Double Trouble

"What's that?" Becki, one of the other waitresses, asked me as she pointed to the little chalkboard easel I had tucked between my computer monitor and my phone charger.

I grinned, turning it so she could see the words 'You rock!' in bright pink chalk. "Was a gift for delivering that package to Jacque at the winery the other day."

"The one you got to stay for a free wine tasting for?"

"Mhmm," I replied even though in truth I was already distracted, remembering Wade, the guy I'd met and ended up spending most of the wine tasting with. Flicking my hair over my shoulder, I grabbed my phone from it's charger, I grinned as I shot him a quick message.

Can't stop thinking about you.

Was that too forward? Probably. But before I could start doubting my word choice, it appeared I already had his attention as I watched those magic three dots appear on my screen.

Are you kidding me right now?

I wasn't entirely sure how to take the response, more used to that being said in anger than a coy way.

Yes?

You're unbelievable.

Did I say something wrong?

Lose my number.

What the hell? Things had gone so well at the wine tasting. He'd talked about his preference of a good Shiraz, while mine was for a Merlot. He'd seemed interested in my opinion, my preferences for black cherries over plum, vanilla over clove, and then we got chatting about everything and anything between each different table of wine for testing.

By the end of the afternoon I would have said the giddiness I felt and the rosiness of my cheeks were more from his charms than any of the wines we'd tasted.

It was infuriating, but you know what? I'm not about to lose sleep over a guy changing his mind and being a jerk for no discernible reason.

---

The downside to deciding to put the jerk behind me was the fact I'd mentioned how much I'd gotten along with him to my sister after the tasting, which meant now that I'd turned on him so quickly, she was determined to figure out how it'd gone wrong.

"Did you wait too long before reaching out?" as we busked tables before the afternoon rush, even though her attention was more on wrangling her short hair into a clip than cleaning tables.

I rolled my eyes. "No. I messaged him like two days after."

"Was it something passive aggressive?"

"Libby seriously? If anything it was too forward telling him I couldn't stop thinking about him."

She frowned. "I mean...if he found it too forward, he could've just ghosted you."

"Give the girl a prize. He went from charming to jerk in two days straight with no good reason."

She tapped her fingers on the table. "It doesn't make sense."

"It doesn't really need to, I'm just grateful he showed his jerk colours before I got invested."

"But what if he was just having a bad day and his true colours are the charming ones?"

I rolled my eyes. "Just because you've met someone nice and are starting to get serious, don't apply your rose-tinted glasses to my life."

"I don't have rose-tinted glasses on," she scowled.

Clasping my hands together at my chest, I gave her a doey expression. "Oh Tess, his parents are so wonderful. They'll make the most wonderful in-laws when we get married!"

"I didn't say that!"

"I can't wait to walk down the aisle and then start popping out his babies. They'll look just like him and they'll all be amazing."

She threw her tea towel at me, walking back towards the bar.

"You've totally started picking out baby names, haven't you?"

"I think I see why he went jerk on your ass," she retorted, poking her tongue to lighten the blow.

Even if we'd wanted to continue arguing, customers had started coming in, and soon even sparing a quick word was the most conversation we could get out.

---

It was as though my thinking we were through the worst of it jinxed me as I approached my next time. "Hi, what can I do you fo-ck." My eyes went wide as I realised what I'd just said as the person sitting opposite Wade the Jerk found it hilarious.

"Do us fock?" he asked, not trying to hide his grin at all.

"Fork. Bit of restaurant humour there. What can I do you fork, knife to meet you...you get the idea." My cheeks were burning from embarrassment even as I clenched my jaw into a smile, refusing to let his death glare phase me. I placed the menus in front of each of them before rattling off the specials. His glare didn't let up the whole way through. "I'll leave you to decide and one of our waitresses will grab your order in a minute," I said before bolting for the safety of the kitchen, not bothering to see if they wanted to order drinks or starters before I did.

"You okay Tess?" Libby asked, letting me know immediately that my calm and collected look was failing miserably...or at least as far as she was concerned.

"Can you serve Table 6? Wade the Jerk," I said by way of explanation, before going to check on the orders for my other tables.

She came back a couple minutes later with their orders and a scowl. "It wasn't you, he's just a jerk. That's Bennett's brother," she said by way of explanation.

"Wait, the brother, as in the only in-law you're not keen on?"

"One and only. I mean his death glare seems a little more honed today, but just as snippy as he was at dinner the other night."

She wasn't joking. Every time I walked by their table, I could feel his cold gaze on me, until on the third pass, he hailed me over.

"Sorry, Libby will be back with you in a sec," I said trying to keep going.

"So you're just gonna go tie your hair back before serving us?" he growled.

I frowned at him. "No, I'm gonna serve my non-jerky tables and let Libby take care of your table." I gave a relieved smile as she came over just then with their mains, but something about the sudden confusion taking over his glare made me pause.

"Libby?" he asked, frowning at her.

"Mhmm," she gave a closed mouth grin, clearly having had enough of his sass.

Then he turned, pointing a finger at me. "And Tess?"

And just like that, the penny dropped, and I couldn't help the laugh. "You're an idiot."

Libby glanced over at me with a quirked brow.

"He only just twigged we're twins," I told her.

It was her turn to laugh. "She has long hair, I have short hair, how did you not figure it out?" And then she gave a little gasp. "Wait, is this why you were being such a jerk the other night too?"

---

Which is somehow how I ended up on my first date with Wade. In an effort to prove he was neither unobservant nor a jerk, he was taking Libby and I on a double date with his brother Bennett, though the latter wasn't aware of the full details.

Just Wade and I sat at our table at the Pollitt Winery later that week, because why not return to the start of the whole mess. I had my hair pulled back so it looked a little more like her short cut, while Libby was sitting at the table behind us, facing away from me.

"Such an idiot," I mumbled under my breath, though whether it was at Wade for the twin thing, or myself for agreeing to this date, I wasn't entirely sure.

"It's not like it's completely obvious," he retorted, raising a hand to wave a man who I assumed was Bennett over, a wolfish grin spreading across his face as though victory was already in the bag. "Hey, Bennie."

Bennett gave him a quick man-hug before turning to me, familiarity quickly clouding and then a charming smile. "I didn't know Libby had a twin."

Both Libby and I burst out laughing.

"You told him!" Wade immediately interjected.

"Nope, you're just an idiot," I retorted as Libby joined us at the table, giving Bennett a quick kiss on the cheek.

Bennett looked between Wade and I. "You didn't know she wasn't Libby?"

Wade scowled at him. "No, I didn't realise Libby wasn't Tess."

"But, their hair is different, their eyes are different, heck even the way they dress is different."

My cheeks were hurting from grinning so big as I quirked a brow at him.

"Their taste in wine is different too," he mumbled, which caused me to frown.

"Is that why you got so upset I didn't want the Merlot?" Libby gasped at him.

"Naww, you remembered I liked Merlot?"

"It's a start, right?"

"I mean...not a great start all things considered...but a start."

We ate, drank wine and talked the night away, and by the end of the night, I had to agree with Libby - his true colours were charming, with the occasional sassy spot to keep it interesting.

And he ordered a really good Merlot.