Page 10 of Twins for the Silver Foxes

My hair? I fingered the topknot. “Because it’s blond?”

“That.” She croaked, cleared her throat, and tried again. “And the way you walk.”

I walked like a lion? Huh. I’d never have thought of it as a compliment, but the way Hannah said it sent a lightning bolt of heat scorching throughout my body.

We chatted all the way back to the mansion. Liddy, once she discovered she had a captive audience, never stopped talking. Hannah and I carried on a bit of a conversation in between talking to Liddy. Both were warm and welcoming, and I soon realized Hannah had a biting humor that charmed me.

We pulled into the circular drive, and I turned off the SUV. “You both go explore.” I took all their bags from the car and slung them over my shoulders. “Your rooms are on the second floor. If you take the stairs on the right, it’s the fifth door on the left. You and Liddy will share a suite, if that’s okay with you.”

“Of course.” Hannah reverted back to that quiet shyness once she crossed the threshold. She walked around with a child-like, wide-eyed wonder that I could not ignore. Once I placed their bags in their room, I ran down the hallway to my own room and snatched up my camera.

My fingers flew over the settings until I had it exactly how I wanted. Hannah and Liddy climbed the stairs opposite me. Crouching, I aimed the camera in their direction and snapped a close-up shot of Hannah’s face the instant she spotted the elaborate balustrade and second set of stairs stretching up to the third floor. She raised a hand to her heart and stopped.

Liddy ran ahead, her arms out by her sides like wings. Another click, and I captured the joy in every line of her body.

Hannah moved forward, her steps so cautious that I halfway expected her to grab Liddy and run. The candid shots gave me a true look at Hannah and her daughter. I’d grown used to seeing people through a camera lens. It did something to them, showed a truth that I’d never found through any other means.

While Hannah and Liddy explored the theater room at the end of the hallway, I flipped through the pictures, studying them for what I’d missed in our interactions.

Hannah’s beauty stunned me. My fingers froze over the buttons, my heart thudding heavy at the perfection in her features. Her laughter carried out from the theater, and I raised the camera in time to immortalize the moment of pure joy as she carried Liddy through the doorway. Their faces were close together, Hannah’s head arched back in bright laughter.

My pulse spasmed and skipped. I clicked the button again and again, each second frozen for eternity. These were the kind of shots that should be printed, framed, and hung in museums and art galleries for the world to see. I was too selfish for that. These were mine. A bold possessiveness overwhelmed me. No one outside these walls, outside of myself, Arthur, and Scott, would ever see these photos.

“Ryland?” Hannah spoke my name in a sweet caress meant for late night pillow talk and I was enough of a bastard that it made my cock throb. I lowered the camera and found her standing less than a foot away. Liddy skipped around the perimeter, trailing her hands over the Victorian couch and tables sitting beneath an old fashioned tapestry. “Yes?”

She eyed my camera, a thin-lipped frown forming on her lips.

“Sorry.” I lowered the device so that the strap bit into the back of my neck. “I probably should have asked if I could take your picture.”

“Probably?” Hands on hips, she stared me down. Her furious expression quickly turned into curiosity. “It’s fine. I’d like to see.”

I kept the strap around my neck. Years of almost dropping the camera had ingrained the habit. I moved to stand beside her, close enough that our shoulders brushed and I smelled the clean, fresh scent of shampoo in her hair. I turned the camera toward her. “You’re beautiful.” It was a genuine compliment I would’ve given anyone, but it came out with such raw force that Hannah sucked in a breath.

A beat of stunned silence passed between us before she wrapped her hands around mine on the camera and angled it closer to herself. “You’re a really good photographer. No one has ever made me look that good before.”

“They must not have tried very hard.” I tried to shift the current of attraction back where it belonged. “And I should begood. I’m a professional. I’ve been photographing the rich and famous for years.”

I raised my eyes to hers, ready to see hurt and confusion and found compassion instead. What started as basic attraction exploded into something more. Bigger. Darker. It threatened to drag me down and never let me go.

Hannah’s eyes shifted, her gaze dropping to my lips. Hers parted on an exhale, and my stomach tightened. One move and our lips would connect. One breath of space stopped me. I dropped the camera and lowered my chin.

“Honey, I’m home.” Scott’s voice boomed through the mansion. The front door slammed, and the sound of heavy steps bounded our way.

Hannah jumped away from me as her cheeks flushed and she licked her lips.

I snapped one last picture then turned to face Scott.

6

ARTHUR

Itried to stay in bed. Tried and failed. The time spent last evening with Hannah in our house played on repeat throughout the night.

By the time I left my room at daybreak, I’d memorized the sound of her laughter, the way her throat moved when she swallowed. I was obsessed with how her eyes shifted in the light, the subtly changing color drawing me in and begging me to never look away.

Fucking hell I’d turned into one of those poor poetic bastards.

I plunged both hands through my hair, raking it back from my face, and straightened my shirt over my jeans.

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