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  Kate closed the door and trailed behind Charlotte as they made their way into the living room. She loved watching her friend walk. Being a dancer all her life, Charlotte had a natural whip and swing to her hips that would have given a runway model a run for her money. Tonight she embodied a flamingo, wearing a soft pink, off the shoulder sweatshirt. The pale pink open-toe Jimmy Choo’s she wore barely made a sound on the tile floor despite the sharp champagne stem heel attached to them. Her hair was tucked under a pink plaid Kangol cap, a few strands of her red hair sprouting out the sides.

  “Chris is working late?”

  “Yes.” Kate sighed as she plopped on the couch.

  Charlotte ran into the kitchen and retrieved two wine glasses.

  “So how are things?” Kate yelled into the kitchen.

  “Oh, please, busy as hell. I am working on Lana McNeal’s new video, and that girl’s got two left feet.”

  “Really? I’ve never watched any of her videos.”

  “I had less trouble getting those preschool kids to do the hokey pokey the day I went to my niece’s show and tell.”

  “Yikes!” Kate howled.

  “But don’t worry, by the time you get your hands on her I’ll have her performing La Bayadere in her sleep. What’s the point of being a songbird if you’re going to dance like a lame duck?”

  “I appreciate you watching out for me, but I’m still undecided about Ms. McNeal.”

  Charlotte poked out her soft pink lips as she poured wine into the glasses. “I hear you. That girl is considering doing a reality show. I heard her mother telling her someone was interested in doing one on her. Have you met Lila McNeal? Stage mother from hell.”

  “John is really excited about this.” Kate took a sip of wine.

  “Of course he is. That man attracts beautiful, damaged women.” Charlotte swirled her wine glass. “So how are things with Mr. Cavanaugh?”

  “Things are going pretty good. He is an interesting man.” Kate motioned to the deck.

  “What the fuck happened?” Charlotte walked onto the deck and surveyed the damage. Merlot happily trotted behind her.

  “WrestleMania came to Malibu, and someone forgot to tell me I was hosting it.” Kate gulped down her wine and poured another glass.

  “Come again?”

  “Jack stopped by and Chris showed him the way out.”

  Charlotte rose her perfectly waxed eyebrows so high up on her forehead she could have used them as a headband. “What have you done with my mild-mannered friend named Kate? Until six months ago, I didn’t think you liked men. Now you have them tearing up your fabulous beach house that I totally hope you are leaving to me in your will.”

  “First of all, when I die I have left specific instructions for the beach house to be burned down. It’s going with me. Why did you think I didn’t like men?”

  “I don’t know. You just have a quiet way about you. Very innocent. Now you’re divorcing your Vegas romance and hooking up with the hottest man in Hollywood.”

  Kate picked at the fringes on a pillow. “People change.”

  Charlotte slumped down on the couch. “I just want you to be happy.”

  “I’m getting there. I even let him take me for a ride on that wretched motorcycle of his.”

  “You know, I caught one of his movies on cable the other night. I was halfway into it, feeling randy as hell watching that gorgeous man when I realized you were fucking him!”

  “Charlotte!”

  “Fornicating with? If I were living with Chris Cavanaugh I’d want to yell from the highest mountaintop that I was screwing that man.”

  Kate smiled. She loved the scent of him and how her stomach flipped when he flashed his easy, gorgeous smile at her. She could still feel his lips against her skin, his hands caressing her back. The passion that radiated from the man could have been an alternate solar power source. “Living with him does have its benefits.”

  “So how is he in bed?”

  Kate chuckled. “Listen, I don’t care if you’ve got this bad-girl ballerina look going on tonight, I am not talking trash about my sex life with Chris.”

  “You gotta tell me something. Anything. He supposedly has this legendary schlong.”

  “OK.” Kate bit her lip. “I’ll tell you one thing.”

  Charlotte moved close to Kate. Kate gave Merlot another treat and then refilled her wine glass. Charlotte started rotating her ankle—her classic tell that she was dying to hear what Kate had to say.

  “Do you remember that night Sabrina was in one of her country western moods and took us to that chic honky-tonk bar?”

  “Yeah. How can I forget that? Sabrina had a fight with one of the waitresses.”

  “And do you remember that mechanical bull they had and we each rode three times?”

  “We named him Woody.” Charlotte exploded in laughter. “Who could forget Woody the mechanical bull? We had to pull Sabrina off that thing. I still call that honky-tonk to see how he’s doing.”

  “Chris is like Woody minus the electrical cord.”

  “Whoa.” Charlotte sighed.

  * * *

  The sound of Chris’s motorcycle in the driveway made her smile. What Charlotte said had a lot of raunchy merit, even if she didn’t want to admit it herself. The man was sought after wherever he went, but these days he was coming home to her.

  “Hey, sorry for being so late. Jack wanted to do a run-through of the script again before we start filming.” Chris kissed Kate on the lips. “And who is this lovely vision in pink? You must be Charlotte. Nice to meet you.”

  Charlotte’s cheeks were turning the color of her sweatshirt. She flashed a jaw-breaking grin and muttered a low hello.

  “Did I just miss something?” He raised an eyebrow.

  “I just compared you to mechanical bull.” Kate beamed.

  “Sweet!” He plopped down between them and took Kate’s hand. “Do tell.”

  “Charlotte?”

  She held up her hands. “I’ve heard some things, and I wanted my girl to tell me if they were true.”

  “Charlotte.” Chris leaned in close to her. “I could tell you things that would make that lovely red hair of yours curl, but I’m trying to be a gentleman these days.”

  “I think you may be just what my musical friend needs in her life.”

  “And what is that?”

  “Someone who considers her feelings and needs. Very cool of you.”

  Chris turned to Kate. “Babe, thanks for the mechanical bull reference. Can I make you two a drink? Something to eat? I was in a rush to get home, so I skipped dinner with the rest of the cast.”

  “Fajitas?” Kate rubbed his shoulder.

  “Sure.”

  “Charlotte, you hungry? Chris’s fajitas are awesome, like the fajitas off a food truck, not the fancy ones in a restaurant.”

  “Sure, why not?”

  “Cool. Late-night dinner will be ready in a half hour.” Chris kissed Kate and went off to the kitchen.

  “I hope you’re in love with the guy because I think I am. He’s hot and charming, and he can cook. He worked all day, and he’s fixing you dinner.”

  “Hey, I wasn’t home knitting all day, I was working too.” Kate grabbed her wine glass.

  “I know but he’s…”

  “I know.”

  “And that totally goes against of what I thought…”

  “I know.”

  “And how many squats does he have to do a day to keep that ass so tight?”

  Kate shifted her eyes. “Three hundred thirteen. But he also runs on the beach.”

  “You run with him?”

  “No, I’m usually on my deck with a pair of binoculars watching him.”

  “Damn.”

  * * *

  Kate booked a late flight to New York. Under the cover of darkness she could slip into town, do her interview, and leave before the Garrison brood knew she was on the eastern seaboard. She did, however, call her cousin Billie and tell her she�
��d be in town.

  Kate rolled up late to her cousin’s townhome expecting to use the key she had. Instead she was greeted by Billie and her husband, Dominic.

  “Dom!”

  “Hey, beautiful, how you are you?” He walked down the stairs and then gave her a squeeze.

  “Always better after seeing New York’s finest.”

  “Billie!” She ran up the stairs, grabbed her cousin, and held on for dear life.

  “Hey, babe.” Billie returned the hug and stood there for a moment rubbing Kate’s back.

  Kate exhaled so loudly she thought she’d wake the neighbors. Billie gave the best hugs.

  “How about a late-night snack, ladies?” Dom came up the stairs with her luggage.

  * * *

  Kate sat on a stool in the kitchen, watching Billie and Dom as they milled around the kitchen. By day they were both NYPD detectives, but when the day was done and the guns were put away, they were just husband and wife.

  Dominic shook his head. “You know, I can never get used to this. Why do you two have to look so much alike?”

  “Espejeda, can it with the twin fantasies.” Billie elbowed his ribs.

  “I didn’t say a word.” He held out his palms.

  “Yeah, but I can read your mind.”

  Kate giggled. “I still don’t see it.”

  “Neither do I.”

  Dom shifted his gaze between the two women. “Is this some kind of weird twin denial?”

  “Maybe.” Billie kissed her husband.

  “So, Kate, what’s going on with that jerk-off Jack?” Dominic said.

  “He’s mad because he got busted and I seem to have moved on amid scandal, which is rude apparently.”

  “This new one, Chris Cavanaugh, how is that going? I’ve seen a few of his movies; he’s not bad.”

  “Chris.” She cleared her throat. “Kind of punched Jack out on Friday. Jack came over with a reconciliation ruse and things got out of hand. Chris came out of nowhere and knocked him through the railing.”

  “Sounds like a movie plot.” Dominic brought his hand to his chin.

  “Tell me about it. It was surreal. Chris…” Kate hesitated. “Is a really cool guy. He doesn’t take himself too seriously. I like that. He has potential. Greater potential than he gives himself credit for. Everyone sees the face and then wants to use him as eye candy.”

  Billie remained silent.

  Kate looked at them both quizzically. “No third degree?”

  “Or fourth or fifth,” Billie said.

  Kate looked at Dominic. “What’s going on?”

  Dominic grinned. “After a long talk with your twin, she’s decided to let you grow up. That means no intervening and beating anyone up until you give the OK to do so.”

  “Wow.” Kate laughed. “You are in love.”

  “I love you, and I have to respect your choices.” Billie spoke evenly.

  “How do you know when you’re falling in love with someone?”

  “You start asking questions like that.” Billie smiled.

  Kate smiled too. Dominic shook his head in agreement.

  “Want to come to the photo shoot with me tomorrow?”

  “Sure.” Billie smiled again.

  * * *

  Dom retired to bed to let the cousins talk. Kate and Billie sat cuddled together on the couch pretending to watch television.

  “So how are you really doing?” Billie asked.

  “I’ll be happy when all this media crap dies down.” Kate rested her head on Billie’s shoulder.

  “Nice monkey wrench with the actor.”

  “Chris and I found ourselves on the cusp of a mutual opportunity.” The last thing she wanted to do was tell Billie how they met, although she had a feeling she already knew somehow. That was another drawback to having a cousin who could be your identical twin. They seemed to have a psychic link to one another. All her life, Billie could sense when Kate was hurting or in some kind of trouble. And she would be right there to fight off whatever evil was after Kate.

  “Dom seems pretty happy you let me handle things on my own and didn’t rush to California with guns blazing.”

  Billie laughed. “Isn’t that mature of me?”

  “Uncharacteristically mature of you. What happened to Ms. Fussy and Overprotective?”

  “Andre didn’t move to the West Coast to soak up those nice California rays.”

  “It’s no wonder he never tires of his babysitting duties.” She sighed.

  “Andre needed a break from New York.”

  “He has saved Atlantis’s collective bacon plenty of times. I didn’t know the music business was so cutthroat, literally.”

  “And that is why people like me and Andre exist. So you can make music while we fend off the wolves at the door.” She pressed her cheek to the top of Kate’s head.

  “Those wolves do like to scratch, don’t they?”

  “And they’re always on the hunt for new prey.”

  “Do you think there was anything I could have done to prevent Malik’s death?”

  Malik’s death still haunted Kate. He had been much more than Atlantis’s superstar rapper. They had been friends. They all grew up together. But he’d had a way of walking razor blade thin tightropes, and it was maddening.

  “You can’t control people, and you can’t hope and wish they will live the life of a solid citizen. Everyone is responsible for themselves.”

  “How can you say that with a straight face? The way you watch over me? With what you’ve been through in your life? You sent Andre to California to be our muscle.”

  “Vice president.”

  “Yeah, right. Do you know where is he is, by the way?”

  “South of France.”

  “Ah. Vacationing?”

  “Something like that.”

  Kate admired and sometimes marveled at the legion Andre declared to her. Andre was originally Harper’s, Billie’s brother, best friend and right hand. The prime suspect in Malik’s shooting was found shot dead three days later. When Kate told Billie, she shrugged and said karma was a bitch. That was the day she stopped being in denial about what her cousin was capable of doing.

  * * *

  Kate didn’t know what to expect when she agreed to interview with Bella Donna magazine but it ended up being fun. Everyone was so nice and a little perplexed about how much she and Billie resembled one another. The photographer asked if Billie would be willing to pose with her, saying it would be better than a double exposed film effect. The outfits they chose for the shoot were daring haute couture ensembles that she’d never had the courage to wear in her everyday life. Her favorite was a flowing cranberry strapless gown. The hairdresser put her hair into a big bow at the top and clipped it with a shiny rhinestone hair barrette. She was not normally a lipstick wearer, but the makeup artist painted a deep red on her that surprisingly complemented her skin tone. She felt like a true princess.

  They had Billie in a darker contrasting androgynous outfit, with smoky makeup on and a fedora. The photographer showed them the shot, and it was amazing. Kate seemed to be in two places and in two contrasts at once. That was the shot they decided to use for the cover.

  The interviewer got straight to the point and informed her that the questions had been reworked after the scandal broke. She answered all the questions as honestly as she could, leaving out anything that would help someone piece together a timeline of when she and Chris began seeing each other. She took the high road and said even though it didn’t work out for her and Jack, she wished him the best. She said she still believed he and Chris could work together because of the dedication they both had to the project. She thought maybe that comment would take the sting out of Jack not being able to fire Chris. Being raised in a house full of men, she knew how fragile the male ego was.

  When asked why she and Chris moved in together so quickly, she simply said that love sometimes takes a person by surprise and they were in love and happy. She had to swallow hard aft
er throwing that one out there. If Chris can go on television and gush about how happy he was, why couldn’t she? It was kind of fun talking about this great, exciting whirlwind relationship that she was pretending to have.

  She even went back on her own promise not to contact her family and called her mom. Abigail was delighted to hear from her daughter.

  “Hey, baby, how are you?”

  “In New York for the day. Want to have lunch?”

  “Sure, but why don’t you come home?”

  “I just want to see you and not get into a brouhaha with everyone else.”

  “All right.”

  “I’m sending a car for you. It should be there within the hour.”

  And just like that, her mom was sitting in front of her at a nice restaurant.

  “So, how long will you be staying at Billie’s?”

  “Uh…”

  “How about this? I want a nice lunch with my only daughter who lives in California who I haven’t seen in over six months. No guilt trips. No condemnation. I just want to know how your life is going. How’s work? How’s John? How’s the man juggling going on?”

  Kate exhaled and smiled. “Will be at Billie’s for the rest of the week. Don’t be mad at her, OK?”

  “Billie tells me things on a need-to-know basis. Apparently she didn’t feel I needed to know. I see and talk to her even less than I do you. That’s the way she prefers it. I wish it were different. But I am glad you two have one another.”

  “You know why she stays away.” Kate looked into her mother’s eyes.

  “I can’t change that I’m her mother’s twin sister. That was God’s design.” Abigail tightened her lips into a straight line and blinked her quickly watering eyes.

  Kate placed her hand on her mother’s. “But you can see why being around you is hard for her. Seeing you is like seeing a ghost. There will come a day when the two of you will get along happily and all will be as well as it can be.”

  “Can you really see that?”

  “Yes, I can see it.”

  Abigail smiled.