Page 36 of Adored By the Wolf

“No. But there is a slight problem.”

I looked at Lira and narrowed my eyes. “And what would that be?”

“You remember that last day of the gallery sale? The one where you didn’t want to go anymore so you sent me?”

“Uh-huh . . .” I did not like where this was going.

“Remember how I pretended I was you for the day?”

“Yes . . .”Not. One. Bit.

“Well, the guy was really cute, and I felt a connection with him. I don’t know how to explain it. He had asked for my number, and I gave it to him, but since he was a client, I gave him your number, like I always do with a client. I figured I’d get his number from you later.”

“But . . .”

“But apparently, I was so smitten that I gave him my number after all.” Lira was staring at me with the most innocent eyes, and that never boded well.

“Lira, what did you just do?” I was clenching the back of the kitchen seat now.

“I had to pretend I was you on the phone just now.”

“Lira!”

“He called thinking it was you! What was I supposed to do?”

“Tell him he got the wrong sister!”

“I panicked.” She came over and grabbed my arms in her hands. “I really like him, Millie. Please, can I pretend to be you just to get to know him a little more? I might not like him after getting to know him and then it’ll all be for nothing. We can then go our separate ways, and he’ll never know.”

“And what if it goes the other way?”

“I’ll come clean. I promise.”

“Well, you’re definitely not marrying him as me if it goes that far.” I breathed a little easier knowing that getting that far was never on Lira’s cards. She tended to get tired of every boy after the second date. “Fine. But I don’t want to be involved in any way, do you understand? If he finds out and gets mad at you, don’t drag me into your problem, got it?”

Lira squealed and hugged me tight. “I won’t drag you into it, I promise. You’re the best sister ever!”

Then a thought came to me. “Ask him about the painting he bought. Since he likes you, he might be okay with giving it back.”

“Are you crazy? I can’t just go on a date with him and then in the middle of a wonderful conversation insert ‘so, about one of the paintings you bought.’ He’d definitely never want to see me again.”

“Lira—”

“No, Millie!” And she actually stomped her foot. “I’m not doing it. We’ll just have to find another way to get the painting back.”

Millie

Lira wenton her date that night and came back floating on cloud nine. She said she played the perfect Millie and had a great time.

“This guy likes quiet and not crazy Lira?” I asked, disbelieving.

“Hey! I’m not crazy, I just like to have fun. And yes, he does. I might start being more like you more often. He was the perfect gentleman and didn’t make a move on me. We just had dinner, went for a walk, talked about everything under the sun—or moon, in this case—and then he brought me home. It was the tamest date I’ve ever had, and the whole time I wondered if it was a dream. Normally, I would have run away within the first five minutes.”

“That’s kind of what I expected.”

Lira gave me a look, but I just shrugged. She would have, and we both knew it.

“But I honestly thoroughly enjoyed every second I was in his company.”