Page 150 of Defenders of Jawhara

Chloe began to hyperventilate. She grabbed the towel and clutched it. “I didn’t even know he had a brother.” She didn’t know anything about Trent—not anything important. She hadn’t known he had family—he’d never told her. Heat blazed through her.

Trent’s brother wrapped the towel around himself. “I’m going to step out and let you get dressed.”

* * *

Trent snagged his cell phone from his pocket. “What’s the emergency, bro?”

“Dude. This was such a bad idea. Bad, bad, bad. But I was beat from keeping an eye on the Guardians, listening to nothing. Plus, your place was a lot closer.”

Trent tried to interrupt his brother’s ramble, but Travis ignored him. “I figured I’d go to your place, take a quick shower, get some coffee, raid your fridge, and be back at my listening post in less than an hour. Instead…oh.”

He could hear him pacing, but he still had no idea what he was going on about. “Okay, that’s fine. Not the first time. What’s the problem?”

Travis sighed. “You need to get your ass home ASAP. Your girlfriend just surprised me in the shower.”

“She what? Where is she now? Dammit, I’m pushing the speed limit to the max.”

“Good. You get a ticket, it’s on you.”

“Was she naked?”

He couldn’t keep the snarl out of his voice. “Well, she wasn’t going to join me in the shower dressed to go dancing.”

“Shit! Keep her there. I’m three minutes away. Don’t let her leave, whatever you do.”

“I’ll try—”

“Don’t try. Do!”

Travis let out a breath. “Fine. But you damn well owe me for this.”

Trent raced into the apartment five minutes later to see Travis standing in the living room, a towel wrapped around him.

Travis held up his hands. “She’s still in the bathroom. Along with my clothes. She won’t throw them out to me. She won’t even talk to me. Frankly, right now, if you’ve got a live grenade, I’d rather deal with that.”

Shaking his head, Trent narrowed his eyes. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that my place is an hour away with good traffic and yours isn’t. Why the hell didn’t you tell her you had a brother? A TWIN brother?”

Sighing, Trent headed for the bathroom. He knocked once and then he tried the door, thankful that she hadn’t thought to lock it. “Chloe?”

He stepped inside. She sat on the toilet, hunched over. She’d dressed, but she also had his navy-blue towel draped over her.

She looked up at him. From her red-rimmed eyes, he was going to guess she’d been crying. “Hey now! I’m sorry you didn’t find me in the shower. That would have been a very welcome surprise. But no harm done.”

Lower lip trembling, she stared at him. “I didn’t even know you had a brother. He looks just like you! Except for that…that…” She gestured to her forehead.

“Good thing you noticed that.” He stepped closer.

“Don’t you come near me.” She held up a hand. “It’s not funny! I completely embarrassed myself, and…and…”

“You made an honest mistake. Now come on out and meet Travis. He’d like his clothes back.”

“He’s still out there?” She glanced toward the closed bathroom door.

“Can’t go anywhere in a towel. And I think he’d like to apologize for scaring you.”

Chloe looked at her lap and up again. “I didn’t know you had a brother.”

---