The Second Sister. Dani Sinclair

One

      Seven years ago

      Leigh Thomas gulped the soda her date handed her, looking for a way out. She didn’t know a soul in the noisy crowd and the live rock band prevented conversation even if she’d found someone interesting to talk with. College age and older, everyone seemed to be drinking, openly using drugs and making out. The beer she’d managed to force down was threatening to make an ignoble return and suddenly, her flashy new image seemed downright stupid.

      She might look like part of this crowd tonight, but despite the fact that she had raided her identical twin sister’s more daring wardrobe for this outfit, inside Leigh beat the heart of a fairly naive seventeen-year-old. She should never have gone out with Nolan Ducort III.

      A party at the elite Pepperton estate had sounded so enticing. The perfect way to change her mousy image. Of course, if Leigh’s mother had still been alive, she would have warned Leigh that Martin Pepperton’s family was out of the country, and that Nolan, Martin and their buddy, Keith Earlwood, all had questionable reputations. But Amy Thomas wasn’t there to warn her, and Leigh hadn’t listened to her sister.

      Their mother’s disappearance a few months ago, coming only months after the unexpected death of Leigh’s beloved grandfather, was still tearing Leigh apart. Amy Hart Thomas hadn’t voluntarily vanished right before Leigh’s high school graduation. Their mother was dead. They knew it, they simply couldn’t prove it.

      The police tended to agree, but they believed Amy had been the victim of a robbery gone bad. She’d withdrawn a surprising amount of cash for a trip to New York City when she generally used credit cards for everything. Officers were quick to point out that Amy’s fondness for wearing expensive jewelry to complement her designer clothing was something any thief would notice right away. Even her expensive luxury car marked her as a potential target.

      Only, Amy Thomas was no fool. She’d grown up wealthy. She knew how to protect herself. Besides, a robbery gone bad didn’t explain why neither her car nor her body had been found. And contrary to the local police chief’s suggestion, there was absolutely no way their mother had run off with a secret lover. The idea was ludicrous.

      Leigh took another sip of the soda. Nolan grinned at her and ran his hand possessively down her arm. Leigh shivered. His touch repulsed her. Definitely, going out with Nolan had been a bad mistake. She’d have been better off at home in her room with her customary book in hand, reining in her all-too-vivid imagination. The family estate of Heartskeep was large enough that she would have had no trouble avoiding her father tonight. She’d had years of practice, after all.

      But she’d been so tired of thinking and wondering—so tired of stifling sobs for the mother she missed so much. Going out, being with new people, had seemed like such a good idea at the time.

      Nolan was wealthy and model handsome. His sporty new convertible was the talk of everyone she knew. Even Leigh’s sister, Hayley, had been green with envy when he’d singled Leigh out after they were introduced. Being an identical twin, Leigh was used to guys flocking around her out of curiosity, but it was Hayley they were generally drawn to. Hayley knew how to flirt and tease. Outgoing, friendly and smart, her sister wasn’t intimidated by anything. Everyone always said Leigh was the quiet twin, perfectly content to let her “older” sister take the lead in most things. It was a real coup to have someone more interested in her than in Hayley. Her sister hadn’t been able to conceal her surprise or her disappointment. Hayley had really liked Nolan’s car. She had been quick to point out that Nolan was older and more worldly than other guys Leigh had dated. Which, of course, had made going with him tonight a given.

      Now, Leigh sincerely wished she had listened to her sister and her own instincts. She was starting to feel dizzy and strange. Must be the effects of that beer she’d forced herself to drink. All she wanted now was to get out of this house and away from this noisy party. She didn’t like the way Nolan and his two friends kept looking at her.

      Hayley would have known exactly how to handle the situation. No—Hayley would never have let herself be placed in this situation. Leigh was out of her depth and sinking fast.

      When a boisterous group of people approached, Leigh seized the opportunity to slip away unnoticed. Outside, the humid night air didn’t help the muzzy sensation buzzing inside her head. She felt strange, as if she was melting from the inside out. From one beer? That and the flat-tasting soda were the only things she’d had. Maybe if she’d eaten something today she wouldn’t feel so strange. Reaching out a hand for a nearby tree, she tried to shake off the weird sensations.

      “You okay?”

      A dark shape detached itself from the side of a parked pickup truck nearby. The spark from a cigarette was ground beneath a large booted foot.

      Her heart stopped, then jumped to vigorous life as her gaze traveled up the tight jeans, across the flat abdomen clearly visible beneath the open shirt, to reach his face, carved from the shadows. She knew his eyes were deep gray, with a penetrating stare that unnerved some people. Leigh had always found it incredibly sexy. His wavy dark hair was thick and perpetually in need of a trim—as untamable as the man himself.

      She was face-to-face with her own private fantasy come true. Gavin Jarret, bad boy of the county, stood close enough that by simply extending her hand, she could slide her fingers over the hard, flat planes of the exposed skin on his chest.

      Tempting.

      Very tempting.

      Which only went to prove how muddled her thinking had become. Gavin was no boy. He was five years older than her and carried himself with a dangerous air of sensuality that had nothing to do with money, clothes or cars. If this had been the era of the Wild West, he’d have a gun strapped on one lean hip and a hat with the brim pulled low over his forehead. He wasn’t cocky. He didn’t need to be. He moved with the easy assurance of a man who had no need to prove anything to anyone, but wouldn’t back down from a challenge.

      Gavin had starred in many of Leigh’s wishful dreams since she’d first glimpsed him working at Wickert’s gas station in town. Rumor had it he’d been arrested, thrown out of several schools, and that he kissed like nobody’s business. She could believe the latter. His mouth fascinated her. Everything about Gavin fascinated her.

      He’d been one of the many foster youths her neighbors, Emily and George Walken, had taken on. Everyone told them it was a mistake. Gavin was a loner who liked it that way. Whenever there was trouble, the police came knocking on his door first. But like so many others the Walkens had helped, Gavin had settled down under their guidance. Now he used their place as his home base when he wasn’t away at college.

      “Heat getting to you?” he asked.

      The slow glide of his words ignited a tingling flame low in her belly. His gaze seemed to linger on her cleavage and the daringly bared expanse of midriff over the jeans that just barely covered her navel. She’d regretted the choice almost immediately after leaving her room earlier that night, but had decided to brazen the situation out. She’d felt naked ever since—especially when Nolan had gazed at her with a predator’s hunger.

      Funny, but Gavin’s appreciative gaze had just the opposite effect. It stirred something to life inside her, something daring and exciting and strange. Tipping her head to one side, she smiled up at him.

      “It’s terribly hot inside.”

      He proffered an open bottle of beer. She’d been so focused on the rest of him, she hadn’t even noticed his hands. They were big, solid hands, with long, tapered fingers.

      “Want a sip?”

      Her heart fluttered madly. His voice was deep and gravelly. Sexy, like the rest of him. “Sure. Thanks.”

      Their hands touched.

      Hot and wild, a surge of energy flowed through her. Leigh tried not to shiver at that contact. The pads of his fingers were rough and callused from working at the garage, not baby soft like Nolan’s.

      Taking the bottle, she put her mouth where his had been.