He was a mirror image of Mauricio. He had a twin? In that moment, Scarlet realized that in true O’Malley fashion this situation had gone from bad to worse. A baby scare from a one-night stand? Sure, it happened. But learning that her baby daddy was an impostor, a virtual stranger whom she knew nothing about... Well, that was the old O’Malley bad luck.
Alec really wished he’d figured out a way to send that email. The look on Scarlet’s face as she turned to face him was one of shock, followed quickly by disdain and anger. He’d actually never had a woman look at him like that before and he didn’t like it.
He prided himself on being a good guy.
He had always treated women with respect—he had a sister after all. He never wanted to be the kind of man who did anything to incur this kind of look.
In his head words swirled around like computer code when he was trying to figure out a new algorithm. He sorted through them with lightning speed.
But this wasn’t the time to really talk. Bart, Mo, Hadley and the others were all staring at him. Mo and Hadley at least knew what was going on, but to everyone else... It had to seem crazy.
He reached for Scarlet’s arm, to draw her away and speak privately, trying to ignore the fact that her honey-blond hair, falling in waves to her shoulders, seemed even thicker and more tempting than he remembered. Her gray-green eyes sparkled with temper as she shrugged away from his arm and turned, the full skirt of her flowy dress swinging around her legs. Her shoulders were straight as she headed toward a copse of trees on the edge of the polo grounds. Alec had no choice but to follow her.
She stumbled on the grass and he reached out to steady her.
“Thanks.”
He nodded. He couldn’t believe she was here. Or that his lie had been found out in such a public way. He knew he’d screwed up.
When they finally reached the shade of the trees, he immediately launched into an apology. “I’m sorry. I should have told you everything that night. Mauricio was sick with food poisoning and he asked me to step in and accept the award for him. For some reason, I thought it would just be easier to let everyone think I was Mauricio, instead of having to explain his absence. I didn’t want the organizers to think that Mo had blown them off. It goes back to how we handled things like this when we were young. I should have told you, too, but by the time I realized my mistake, it was too late,” he said.
She tipped her head back, lifting the hat that he hadn’t realized she was carrying in one of her hands and settling it over her hair. Then she drew out a pair of large dark sunglasses and put them on.
“I don’t accept your apology,” she said. “Who are you? I don’t even know your name.”
Shame made him shake his head. How could he ever make this up to her? “I’m Alejandro. Mauricio and I are twins. My friends call me Alec.”
“That’s good to know, Alejandro. I think you should have told me when we got back to my hotel room.”
“We were too busy with...other things to talk at that point,” he said in his defense. “But you’re right. I definitely should have stopped and told you who I was. I meant to do it in the morning but by then our photo was going viral and I knew my brother was going to be in hot water with Hadley. And I rushed out to try to warn him. Not that you should take that as an excuse.”
She crossed her arms under her breasts and his gaze drifted down for a moment. He enjoyed the deep V of the bodice of her wrap dress before he realized what he was doing and brought his eyes back up to meet hers.
“Fair enough. I get why you left,” she said.
“I’m sorry,” he said. Was it actually that easy? He’d been afraid to let her know and now it seemed his worry had been for nothing. He might actually be able to ask her out and maybe get something started.
She nodded. “Actually, I need to talk to you about that night.”
Talking was good. Right? He was a practical man. A rational man. But he’d been raised by parents who believed in fate and destiny, and a part of him thought Scarlet’s presence in Cole’s Hill had to be more than just coincidence. But what was it?
He easily attributed his longing for her to the fact that one night hadn’t been enough for him. It never was. One weekend...maybe. But one night—no way! Now he was standing in front of her and that ache he’d felt when he’d been trying not to think about her for the last six weeks was stronger than ever. So he wasn’t going to walk away from it.
He’d learned early on that the more he denied he wanted something, the more he craved it. But Scarlet hardly seemed like she was going to give him a second chance.
And really, did he blame her?
No, of course not.
His smart watch buzzed, warning him he needed to head to the barn to get ready for the polo match.
He scrubbed his hand over his face and wished for once that he had more self-control. Though following his gut had led him to great success in business, this wasn’t the first time it had landed him in hot water with his personal life.
“I have about ten minutes before the match starts,” Alec said. “My family is having a brunch afterward and I’d love it if you would accompany me. So you can see I’m not a total douchebag.”
“I don’t think you’re a total douchebag.”
He almost smiled at the way she said it but he knew he was still in hot water. It reminded him of why he’d hooked up with her. She’d been so spot-on with her descriptions of some of the more pretentious people in the room the night of the awards banquet, they’d sort of started bonding over it.
“Will you please come with me?” he asked. “They all know what I did...well, at least that I kissed you while pretending to be Mo. So they will definitely understand you’re angry with me.”
“My assistant is here. Can she come, too?”
“Yes, of course. I think Bart and Zaria will be joining us, too, so there will be more familiar faces for you.”
“Fine. I’ll see you after the match,” she said, walking past him in a cloud of feminine ire and Chanel perfume. He glanced over his shoulder, watching her retreat and ignoring the spark of excitement that was spreading through him.
She kept her cool until she was sure she was out of his line of sight and then she finally stopped walking like she had all the confidence in the world.
Whom the hell had she slept with?
She’d made some dumb decisions in the course of her life. Heck, who hadn’t, right? But the truth was she was usually pretty picky when it came to bed partners. She didn’t hook up with just every cute guy who came along, despite what the tabloids liked to print about her. And that night... Well, she’d thought she was connecting with Mauricio Velasquez. As for Alejandro—Alec—she’d had no idea she was
