Addilyn gulped at the anger emanating from Nick. She’d yet to formally meet him, and had been so nervous, it was making her stomach hurt. Drinking champagne was not helping. But seeing his reaction to her, she’d been right to be worried. Nick hated her guts. Well, not hers exactly.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, Gracen. You dumped me at the worst time of my life and you think you can come here and throw a bunch of money and I’ll just forget what you did?”

Addy realized Gracen must have never told him she was a twin. She was trying to figure out how to explain it to him when Kayla showed up.

“Nick! I see you met Addy. Addy, thanks so much for tonight. Girl, one hundred thousand for this grumpy man is a fortune.” She laughed and glanced back and forth between them. “You two okay?”

“Who’s Addy?” Nick barked.

Addy winced at the venom in his voice. He looked like a wild animal, ready to tear her to pieces.

“Nick!” Kayla gasped. “Addilyn Walton is the head of the Scars Foundation and the woman who won you for the auction. What is wrong with you?”

“This isn’t Addilyn Walton. This is Gracen Walton,” he spit out, his anger bright in his gaze.

“What?” Kayla frowned.

Addy cleared her throat and took a sip of champagne. “Allow me to explain. I believe Nick has confused me for my twin sister, Gracen.” She met his gaze and watched confusion cloud his eyes. “I believe you dated her before you deployed, yes?”

“Wait,” Nick growled, narrowing his eyes. “You’re not Gracen?”

Addy shook her head, aware of how he was seeing her with new eyes. No longer with the anger from when he thought she was her twin. Now, he was assessing her from head to toe, in complete disbelief. “No, Nick. I know we never got to meet while you dated my sister, but I am not Gracen. I’m Addilyn. Gracen’s twin.”

Kayla gaped at both of them. “You thought she was someone who dumped you,” she mumbled, shaking her head. “No, Nick. Addilyn is the sweetest, nicest person ever. Her foundation has done so much for so many.”

“Please,” Addy stopped Kayla. “I think Nick is having a hard enough time trying to come to terms with the fact he couldn’t vent his anger at my sister on me. Nick, you don’t have to take me out or spend time with me,” Addy told him, grabbing her clutch from the bar top. “I would have donated to the event no matter what.” She put the flute on the bar and then smiled at Kayla. “Thanks for everything. I’ll chat with you Monday.” Then she met Nick’s still angry but now confused gaze. “It was nice to meet you in person, Captain Gates, goodnight.”

She didn’t wait. She couldn’t. Heading straight for the elevators, she was glad she got a suite at the hotel for the night. She’d sent her driver home and the last thing she needed was to worry about finding a ride or taking a taxi in her one-of-a-kind dress. Her friend, Gerard, the designer would have her head if she went into anything but a limo in his creation.

Her hands shook as she pressed the button for the elevator. She had her cell phone and key card in her clutch. She’d need the keycard to get up to her suite.

“Wait,” Nick grabbed her arm and turned her to meet his gaze. “I never said I wouldn’t hold my end of the bargain.”

The elevator arrived and she slipped inside. He followed behind her. After she slipped her key in the card slot to press access to her suite, she turned to face him.

“Look, Nick. I appreciate what you’re trying to do here. I do. But you went out with my sister and it is clearly still something sore for you. It would be awkward and I don’t like awkward. I like simple and to the point. So, let’s cut our losses and leave it as is, okay?”

He’d been staring hard at her, his gaze stuck on her face, roaming from her eyes to her lips. “You really aren’t her. I see it now. You’re not as identical as I thought at first. You have a beauty mark, right here,” he said, touching the tiny spot on her right cheek. One of the many ways her mom and dad had learned to tell them apart when they were babies. “Your voice is different, too,” he said, “less whiny.”

She laughed at that. “That’s one I hadn’t heard before.”

His frown grew fiercer. She bet he scared the crap out of a lot of people when he was pissed. “Even listening to you speak, I can tell you’re nothing like her. Not once have you spoken about yourself.”

The elevator dinged and she got out on her floor and he followed next to her. “We are two very different people, Nick.”

“I’m starting to see that,” he said.

Her suite was at the end of the hall. “I appreciate you acknowledging that. But it’s probably not a good idea for us to be…familiar.”

They stopped at her door and she turned to face him, but didn’t realize he’d gotten so close. Air froze in her lungs as she glanced up at his face.

“Why not? You bid on me and now I’m yours.”

She licked her lips, wanting badly to touch his face but keeping her fingers to herself. “Mine?”

“It can’t be that bad, Addilyn. Why did you bid on me?”

She gulped and swallowed at the dryness in her throat. “I…uh…”

A wolfish grin spread over his lips. “I’m not looking for love, beautiful. But if it’s a good time you want, maybe we can work something out. You can’t be that different from Gracen. She loved a good time.”

Her hope fell and anger flooded her cheeks. “A good time?” She turned and opened the door and then faced him again. “No, Nick. I thought you were worth more than a few hours of fun. And you know what? I know I am. Have a good night. Don’t worry about the bid. The payment has been made. You’re off the hook, Captain.”

She then shut the door in his face. As much as she hated doing it, she realized Nick had one mind frame, easy liaisons. Addy wasn’t a one-night stand type of girl. That was all Gracen. She was the commitment girl. The one who didn’t have sex with a man unless they were in a relationship.

She’d come to like Nick from that time in the hospital. She’d come to feel things for him. Even though he’d been drugged for all of it. Now, she realized, she’d been doing this all alone. Nick had no clue and he’d never see her as herself. She’d always be the mirror image of the chick he hated for dumping him at the hardest time of his life.

No, she wasn’t looking for a good time from Nick. She was looking for more. So much more, it scared her.