Secondhand Lover

By Marilyn Lee

After years of losing his women to his twin brother, James Jordan is doing just fine. He has a striving business and a large home just waiting for the wife and kids he hopes will soon share it with him. His orderly world is turned upside down when he arrives at work one morning to find the lovely Mila Jensen camped outside his office.

Stricken with lust at first sight, James sees an opportunity to get even with his twin when Mila mistakes him for his brother Jason. His plan backfires when he and Mila fall hard for each other. Then Jason breezes into town and James fears he’ll lose her to his womanizing twin brother.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marilyn Lee
• Release date: May 2, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458116123

Marilyn Lee

Marilyn Lee lives, works, and writes on the East Coast. In addition to thoroughly enjoying writing erotic romances, she enjoys roller-skating, spending time with her large, extended family, and rooting for all her hometown sports teams. Her other interests include collecting Doc Savage pulp novels from the thirties and forties and collecting Marvel comics from the seventies and eighties (particularly Thor and The Avengers). Her favorite TV shows are forensic shows, westerns (Gunsmoke and Have Gun, Will Travel are particular favorites), mysteries (loves the old Charlie Chan mysteries. Her all-time favorite mystery movie is probably Dead, Again), and nearly every vampire movie or television show ever made (Forever Knight and Count Yorga, Vampire are favorites). Marilyn has won numerous writing accolades, including a CAPA award for Bloodlust: Conquering Mikhel Dumont and the following Lub-Dubs Awards for 2009: Lifetime Achievement Award, In Blood And Worth Loving (Best erotic novel and best sci-fi/fantasy/paranormal Award. She loves to hear from readers who can email her at [e-mail] or who can visit her website, http://www.marilynlee.org. Visit her Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/marilyn.lee.393950?ref=tn_tnmn) She has a Yahoo! Group called Love Bytes that readers can join by sending an email to [e-mail]

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Secondhand Lover

Marilyn Lee

© 2011 Marilyn Lee

All Rights Reserved

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. All service marks, registered trademarks, and registered service marks are the property of their respective owners and are used herein for identification purposes only.

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Chapter One

I never intended to fall for Mila. I objected to everything about her. It’s true that her beautiful face and lithe, shapely body left very little to be desired, but the mere fact that she’d left a perfectly good job as a computer technician on the West Coast and come out East all on Jason’s word, told me she was irresponsible.

Of course, that’s probably what attracted her to Jason, Mr. Irresponsibility himself. Or maybe I should say one of the things. Jason and I are identical twins. But for as long as I can remember, the looks we share have always seemed more attractive on him than on me. At least, all the girls we knew seemed to think so. All through high school, Jason went out with the prettiest girls while I stayed home and studied.

I used to assure myself that I didn’t mind being referred to as the smart one while Jason was called the gorgeous one. But of course, I did mind. And I couldn’t quite understand the different way females perceived us. I mean we looked exactly alike. Sometimes Mom would even get us mixed up. So why wasn’t I as gorgeous as he was in addition to being more intelligent than he’d ever be?

But I’m straying from the subject, which is Mila. Or, more exactly, my falling so unexpectedly and so hard for her. By the time she arrived in Philly, I owned a growing computer repair and maintenance company in Center City and was doing well. Each year I made more money. Once I became comfortable with my success, I’d bought a big Victorian house near the city limits, which I hoped to one-day share with that special woman and a kid or two.

I had very little contact with Jason. He and I hadn’t been close since he’d won my first girl away from me when we were 13. He’d repeated that offense many times over the ensuing years. I began to get used to having him waltzing in and out of my life, after stealing the affection of my woman of the moment. Most of the women he took hadn’t meant much to me. I finally reached a point where I considered any woman who could be lured away from me to him as not worth having.

Sharon had been the exception. The moment I looked into her warm, dark gaze, I felt an instant connection with her. Our first date had been so magical I’d practically felt as if I’d been gliding on air when she lifted her face for my kiss at the end of the night. That kiss and gone on and on until we were both so aroused we ended up making love.

The next morning, when I rolled over and found her smiling at me from the other side of her bed, I felt as if I were on top of the world. We made love again before I left. On the way home, I tried to tell myself I was going too fast but I knew even then that she was the woman for me.

Sharon and I liked the same things. We shared similar life goals and both wanted to settle down with a few kids. And it goes without saying that we were good together in bed. Despite all my attempts to control my feelings for her, three months after we’d started an exclusive dating relationship, I bought an engagement ring.

I held it for two weeks, intending to propose during a long weekend we planned to spend in the Pocono Mountains skiing. Three days before we were due to leave, Jason waltzed back into town and turned my world upside down.

The moment I reluctantly introduced the two of them, I knew I was in trouble. Jason immediately set out to charm her. And watching the way her eyes never left his face, it was clear what was happening. In the past, once I saw the writing on the wall, I usually bowed out gracefully. But my feelings for Sharon ran so deeply, I did something I hadn’t done with any of the other women he’d taken, I fought for her. I gave it my best effort, but she called off our skiing trip. For two or three weeks, Sharon and I saw each other erratically.

I knew she was seeing Jason at the same time. I tried not to mind, but it hurt like hell. Finally, she arrived at my apartment one night and told me it was over. After she left, I looked out the window and saw her getting into Jason’s car.

Jason taking Sharon was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back and led to our estrangement. He hadn’t really wanted her. He’d only taken her because he could. Once she’d fallen as hard for him as I’d fallen for her, he left town, leaving her behind. She’d come crying to me begging me to tell her where he was so she could follow him.

I told her. She followed and he blew her off. She returned to Philly with a broken heart. She hinted we give our relationship another try, but there was no way in hell I was going to trust my heart to her again.

Five years after losing Sharon to Jason, I was still nursing my wounded heart and unable to forgive