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Fitzy frowns, cocking his head to the side.
“Penelope Rhodes, the evil, soon-to-be heiress, has a twin sister.”
“You didn’t?” Fitzy hisses.
“Didn’t what?” I ask with an innocent smirk.
“Tell me you didn’t seduce one twin just to get away from marrying the other,” Fitzy asks, his hand dramatically clutching at his suit lapel.
“No, he blackmailed me into it,” a small, sweet voice says from the doorway.
Both Fitzy and I turn to look at Izzy, and she squirms a little under our appraisal. She’s wearing the jean shorts and shirt she had on yesterday, her skin free of makeup and her hair wet from the shower, pulled up into a knot on the top of her head.
“Just kidding?” Izzy says, but it almost sounds like a question.
“That sounds like the kind of despicable thing my godson would do,” Fitzy coos, jumping up from his seat and bounding across the room to pull Izzy into a hug. “Goodness, how is it possible that you’re even more beautiful without a scrap of makeup on?”
Izzy smiles a little unsurely, but lets him pull her farther into the room.
“Gulliver said you needed something to wear sailing today, but well, I got a little carried away, so I thought I’d just pop over here and see what else you might need.”
When he leads Izzy to the far corner of the room, I notice a white changing screen set up against the wall, with a rail of clothes in white garment bags to the side of it. This room is so fucking white that anything in that color blends in like it’s been camouflaged.
“I’m so sorry you came all the way over here. There’s been a change of plans, and I’m not actually going sailing today. I need to go home. There’s been a bit of a family crisis,” Izzy says, lying so effortlessly.
“Well, just try a few things on, then I’ll have the rest delivered to your house,” Fitzy says, hooking his arm through hers and pulling her toward the screen before she has a chance to argue.
Once she’s behind the screen and out of sight, Fitzy charges across the room to where I’m sitting, his hands on his hips as he glares at me angrily. “You blackmailed that girl into getting engaged to you?”
Glancing away guiltily, I shrug. “Sort of.”
“What is wrong with you?” he demands, his eyes bugging out of his head.
“I needed a solution to a problem. She…” I say, gesturing to where Izzy is changing behind the screen, “is the solution.”
“Do your parents know?”
“Dad knows I met Izzy, fell in love, and gave her the Winslow diamond, and you know I haven’t spoken to Mom in well over a year.”
Fitzy’s lips purse together. “And what about Izzy’s family?”
“I’m fairly confident they’re going to kill me,” Izzy says without a hint of amusement as she steps from behind the screen dressed in tiny, fitted navy-blue shorts and a yellow halter-neck top that buttons down the front and hugs her curves perfectly.
My eyes snap to her, and I swallow thickly, ignoring what she just said and focusing on how fucking sexy she looks.
“Izzy, you look hot,” Davis whistles as he walks into the room, followed by a sleepy-looking Thorn and an amused Kip who grins wickedly at Izzy as soon as he spots her.
Fitzy flashes me one last glare, then makes his way over to Izzy, giving her a pair of slip-on boat shoes and a long cardigan that she puts on over the yellow shirt. “I also have a sailing jacket for you in case it gets chilly.”
Izzy nods, letting Fitzy bustle her back behind the screen as Beth appears with carafes of coffee.
“How do you want your coffee?” I call to Izzy as Fitzy hands her the next outfit he’s selected for her.
“Just creamer, please,” she calls back, and I head across the room to make us both a cup. Kip nods at me, holding his own cup as he moves to sit on the couch, his eyes fixed on the screen as he absentmindedly sips at his drink.
Beth re-enters the room carrying platters full of food and arranges them on a warming plate in the corner before she disappears again. My stomach growls, and I saunter over to them to see what she’s made. Mounds of fluffy pancakes, crispy bacon, and eggs are spread out, and my stomach groans in response.
I make myself a plate, then move back to the couch just as Izzy emerges from behind the screen again in a pale pink sundress. “No,” I snap, and both Fitzy and Izzy turn to look at me.
