Page 25 of Masquerade

“Damn, and I thought I’d pinch your butt!” He hit his forehead with an open palm.

“Not if you value your life.”

He waggled his hands like a clown. “It’sss show time!”

“Forty-two,” she suggested.

“The answer to life, the universe and everything?” He beamed. “You listen to me.”

“It’s short, snappy and unlikely to arouse suspicions. Given your fondness forHitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,you’re unlikely to forget it.”

“Works for me. Do you swap places with Anna often?”

“Your question should be past tense. I was sixteen the last time. Anna set me up with a boy she’d dated a few times. Forgot to tell me that he’d made it to first base.” She shuddered dramatically.

“Wow! That sounds like a baptism by fire.” He flopped back against the leather headboard.

“What’s your best war story?” She made a come-on gesture with her hand.

“Not in the same league. We were both due to appear in a school woodworking class photo. They were doing a panorama showing each of us with our tool of choice. Niall got sick at the last minute. I stood at one end of the line with my hammer, then as the camera panned along the line, I dropped the hammer and joined the other end with a chisel.”

“I don’t believe you.”

He held up two fingers in the Scout’s salute. “True.”

“I don’t believe that’s the only time you swapped places.”

“Our parents took a very dim view of misleading people.” He went all lord-of-the-manor injured dignity.

“I still don’t believe you.” She placed her elbows on the table and leaned on her linked hands. “You told your colleagues being a twin was both magical and frustrating. Do you believe that?”

“He was my best friend growing up,” he said simply. “I didn’t have to explain myself to him. But it can be frustrating having someone look exactly like you.”

“Sometimes you feel you need to work harder to be seen as an individual.” She shared his mixed feelings.

“I’m guessing you consciously look different to create your own space in the world?” He inclined his head in inquisitorial mode.

Kate did it to be invisible. In Sydney she could be. Turner was a common enough surname, and if she stayed under the radar, no one would connect her to her mother Rosamunde Turner and then to her father, Brian Ferguson. All those connections had the potential to embarrass her parents.

“My parents insisted Anna and I be put in different classes from day one of kindergarten.”

He sipped his water, making her wait for his response to her nonanswer. “How’d that work out?”

A fair-minded bloke who’d let her off the hook.

“I pretended to be bold.” She folded her arms. His poker face had her blurting out more confidences. “Alright, I was terrified. One of my best memories is finding her at the end of the day, and her saying she’d always be there.” She smiled at the memory.

“You’re very close.” He was stating a truth he’d also lived.

“She’s possibly the only person who loves me unconditionally,” she murmured.

His brows drew together, an expression Kate was beginning to recognise as curiosity. Encouraging his curiosity would not end well for her. Parents usually loved their children unconditionally. Hers didn’t.

“Because we’re identical”—her hands flailed the air as she backpedalled—“it’s a different kind of unconditional.”

Tony wandered over to collect their plates.

“Is it okay if I go thank the cook?” Liam asked.

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