Excerpt:
She can't take her eyes off him.
He's every bit as handsome with those blazing blue eyes and chiseled features. The main difference is that he has longish hair that falls almost to his shoulders - unlike Channing, who sports short hair to the point of a buzz cut. He wears a five o' clock shadow in his rugged jawline. He's dressed in a dark shirt, over which he slings a black jacket. His jeans are also black. He resembles the night itself.
He smiles at her, and it's dazzling.
"Interesting," he says. He has the exact same voice as Channing.
She wonders if he is Channing himself in another guise, and he has just put on a wig in some bizarre role play which he expects her to participate in. Yes, that's a very real possibility.
"Ch-channing?" she says.
"I can be him if you wish me to be." He looks around the kitchen as if he's never seen it before. "Nice place my brother has got here. He's done very well for himself. And who are you? A lover? Certainly not a wife, I'll bet. That was never in his spec sheet."
A brother? An identical twin, more like. She can only stare at him as he steps out of the doorway. Her hands are still on her breasts.
He motions to her crotch.
"If you're trying to hide yourself, you need to hide more than your upper half."
Her distressed hands flutter to her crotch, revealing her breasts. She quickly covers her nipples again with one hand while the other stays at her pubis, which she now is certain is also exposed.
He moves closer, and she backs away. He is an unknown quantity, and everything about this situation screams wrong.
"You're beautiful," he remarks, his eyes admiring. "My brother always had good taste in women. Notwithstanding what he did to her."
There's an undercurrent here. Something is certainly not right. She retreats as he keeps on coming closer, until she bumps into the kitchen counter. She has nowhere to go.
"Please," she says.
"Please what?"
"Please don't . . . "
He is two feet away from her now. She wonders if she is in any danger. The way he appraises her - like she is something to eat - is deeply unsettling. Out of the corner of her eyes, she spies the knife rack. She wonders if she should reach for it.
His nostrils flare as his pupils dilate. "I should take you right here on the table. Take you as he has taken her."
Her heart skips several beats.
Her instincts are right. She is in danger.
