“Because I acted like an ass.” He accepted the friendly offering. “In your place, I’d have felt the same. I wasn’t nice, and I regret it.”
“Messing up had to sting.”
“More than you know.”
Ford glanced at her. “Believe me, I get it.” He faced Clyde again. “I won’t make the same mistake.”
Clyde kept his attention on her. “I’d still like to be a friend.”
Unwilling to let him off the hook so easily, Skye said, “I’ll think about it.”
“Fair enough.” And just like that, Clyde walked away.
“You see,” Ford said. “I know how to be useful.”
That quip effectively demolished her good mood. Damn it, he could be so cryptic sometimes, and he was better at acting than she’d expected. So had any of his compliments been real?
Their last exchange, which she had seen as a turning point, a step toward a real relationship, now seemed suspect.
She turned on him so quickly that his brows shot up. Grabbing a fistful of his shirt, she asked, “Did you know Clyde had crept up on us?”
He took in her expression, then mirrored it with a frown of his own. “I’m here to look out for you, so of course I saw the putz moving in.”
None of it had been real.
God, she’d been duped by her own game. Well, she still had her pride, so she gathered it around her and smiled. “Usefulis one word for you.” A glance around the room showed the thinning crowd. “With that accomplished, I think I’d like to head home.”
Searching her face, Ford’s frown darkened. “Fine.”
Leaving was slow, with everyone taking time to say goodbye. Patience personified, Ford stayed at her side and continued to charm one and all until the two of them were in his car.
Once on the road, they both fell into an awful silence that somehow grew heavier with every mile that brought them closer to home.
Unable to take it a minute more, Skye said, “Thank you again. For everything.”
He nodded. “No problem.”
That should have been it, but when he pulled into her driveway instead of his own, words crowded into her head, and she knew she couldn’t let it end like this. “Being a twin isn’t easy.”
He turned off the car, draped a forearm over the wheel and faced her. “Ups and downs, I’m sure.”
“Everyone has always compared us. On everything.”
“You’re both gorgeous.” One corner of his mouth kicked up. “Knox thought you were a supermodel.”
“Laylee is. Well, she’s a local model, but she still makes a ton of money.”
“Guess she chooses her own hours?”
“She’s selective in the jobs she takes.” Awkwardness made her talk faster. “She’s in high demand. She could work every day ifshe wanted, or only five times a year. She’d still earn enough to get by.”
“You could do the same, but I’m glad you don’t.”
Skye shook her head. She had no interest in modeling, but it was the perfect career for her sister. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the comparisons. People would say that they couldn’t tell us apart, except my nose is thicker. My face is wider. My lips are bigger. My brows are lower.” Laying it all out there made her self-conscious. “I felt like her Neanderthal cousin instead of her twin.”
Ford snorted. “You’re too beautiful to think that. Yes, you have strong features, but they suit you perfectly.” He brushed his knuckles over her upper arm. “Are you sure those comments were made as insults?”
She honestly had no idea. “They might have been only observations, but for me they were always negative.”
