Page 253 of The First Taste

Daisy flashes a smirk and raises her eyebrows at me. "I don’t know. How do we know each other, Dare? What do you want to tell little Talia about our relationship?"

Burn ambles over, taking up his place next to Daisy. Daisy grabs his hand and intertwines her own, her smile dry.

“Daisy and I used to date. Now she is with my brother Burn.” I gesture to Burn, and he tilts his head to the side. "They are engaged, actually."

I can tell by the slight rise in Talia’s brows that she is just now putting together all the information. She looks at me, clearly unable to say whatever she is thinking. I can see her throat working as she swallows.

Talia’s hand finds my forearm and grips it hard. I smile as I introduce her to Burn.

"This is Burn. If you hadn't guessed, we are identical twins."

Burn is looking at Talia with a hint of puzzlement on his face. He reaches his hand out to her, and she shakily takes it, her face somber as she greets him.

"Hello."

Burn takes a deep breath. "I see you have met my fiancée, Daisy. I’m telling you now, meeting the rest of the family is pointless. When I got here, Tripp was just telling a story about how he got out of a speeding ticket by telling the sheriff that he had Morgan money and he would get the sheriff fired. So that’s the kind of mojo that we are working with."

Talia arches an eyebrow, glancing at me. She smiles and bows her head ever so slightly. "Good to know," she says to Burn.

Daisy cuts in. "So how do you two know each other? Did you meet doing volunteer work or at a flea market or something?"

"No. We just met through friends," I reply smoothly.

Burn joins in on his fiancée's gentle ribbing and smirks. "Are you sure that you didn’t find her at a homeless shelter or something, Dare?"

I see Talia’s face fall. She looks at Burn with a profound disgust in her eyes. "Are you suggesting that I am homeless?"

Burn seems a little caught out. He holds up a hand, as if that can excuse him somehow. "I was just joking, Talia. Just teasing my brother."

"Well, it isn’t funny. It is not nice to make fun of people that you don’t know just to get a rise out of each other."

She turns her gaze to me, her mouth forming a hard line. I pull her closer, unsure where this passion of hers came from. I have to admit, it’s not unwarranted in this situation, and I even like it. That is, when Talia is schooling my brother instead of me.

Daisy gives a huge fake smile and tries to ease the tension between us. "Burn didn’t mean anything by it, honestly. He would never intentionally make anyone uncomfortable, Talia." She looks at Burn, and he looks at her. After a second, they move together and lock lips, kissing hard and making little noises of pleasure.

I roll my eyes. I glance at Talia, and I jerk my head toward my uncle. But before I can say anything, Burn and Daisy separate and lovingly smile at each other.

That sick feeling in the pit of my stomach has now returned.

It’s time for me to hint at her purpose in being here. I can see that now. I shift my weight, moving my arm from around her waist to around her shoulders, and pull her a little closer.

"You know, Burn..." My lips twitch. Though I feel ill inside, outside I am cool, collected, calm, and confident. "Did you know that Talia and I have a very deep connection as well? We’ve been talking about everything. And I do mean everything."

Burn stares at me, his eyes narrowing on my face. Talia looks between Daisy, Burn, and me, possibly trying to figure out what exactly our deal is.

I slip my fingers around the curve of Talia’s hip, smiling as I make heavy eye contact with Burn. "We’ve been talking about everything under the sun. Telling stories, reliving moments from our lives."

I cock my brow at him, and his gaze hardens. I am willing to bet that Burn is now racking his brain to figure out why it is that Talia looks so familiar. Or maybe not. His clear confusion is the very reason why I spent so much time and put so much effort into dressing her up. Without her dumpy outfit and with her copper hair covered under that wig, it is nearly impossible to recognize Talia.

Burn looks between me and Talia and then gives his head a shake. He leans his head over and kisses Daisy's cheek. "My love, why don’t we go and talk to my father? It’s his birthday, after all."

Daisy clearly does not think much of this idea. But she forces a smile onto her lips anyway and brings his hand up, kissing the back. "Of course, my love. I’ll follow you anywhere."

Burn stretches his arm out and takes Daisy by the shoulders. Daisy casts her gaze back at me with a smug little smile on her lips.

God, what a manipulative woman she is! How was I ever the object of her attentions? I have no doubt that I acted just like Burn does, but seeing it now from the outside, I shudder a little.

Whatever the case, I am planning on letting my twin brother sweat for an hour before I reveal Talia’s true identity. Then I will rub the fact that Burn is a cheater in her face. It is so close that I can almost taste it.