Twin Temptation

Jase squeezed Maddie’s hand. “I intend to. We’ve got some bad news on this end too.”

“What? Has something happened at the store?” Jordan asked.

“Everything’s fine at the store except that Adam isn’t happy that Maddie’s here.”

“Surprise, surprise,” Jordan said in a dry tone.

Maddie exchanged a look with Jase and saw the quick flash of humor in his eyes. She might not have known her sister for very long, but she sounded more like Jordan now than she had when she’d first called.

“It’s not good news,” Jase warned. “You might want to sit down.”

“I’m fine standing.”

Maddie kept her fingers laced with Jase’s as he told Cash and Jordan about the investigation into her mother’s death.

“It wasn’t an accident.” Jordan’s voice was steady, and since it wasn’t a question, Maddie and Jase remained silent. “The police are investigating a homicide.”

“A possible homicide,” Jase corrected. “I have a hunch the hit-and-run is connected to the break-in and robbery at the store. Your mother and I both suspected that it was an inside job.”

“She never mentioned that to me.”

“I don’t think Eva wanted anyone to know.”

“Who in the store would do something like that?” Jordan asked.

“That’s the million-dollar question. Any ideas?”

“No,” she replied.

“She hired me to look into it, and I told her I could put someone on it while I was in South America. She refused the offer. She insisted I handle it personally. Hindsight is twenty-twenty. I think she had some idea of who the thief was.”

“Then she definitely would have followed up on that,” Jordan said. “Eva Ware Designs was her baby. If she was right and someone on the inside had robbed the store, she would have wanted to avoid scandal at all costs. I wouldn’t have agreed. That’s probably why she never mentioned it to me. Maybe I should fly back.”

“No.” Cash, Jase and Maddie spoke in unison.

For a moment there was silence. Then Maddie said, “Remember why we agreed to change places, Jordan. I’ve only just seen the store and Eva’s workplace, but you don’t want her work and her legacy to die. I don’t want that either. And you haven’t had a chance yet to explore the ranch.”

“Okay. Okay, you’re right,” Jordan agreed.

“And I’m working with Jase,” Maddie continued. “We’re going to find out who did this.”

“What can I do to help?” Jordan asked.

Maddie was relieved to hear that her sister’s voice was calmer. “Eva’s appointment calendar—the leather-bound volume—we’re trying to locate it.”

“That old thing. Even with Michelle’s help, I couldn’t drag her into the twenty-first century.”

“Where is it?” Maddie asked. “Michelle said she took it home every night. Do you know where we could find it?”

“She always put it in her tote bag.” There was a pause at the other end of the line. “When I picked up her stuff at the morgue, I couldn’t bear to bring any of it back to my apartment. So I dropped the box off at hers. You’ll find everything in the front hall closet. Why do you want it?”

“If she confronted whoever it was she suspected, she may have noted it in her calendar. It’s the kind of thing that I would do.”

“If you’re right that someone at Eva Ware Designs murdered Eva, and he or she discovers that you’re looking into it, you could both be in mortal danger,” Cash commented.

“Yeah,” Jase said.

There was a knock on the door.

“Just a minute,” Jase called out. Then he said, “We’ve got to go.”

“You take care of Maddie,” Cash said.

“You got it,” Jase said. “Same goes for Jordan.”

“Got it covered.”

As the connection went dead, Jase said, “I like your Cash Landry.”

Maddie raised an eyebrow at him. “Good to know that he has your stamp of approval. I like him too. He’s been like a brother to me. And he’ll take good care of Jordan. It’s thanks to his careful instruction that I was able to knock you on your ass this morning.”

Jase grinned at her and slung a friendly arm around her shoulder. “I don’t think he has the same ‘brotherly’ feelings toward your sister. And she’s such a city girl.”

Maddie was still trying to absorb Jase’s implication when the knock sounded at the door again.

“Yes?” Jase said.

Michelle popped her head in. “I’m about to order in for lunch. Would you like me to get something for you?”

Before Maddie could answer, Jase said, “Nah. I’m going to take Maddie out for lunch. I think she needs a break.”

9

JASE’S IDEA of a “break” was an impromptu picnic in Central Park. Maddie was delighted. The morning had been intense and so much had happened, her mind was still whirling with it. They’d used the 60th Street entrance, and the first thing that had caught her eye was the long line of tourists waiting for a horse-and-buggy tour.

“Don’t even think about taking a carriage ride,” Jase said.“I wasn’t.”

“Liar. I can tell by the way you’re looking at those horses. If you want, we can come back tonight when the traffic is lighter. In the meantime, you need something besides chocolate chip cookies to sustain you.” He waved a hand at the array of vendors hawking their wares. “What are you adventurous enough to try?”

She met his eyes. “Surprise me.”

“Do you have objections to onions?”

“Not as long as you eat them too.”

With a laugh, he leaned down and kissed her. It was brief, friendly, and it shouldn’t have made her knees melt. Still, she couldn’t trust her legs to carry her, so Maddie stood where she was and watched Jase join a long line at a hot-dog stand. Even at a distance, she could feel the strong, steady pull he had on her senses.

And on her.

What had happened in his bed had connected them in a way that she’d never before experienced with a man. And over and above the strength of the chemistry that existed between them, she was beginning to know him as a person.

He’d made his way to the head of the line, and as she watched, he leaned against the cart and said something to the man behind it that had the vendor suddenly grinning. Beneath that easygoing, laid-back persona he projected lurked so many other qualities. She’d glimpsed the hint of recklessness in his eyes and there’d been a no-nonsense toughness in the way he’d initially handled Cash on the phone. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that Jase could be ruthless when he wanted to. But she’d also been on the receiving end of his kindness. She thought of the way he’d searched the kitchen for Jordan’s stash of cookies, the way he’d hailed a taxi to save her from having to walk over twenty blocks in Jordan’s killer shoes, and of the creative way he’d gotten Adam Ware off her back for the time being.

Her stomach did a little flip. And it wasn’t merely from hunger. Being involved with Jase Campbell had the potential to be the biggest mistake she’d ever made in her life. But she’d gone way past the point of being able to draw on reason and logic. There’d be a price to pay when she had to go back to Santa Fe, but that was not going to stop her from making the most of the time she had with Jase.

But for now, she was going to stop staring at him like a gawking teenager. Turning, she found a space to sit on a nearby bench and eased her feet out of Jordan’s super-stylish shoes.

Glancing down, Maddie saw that her toes had turned red where the shoes had put pressure on them. She was beginning to think that the only way that the Sex and the City women had managed to survive their fabulous footwear was to walk in the shoes only while on camera.

Then pushing the thought of her aching feet away, she simply tried to drink in everything around her. Though she’d seen plenty of pictures of Central Park on TV and in the movies, none of it had accurately captured the experience of being here.

A wide range of sensations bombarded her—from the familiar aroma of horses and leather to the more foreign smells of exhaust fumes and sunbaked pavement. Layered through those were the scents of food—onions, pizza—and humanity.

The sun beat down and moist heat bounced up from the cement sidewalks. Flowers bloomed everywhere, spilling out of pots and neatly bordering the walkway. Others grew among the rocks and boulders.

But it was the people who fascinated her. Throngs of them passed by pushing strollers, riding bikes, clicking cameras. There was such a variety of voices, accents and foreign languages. She recognized Spanish easily but was hard-pressed to identify most of the others.

And there were so many different types, ages and sizes—from teenagers racing around in skimpy halter tops to elderly couples walking at a more leisurely pace. A dignified-looking older man using a motorized wheelchair caught her attention. A portly woman in a pink suit hurried by him carrying two large shopping bags. Maddie had to look twice, but she was sure it was the same woman she’d seen in Eva Ware Designs when they’d first entered the main salon. It seemed to her that perhaps half the population of New York had chosen to take a lunch break in the park.