Page 97 of Single Dad Dilemma
But before he could answer, the door to the house swung open. A pretty, petite woman with messy blond hair and big gray eyes stopped short at the sight of me.
“Hi,” she said, taking in my slightly aggressive posture warily. “What’s going on?”
“Who are you?” I asked, horror creeping up my spine like ice.
Her brows bent in. “I’m his fiancée, Ruby.”
“What?”
He held up his hands again. “You have me confused with someone else,” he said to me.
The woman’s mouth fell open. “Oh.”
“‘Oh’ what?” I snapped.
Someone else joined her in the doorway—and my fucking knees went weak, comprehension dawning like a kick to my face.
“Griffin, you forgot Maggie’s—”
Barrett froze at the sight of me, eyes swinging between me and ... oh God, oh holy fuck me over the rails ... he was a twin. He was atwin. “Lily,” he said cautiously. “Are you okay?”
My entire body slumped, and I covered my face while my heart turned out a slow, lethargic beat. Maybe I was having a nightmare. With snow and judgy cashiers and two Barretts to make my life a living hell. Or maybe I was stroking out. Yes, that was a great option. I was officially choosing that.
Unfortunately, it was all very, very real. And I could not pinch myself into waking up. I’d just go hide for the rest of my life. Heat crawled up my neck, into my cheeks, and when my hands dropped, I drew myself up to my full height and made scathing eye contact with the real Barrett.
Was I mad at him? No.
Was I embarrassed as all get-out? You bet your ass.
That embarrassment, to my dismay, came out looking a lot like rage.
“Of course there are fucking two of you,” I hissed. And without saying another word, I turned and marched right back through the yards, praying desperately that the ground would open up and swallow me whole.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Barrett
No one moved.
My mind raced, battling between running after her, and not making a complete spectacle of what had just happened.
“She seems ... nice,” Ruby said carefully.
Griffin nodded, catching my eye with a smug smile. “I get it.” Ruby whacked his chest, and he rubbed at the spot. “Ouch. I don’t mean it like that. There’s not a single woman on earth who would ever top you, birdy—but for him ...” he said, gesturing toward me, still frozen in place, staring after where Lily had stomped off. “I get it,” he finished.
Ruby was appeased by this, and I’d witnessed enough of their teasing to know she wasn’t really mad at him in the first place. With a growing sense of hysteria, I thought about what my brother had said. About how Ruby loved it when he pissed her off.
Well ... I’d gone and done that.
“Wait,” I said, setting my hands on my hips and turning toward Griffin. “What did she say before I came out?”
His face went blank. “Nothing.”
“Bullshit, what did she say?”
“Nothing,” he said slowly, “that I’m going to tell you,” he finished in a rush. He winced. “Pretty sure she’d rather die than repeat it at the moment, so I think you should give her a little breathing room—”
“No way,” Ruby interrupted. “Go over there. She’s embarrassed. You could see it on her face.”
