Tempted By Her Husband Twin

3.

Lana

Good music was great for the soul, but good food was better, and my best friend sitting across from me on the kitchen counter, eating the food I had just finished making was the testament of that.

She paused eating, and pointed her fork at me. “So let me get this straight. You met someone that looked like Logan, fainted, woke up to see him fanning over you, and then he confirmed he’s Logan’s twin brother, but you didn’t know he existed until then?” She said and I nodded my head.

“That sure sums it all up.”

Raina shook her head, stabbing another bite of pasta. “Girl, your life is straight out of a telenovela. I mean, long-lost twin you don’t know about shows up looking like your dead husband? You can’t make this up.”

I wish it was something made up all right, but it wasn’t at all. I groaned, covering my face with my hands. “Don’t remind me. I thought I was losing my mind when I saw him.”

“You fainted,” she said, grinning around her fork. “That’s not losing your mind, that’s losing your balance. Big difference.”

“Thanks for the clarification,” I muttered, rolling my eyes at her.

She leaned forward, eyes sparkling with mischief. “But seriously… was he hot?” She asked.

I dropped my hands and shot her a look. “Raina!”

“What? I’m asking the important questions. Identical twin to Logan? He’s gotta be at least a nine out of ten.”

Heat crept up my neck, and I busied myself with pouring water into her glass. “He looks like Logan. Exactly like him. It’s… unsettling.”

Raina smirked, probably feeling fly about herself. “Unsettling, or distracting?”

I set the pitcher down with a little more force than necessary. “Unsettling.”

Her grin widened. “Mhm. Sure.”

I could tell she wanted to say more, but for now, she said nothing and just grinned so I sighed, almost shaking my head at her again.

“I could…” I trailed off as soon as I heard a crash from the hall beside the living room, knowing better than to leave those two rascals all by themselves. “Rory, Riley?” I called.

Riley poked his head back into the living room from the hall. “It’s nothing, mama. Rory knocked down the baseball bat.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Nothing usually doesn’t sound like a crash, Riley.”

Rory appeared beside his brother, clutching the fallen bat like it was some kind of prized sword. “See? It’s all good, Mama.” He flashed me the widest grin, the one that usually got him out of trouble.

Raina chuckled under her breath, a small sweet smile on her face as she looked at her godchildren. “Mini troublemakers, just like their mama.” She said.

I shot her a look. “Don’t encourage them, Raina.”

“Encourage what?” Rory asked, tilting his head with pure innocence.

“Nothing,” I said quickly, pushing off the counter. “Both of you, back in here, please. And no swinging bats in the hallway.”

“Yes, Mama,” they chorused, but the mischievous twinkle in Rory’s eyes told me I wasn’t out of the woods yet.

Raina grinned at me over her fork. “You’ve got your hands full.”

“You don’t say,” I muttered, herding the boys back into the living room before they could wreak more havoc.

Just then, a knock sounded on the front door, and I stood up again to go answer it, but as I walked out of the kitchen, I heard the front door open, and I knew Rory had opened the door. That boy was too inquisitive, the Lord knows.

“For goodness sake, Rory. I’ve told you never to open the door to strangers anymore, ever.” I said, walking into the small hall that led to the front door, and I froze.

Standing right out by the door is Log… I mean, Landon, looking down at Rory with amusement in his eyes.

I stood there transfixed. I wanted to ask what the hell he was doing here, or how he knew my house, but I couldn’t get the words out of my mouth. I felt Riley wrap around my leg, and he said. “Mama, is that Daddy?”

My breath caught in my throat, Riley’s question slicing through me sharper than any knife in my kitchen. Daddy.

The word hung in the air like a ghost, and my chest tightened so hard I thought I might break in two. I swallowed, forcing my voice steady. “No, baby,” I whispered, brushing a hand over his curls. “That’s not Daddy.”

“But he look like Daddy.” He said, looking up at me.

“Huh… he’s Daddy’s brother, your uncle.” I said, gritting my teeth.

I was ready to tear into the man about what he thought he was doing here, but when I looked up, Landon’s face was no longer amused. It was stricken; his eyes flicking from Riley to Rory, then back again, widening as if the ground had just shifted beneath him.

“Twins?” he said, his voice low, almost disbelieving.

Heat crept up my neck, shame and anger warring inside me. I hadn’t expected this moment, not like this, not with my son blurting out the one word I had spent years teaching him belonged to memories, not flesh.

“They’re mine,” I said tightly, more defensive than I meant to sound.

Landon’s jaw flexed, his gaze searching my face like he was piecing together a puzzle he hadn’t known existed. The resemblance wasn’t subtle; the same eyes, the same crooked grin hiding behind Rory’s mischief, so I knew how he felt. It was how I felt when I saw him as well yesterday.

And then, before I could scramble for something else to say, I heard Raina’s footsteps behind me.

“Lana, are you all right? Who’s at the…” she began, then stopped short as she appeared in the hall, her eyes flicking from me to Landon and back again. “Oh. Ohhh.”

Right, exactly how I was feeling. I turned to look at Raina. “Please, Raina, take the kids up to their room, I need to talk to this man alone.

Raina’s brows lifted, her mouth twitching like she wanted to make a joke, but one look at my face must’ve told her better. “Come on, boys,” she said lightly, clapping her hands. “Race you upstairs.”

Rory perked up immediately. “I win!” he shouted, bolting past her toward the stairs. Riley was still glued to my leg, and he looked up at me uncertainly until I gave him a small nod. He let go and hurried after his brother, Raina right behind them, throwing me one last knowing glance before disappearing up the steps.

The second their footsteps faded, I took a few steps towards Landon, the words spilling out before I could stop them.

“What are you doing here? How do you even know where I live? Did Roman tell you? Do you think you can just show up at my door and…” I broke off, dragging in a sharp breath. “…look at me? Look at them? What exactly are you doing here, Landon?”

I hadn’t meant for it to come out all in one breath, but the mix of nerves, fury, and raw ache knotted in my chest gave me no room for composure. My voice shook, but I didn’t care. He needed to hear it.

There was something else that I didn’t like at this moment, and it was the ability of him to rile me up this way, just like Logan used to. To most people, I was always calm and get out my frustration towards them calmly, but to him…

How could two different men, incite the same kind of feelings from me? Oh God, I was in trouble.