistically, how similar could the two of them actually be? They were grown
men for goodness sake, and surely their personalities would set them worlds
apart in appearance. So when Sam and Veronica had reiterated the fact that they
were identical, Sierra had mentally rolled her eyes and resigned herself to
finding out on her own.

Maybe
her mother’s physical descriptions were accurate. Although Sierra liked Logan
enough, she still wasn’t all that enthusiastic about the idea of being set up
with a man – gorgeous or not. The one positive that she could manage to conjure
up from this entire screwed up ordeal was that she and Sam had actually become
good friends. Since the woman was the epitome of what Sierra had worked her
entire life to become, she knew she would ultimately win in this deal.

At
twenty nine years old, Sierra still had some growing to do when it came to
establishing herself in business, but after meeting Sam, she knew she’d found a
role model who could undoubtedly teach her some things along the way. And when
said role model had ganged up on her with the help of Veronica and another
woman they worked with at XTX, insisting that Sierra actually meet Luke McCoy,
she had found herself outvoted.

Both
Veronica and the other woman, Deanna had spoken very highly of Luke, but
something had set her sensors off when Sam had talked about him. If Sierra
wasn’t mistaken there was something much more intimate about the way Sam spoke
of her brother-in-law. Just in case she was imagining things, Sierra hadn’t
bothered to ask. Not that it was any of her business anyway.

Now,
two days later, she was on her way to meet the man, though she got the
impression that he had no idea he was being set up.

“You
said we were going to a club?” Sierra asked, interrupting the loving couple
holding hands in the front seat. “Isn’t it a little early in the day?”

“It’s
a club, but it isn’t what you’re thinking.” Sam offered. “Well, at least not
entirely.”

Sierra
noticed the subtle way Logan squeezed his wife’s hand.

What
other kind of clubs were there? Besides the ones that offered drinks to people
who congregated to laugh, drink and have a good time?

Oh!

Her
mind struggled with the possibility before shrugging off the comment. Glancing
at her watch, Sierra added, “I didn’t realize clubs were open this early.”

Eleven
thirty on a Tuesday and Sierra was on her way to meet a mystery man who,
despite the fact that they didn’t know each other at all, would likely
accompany her to a four day business conference to be held in Las Vegas.

The Entertainment Capital of the World.

Sin City.

And one of Sierra’s favorite vacation
destinations.

She
could certainly get down with going to Las Vegas, no matter whom she was going
with. She was quite fond of the city, having gone numerous times for girl’s
only getaways. Never once had she come back disappointed.
Going
for business, now that would be a first, but no more so than going with a man.
Any man.

What
would they do if they didn’t get along? How was she supposed to suffer through
four long days in the party capital of the world with someone she had nothing
in common with?

Granted,
she was jumping ahead of herself. She hadn’t even met him yet. The one upside
to it all, if he looked anything like Logan McCoy, at least she was in for a
visual treat.

Logan
maneuvered the car into an underground parking garage, and Sierra felt the
butterflies take flight in her stomach.

Glancing
down, she noticed that she was wringing her hands in her lap, a sheer sign of
the tension coursing through her veins. She chalked it up to the fact that she
suspected Luke had no idea she was coming or anything else that was in store
for him, in the coming days. She’d gathered that from the conversation she’d
overhead – ok, more like eavesdropped on – earlier between Logan and Sam. When
Logan mentioned that Luke didn’t seem to be in the best of moods, she’d
momentarily questioned her sanity.

Not
that she really cared what kind of mood he was in, as long as he could manage
to be polite and courteous for four days, only a few hours at a time while they
were in Vegas.

Moments
later, Sierra was climbing out of the back seat, coming to join Samantha
standing at the side of the car.

“Brace
yourself.” Sam smiled brightly, looking almost playful.

“Is
there something I should know before we go in?” Sierra asked, for the second
time questioning what she was walking into.

“Not
specifically. Let’s just say that Logan’s brother is the
darker
twin.”

“Darker?”
Confusion set in, and Sierra tried to comprehend what Sam was saying.

“You
know, mysterious.
Ominous.”
Sam laughed as she took
Logan’s hand.

Great.
Just what Sierra
needed.
Her mind immediately conjured
up a version of Logan McCoy; only this one had a permanent scowl, making him
look sinister. She smiled to herself.

With
a deep breath, she stood up straighter, adjusted her short skirt, and steeled
herself for whatever was to come.

How
bad could it be?