Page 2 of His Own Heaven

The fear he’d tear them in half, break them somehow.

His twin was a different matter. A different man. Standing only two inches shorter, Charlie was still a big bastard, but he had charm on his side. He knew how to talk to women, how to engage them in conversation and put them at ease with his size. He knew how to make women want him. Try as he might, Toby just couldn’t do it. He didn’t know how to flatter and cajole, and the Dominant in him didn’t want to.

His Dominant side wanted to cut through the bullshit and get on with it, longed to hear the sound of tearing fabric as he ripped a woman’s clothes off. Craved the sight of a soft body bound to his bed and spread open for his pleasure. The cracking of his palm as it connected with a pliant arse, the feel of supple lips wrapped around his hard cock as he thrust deep down a throat. A woman’s screams as her orgasm took hold, the soft panting breaths that tickled his side and chest as he lay beside a lover and held her close after a good, hard fuck.

But another quick scan of the dating pool left Toby with no illusions.

He’d be going home alone tonight.

Charlie leaned over, whispered, “Hey, if one of us does get lucky tonight, you wanna share?”

Lips twitching into a grin at his brother’s eagerness, Toby said, “Sure. As long as she’s into it.”

“We’re twins,” Charlie said, shrugging. “They’re always into it.”

He was right. Toby had never understood why, but the twin thing was a definite draw card for certain women, and he and Charlie were usually more than happy to oblige them. But at the age of forty, they were both getting pretty sick and tired of the single life, of nothing but work, work, the occasional one-night stand, more work….

The thought of sharing a woman relieved Toby’s tension though, took away the mild panic he always felt when he was forced to participate in small talk with random strangers. If Charlie hooked up with someone first, then they could all leave together and the torture would end.

Toby didn’t even care if the woman didn’t go for the sharing idea. Not that he’d knock back sex if it was on offer—Charlie wasn’t the only one suffering a chronic case of blue balls—but he was just as happy to go home, read a book, and rub one out if it meant not talking to people.

“How long does this go for?” he said.

“One to two hours, depending on how many people show up.”

Here’s hoping it’s one, he thought as a tall, slender woman with dirty-blonde hair brushed past him. The brief contact sent a jolt of electricity through every nerve in his body, every muscle, every bone. Toby couldn’t move, could only stare, transfixed by the sway of her hips as she sashayed to the rear of the pub.

“Fuck. Me,” Charlie breathed. “Could those jeans get any tighter?”

“Shit.” Toby knew those shapely hips. That colour hair. Those long legs and elegant gait.

Thatfan-fucking-tasticarse….

“What?” Charlie said, still staring at the woman’s backside.

“I think….” Toby narrowed his gaze and studied the woman again. “I think that’s Lucy Barton.”

“Who’s Lucy Barton?”

“My new office manager.” He swallowed hard. “I hired her this week. She starts work on Monday.”

Charlie threw back his head and laughed, the full-bodied sound drawing the attention of pretty much everyone as they walked through the pub. Then he stopped and squeezed Toby’s shoulder. “Wait,” he said, dropping his voice to a near whisper. “Is this chick the reason you’ve been so twitchy? I’m thinking she has to be, judging by your reaction.” Then, grinning like the pain in the arse he was, he added, “Is she cute?”

Toby shrugged Charlie off and took a step back. Lucy Barton was an employee and was thereforeoff limits.

The fact she was temptation incarnate was irrelevant.

Gaze glued to Lucy’s arse, he took another step back and shook his head. He needed to remove himself from the situation before he did something stupid, like proposition his new hire and get himself slapped with a sexual harassment lawsuit.

But what if she says yes?a little voice whispered in his head.

Toby ground his teeth together.No. Not going to happen. Safer to leave.“I’m outta here.”

But before he could retreat any farther, Charlie caught his wrist. Pulling him close, his brother hissed, “Tobias Ulysses Bennett, if you don’t take a chance on this woman, I swear to God I will go out of my way to pick her up and fuck her every which way come Sunday.”

Toby’s eyes narrowed on his twin as a sudden possessive need gripped his spine and held on tight. He peeled Charlie’s fingers away from where they encircled his wrist. “You even look at her funny and I’ll tell Abby what really happened to Mr Poochie.”

Charlie went very still, undoubtedly calculating the pleasure he’d find between Lucy’s thighs and weighing it against the hell his life would become if their little sister discovered the truth about the day her beloved childhood teddy bear disappeared.

---