CHAPTER ELEVEN

Chloe woke up early; she could tell that the sun was just beginning to find its way into the portside window of the yacht. She was facing away from Derek, so she couldn’t see him, but she could feel the strength of his arms wrapped around her and the rise and fall of his chest against her back. She lay still, enjoying it and also wondering if she’d maybe lost her mind just a little bit. Part of her wanted to believe that the man who made love to her last night and was holding her this morning was fully aware that the woman he had in his arms was Chloe and not Sarah.

She knew that even if all the other risks of this relationship were put aside, that one alone would be monumental. When Derek spoke about Sarah, she could still see the pain and the love in his eyes. He not only loved her when she was alive, he still loved her. He still clung to his memories of her, and for two years he’d lived his life in a sort of limbo without her. Then along comes Chloe. Her twin…if not in birth then definitely her doppelganger. They were identical, or at least they would be if Chloe took out the contacts and stopped dying her hair brown. What if this was all some twisted fantasy in his head? What if she let her guard down and began to develop feelings for him only to find out that what he wants is a clone of his sweet, deceased wife?

Chloe thought about those photos she had looked at. Sarah looked like she was full of life. In every photo, she was doing something fun, and she looked happy. There were pictures of her skiing, something that Chloe had never done; pictures of her in high school on the cheerleading team and singing in the school choir. There were photos of her and her parents at places like Disneyworld and Six Flags, riding roller coasters and hugging cartoon characters. There were pictures of her dancing and laughing and playing…and then there were the ones that had been really hard for Chloe to look at the pictures of her life with Derek. She was looking at everything that she was denied throughout her life and it hurt like hell.

She had come to the page where their engagement announcement had been cut carefully from the newspaper and slipped into a plastic sleeve. The date showed that it was only four years ago, but there was a more innocent, younger look on Derek’s face then. Likely it was because he hadn’t been through the horrible, tragic loss of the woman he adored yet. That would have to take its toll. There was a picture on the next page of the two of them standing underneath a tree. They were holding hands, and she was looking up at him and him down at her. The look they were sharing was so intense that it almost jumped right up off the page. Was Chloe insane to believe that she could ever even come close to competing with that?

She felt Derek stir next to her and still self-conscious during the daylight of the scars that covered her back; she rolled so that she was facing him. His eyes were still closed, but he smiled. “Good morning, beautiful,” he said.

Chloe felt that flutter in her stomach and the catch in her throat. She knew that if this was a bad idea, she had already let it go way too far. But she was face to face with him, and his gorgeous lips were a mere fraction of an inch away. She’d have to be made of stone to resist. She kissed him softly, and when she pulled back, the arm around her waist tightened and pulled her in deeper instead. They kissed passionately then, and she thought that he had to have the sweetest morning breath that she’d ever tasted on her own lips. When he finally let her up for air, she said, “Good morning.” He tried to lean in and kiss her again, and she pulled back and said, “I should probably head home.”

“Why?”

“Why?”

He opened his eyes and looked at her. God, she was beautiful. “Yes, why should you head home? If you stay, I will make you breakfast.”

“I thought you could only do stir-fry.”

“I did say that, didn’t I? The truth is, stir-fry is all I can do for dinner, but I’m a master pancake maker.”

Chloe laughed, “You seem to be a “master” at a lot of things.”

“This is true,” he said. “When I take an interest in something, I generally don’t give up on it until I’ve mastered it. I’m determined like that.”

“So, I’ve had the stir-fry, and I guess I could stay for the pancakes. What else have you mastered?”

He laid his hand on his chest again and gave her a wounded look. “Are you out of arrows yet because one more direct hit like that and I’m not sure I can survive?”

Laughing again, she leaned in and kissed him softly. “I thought we were only talking about cooking. Of course, you’re a master of things here in the bedroom as well.”

“Whew! I was worried. You want to see a little more of my mastery?”

“Maybe later,” she said with a grin. “I’m a little hungry.”

“That will teach you not to waste my fabulous dinner from now on,” he told her. “But, we can’t have you hungry, so I’ll wash up and go get the pancakes started.” He kissed her again before he got out of bed. She watched him go, willing her heart to slow down before it exploded.

When he came out of the bathroom, she said, “Would it be okay if I showered?”

“Sure, do you need any help?”

She would love his help, but she thought again about him having a perfectly lighted, unobscured view of her entire body and once again decided that she wasn’t ready for that…yet.

She patted her stomach and said, “Maybe next time. I’m awfully hungry.”

He grinned at her and said, “Alright, but I’m spoon feeding you next time, so you wake up full and satiated.”

“I woke up satiated,” she said.

“I guess that’s something. I’m going to make pancakes.”

“Thank you. I’m going to take a shower.”

“Towels are in the cabinet, and everything else you need should be in there. None of it smells as good as you do, so I apologize that you’ll have to smell like me the rest of the day.”

She smiled and said, “I’m looking forward to it.”

**

Chloe tried to leave again after breakfast, but when Derek asked her what she had to do at home, she realized she had nothing. She didn’t have work at least for a while, and hopefully, Lexi was getting to spend time with the Incredible Hunk.

“Don’t you have to go to work?” she asked him.

“I need to meet an owner at one of his properties today. It will be quick, and you can go with me….”

“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t want to get in the way of your job…”

“Trust me; you wouldn’t be in the way one bit. I’m looking at this house to see if it’s something I might be interested in selling for him. All I have to do is a quick tour of it. You can give me a female perspective on it.”

“I don’t know anything about houses,” she said.

“You know what you like, right? A second opinion is always good.” She finally agreed, glad that the sundress she’d worn over the day before was conservative and something appropriate for an impromptu business meeting. She listened as Derek called his driver first. She heard him tell the driver that they would need a ride to the airport. When he hung up, she said, “Airport? Where is this house?”

“It’s in Maine,” he said.

“You spend a lot of time in Maine. That’s where we went the first time we went out.”

He laughed, “I have several clients that do business here in Rhode Island but choose to live in Maine. I like it there. It has that small town friendly feel to it.”

“I liked it there too when we went. Are we going to the same place?”

“No, this place is even more casual. Walk-up dining and you eat outside. But the lobster is phenomenal, and sometimes it’s just fun to do something that doesn’t require a suit and tie and reservations.”

“Yet we’re taking the luxury helicopter,” she said with a grin.

“True, but that’s only because it’s about business. Next time we can drive if you prefer.”

Next time. He was already planning another date, and she hadn’t said yes to this one yet. She had gotten, so she almost prided herself on her ability to keep everyone at an arm’s distance. Something about Derek muddled her brain and attacked her sensibilities. She kept warning herself to be careful, to not let her guard down. Then she would look into those beautiful blue eyes, and she would see nothing there that she shouldn’t trust. She might be wrong. She had definitely been wrong before, and she had almost paid the ultimate price.

“Right there and back after this meeting and lunch?” she asked.

“Right there and back,” he said.

“Okay,” she said. She wanted to trust him so badly.