Ensnared (The Accidental Billionaires #1)(49)

“Perfect,” she said. “You look beautiful, Jade.”

I moved to the desk, put the computer down, and sat in front of the screen. “Are you sure? Don’t you think it’s a little over the top?”

Brooke made a face. “Absolutely not,” she argued. “Not everybody can rock that dress the way you do, and it’s a dinner and cocktail party full of rich people who are going to dress up. You look amazing.”

Skye had talked me into the black cocktail dress. She said it was sexy without being slutty. It was fitted, so it clung pretty tight to my body, but with the round neck and the cowl that hung down low in the back, it was also elegant. I loved the black lacy sleeves that were snug on my arms, but not too tight. The hem hit right above the knee.

“I’m not used to wearing a dress,” I told Brooke.

“You wore one at my wedding,” she reminded me.

“I did that for you,” I mumbled.

“Then wear this one for yourself,” she insisted. “Or are you doing it for Eli?”

“Maybe a little of both,” I conceded. “He pulled all this together for me. I want to look nice.”

“Sister, you look better than nice,” Brooke answered. “He’ll be drooling all night.”

Did I want Eli to drool? Yeah, it was quite possible that I did.

“He’s barely touched me since the accident,” I admitted. “I guess maybe I want to get his attention, too.”

“Oh, Jade. You already have it,” she assured me. “If you could have seen how upset he was when you were hurt, you’d know that. The guy hardly ate or slept.”

“I know. I could see that after my drugs wore off. But he’s been different, Brooke. I don’t know how to explain it, but he’s . . . distant.”

“You were recovering from some major trauma,” she pointed out.

I couldn’t exactly put a finger on the difference, but it worried me. “I hope you’re right.”

“Do you love him?” she asked in a rush. “No, wait. I’m your twin. I know you do.”

I nodded slowly. “I do. I’m not sure when it happened, but it scares the hell out of me.”

“I know he feels the same way, so I’m not worried. The fear goes away, Jade,” she said softly. “I promise.”

“He made it clear that he wanted me in his bed, Brooke. But emotions weren’t part of the deal. He’s not the type of guy who wants any commitments. He already told me that.”

“He’s full of shit,” Brooke answered. “Eli Stone is so in love with you that he can’t think straight. Maybe this all started as a game or a fling, but somewhere along the way, everything changed.”

“For me it definitely did,” I confessed.

“For him, too,” she insisted. “Things don’t always work out the way you plan them, but that’s the best part of life. The surprises.”

“Like Liam?” I asked with a smile. I adored my twin’s husband, but I couldn’t help but wish that he had lived in California.

Brooke’s face softened, and her eyes danced just from hearing his name. “Liam and I shouldn’t have worked out at all. But somehow I think I always knew that he was the only guy I was ever going to love. It starts as lust, and then . . . bam! I couldn’t live without him anymore.”

“He makes you happy,” I said.

“Very,” she confirmed.

“I really want to hate him because he took you across the country from me, but I can’t,” I told her.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “We’ll always be there for each other. When you got hurt, Liam was the one who packed the bags while I freaked out. But there was no question as to whether or not I was going. He gets that, and he wanted to be there, too. Liam is special that way. When I need him, he’s just there without question.”

“At least getting to see each other isn’t an issue when we have access to private jets,” I joked.

“Exactly,” she said. “And now that I’m back from traveling, we’ll talk to each other all the time. I miss all of you.”

“We miss you, too,” I said tearfully.

“Don’t start crying,” she warned. “All that makeup will run.”

I blinked furiously to keep from leaking any tears from my eyes. “I’ve got it under control.”

“Have fun, Jade. And enjoy your night with a really hot guy. You’ll be the envy of most single women around the world.”

I groaned. “Oh, God. I never even thought about that.”

To me, he was just Eli. To everybody else, he was the most eligible bachelor in the world.

She laughed. “Don’t think about it, then.”

We kept things light before we finally said good-bye.

And for the first time, I ended my conversation with my twin without being really sad.

Yeah, sometimes I felt Brooke’s absence, but I knew that no matter how many miles separated us, we’d always have that twin bond that could never be broken.

And we could breach that distance any time we needed to see each other or spend time together.

Our inheritance had made flying across the country pretty easy.

“Hey, you ready?” I heard Eli’s baritone ask as he came through the sitting room.