Undercover Christmas. B.J. Daniels
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stopped. Locked. Footfalls retreated down the hall. Marni let out the breath she’d been holding.
Relieved, she leaned back in the tub and closed her eyes, doing her best not even to think about Chase Calloway. But her thoughts went to him as swiftly as an arrow shot from a bow. What was his story? And more to the point, how could Elise have fallen for such a disagreeable man?
The water began to cool and Marni climbed out and quickly dried herself, curious to know who her earlier visitor had been. Would her caller have come in if the door hadn’t been locked? It appeared so. She doubted it was Chase. It seemed odd that he’d use the hallway door instead of their adjoining one. It seemed even odder anyone would try the door when she didn’t answer the knock.
Whoever it was might return, she thought, realizing she’d have to put the maternity form back on. She didn’t relish the idea, but it was better than getting caught unpregnant by Chase Calloway. No amount of explaining would get that man to believe her.
But at least she could get comfortable. After putting the form back on, she wandered into the bedroom, picked up the loaned shirt from the bed and pulled it on over the maternity form. It was large enough that the soft fabric covered her to her knees.
Her earlier tiredness came back suddenly and she couldn’t wait to climb between the flannel sheets of the massive bed. That’s when she remembered she hadn’t locked the door between her room and Chase’s. Buttoning the shirt on her way, she waddled to the door and reached for the knob. The door must not have been closed soundly. The moment she touched the knob, the door creaked open and a deep, angry voice bellowed, “What the hell do you want?”
Marni jumped at the sound of Chase’s voice. “I—” She grimaced as she heard him limping across the floor toward her, the crutches beating a path to her.
The door banged open and Chase filled the space between their rooms. “Look, woman—” His gaze dropped from her face to her chest. She caught the smell of brandy on his warm breath as he leaned toward her. “Is that one of my shirts? What the hell are you doing in my shirt?”
“Someone left it for me,” Marni said defensively. “The way your mother acted, I just assumed it was Jabe’s.” Her chin went up to show him she wasn’t afraid, but her traitorous feet stumbled back a step from the fury in his eyes.
“My mother?” His gaze narrowed. “That proves how little you know about me. Vanessa’s not my mother.”
Marni stared at him. Well, that explained a lot. Did Elise know anything about this man? “Dayton and Hayes are your…”
“Half brothers.” Chase hobbled toward her, forcing her into a corner. “How can you pretend we were lovers and his is my baby, when you know nothing about me?” he demanded.
Marni felt the hellfire of his gaze and wanted to proclaim her honesty but it was hard to do, all things considered. She lifted her chin again and met his blue eyes, frantically trying to imagine what Elise would say in answer to his very reasonable question. She had no idea, having never met a man like Chase Calloway. All she knew was that he made her nervous. Self-conscious. Unsure of herself.
“I thought I heard a baby crying,” Marni said, motioning toward the heat vent, belatedly realizing he’d see right through her clumsy attempt to change the subject.
“A baby? There is no baby in this house.” His gaze dropped to her swollen form. “Yet.”
No baby? But she’d heard a baby crying. Or had she? Her eyes widened. No, it couldn’t be. This pretend pregnancy made her waddle, even vulnerable to emotions she couldn’t remember ever having before. But surely it didn’t make her imagine crying babies?
She realized Chase was waiting for an answer to his original question. She felt at a loss as to how to reply.
He gave her an impatient look and she knew she’d have to say something. She took a deep breath and, closing her eyes, concentrated. She imagined she was Elise and that this man standing in front of her was her lover. Her eyes flew open; she felt the flushed heat of embarrassment rush to her cheeks as the sudden, crystal-clear image of the two of them unclothed branded itself on her brain.
“Admittedly,” Marni said shakily as she sidestepped away from him, “there is a lot I don’t know about you and your family.” Practically nothing. “All I can tell you is the…truth.” She almost choked on the word.
“The truth?” Chase asked, sounding skeptical.
She nodded as she turned to face him, suddenly reminded of the disastrous results the other times she’d pretended to be her twin. “The truth is…” She tried for that slight catch in her throat El had when she talked about Chase. It came out more like a croak. “I’m in…in love with you.”
For a moment, she thought he’d laugh in her face. Instead, he let out an animal growl and thumped over to her, slamming any and everything in his path out of the way with his crutches. He stopped, towering over her, his eyes hard as ice chips.
“Don’t you see how dangerous this game is you’re playing?” he demanded, his voice reverberating through her.
She commanded her feet to stand their ground. He couldn’t scare her, she assured herself with only a slight tremble.
“Cut your losses and give up this charade,” he said, dropping his voice to a menacing softness as he leaned closer. “You are no more pregnant with my child than you are in love with me.”
She couldn’t argue that. Not that he gave her a chance.
Before she could move, he took her face in his hands. She felt his calloused hands, warm and strong, on her cheeks. The hands of a man who did an honest day’s work. That picture didn’t quite fit with the one she’d already painted of him. But she didn’t have time to worry about that now. In the depths of his gaze, she saw what he planned to do. Unfortunately, there wasn’t time to react before he took her mouth as he’d probably no doubt taken her sister’s body, with an intensity that stunned her. And for those few moments, she was El. And she knew the power this man had over her twin.
Abruptly he broke off the kiss and shoved himself away from her. “You and I have never kissed before,” he said, his voice as rough as his hands. “Believe me, if we had, I would have remembered.” He limped a few feet away on his crutches and turned to glare at her.
Marni fought the urge to cry out. In frustration. Her body ached, reminding her how long it had been since a man had kissed her. Had one ever kissed her like that?
Worse yet, he’d been testing her and she’d failed miserably. Failed to pull off her fraud. And failed El. She already felt like a traitor to her sister for just letting the man kiss her.
“Let me give you some advice, Miss McCumber,” he said, his voice sending a shiver through her. “You picked the wrong man to fool with. I don’t know who you are or what you want, but if you’re smart, you’ll get away from here as fast as you can. You and your baby aren’t safe in this house.”
He left, the threat hanging in the air as he slammed the door between their rooms.
Long after Chase left, Marni lay on the big log bed, her arm protectively around Sam as she stared up at the ceiling and mentally kicked herself. What had she hoped to accomplish by coming here? When was she going to learn that she couldn’t solve everyone’s problems?
As for the kiss…
She tried to excuse it. It was only a test and a test kiss didn’t amount to anything. She shouldn’t feel guilty. Really, if she was going to pretend to be Elise, these things were bound to happen. Men kissed El unexpectedly, passionately, soundly.
Not that Marni would let it happen again. One test kiss per sister’s boyfriend, thank you. But if it should—
Marni