Page 11 of Two Is Better Than One

"Are you starstruck?" he asked, smiling at her.

She shrugged a little. "I admire him."

"You're smiling like you have a crush on him," he said.

"I am not. I don't."

But she was blushing. AJ could see it. She liked this guy, and the craziest thing was that he was jealous.

Chapter 5

Allie

Alice Stockton

(Summer's identical twin sister)

That morning, my escort showed up looking sharp and wearing stylish clothing. His hair was longer on top, and he kept it combed back, pushed away from his face. His features were lighter than I was expecting based on Casey being darker.

AJ had these eyes. Good gosh. Summer and I had matching, almost identical, grey-blue eyes. I was used to seeing blue eyes. I saw them every day when I looked in the mirror or at my sister. But this guy, AJ… his eyes were bluer than blue. They were strikingly blue, ice blue. Plus, he was built like a solid rock. He was a specimen, much like his cousin, and I thought he and Casey must have been cut from the same miraculous cloth.

I talked to AJ all the way to the art gallery. Toward the end of our trip, he accused me of having a crush on the artist we were going to see. It was somewhat true. I admired Garrett's work, and he was extremely handsome. I felt flustered by AJ's comments, though. I was overwhelmed because, at that moment, I liked them both. I wasn't normally this man-crazy at all. Usually, I viewed men objectively and didn't even consider them for a dating relationship. But I was in a vehicle with one abnormally gorgeous guy, and headed to meet another one. It wasn't a position I regularly found myself in.

"Do you ever get followed when you go out?" AJ asked, glancing into his mirror. "Do you have to deal with paparazzi?"

"No. Not really. When I'm with my sister I do, but not alone. I could have gone alone, with a regular driver, and been okay today. I know you're coming inside with me, but I would be okay going in alone."

"Are you saying you don't want me to go inside with you? Is that a factor with the guy? I want to protect you, but would I be cramping your style?"

"No, no, I'm going to be happy with you in there. I was just saying… Summer can't do stuff alone, but I can. I contacted Garrett, the artist, but I don't know if he'll even remember talking to me. I'm sure he has a lot of people trying to talk to him today. Hey, are you hungry? Because I didn't eat lunch, and I could go for a—"

I let out a laugh instead of finishing my sentence because AJ took a sharp right, nearly causing the tires to squeal as he rounded the corner, barely making it into the drive-through burger restaurant.

"Sorry about that, but this place is really good, if you're hungry," he said.

I smiled and nodded, and he pulled smoothly into line.

"I thought we might be in a hurry to get to the art party, so I didn't ask about lunch."

"Have you eaten?" I asked.

"Yes, I did. But I might get something while I'm here. What do you want?" He rolled down the window and inched up to the speaker.

"A junior cheeseburger," I whispered.

"A junior cheeseburger with fries," he said to the speaker. "Two of those."

"Two junior cheeseburger meals?" the lady asked.

"Yes ma'am."

"What to drink?" She asked.

"What to drink?" he asked, whispering to me.

"Tea?" I said uncertainly since I hadn't thought about it.

"You sure?" he asked patiently.

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