When Arden dragged her pleasantly sore behind downstairs at midday, her father was waiting for her. He sat at the dining table, paper and coffee in front of him, talking on the phone. She swallowed a groan, ignoring him as she walked past and into the kitchen. Yesterday he’d placed the break up with Clark on her shoulders because she was and would always be the fuck-up while poor, innocent Clark was an unwitting bystander.

Sometimes she questioned her decision to live with her father under the same roof much less the same town. They would never get along. After being an outsider in each other’s lives for the past twenty-five years, the forced close proximity was a bitch on her intentions to be a good daughter. She’d promised him she’d give them a chance to get close, but as she gulped orange juice from its carton, she had to acknowledge they’d made zero progress.

Maybe it’s time I start looking for my own place. Somewhere as far away from Ridgefield as possible. She missed New York, missed the hustle and bustle of Brooklyn. All the late night parties, the four AM train rides to one club or the other and the easy accessibility of every damn thing.

People didn’t even close their doors in Ridgefield, and it really wasn’t as sexy as it should be. Everything moved at a snail’s pace and everybody was always up in each other’s business. She’d thought often about leaving, but Indy kept her in place. She’d miss her best friend terribly.

Then there was last night and the man who’d taken her to heights she’d never reached before. What did she do about this sudden need for the bad boy brother of her ex? Was last night a one-off or did he want more?

Did she?

If the answer was yes to both questions, could she go for it? Could she take what Cam offered, scratch her itch, and walk away unscathed? Without anybody knowing?

“There you are, Arden.” Her father walked into the kitchen, frowning when he saw her propped against the sink, OJ carton at her mouth. “Is there any way for you to act like you’ve been raised right?”

“I don’t know, Father. Is there?” She finished her drink and eyed him.

He was dressed for the office, blue pin stripe suit fitting him just right, black shoes polished till it shone. The salt in his thinning salt and pepper hair was taking prominence, giving him an appearance older than his fifty-five years. He cut an impressive figure, shoulders wide as he stood well over six feet. His dark skin stayed on that black don’t crack shit, still smooth, face barely wrinkled around the neatly trimmed goatee and beard.

She shouldn’t be giving her father any grief, but Arden couldn’t help it. Her father made her feel like she walked a tight rope around him. One swift breeze and she’d be falling over on her ass while he shook his head in disapproval. This was the life she’d signed up for, and as she watched him turn his back and walk out the kitchen, she realized she didn’t want it anymore.

“By the way.” He stopped in the doorway and looked over his shoulder. “I talked to Clark yesterday. I think you’ll find him willing to give you another chance if you promise to change some of your wild ways.”

Arden gripped the coffee cup she’d plucked from the cupboard with trembling fingers. “I asked you not to talk to him, Father. He left me.” Her voice shook. “I asked you to stay out of it.” Why wouldn’t he fucking listen?

Dennis Windham, the Fourth tsked. “Of course I wouldn’t stay out of it. Clark Mercer is a nice young man with wonderful potential. You can’t do much better than him.”

She threw the coffee cup against the wall, watching it shatter. Her father didn’t even flinch. “If you like Clark so much, you be with him.” She stalked out the room, squeezing past him. “You spread your legs for him.” Running upstairs, she threw some clothes into a bag. Swiping furiously at the tears clouding her vision, she called Indy to pick her up.

* * *

Indy took her shopping and to get her hair done, listening as Arden bitched about her father and his control issues. She purposefully left out talking about her night with Cam, but she could tell her friend was feenin’ for all the naughty details.

Of course, it didn’t help matters any when she spotted Cam’s truck parked in front of the hardware store just as he was exiting the place. She met his eyes for the briefest moment then did an about face, hurrying in the other direction, dragging Indy in her wake.

They spotted him again two hours later as they left the nail salon. He was coming out of the Pepe’s Pizza, a huge pie in hand. She ran back into the nail place, peeking out through the louvered windows as he raised an eyebrow at the place then got into his truck and drove off.

Her friend giggled, but Arden didn’t find that shit one bit funny. Freaking small towns.

“I think you’ve stalled enough, don’t you?” Indy took a drag of her cigarette and raised an eyebrow at Arden.

They sat on the balcony in Indy’s house, overlooking her pool, eating Chinese. Dusk had fallen, the sun setting with vibrant yellow and orange colors. Indy got up from her chair and leaned against the balcony’s edge.

“You’ve been hiding from Bad Boy Mercer all day.” Indy blew a ring of smoke into the air, the silver stud in her left cheek winking when it caught the light.

Arden stared at her friend for a second. Indy was really gorgeous and at one time, before she’d learned to love her own body, Arden had envied her best friend those curves and huge-ass tits.

“You just gonna stare at my tits or answer me?” Indy asked. “Was the sex that bad?”

Arden grunted and shifted in her chair. “That freaking good.”

Indy nodded. “Got you running scared, huh?”

“Shut your face.”

“I will if you promise not to shut your legs.”

Arden doubled over, hugging her stomach as she laughed. “You’re cray-cray, you know that right?”

Indy laughed. “One man’s crazy…” She stabbed out the cigarette and turned serious. “Is it over already, you and the studly Mercer boy?”

Arden shrugged. “I don’t know. Why do you think I’ve been running from him all day?” She looked up at the dark sky. “I haven’t made a decision yet.”

“But you want him, yes?”

Really, you’d think Indy was a therapist instead of a real estate agent the way she spoke sometimes.

“I feel like I’m doing something wrong by being with him.” Arden shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense since Clark broke up with me, but I almost feel like we’re an episode of Jerry Springer.”

“Why?”

“Are you serious? My ex’s twin brother? So soon after we broke up?”

“But…” Indy held up a finger. “But—and hear me out on this—they’re not identical, only fraternal. Identical is the creepy one.”

Arden couldn’t hide the giggle bubbling in her throat. “Fuck, you’re crazy as hell.” Her cell phone and she picked it up from her lap, raising an eyebrow at the name on the caller I.D. “Well, well.” Her mouth twisted. “Speak of the devil.”

“Who?”

“Clark.”

“Huh.”

Arden hit the ignore button and the ringing quieted. “Yeah, my thoughts exactly.”

“Your father spoke to him and now what, he’s running you down to take him back?” Scorn dripped from Indy’s words.

“Yeah.” Shows how much the bastard really knew her, that he’d think she would allow him back into her life. “More fool him.”

The phone beeped. She had voicemail. She accessed her voicemail and put it on speaker before hitting play. “Hey, Arden.” To his credit, he sounded less sure than she thought he would. “I know it’s been a while since we spoke and I know it’s my fault, but I want to make it up to you. Dinner at that little Italian place you like tonight?” He paused. “What do you say? Call me back, love.”

“Bribing you with food.” Indy nodded. “Smart move, he knows your weakness.”

Arden snorted. “I’m not that weak.”

“I dunno.” Indy forked cold noodles into her mouth. “I mean, it is Italian.”

“Do you want to go? Because you can.”

“Hmm.” Her friend chewed slowly. “I don’t think your boy can handle me.”

“I can’t ignore him forever,” Arden said. “Tomorrow’s the party at his mother’s house and I have to be there.”

“So go.”

“Want to be my date?”

“Sure, but you’re buying me something pretty.”

Arden got to her feet and tugged on Indy’s unruly curls.

“Deal.” Her phone rang again. She checked the caller I.D and groaned. “Clark again.”

“Persistent little fucker.”

“May as well answer.” She put the phone to her ear, standing close to Indy so her friend could hear as well. “Yes, Clark.”

“Arden, love.”

Well, someone sounded mighty chipper.

“Listen, I know I messed up.” Clark spoke in a rush. “I’m sorry for being an ass, but I’m willing to make it up to you. Give me a chance,” he whispered. “I’ll make it up to you.”

“There’s nothing to make up, Clark.” She closed her eyes when she recalled all the time she’d wasted with the coward on the other end of the line. “What you said before was correct. We need to see other people. Go ahead and do your thing and I wish you well, I’m already on some new shit.”

Indy chuckled.

Clark coughed. She’d rarely ever spoken profanity in his presence. “What does that mean, exactly?” he asked. “What new shit are you on?”

“New dick, of course.” She grinned when he choked. “Surely, Clark, you recognize a woman like me has needs. Needs men are lining up around the block to fill?”

“Ooh, nice,” Indy whispered.

“Are you serious?” Clark sputtered in her ear. “You’ve been with someone else already? Your father said you were home moping.”

“Obviously my father doesn’t know jack about my sex life. Since you and he get along so well, why don’t you be with him? You two are a match made in heaven, I think.” Silence. “That’s what you get for slipping, Clark.” She spoke slowly and distinctly, as if addressing a five year old. “You give up your place at bat and someone else steps in. Trust me when I tell you he’s hitting that shit out of the park.”

“You bitch.”

She burst out laughing. “Now you’re catching on. It’s a good thing you bailed when you did, Clark. Now, please lose my number and let’s proceed to forget we ever knew each other.” She hung up.

Indy stared at her with wide eyes. “Fucking epic.” She hugged Arden tight, and Arden chuckled into her friend’s shoulder.

“Does this mean you’ll be doing more bumping of the uglies with the evil twin?”

“God, I don’t know. I don’t know.”

* * *

Clark did not take her words to heart. He began a barrage of phone calls, leading into the next day. Arden ignored them all as she went around doing her business, consulting with his mother via phone about last minute prep for the night’s party. More than once she considered not going, but she’d be damned if she’d allow the idiot Clark to chase her from her friends.

Genevieve was her friend.

Of course, that could change if she found out about Arden and Cam. She’d resisted thinking about him all, but as she pulled into Genevieve’s cobblestoned driveway that night and spotted the beat-up truck, her heart hammered in her chest.

Indy grunted next to her. “No more running for you.”

“Shit.” She hadn’t thought he’d be there. Why would he? This was a corporate party, a get together for the Mercer board and Cam wasn’t on the— Or was he? Fuck, she needed to know more about the damn man to avoid him better.

She parked and hopped out, ignoring her best friend’s snickers. The hem of her sequined LBD rode her thigh and she tugged it down with a curse. She should’ve dressed more…casual. Now, she inspected the dress and nude Stuart Weitzman’s with a critical eye in her car’s reflection.

Not bad. She tugged on her simple ponytail with a grimace.

“You look fine,” Indy said loudly. “Stop stalling.”

Indy had piled her massive curls to the left of her head, pinning them in place. She’d squeezed into a low-cut black number, too, the material hugging her curves when she walked on gold heels.

Arden smiled at her. “You look like a really expensive hooker.”

“The look I was going for.” Indy winked.

“Thanks for coming with me.” Arden gazed at the brightly lit house. “Also, feel free to drag me away if I look like I’m in danger of dropping my panties for Cam.”

Indy frowned. “You’re wearing panties? And why would I stop you?” She linked their arms and they headed inside.