Hot Picks: Secrets And Lies. Dani Collins

blonde looked warily between him and his brother, giving Henri the sense she was trying to work out which one of them had met her gaze earlier.

      He and Ramon didn’t fight over women. There was no point since neither of them wanted long-term relationships. Women seemed to view them as interchangeable anyway. But Henri found himself annoyed by the idea she might decide to go with Ramon.

      What had been a generic restlessness responding to the gaze of a beautiful female ticked up into a desire to have this one in particular.

      “Watch the fireworks from our suite,” Ramon said with easy command, waving an invitation. “Save me from staring at my own face.”

      “Why would you stare at your brother when you’ll be watching the fireworks?” the brunette asked with a cheeky bat of her lashes. “Maybe if you didn’t dress alike you wouldn’t feel like you were talking into a mirror?”

      “We don’t do it intentionally.” Ramon offered his arm to escort her up the stairs. “It happens even when we’re half the world away from each other. We’ve stopped fighting it.”

      “Really!”

      The pair was quickly lost in the shadows of the gallery.

      The blonde gazed after her friend, biting her lip, then relaxed her mouth and licked her lips as she glanced at Henri. It almost seemed a nervous response, but the action flooded color into a mouth that now looked dewy and soft as rose petals, shiny and kissable. A very enticing move.

      His gaze lingered on the sight, as his mind slid naturally into the pleasant fantasy of crushing her mouth with his.

      “Shall we?”

      She fell into step beside him.

      This was not his first time picking up women with his brother. He and Ramon had long ago concluded that if they were saddled with being the Sauveterre twins they were damned well going to take advantage of the one outstanding benefit. Startlingly good looks, times two, along with buckets of money and celebrity status meant that the sweetest companions were in endless supply.

      “Was that true?” the blonde asked, leaning in to be heard. “That you dress alike at other times, not just tonight?”

      “Yes.” Henri hated talking about himself and loathed even more talking about his family, but this was one of those innocuous tidbits that strangers loved to hear. The mystery of being a twin was infinitely fascinating to those who weren’t. He accepted it and had stopped fighting it, as well.

      At least tonight it gave him an excuse to hold her arm as he leaned down to speak in her ear, liking the silken brush of her hair against his nose as he inhaled a scent that was cool English roses and warm woman.

      “In fact, when one of us changes out of what the other is wearing, we inevitably spill something and have to go back to the first outfit.”

      “You’re joking.”

      He shrugged off her skepticism. His sisters were connected on an emotional level. He and his brother were more outwardly aligned. They had very different personalities, were competitive as hell with each other, but often spoke in unison or followed a similar thought process, inevitably arriving at the same end result. As Henri had been calling his brother to suggest they host this year’s planning sessions in London instead of their usual Paris or Madrid, Ramon had been accepting the invite to this club opening.

      “I’m, um, Cinnia. Whitley.” She offered her hand as they arrived on the upper floor.

      “Henri.” Her skin felt as soft as it looked and was warmer than the pale tone suggested. She had a firm grip for a woman. He didn’t want to let her go, but she pulled her hand free to glance behind him at Guy, who had followed them, then frowned at Oscar ahead of them, already stepping through the door to the suite where Ramon waited with her friend.

      “Do you have bodyguards?”

      “It’s just a precaution.” They followed into them the suite.

      While Oscar inspected the room, Guy brought out his phone and sent a brief text—a request for a background check on both women no doubt. Helping Guy along, Henri introduced himself to the brunette, learning her name was Vera Phipps.

      Aside from relying on men’s wallets rather than their own, Henri judged both women to be harmless. Vera sent a “jackpot” look to Cinnia when a butler arrived to take their order, then she followed Oscar’s path through the room, trailing fingers on the low-slung sofa and chairs as she circled, glancing to the flat screen hung on the wall, and stepped onto the balcony for a quick sniff of the air off the Thames.

      She came back just as quickly to fetch one of the swag bags from the coffee table. “Oh! A gold one! Everyone below got silver. And yours is bigger.”

      “I hear that a lot,” Ramon said with a smirk, making Vera laugh throatily.

      “I bet you do. May I look?” She batted her lashes suggestively.

      Cinnia did not flirt so blatantly. She offered a demure thank-you as the butler poured their champagne and moved outside to glance at the colored lights swirling on the water. In the middle of the river, the technicians on the float set off a test flare.

      It was a warm evening without a breeze. Her gaze lifted to the sparkle of lights across the water and up to the stars.

      “I’m surprised you stayed below as long as you did when you had this to retreat to,” she said as Henri padded out to join her. He was compelled. Drawn. It was strange and not something he would typically indulge. The strength of his attraction made him a little uncomfortable.

      Below them, people began filing out to the outdoor lounge while the music followed them.

      Ramon was the one who liked crowds. Henri preferred a quieter atmosphere, but he said smoothly, “Good thing we did or I wouldn’t have met you.”

      Her snort was delicate, if disparaging. Most blondes with blue eyes played up the suggestion of vulnerable innocence in their coloring. Not Cinnia. Her vintage hairstyle framed her face in a waifish way, but her brows had a sharp, intelligent angle. Her lashes stayed low and her gaze watchful, not cynical, but not goggling or overly impressed by any of this.

      He liked that sign of inner confidence and strength. It was compelling, sparking his curiosity. “You feel differently?”

      “I feel this is a well-oiled machine you two are operating.” She flicked her glance to the plate of canapés that appeared like magic on the glass table next to them.

      “I would call that distrustful,” he said, waiting until the server had gone to swing his gaze back to hers. “If I didn’t think you two were running a similar routine. I’ll call it hypocritical instead.”

      Her blue gaze flashed to his, but inside the suite, Vera was laughing at something Ramon had said. The two were meshing like cogs rolling against one another to turn out a foregone conclusion. Cinnia’s mouth tightened.

      “Unable to deny it?” he taunted gently.

      “You approached us,” she reminded with enough pique to amuse him.

      “I was invited.”

      “I didn’t mean to stare.” Her gaze returned to the view, chin coming up.

      It had been more than a stare. She had smiled at him.

      He watched with fascination as the fringe across her breasts quivered under an indignant breath. He would bet her cheeks were pink if the light was high enough to tell.

      “I doubt I’m the first to be curious about the pair of you. You make a fetching couple.” Her smile was pure aspartame.

      Her eyes, however, were a spun sugar blue. That was unmistakable as a huge white light swirled down from a helicopter, rousing the crowd below into cheering.

      Her beauty gave him a sudden kick in the chest. It wasn’t a trick of makeup because she wore very little.