She liked him.
Or to be more precise, she liked what she saw. He moved like a man who was comfortable in his own skin, and that was appealing to her. But also, he just seemed relaxed. Except for that moment when she’d surprised him at the polo match, he’d been calm and unflappable.
She wondered if that would still be the case if he found out that one night with her had more consequences than either of them could have expected.
Alec feltlike he hadn’t acquitted himself very well with Scarlet. Looking back on the night they’d met, he realized that maybe he’d felt free to be himself because he knew he’d never see her again. There had been no reason to try to impress her or to be anything other than how he really was. For one night it hadn’t seemed to matter that he wasn’t good at relationships or any of those other things. He could just be himself and he had been. Of course, the irony was to be himself, he’d had to pose as his brother.
Now that she was here at his home, he struggled a little bit to relax. Part of it was that she’d gotten even more beautiful since the last time he’d seen her. He wanted her, and each breath he took just reminded him of the scent of her perfume and how it had lingered on his skin after their night together.
“I guess the best thing to do would be to tell you why I was impersonating my brother,” he said, unsure of where to start. But the truth was always a good place. He applied a lot of the same principles he used in his business in his life. Getting all the facts down helped him focus on what steps he needed to take to solve the problem.
“Hadley caught me up on Mauricio being sick and you helping him out. Neither of us could figure out why two grown men wouldn’t just mention the fact that they’d switched places,” she said.
There was an edge to her tone that he couldn’t ignore. She was pissed and he didn’t blame her.
“Honestly, it just seemed easier since it was so last-minute for me to show up and accept his award without alerting the organizers,” he said at last. It had been easier; that way he didn’t have to answer questions about his company or talk about his own work. Being Mo was like wearing a mask. His brother was known for his gregarious personality so it had been a chance for Alec to let his guard down.
In fact, Scarlet might not have noticed him at all if he’d been there as Alec.
“I get that. But why didn’t you say anything to me?” she asked.
He took a deep breath and looked away from her toward the pool, watching the sun dance on the water for a few minutes before he finally answered. “It just never occurred to me after the dinner. I didn’t expect to have that connection with you, and by the time I realized you didn’t know who I really was, it would have been ridiculous to tell you.”
“Why ridiculous?” she asked. “Because I was just a hookup?”
No, but he wasn’t about to tell her the truth. That he’d started to like her and didn’t want her to be disappointed. He hadn’t wanted the night to end and it would have if he’d mentioned he’d been lying about who he was.
“To be honest I wasn’t really thinking that night and it wasn’t until we were in your hotel room... Anyway, I’m sorry. I should have told you as soon as things started to be more than just two people at a banquet table chatting.”
She arched her eyebrow at him and then crossed her arms under her breasts, which looked fuller and larger than he remembered from that night.
“Yes, you should have,” she said. “So... Why didn’t you call me the next day?”
“I was pretty much trying to keep my brother from killing me and then you’d checked out of the hotel and I wasn’t sure how to word an email.”
She didn’t say anything else as she took her sunglasses from the top of her head and put them back on her face. She shifted on the swing and he felt the brush of her hair against his hand. He wished he could go back in time and start the evening they met with the truth. She had him tied in knots. They were strangers. Strangers with anger between them, and he couldn’t blame her for being mad.
He did seem to really suck at personal relationships. Give him a computer keyboard and an empty room and he could wow anyone via videoconference or online chat but this face-to-face interaction he always managed to screw up.
“I have to tell you something,” she said.
“Okay,” he said.
“It’s probably not something you are going to want to hear but you need to,” she said. “What do you know about my family?”
He knew a little bit thanks to online searches. He’d also run an algorithm to compile some of the results of a deeper search but he hadn’t had a chance to read them. And he knew it would be better to hear about her family from her rather than to read about it online.
“Some. I mean I know you’re part of the O’Malley Brewing family. I know that you have banking interests here and in Europe. I think you have a sister?—”
“Had. She died eighteen months ago,” she said.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” he said.
“Thanks,” she said. “Do you know anything about my dad?”
He shrugged. He wasn’t sure what kind of relationship she had with her old man but there was no way Alec was going to say that he seemed to be immature and selfish from the press reports. The man was on his fourth or fifth wife and Alec was pretty sure he’d read that the latest Mrs. O’Malley was eighteen.
“It’s okay. You can say it. He’s got an eye for younger women,” Scarlet said. “My family isn’t like yours, Alejandro. I was raised with nannies and in boarding schools. I’m used to doing everything by myself and being on my own.”