When Silken and Suave walked in, Max introduced them to Duke, the brother who followed him, the one who had encouraged him to set up his latest business in Cupertino. He was tall, almost as tall as Max, with the same jet-black hair, square chin and long nose.
“So these are the twins,” he said, looking from one to the other. “Now let me see if I can figure out who’s who.” He wrinkled his brows and tilted his head. “Based on what I’ve heard, Silken is the impulsive, saucy one. I can see the fire in your eyes. That’s got to be you.” He nodded his head toward Silken. Then he turned to Suave and his lips widened in a smile. “And you must be Suave, as serene and silky-smooth as your name.”
Ooh, he's a charmer, this one. Silken let her glance slide away from his face and across to her sister who had turned a softly glowing shade of pink. Oh, beeswax. Now he’s gone and embarrassed Suave. Silken could only pray that she wouldn’t get cold feet and decide to take flight.
“Great job,” she said with a laugh, trying to defuse the tension of the moment. “It usually takes people at least a few hours before they can figure us out, maybe even days.” Then she shook her head. “But don’t listen to Max. I’m not saucy…” she paused when Max gave her a pointed look, “…at least not all the time.”
Duke laughed. “Don’t worry about it. Hey, it’s good that the two of you are different. At least this way we can tell you apart.”
“Come on, let’s head over to the den,” Max said, breaking in. “We can chill there until Reed gets here.”
It was after they’d settled down with mineral water and Martinis that Silken saw Suave begin to relax. Earlier she'd seemed so tense while Duke's attention had been on her but now she looked comfortable, laughing at his jokes and even sitting next to him when he patted the seat beside him. Silken breathed a whispering sigh of relief. It looked like the evening was going to go well after all.
Duke was deep in animated conversation, telling them about his work in the field of computer technology, when Reed arrived. “Hi, everyone,” he said, bouncing into the room. "Sorry I’m late but I thought the runway show would have ended earlier.”
"And, of course, your big brothers aren’t worth missing a fashion show.” Max’s tone was dry but the grin on his lips said he didn’t care a hoot that Reed had shown up late. He was just glad to see his brother.
Reed was the total opposite of his brothers. Where they were over six feet and dark-haired with craggy features he couldn’t have been taller than five ten or eleven with brown hair and laughing blue eyes. And he was young, probably no older than twenty-five. “You're the famous twins I’ve been hearing about.” He came over and shook both their hands then stood back to regard them with fascination. “You guys look so much alike, it’s creepy.”
That wasn’t the part of his speech that caught Silken’s attention. “Famous twins? We’re not famous.”
“According to Max, you are. He said you’re known about town as the best auto repair operation in all of Cupertino.” Reed nodded as he glanced over at Max. “He’s been asking around.”
Silken looked at Max, her eyebrows slightly raised. He’d been asking around? Now what was that all about? But she’d have to tackle him on that another day. Right now Max’s face was giving nothing away.
“Grab a seat and tell the ladies all about your lovely life in London.” Max jerked his head toward the empty La-Z-Boy. “They already know all there is to know about me and Duke.”
A deliberate attempt to change the subject. Silken turned and gave Max a look of suspicion but he totally ignored her, keeping his eyes trained on his brother. She knew he could feel her eyes on him but he wasn’t taking the bait. Okay, no problem. He could duck out now but he couldn’t avoid her forever. She would tackle him on this soon enough.
Silken soon forgot about Max and his questions because Reed ended up being the most entertaining of all the brothers. When he told them about his work in Europe, the clothing lines he’d launched, his work with runway models from all over the world, and his recent launch of a jewelry line, his eyes sparkled with such life that there could be no doubt that he thoroughly enjoyed what he was doing.
“So you’ll do a similar launch here in the United States?” Suave asked, looking intrigued.
“Of course.” Reed leaned back in the chair, looking satisfied that he had an interested audience. “Whatever I do in Europe, I duplicate in New York, Miami and Las Vegas. I have staff here on the ground to execute all my plans.”
“But you wouldn’t move back to the States,” Silken asked, “to live here and grow your business?”
Reed faltered, seeming taking aback by her question, and his eyes shifted to Duke and then to Max.
That was when Silken realized that she’d touched on a sensitive subject. Darn! She was so gifted at putting her foot in it.
“Well, no,” he said and for a second he looked away. “I’m happy in London. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” Then he gave Max a pointed look. Obviously, the answer was not meant for Silken alone.
“Well, I’m starving,” Duke said, stretching then rising to his feet. “You’re just going to have us in here all evening, blabbing?" He frowned at Max. “Where’s the chow?”
The serious look on Max’s face cleared and he laughed. “Hold your horses. Don’t they feed you where you come from? You have a cook at your house, right?”
“Yeah,” he said, rubbing his belly, “but that was hours ago. Now lead me to the food before I start chomping on the furniture.”
They all laughed and followed Max into the dining room where the huge table had been laid out with a spread fit for royalty. There were so many kinds of food there that Silken didn’t know how they could possibly get through all that. She looked across at Suave but her sister’s attention was fully occupied as she thanked Duke and slid onto the chair he’d pulled out for her.