“Don’t be ridiculous. I just don’t want everyone knowing our business.”
“Midnight it is, then,” he conceded. “But if you try to bail on me—”
“I’m not going to bail!” God, he was irritating. God, she wished that flutter in her belly would go away.
“Good.” After a moment of silence, he turned and walked back into the house.
Apparently she now had a midnight date for skinny-dipping. Hell. Audrey sighed. Why was it that when she’d pictured this cozy weekend in the cabin with Cade, she’d imagined snuggling up with him by firelight while Daphne slept and they got to know each other all over again? Instead, the bad twin had the undivided attention of the hero and the good twin seemed to be making all kinds of crazy, ridiculous bets with the local miscreant.
Wasn’t the good twin supposed to be the one who was rewarded at the end of the day? Somehow it didn’t feel like it.
Chapter Five
The hours ticked past agonizingly slow. Dinner was awkward, with Daphne refusing to eat again. Reese made burgers for Audrey and Cade, and when he’d claimed it was her recipe for the delicious burgers, she’d done the dishes as a thank you. He was still pulling his weight when it came to this charade, after all. Now if he’d only quit giving her such knowing looks, she’d possibly quit blushing.
Citing exhaustion, Audrey went to bed early that night. She dug through her clothing, looking for a bra and panty set that would be as close as possible to a swimsuit. No dice. Unlike all the romance heroines she read about, she didn’t wear pretty, sexy underwear just because she could. Audrey liked function and utility in all her clothing, right down to her undergarments. Her serviceable nude-colored bra and matching bikini panties would have to do.
And then she laid down and tried to sleep for a few hours, but that was impossible. The butterflies in her stomach had somehow turned into something the size of ponies, and her pulse was pounding so loud in her ears that she was surprised the crashing wasn’t bringing the others running.
She was . . . nervous. This wasn’t something that sensible Audrey Petty, good twin extraordinaire, did. Daphne might, but Daphne also liked mind-altering drugs and booze.
When her twin came in a few hours later, Audrey feigned sleep. It didn’t matter. Daphne immediately dropped onto her side of the bed, adjusted her pillows, and was sound asleep within moments. Audrey waited a few minutes more anyhow, then glanced over at the clock on the bedside.
Eleven thirty. Damn. Another half hour to go.
She lay in bed waiting, stiff with anticipation, watching the clock tick down toward midnight. She prayed Cade was fast asleep and she wouldn’t wake him up when she snuck out. How utterly mortifying would that be?
All too soon, it was time. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and paused, waiting for Daphne to stir. Her twin was sound asleep, though, and after a moment’s hesitation, she got out of bed entirely.
No response. Well, that was good.
Audrey pulled on a pair of jeans over her sleep shirt and then dragged her hair into its usual tight bun. She padded down the hall, wincing with every creak the floorboards made.
Reese was waiting by the back door of the lodge, leaning against it and checking his watch. He was dressed in those sleep pants he seemed to live in and another one of Cade’s too-tight T-shirts. He grinned at the sight of her, his gaze moving back to her tight bun. “All armored up, I see.”
“Just shut up and let’s do this already,” she told him in a hushed voice.
“Wait here a second,” he told her, and disappeared into the hall. He returned a minute later with a pair of fluffy towels.
For some reason, the sight of those towels made her stomach drop. Oh, God. She was really, really going to do this. Panic flashed through her, and she forced it down. She’d get this over with as quickly as possible and head back to bed. No one needed to know about it. No big deal. Guys like Reese probably went skinny-dipping with women all the time.
She plucked a towel from his hand and opened the back door, stepping outside.
The night air was brisk. No, more than that. It was chilly. She gave a small shiver as she stepped out, feeling the wind cut through the thin fabric of her clothing. “Can’t we do this some other night when it’s not this cold?”
“Would you rather use the hot tub?”
Visions of Reese naked in the hot tub with the heiress flashed through her mind, and she frowned at the reminder. “Absolutely not.”
He chuckled, his hand going to the small of her back. “Come on, then.”
The walk down to the shore of the lake seemed to take forever. Reese was murmuring something but she wasn’t paying attention. The butterfly in her stomach seemed to have taken up permanent residence, and she walked in a fog, the only thing soaking through her mind the strong, warm hand at the small of her back. For some reason, she liked that hand.
And then they were at the end of the dock. Audrey stared down at the dark water lapping against the wood and then looked dubiously at Reese. “I just want you to know that I hate you.”
Reese chuckled, setting his towel down on the dock a safe distance away and then putting his hands on his hips. “So, you ready?”
“Of course not.” She tossed her towel down on top of his. “I’m not going in first, either.”
“Yeah, you are. You’re the one who lost the bet.”
“Am not,” she told him. “How do I know you won’t just run back to the house once I jump in the water?”
“Because I’m a man of my word?” He gave her a playful leer. “Plus, I relish the thought of seeing you naked.”
“The feeling’s not mutual,” she said in a prim voice, though his words sent excitement coursing through her veins. Oh, Lord. She was going to see Reese naked again. She hadn’t been paying attention to how he’d looked that first day that she’d caught him in nothing but a Speedo in the hot tub. Now, her mind was flashing vivid pictures over and over again, trying to pull together the full package of his, ahem, package.
She had to admit she was curious to see that. Not that she would ever tell him such a thing. Never.
“Fine, if you’re going to be a chicken, I’ll go first.” Reese casually reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head. She watched his muscles flex in a gorgeous fashion as he stripped the shirt off, all lovely, gleaming skin and perfect muscle. Then, he turned and winked at her, as if knowing that she watched him.