Razed (Barnes Brothers #2)(77)

“Well?” The blonde cocked her head and smiled. Her mouth was a pretty, rather delightful bow, Travis decided, feeling a slow stir of interest. “Which one?”

“Which one what?” he asked, smiling back. He moved closer and caught a trace of something almost too intoxicating to ignore. If that was her, it was a miracle she didn’t have guys hovering around her like mad.

“You’ve got to be one of them. You’re too pretty not to be.” She tapped her finger on her lips, drawing his attention back to them.

Slicked with something pink and shimmery, that mouth didn’t need the highlight. But he liked it all the same.

“Well, you’re not Zane,” she mused. “I know him. And you’re not Seb. You’re too old, and don’t take this wrong, but Seb’s full of himself. You look a lot like him, but even if it wasn’t for makeup and all that shit, anybody who has ever seen him in an interview can tell that boy is too full of himself. He has so many thoughts going on about himself, it’s amazing he can think about anything else.”

Travis ran his tongue along the inside of his lip and tried to decide if he should be offended on his little brother’s behalf, and then decided it wasn’t worth it. Seb was an arrogant little bastard. And hell, he understood her question now.

She was trying to figure out which brother he was.

“Well, if you know us that well, then that leaves . . . ” Deciding to play, he leaned against the counter and smiled at her. It brought him closer, let him fill his head with the scent of her. Seriously. It was almost a drug.

“The twins.” She cocked her head. “I know about the writer, have seen pics of him online. You’re not him.”

“How can you be sure? We are identical.” Travis and Trey had looked, and acted, enough alike to fool their brothers and parents right on up until halfway through college. It wasn’t until that point that it was easier to tell them apart. But strangers still had trouble.

“No. He’s got sad eyes.” She shrugged, one shoulder lifted. “Can’t blame him. But you don’t have sad eyes.”

“Well.” Damn. She was good. “I guess I don’t have as much reason as Trey does.”

“Probably not. However, he has the cutest little boy on the planet. Bet you can’t top that.”

“No. I cannot.” Travis smiled and then held out his hand. “Since by default that only leaves one . . . I’m Travis. The other twin.”

“Anais.” She wrinkled her nose. “Most people call me Ani, because they butcher the name. It’s not that hard, though. Ann—EYE—ees.”

He repeated it dutifully, decided it suited her. Ani sounded just a little too ordinary for her. “So. I’m looking for my brother.”

“Which one?” She braced her elbows on the counter. “You’ve got two of them in town. One lives here . . . the other is moving here.” She wiggled her eyebrows and added, “I keep hoping Trey will come out here and do one of those book cons. We have all sorts of writer things in the area.”

“Yeah, my twin just loves those writer things.” Travis kept his face sober as he said it, even though on the inside he was worrying about his twin. Because he didn’t want to brood about that, he leaned on the counter and let himself study Ann—EYE—ees for another minute.

She really did smell good enough to eat.

His cock stirred, interest spreading through him, and he wondered if she might be up for dinner. Then dessert . . .

She lifted a brow, a smile flirting with that way too sexy mouth, as though she knew exactly what he was thinking.

Yeah, dinner was sounding very appealing. Except he was thinking maybe they could skip dinner and go right to dessert.

But first . . . “Zach or Zane. Haven’t seen either of them much since the wedding. Work keeps me busy.”

“You’ll have to settle for the mean one.” Anais nodded her head toward the back. “Zane is out with Keelie. Zach is in back in his office.”

Travis squinted one eye at her. “Zach. Zach’s the mean one?” Hell. Zane was supposed to be the mean one. Zach was the laid back one.

“Yeah.” She shrugged. “He’s in a mood, but I guess I can’t blame him. It’s been a lousy day. He’s in his office. You can go on back.”

He studied her a moment longer, thought about lingering to get more info. He could. It was what he did best. But if he wanted to talk with his brother for a while, then try to talk her into dinner, he needed to get to it.

Besides, if he didn’t get the information he needed from Zach, he’d go to the more reliable source. He’d ask Abby.

He was almost to the hall when she stopped him. “If you’re in town long, maybe you and I could have dinner.”

Shooting her a look over his shoulder, he lifted a brow.

That slow, rolling burn kicked up a little hotter. That tug of interest wasn’t really a tug anymore. It had managed to tether itself around him, without him even realizing it, and he was being firmly drawn in.

Yeah. Dinner was sounding like a very, very good plan.

“Maybe we can do that, Miz Anais.” He lowered his gaze back to her mouth for a long moment and then turned back, heading on down the hall.


*

Keelie said the words in a flat monotone.