Guilty Pleasures Read online

  “Did you have a talent?” he suddenly asked, the question coming randomly.

  Perplexed, her brow furrowed. “I beg your pardon?”

  “That beauty contest. Did you have to have a talent to qualify for Miss Thailand? Did you have to sing, dance, do magic tricks, or something like that?”

  Sarai laughed. “No. I was only required to participate in the evening gown and swimsuit competitions. Then there was an interview question-and-answer segment. The contest is more than a beauty pageant. The women aspiring to become Miss Universe must be intelligent, well-mannered, and cultured.”

  “So you competed in the Miss Universe contest, too?”

  “I did. Winning Miss Thailand qualified me for the Miss Universe competition. Unfortunately, the year I competed I was beat by Miss Venezuela. Miss Colombia is the current reigning queen. But I was honored to be the first runner-up. And I am still occasionally obligated to participate in certain pageant-related events. I gave Dan my schedule and I won’t let it be a problem. ”

  “I don’t know what the judges had to be thinking,” he said, his stare so intense that Sarai suddenly felt as if she’d been stripped naked where she sat. As discreetly as she could manage, she crossed her arms and her legs, needing to stall the quiver of heat that rippled with a vengeance through her sweet spot.

  Alexander suddenly shifted forward in his seat. “Would you have dinner with me tonight? I’d really love to talk with you more.”

  Sarai’s eyes widened as his question settled over her. His query was sudden and unexpected, and for a brief moment it threw her. But before she could answer, there was an abrupt knock on the office door. As both shifted their gazes toward the entrance, the door flew open, Zachary sticking his head inside.

  “Knock, knock! Am I interrupting?” he questioned, his eyes shifting from one to the other.

  As the two men exchanged a look, Alexander moved onto his feet, rising slowly from his chair. Sarai’s eyes widened anxiously as her gaze shifted back and forth between them. The air in the room was suddenly strained, and thick with aggression, and Alexander’s mild-mannered demeanor was gone. His entire body had stiffened. His jaw was tight, and his eyes had narrowed into venomous slits.

  As Zachary moved into the room and closed the door, Alexander eased himself around the desk until they were standing toe-to-toe, neither speaking for minutes. They stood staring at each other, breath rising, heartbeats pounding. The moment was nail-biting, and Sarai fought back the urge to step between them to stop what seemed to be brewing. She gripped the seat cushion beneath her with tightened fists. Zachary broke the uneasy silence.

  “It’s good to see you again, A,” he said, eyeing his twin anxiously as he called him by the pet name only the two of them used for each other.

  Alex didn’t comment, still standing like stone.

  “You’re supposed to say, good to see you too, Z!” Zachary teased. Nervous anxiety flooded his face, his brow creased as he tried to make light of the situation. He shifted his stare toward Sarai. “A to Z. We were the bad boys of Boulder!” Zach rambled. “Back in the day there was nothing that could stop us! My brother and I were going to conquer the world and we were going to do it together!”

  Despite Zachary’s best efforts to cajole an ounce of emotion from his twin, Alexander gave him nothing. Not a single muscle twitched in response. Zachary blew a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry,” he finally said, once again meeting Alexander’s stare evenly. “I’m sorry about everything that happened and for what I did. I was wrong and I promise to spend however long it takes to make amends to you.”

  The awkward silence refilled the room. It was thick and heavy with regret, and anger. Still getting no reply, Zachary blew another weighted breath, warm air washing over his full lips.

  “All right, then.” He shifted his eyes back to Sarai. “We should go. The Realtor said she would meet us at the house with the keys,” he said as he stole a quick glance toward his wristwatch.

  Alexander’s head suddenly snapped in Sarai’s direction. “You two know each other?” he asked, his question directed at her.

  She nodded, the faintest hint of a smile pulling at her thin lips.

  Zachary spoke, shifting an affectionate look in her direction. “Sarai’s my favorite girl. She’s been with me since I moved to Thailand. I don’t know what I’d do without her. She helped me get through some tough times.”

  Sarai’s gaze was endearing as she turned her faint smile on Zachary. “Your brother and I are good friends. We will be sharing a house here in Boulder while he trains and I work.”

  The joyous energy that had shimmered in Alexander’s bright blue eyes just minutes earlier suddenly diminished. As he looked from one to the other, a wave of disappointment flushed his face. “It’s time for you to leave,” he said abruptly.

  “Can’t we just talk?” Zachary begged.

  “Thanks for stopping by,” Alexander replied as he moved to the door, brushing past his brother. “But don’t make it a habit. I don’t want to see you here again.”

  Zach grabbed him by the arm. “A, please,” he started before Alex snatched the limb away.

  He glared at the other man, the look laden with venom. “Be gone before I get back. If you’re still here I will throw you out.” Then with one last glance toward the woman staring at the two of them, he reached for the door handle and exited the room.

  Tears misted Zachary’s gaze as he stared after his twin, the hurt of his brother’s rejection washing over his spirit.

  Rising from where she sat, Sarai wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. She silently wished her dear friend had been able to tell his beloved brother just how much he had missed him. She sighed softly as he hugged her back.

  * * *

  The house on West Coach Road wasn’t anything Sarai had expected. The custom-built contemporary sat on thirty-four secluded acres in a private gated community. The open design featured a spacious kitchen and family room, formal living and dining rooms, two master bedroom suites, and three additional bedrooms. There was also a walkout lower level with a great room and office and an in-home gym.

  Zachary had rented the space fully furnished, the home looking like an interior designer’s showcase. With the incredible views and sweeping landscape that surrounded the property, Sarai felt as if she’d been swept into another dimension. It was a far cry from the modest space where she had lived in Thailand or her father’s home with its thatched roof and dirt floor.

  She stood staring out her bedroom window, overwhelmed by the expanse of pine trees and the mountains that sat in the distance, reaching for the sky. Her luggage still rested on the floor, and she could hear Zachary puttering around in the other master bedroom at the opposite end of the hall. She blew a soft sigh.

  He hadn’t spoken to her since they’d left the athletic center. His father had been calling repeatedly, and he refused to answer, sending the calls to voice mail. Despite her best efforts, the most she’d gotten from him was a low grunt as he’d carried their bags through the front door. Now he was cussing under his breath, refusing to let her help him decipher the emotion he was feeling. His feelings were hurt and he was angry and his mood swing had taken him to a dark place where she couldn’t go. Knowing Zachary’s hurt, she could only begin to imagine what Alexander was going through.

  She’d been thinking about Alexander since he had stormed out of the room. In that brief moment, she had wanted to hug him too. To offer him the comfort that he seemed to desperately need, because clearly, in that moment, Alexander Barrett was a man who needed someone to assure him that things were going to be all right. But the way he’d looked at her when he discovered that she and his brother were already acquainted had been confusing. There had been something teasing in his stare just minutes before, and then his gaze had gone as cold as the emotion that had spun like a winter blizzard between the two men. Things being right were far from Alexander’s mind, and she would have given anything to fix that.

/>   Zachary suddenly interrupted her thoughts. “Hey, are you hungry? I was going to order pizza or something.”

  She turned to eye him, standing in the doorway of her bedroom. “That’s all you have to say to me? Do I want something to eat?”

  Contrition painted his expression. “Sorry. My day didn’t go the way I wanted it to. But you know that.”

  “I know that a lot of things didn’t go the way people wanted them to go today. It doesn’t give you, or them, the right to treat everyone else badly.”

  He nodded his head, the gesture apologetic. “So, what were you two talking about? You and my brother.” He moved into the room and dropped down onto her bed.

  She shrugged. “Nothing really. We were just getting acquainted. Then he invited me to dinner.”

  “Dinner?”

  She nodded. “That’s when you came through the door and the two of you got into your . . . what did you call it? Your pissing match?”

  “You should go to dinner with him,” Zachary said, ignoring her comment. “Make friends, soften him up and put in a good word for me. He would listen to you. Everyone listens to you.”

  She shook her head. “He needs time to adjust. You come back and expect everything to go right back to normal. That doesn’t happen. Not after everything that has happened between you two.”

  Zachary blew a heavy gust of air past his full lips. He looked defeated, his shoulders hunched, his head hanging low as he stared toward the floor. Minutes passed before he finally spoke again. His voice was a low whisper. “I need him, Sarai. I need my brother back in my life. I feel lost without him.”

  She dropped onto the bed beside him. “I know,” she said as she reached for his hand and held it.

  The two sat side by side, falling into deep thought. Sarai knew Zachary had been struggling with his feelings for years, even before his relationship with his wife had gone south. Back then, when he was feeling remorseful about the disconnect with his twin and how he’d handled things, Felicia had been there to sway those emotions, insisting that loving her had not been a mistake. He’d fallen for the lies that had convinced him that he neither needed nor wanted his brother in his life. But he couldn’t help thinking that loving Felicia had cost him everything, especially after discovering her in bed with an opponent, that other man sweeping her off to the French Riviera with promises of fame and fortune.

  Working with him had afforded Sarai opportunities she couldn’t have ever imagined. They’d become fast friends, Zachary often sharing bits and pieces of himself until there was little she didn’t know about him. They were friends, feeling like family, and she owed him more than she would ever be able to return in kind. She loved him like a brother, and seeing him in pain actually hurt her heart.

  The two sat in silence for a good long while, trying to make sense of their situations. Both wishing they could pull the answers out of thin air. As the sun began to set against the backdrop of mountains outside her window, Sarai turned to look at him, her gaze meeting his.

  “What is pizza?” she asked, her dubious expression moving him to smile.

  * * *

  Alexander stood beneath the spray of four bronze-colored showerheads, the hot water like little piercing needles against his skin. His body hurt, and the heated shower massaging his muscles was welcomed. His early morning workout had been a bear, but the exercise was needed to alleviate the anxiety that had been with him since the grand opening of Champs. As he thought about the hard work and effort that had gone into creating and building his dream gym facility, he wanted to smile but didn’t have the energy or the wherewithal to make the effort.

  He was emotionally exhausted, and if he were honest, he didn’t see that changing anytime soon. Thoughts of his brother and the woman who’d called the man her friend flooded his mind. Alexander hadn’t been able to stop thinking of either, imagining the unfathomable. How was it possible that his twin had gotten to another woman who’d caught his eye, the two actually living together? For a brief moment he’d been excited at the prospect of taking her to dinner to get to know more about her. There was something about Sarai Montri that he couldn’t quite put a name to that had him curious, and Zachary had once again beaten him to the punch. It felt like high school, and college, all over again.

  Alexander leaned forward, both hands pressed against the glass tiles that decorated the room. Water washed his face, raining down over his head and his shoulders. He reveled in the moment as the heated spray slowly eased the tension that had knotted his neck and back. When the warm water had begun to chill, he stepped out of the wetness and wrapped a plush white towel around his waist.

  An hour later he was dressed and out the door, pulling into the parking lot of his new business. Inside, he greeted the morning employees and patrons cheerfully, excited by the number of people who’d shown up to work out. There was a morning water-aerobics class that had attracted a number of senior citizens, as well as an exercise event for new mothers and their infants. Both were filled to capacity. After passing his briefcase and gym bag to one of his assistants, he moved through the space to ensure that everything was moving smoothly.

  He was only slightly surprised to find his brother in the weight room. The man lay supine on a weight bench, doing chest presses with a weighted bar. He stared as Zachary lowered the weight to just below his sternum, then pressed it back up. After a steady procession, his arms began to tremble, and Alexander realized that with the amount of weight his brother was pushing, the movement had quickly become a challenge. He moved to his side, eyeing his twin with a narrowed gaze as he struggled to push out the last couple of reps.

  “Flare your elbows out,” Alexander commanded. “You need to lock it out more.”

  Zachary grunted loudly, his arms quivering from exertion. He was at a point of no return, almost dropping the bar across his chest when Alexander reached a hand out to help him set the weight bar back on the rack.

  “Why the hell are you in here without a spotter? You could have killed yourself.”

  Zachary grinned as he sat upright. “You’re concerned.”

  “I don’t need you screwing up my insurance rating by being stupid.”

  Zachary shrugged. “You were always the smart one, not me, remember?”

  “Doesn’t look like much has changed,” Alexander said, his tone dry.

  His brother chuckled. “Well, I was just killing time until you got here,” Zachary said.

  “I told you not to come back.”

  “But you didn’t mean it.”

  Alexander eyed his twin with a raised brow. “You really don’t want to test me,” he hissed between clenched teeth.

  “I need your help, A!” Zachary responded. “I know you’re still mad but I really need us to get past it.”

  “And what if I don’t want to get past it?”

  “Then I’m going to lose my next title match.”

  Alexander rolled his eyes skyward. “You were always so melodramatic!”

  “Well, this time I’m dead serious. I barely won my last match and I won’t win this one if I don’t get your help. My training regime is pure crap. I can’t focus and I don’t trust half the people I have working for me. No one understands what I need. I have to get back to basics and I only want you to train me.”

  Alexander stared at his brother. He didn’t bother to comment. He turned on his heels and headed back out the door. As he exited the room, he could hear Zachary calling after him, his brother still pleading for his help.

  Chapter Three

  Alexander paused in the foyer of his family home, eavesdropping on his parents as they sat in the kitchen in conversation. Hearing them talk about his brother and the Asian woman who’d come from Thailand with him had stalled his steps.

  “Well, are they dating?” Lynn questioned, a hint of attitude in her tone.

  Annoyance tinted his father’s words. “Woman, I told you I don’t know what’s going on with Zachary and that little girl so I don’t know why
you keep asking me. If you want to know ask Zachary.”

  “I’m going to ask her. That’s what I’m going to do.”

  “That works too.”

  A cup rattled against the table, someone dropping it heavily against the surface. Alexander took a low breath and held it, still standing like stone in the entranceway.

  “Because something must be going on with the two of them,” Lynn said emphatically. “He moved her into that house with him. And that’s some house! Did you see all that room? Got her living like a queen over there.”

  Alexander didn’t have to see his father to know that he was shaking his head, his eyes rolling toward the ceiling.

  Lynn continued. “You need to talk to them, Westley. It doesn’t make any good sense that they’re still fighting. They’re brothers for goodness’ sake! And they used to be so close!”

  His father suddenly called Alexander’s name. “How long have you been standing there, son?”

  Startled, Alexander jumped slightly, not having heard his father rise from his seat. He moved to shake the hand extended toward him.

  “Not long. I just got here. I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop by to check on you two.”

  “You need to let people know when you come into a room. Might hear something you don’t want to hear and get your feelings hurt sneaking around like that.”

  Alexander chuckled. “Yes, sir. Sorry about that.”

  Westley waved his son toward the back of the home. “We’re fine. About to go run a few errands, then your mother wants to stop by the gym to try out some dance class.”

  “It’s a step class,” Lynn interjected as she moved onto her feet. She leaned up to kiss Alexander’s cheek. “Hello, baby!”

  “Hi, Mama Lynn,” he said as he kissed her back. “You’re looking good, girl,” he said with a wink of his eye.

  The matriarch giggled. She reached up to touch her wig of the moment, a burgundy red cascade of curls that stopped just above her shoulders. “Are you hungry? Let me fix you some lunch,” she said as she pulled a ceramic plate from a glass-front cabinet.