Right Twin

Friday "Help!" Heath Brown--identical twin to Hale Brown, who was the renowned food critic forZodor's International Country Inn Review Guide--rushed across Blueberry Inn's reception area to aid a wobbling stack of towels that happened to have great legs. Dropping his black weekender on the floor, Heath grabbed the bulk of the folded laundry, in the process revealing a lovely surprise. "Thanks, Kim." The bearer of towels had been grinning, but now she frowned. "Er, you're not Kim. Sorry." "No need for apologies," Heath said. "We can all find ourselves in a laundry crisis now and then." He repositioned his pile. "Where do you want these?" "Oh--" Laughing, the woman lurched into action, setting her stack on top of an intricately carved walnut reception desk, then turning to face him again. "Here will be fine." Heath cozied his stack alongside hers. "Thanks. I hadn't realized I'd grabbed quite so much and I thought that Kim--the housekeeper--was right behind me." "Again, not a problem." "Now, how can I help you?" "I just need to check in." "Then you're in the right place." Long, buttery hair eased over her shoulders, and her friendly smile crinkled the corners of her eyes. Intriguing eyes. Olive-green. As easy to lose himself in as one of the martinis Heath favored after a long day's work. "Welcome to Blueberry Inn. I'm the owner, Sadie Connelly." She held out her hand for him to shake. Which he did. And when the brief touch struck him as not too hard and not too soft but oddly just right, he was almost reluctant to let her go. Ludicrous in light of what he'd been through with Tess just six months earlier. "Nice to meet you. I'm Shane Peters."But for only one weekend. "I should, uh, have a reservation." "I know." She winked and then rounded the desk's nearest corner. "I recognize the name--only, isn't your reservation for two?" Heath's heart lurched. To avoid suspicion, Hale always attached a fictional girlfriend to his fictional name. But for the life of him, Heath couldn't recall the backstory Hale had told him to deliver to explain what had happened to the poor girl. "Um, yes, well, at the last minuteSusiehad something come up." "I'm sorry," Sadie responded. "Hopefully even without her you'll still manage to grab plenty of R & R." "That'd be great," Heath replied. After meeting his hot innkeeper, he now gave the weekend at least a chance of being more entertaining than the two-day nap he'd imagined it would be. "If you'll give me a sec, I'll find the--here it is." She brandished a navy leather volume about the size of a high school yearbook. Embossed in elegant silver script across the front wasBlueberry Inn. "Now, if I could just find a pen." "Got one," Heath said, reaching into the pocket of the sports jacket his brother had insisted he wear over his usual casual fare of jeans and a T-shirt. He handed over the pen, in the process, inadvertently brushing his fingers against Sadie's. Instant chemistry tightened his stomach. "Thanks," his hostess said, her shaky grin somehow leaving him with the impression that all wasn't quite right. Had she felt the same electricity? "I don't know what's wrong with me today." She tapped herself on the forehead. "I can't seem to pull it together--I haven't even had time to dress myself properly." She gestured to her frayed cutoffs and snug pink tee. She looked proper enough to Heath. "Don't sweat it," he said, charmed by the warmth of her smile and her ability to laugh at herself. "I've had a few of those days myself." Which was part of the reason he'd agreed to this stunt with his twin. Sure, there'd be some work involved in reviewing the inn, but mostly it offered Heath the chance for a much-needed break. "Thanks for understanding," she said, rifling through thAltom, Laura Marie is the author of 'Right Twin ', published 2007 under ISBN 9780373751648 and ISBN 0373751648.