Twin Temptation

“Yes. Luckily, I sit on the MOMA board with a man who helps people in Adam’s situation.”

“John Kessler?”

Dorothy frowned. “How did you know?”

“The man’s a loan shark,” Maddie said.

“Nonsense. He helped Adam when his father and I couldn’t. Of course, I did what I could to help him with the payments, but I couldn’t go on doing that forever. I told him he had to be a man and take care of the problem. And for once in his life, Adam stepped up to the plate.”

The pride in Dorothy’s voice had Maddie’s blood turning even colder.

“He robbed Eva Ware Designs of a few baubles to take care of the debt once and for all. Everything would have been fine if Eva hadn’t figured it out. When she confronted him about the robbery and discovered that Adam was still gambling, she actually threatened him. Adam, in spite of his faults, is a Ware.”

“Did she threaten to have him arrested?”

“Of course not. Adam’s family. She told him that she would settle his additional debt, but that he would have to leave Eva Ware Designs. Can you imagine that?”

For the first time, Maddie heard a thread of emotion in Dorothy’s voice.

“She was going to fire Adam! Adam, whose dream was to run Eva Ware Designs one day. I couldn’t allow that to happen. That’s why I had to kill her. That’s why I have to kill you.”

Beyond Dorothy’s shoulder, Maddie saw Jase spring to his feet and lunge forward. Later, she remembered everything in freeze-framed moments. Dorothy started to turn. Jase was still too far away to reach her in time. Without any thought on her part, Maddie flew forward and brought the edge of her hand down hard on Dorothy’s gun arm. The gun fired into the floor.

The shot was still ringing in Maddie’s ear when she grabbed the arm she’d just hit and kicked Dorothy’s feet out from under her.

Jase flipped the woman over and sat on her while he put plastic restraints on her wrists and ankles. Then he pulled out his cell, punched in a number, and handed it to Maddie. “You talk to Stanton. He’s going to yell at me and my head hurts.”

As she took the phone, he smiled at her, then winced and said, “Is that one of the moves your friend Cash taught you?”

“Yes.”

“I owe him one.”

IT TOOK a lot of charm, arguments and dogged determination, but in just three hours Jase was letting Maddie lead him down the hall to his bedroom. The stop at the emergency room had been at Maddie’s insistence. Stanton had joined them there and questioned them both in the waiting room.

While he’d been X-rayed, poked, prodded, stitched up and given a prescription for twenty-four hours of bed rest, she had stayed by his side.That’s when Maddie had asked the question that was foremost in his own mind. “You don’t think that it’s over, do you?”

“Hard to say,” he’d replied. “That’s why I haven’t called D.C. yet. I don’t want anyone in Santa Fe letting down their guard until we know more.”

According to Stanton, Carleton Ware had been shocked when he’d heard the news about his wife and son. Stanton’s take was that the reaction rang true. Neither the wife nor the son had implicated him. Carleton was out of town attending a conference, but he’d sent a team of lawyers to the station. However, the hard evidence had started to dribble in. The security cameras at Eva’s garage had caught a good shot of Dorothy behind the wheel of Eva’s car on the same night that Eva was run down. And Dino had tapped into Eva’s bank account and found a withdrawal of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars two days before her death. Apparently that had gone to Adam to pay off the additional debt he’d incurred since he’d robbed the store. Jase’s informant had also phoned in. One of the fences he’d contacted had given a description of Adam.

“I don’t believe Dorothy hired the hit woman who shot at us in the park,” Maddie said. “I don’t think she could have faked the surprise I saw in her eyes when I asked her about it.”

“I’m not so sure she hired the hit either. Perhaps Adam did,” Jase said.

“The terrible thing is his mother would be proud of him if he did.”

They’d reached his bedroom, and Maddie steered him through the door and onto the bed. He let her fuss over him, rearranging pillows. But when she turned to go, he took her wrist and pulled her down on top of him.

“Jase,” she said. “The doctor said bed rest. You have a possible concussion.”

“That doctor was only twelve years old. Besides, it’s equally possible that I don’t have a concussion.”

“Either way, you need rest.”

With one hand he held her in place. With the other he drew her head down and brushed his lips over hers. “Stay with me.”

When she melted against him, a little of his tension eased.

Lifting her head, she said, “We’re just going to rest.”

He smiled slowly. “For now.” He eased her to his side and turned to face her. It occurred to him that they were in the same position as when he’d opened his eyes and first seen her. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ve waited a long time to get you back here in my bed, Maddie.”

When he saw the nerves flash into her eyes, he felt his own knot more tightly in his stomach.

“We don’t need to talk now,” she said.

Patience. He’d thought he could draw on it. Promised himself that he would. But he couldn’t.

“I know that you have a lot on your plate. Your aunt has been arrested for murder, your cousin for robbery. You’ve just begun to get settled in at Eva Ware Designs and get your questions about your mother answered. We haven’t even had time to search Eva’s apartment or office to see whether there’s any evidence that she and your father kept in touch over the years.”

“I have an idea about that. A hunch. We can check it out later. Right now you need to rest.”

Hadn’t he promised himself during the eons of time they’d spent in that emergency room that he’d wait for later, too? There were so many reasons why he shouldn’t push her now. And one reason why he had to.

“I can wait to make love with you, Maddie. But I need to settle something. I thought I could give you time, but I have to say this. We both thought that making love that night was an accident, a mistake. But it wasn’t. There’s something about you that’s felt so right—from the beginning.”

When he paused and she merely stared at him, impatience bubbled over. “Dammit, Maddie. I love you.”

For a moment the words hung in the air between them while Maddie’s head took a bigger spin than it had on the fire escape. Jase loves me?

He gripped her shoulders. “I want you here in my bed. Not just for tonight or the next three weeks. I want you here permanently.”

Permanently? Wasn’t that the word that she’d been afraid to let herself think about? Hope for?

Jase began to look panicked when she still remained silent. “I know that we come from different worlds. But we’ll find a way to build a bridge between them. I figure even after the terms of the will are met, you’ll want to keep your hand in at Eva Ware Designs. And who knows how Jordan will feel about ranching? Maybe Dino and I could open a branch of our business in Santa Fe. We can work something out.” He was babbling, Maddie realized. Jase never babbled.

“Wait.” She placed her hand over his mouth. “I think it’s my turn to say something.”

She smiled at him and framed his face with her hands. “I love you too. Let’s build that bridge.” She drew his mouth to hers.

The kiss was filled with promise and joy. Not just right, but perfect.

Epilogue

“THIS COULD have waited until tomorrow,” Maddie said as they stepped into Eva Ware’s apartment.

“I rested for nearly four hours.”She shot him a look. “Some of what we did in your bed didn’t qualify as resting.”

He grinned at her. “You’re an irresistible temptation to me, Maddie Farrell. Besides, I think making love to you was just what the doctor should have ordered. I feel much better now.”

The truth was he’d felt wonderful ever since she’d said she loved him. Foolish as it might be, he wanted to shout it from the treetops. Before they’d left the apartment, he’d settled for calling his brother, but D.C.’s phone had gone straight to voice mail. So had Jordan’s. It wasn’t enough to worry him. If there were serious problems at the ranch, D.C. would have found a way to contact him.

“You said you had a hunch,” he continued. “I know what it’s like to have one of those and not be able to act on it right away. You’re not going to rest easy until you check it out.”

She led the way out of the foyer and paused in the doorway to Eva’s library. Outside, the early-evening light was dimming, so Jase flipped on a switch. They were facing the portrait of Eva and Jordan.

“I could be wrong,” Maddie said. “I still don’t really know her all that well.”

Jase took her hand. “You know her better than you think you do.”

“You said that before, and it started me thinking. I want to believe that my parents kept in touch all these years—that they had some interest in the daughter they didn’t raise. But that may be wishful thinking.”