Page 4 of The Blowout

“Hello”—he pauses for a heartbeat—“Gillian. I heard that you’re helping out with the auction now.”

“Yes, I am helping out with the auction now,” I parrot back, feeling proud that I’m nailing this whole twin-swap scheme.

He nods, letting his eyes trail down my dress. I look down too. I must have dropped something on it to have him looking at me—or, er, my sister—this way. Or maybe he’s assessing my outfit to see if it’s acceptable for the auction. I’m not sure how my sister will feel when she has to part with this dress, but I’m sure knowing it’s going to a good cause will help. It’s a little weird to bid on stylish dresses on live models but whatever.

“Good,” he murmurs. “Good.”

“Did you need anything?” I force myself to ask. It’s a compulsion.

“No, thank you. I’m good. Came back to have a word with Tony about the donation announcement.”

Tony. Tony? Who the hell is Tony? I nod anyway, relieved that I won’t have to do anything for him. I need time to prepare myself to walk onto a stage…and have hundreds of eyes on me. Urg, the mental image makes my knees shake.

“Thank you for filling in. I appreciate it.”

Under his appreciation, I glow. A warm, fuzzy feeling blooms in my stomach. “No prob. No problem,” I correct quickly. “Happy to help in any way I can.” The charity event must have a tie to a member of the marketing team to have him taking such an interest. That’s cool.

Charlie gives me a funny look again before nodding. The lights begin to flicker, indicating that the event is about to begin. “I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah. Sounds great.”

I watch him go…because why not? My eyes stay hooked on his ass until he exits through the curtain. Mmm.

“Gillian! Come on! You need to get ready.”

Right. The auction. Hurrying toward Jenna as fast as my heels will allow me, I apologize for the delay. I’m smoothing down my dress, fluffing up my hair so that it’s at its full glory, when I hear the music that marks the beginning of the event. I’m calm, excited even. I really hope this dress goes for a good price.

Then two things happen that knock me off my cloud of positivity.

The other women in the auction file in around me.

And I hear the emcee introduce the event.

Oh no. I’ve made a huge mistake.

Chapter Three

Charles

It takesme approximately thirty seconds to realize the woman in front of me is not Gillian Collins. There’s an air of lightness around her, a sparkle in her eyes that doesn’t match the no-nonsense attitude I’m used to. It takes me a minute, but I also realize that there’s a patch of freckles on this woman’s cheekbone, semihidden under the makeup she’s applied for the event. I know for a fact Gillian has no freckles or beauty marks on her face. She very rarely wears layers of makeup to the office—unlike the other women we work with. It’s not that I’ve ever been interested and stared at her to learn this small nuance about her. No, it’s that Gillian has worked for me and the executive team long enough that I’ve seen her at her best and her worst. The same goes for me. And when you work that closely, you notice things.

I’ve also worked long enough with Gillian to know she has a sister—a twin sister. There’s a picture of them on her desk.

They may be identical twins, but I can see the differences. Hear the subtle variances in their voices. My body knows this is someone different. As soon as she turned around, licking and whipping the frosting off her lips, my cock stirred. My heart leaped. I hadn’t had a physical reaction like that in a very long time. I needed to know more about her. I wanted to stay by her side, soak up more time with her. Yet, something was amiss. And I needed to find out why Gillian had sent her sister in her absence.

And Jesus, her hair. My fingers actually tingled at the idea of getting lost in that chocolate wave. Each strand seemed to shine a different shade of gorgeous brown in the light. An image of us in bed, me stroking her hair, flashes before my eyes. I already know just how soft it will be.

As I make my way to the main event space, I curse myself, hating that I don’t know the imposter twin’s name. Pulling my cell from my pocket, I dial the head of my security team.

Eoin picks up after two rings. “What’s up, boss?”

I get right to the point, music blaring from surrounding speakers making me shout. “Gillian Collins has a twin sister. I need everything you can get on her.”

“You mean Kimmie?”

The familiarity in his voice makes me see red. Gripping the phone tighter, I ask, “How do you know her?”

“She’s joined us for drinks a time or two. Sweet girl.”

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