Page 7 of The Blonde Identity

“Langu—”

“I thought she was lying.” He squeezed his eyes tight and looked down at the icy ground.

“Who?”

“Alex.” He looked at her like she was a puzzle and a missing piece. Both. “I didn’t think she really had a twin.”

He let her go and pushed away and, suddenly, it was colder without him blocking the wind and pressing all his muscly warmth into her. But then she processed what he’d said.

“Wait... Twin?”

He was looking at her oddly, like maybe he was the one who’d hit his head and woke up to find himself in a very bad dream.

“She used to say ‘be grateful I’m the bad twin.’ I thought she was lying.”

She gave a nervous laugh. “Don’t you mean joking?”

He glared. “Alex doesn’t joke.”

“But she lies?”

For the first time, he smiled. “Better than anyone.”

Chapter Six

Him

It wasn’t Alex.

Sawyer believed her. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe because no one—not even Alex—was that good an actress. Maybe because Alex had no reason to lie. Except no. That wasn’t true. If the last few days had taught him anything, it was that he’d never known Alex at all.

“Excuse me, Mr....” The woman started then trailed off, as if she was running through a long list of options in her head. “Gun Guy... Alex’s Boyfriend Guy—”

But that made him laugh. Hell, that made him howl. He hadn’t thought he was still capable of it, so he felt as surprised as she looked.

“I only mean... you have a gun. And you just shot a lot of people with it—not that I’m not grateful. I realize it was devolving into ame-or-themsituation, and I’m very happy you chose me. So thank you. I’m sure you must be disappointed that I’m not the love of your life—”

“Thewhat?”

“Alex,” she said, like maybe he was the one who’d recently been unconscious. “I was talking about Alex.”

“I know,” he snapped. “But why the h—” She gave him a warning look. “—heckwould you thinkAlexis the...”

“Love of your life,” she reminded him.

“Yeah. You can stop calling her that.”

“But—”

“Don’t call her that. Ever.”

“Okay. Um . . . partner? Significant other? How would you define your relationship?”

“Thorn in my side,” he ground out then turned and started down the street.

“Ohhhhh,” she said, falling into step beside him. “So you’re in the early stages of... what? Friends to lovers? Enemies to lovers?” She looked a little concerned at that second one, but he had no idea what she was talking about.

“I don’t have a lot of experience with head wounds, but you should probably get that checked out,” he said, but then she darted out in front of him, surprisingly quick.

---