Nathan was grinning at him, even as he shook his dark head in disbelief. “Dude, you might be the bravest person I’ve ever met,” he said, awestruck. “Nobody, and I mean nobody had ever told that girl she’s had too much to drink. Not even her dad, and believe me, my father-in-law can be a pretty intimidating guy when he wants to be.”

Ben’s mouth quirked up at one corner. “Yeah, so I’ve noticed. I’ve met him, you know. Last November. He came by the office to thank me for not sending Lauren on a trip to Brazil. He seems like a great guy.”

Nathan nodded enthusiastically. “The best. So is Natalie. I couldn’t have asked for better in-laws. They are the nicest, most down to earth people you’d ever want to meet.” He gave a little shudder as he reached for his own wine glass. “I was engaged once before, broke things off when I realized what a mistake I was making. Now, her parents would have been the in-laws from hell – the mother was a stuck-up witch while the father was the biggest pompous ass you’ve ever seen.”

“Hmm, sounds an awful lot like Elle’s parents,” lamented Ben. “I mean, both of them are always polite to me, I think that’s part of being British or something. But I’ve never felt that they approved of me, or think I’m good enough for Elle.”

“That would suck for sure,” agreed Nathan. “I guess I’m lucky that Julia’s family is so great. Even my pain in the ass sister-in-law isn’t quite as bad as she seems. Julia’s right – things have definitely been weird with Lauren these past few months. I know Julia and her parents are all worried about her.”

Ben frowned, realizing it was the second time today that Nathan had brought this particular subject up. “Any special reason?”

Nathan shrugged. “I think for Julia it’s more of a gut feeling. A “twin thing”, as she calls it. I mean, those two might seem as different as night and day, but they’re also two halves of the same whole. Julia picks up on vibes from Lauren and vice versa. But from what I hear Lauren has been spending more time than usual on her own. When she’s in California, she holes up in that cabin of hers most of the time, doesn’t even see her folks all that often. And she drives my mother-in-law nuts when she takes off for a day or two at a time on that crotch rocket of hers. Lauren thinks nothing of driving down the coast on her bike, and not saying a word to anyone about where she’s going. I understand Robert really lit into her a couple of weeks ago for worrying Natalie so much.”

Ben silently applauded Lauren’s father for his actions, and did his best to keep his own anger under control. As tough as Lauren might act, she’d only been driving that damned Ducati for a few years, and he could only imagine how recklessly she drove the powerful motorcycle.

“Do you think something at work is bothering her?” asked Ben, discreetly trying to discover if Lauren had dropped any hints to her family about possibly quitting her job.

“Probably not,” acknowledged Nathan. “I mean, she does love her job, is always talking about her most recent trip and showing us photos. Julia’s more or less convinced that Lauren’s got man problems, and that’s what set her off recently.”

“Is she seeing someone?” asked Ben casually, determined not to betray his interest in the subject.

“Nah. I mean, at least not that anyone knows about. Julia swears that Lauren has never brought a guy home even once to meet their parents. And that she never, ever, brings anyone to the cabin. That place is like her sacred space, you know? I’ve only been invited there twice, and both visits were brief ones. So who knows if Julia’s right or not. All I can say is that if Lauren does have a man in her life, the dude must either be a little crazy or else he’s some kind of superhero. He’d have to be one or the other – maybe a little of both – to have the guts to take her on.”

Ben fell silent after that as he mulled over everything he’d just learned. The facts that Lauren never introduced her men to her parents – while Ben had met both of them separately, though admittedly not as her boyfriend, and that she never invited anyone to the cabin – a place he’d spent the happiest ten days of his life – were both extremely interesting. But that knowledge wasn’t any help in figuring out what was bothering Lauren right now. Karl had seemed positive that Lauren wasn’t seeing anyone right now, and yet her twin sister – arguably the person closest to her – seemed to believe otherwise. As for himself, he didn’t know what to believe these days – about a whole lot of things, it seemed.

Nathan was reaching for the wine bottle when he uttered a low curse instead. “Aw, hell. Now she’s dragging Julia out to the dance floor. And that’s never a good thing.”

The trendy Peruvian restaurant in Greenwich Village also featured live music and dancing in the evenings, and it hadn’t taken long at all for the action to get started tonight. The smallish dance floor was packed with bodies writhing to the salsa band who was featured tonight. But all eyes seemed to be glued on the gorgeous, sexy twins who were putting on quite a show smack in the middle of the floor.

Julia seemed less than thrilled to be out there, her dance moves – not to mention her clothing – much more subdued than her sister’s. Lauren, on the other hand, was shimmying and shaking to the tropical beat with wild, uninhibited abandon, as if deliberately calling attention to herself.

Ben’s jaw clenched angrily as he watched her smile flirtatiously in response to the numerous cat calls and whistles she received. She might as well, he thought furiously, have the words “do me” stamped on her forehead, given the way she was dancing and what she had chosen to wear tonight.

She’d “cleaned up nicely”, as she had put it once, abandoning her usual jeans and T-shirts for a much more provocative outfit. She wore a black dress that seemed to expose more skin than it covered with its deeply slashed halter neckline, cut out side panels, and short, flared skirt. And with those damned lace ankle boots, Ben wondered how in the world she could dance so exuberantly without falling flat on her face – especially given the amount of alcohol she’d consumed tonight.

Nathan had a worried look on his face. “Lauren’s not a good influence on Julia,” he told Ben. “The few times they’ve gone out partying together Julia usually winds up with a hellish hangover the next day. And of course Lauren can never let me forget the time she tried to entice me into having a twin sandwich.”

Ben choked and sputtered on the sip of wine he’d just swallowed, reaching for his water glass. His eyes were watering as he croaked out, “A – what? That’s not really what it sounds like, is it?”

“’Fraid so,” Nathan muttered. “Though Julia swears up and down she never even considered doing something like that – whether with me or some other guy. Lauren was just trying to stir things up when she said that. But, damn her, she likes to forget that Julia is married now and shouldn’t be out there shaking all of her worldly goods in front of a bunch of horny guys. I’d better go and rescue my bride.”

“I’ll do it.” Ben stood and placed a hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “After all, you and Julia are here to celebrate, not play nursemaid to the Dancing Queen out there. Besides, considering the fact that she has a pre-dawn flight out of JFK in the morning, she might even thank me for dragging her out of here. I’ll grab a taxi, make sure she gets home okay.”

Nathan grinned. “Hey, now you’re really the bravest guy I’ve ever met. And it was good to meet you, Ben. I’m glad you decided to join us for dinner after all. I’m just sorry that Lauren seemed to go out of her way to ruin everything.”

“Forget it. Like I said, my presence here probably made it all ten times worse. She’s pissed off at me – for a lot of reasons – and when Lauren gets angry she usually winds up acting out like a naughty child. Nothing I can’t handle. And here.” He took out his wallet, extracted several bills, and placed them on the table. “I know you kept insisting that dinner was on you, but this is for the tip. God knows that poor waiter deserves it tonight.”