Twin Temptation: Twin Temptation
Twin Temptation: Twin Temptation
Cara Summers
Twin Temptation Heiress Maddie’s just discovered she’s got a secret twin sister! Now their inheritance depends on temporarily switching places. Sex with her sister’s gorgeous friend Jase is just an added bonus. Yet can she give him up when it’s time to return to her life?Twin SeductionJordan has always had Wild West fantasies. Until her long-lost twin sister arrives…and they switch places! Jordan heads to Santa Fe and encounters red-hot cowboy Cash, who’s everything she imagined and more – and he isn’t about to let her just return to her old life!
TWIN TEMPTATION
“Who are you and what are you doing in my bed?”
The note of command in Jase’s voice snapped Maddie out of the trance she’d fallen into ever since he’d pulled back and she’d looked into those mesmerising blue-green eyes. A moment ago, she’d been sure he was going to kiss her again. And she’d wanted him to. More than that, she’d willed him to. But he hadn’t. And now he seemed to be focused on getting answers. OK, maybe he had a right. But so did she.
She squirmed backwards, intending to get out of bed. But she was naked. Sweeping her hand beneath the covers, she searched for her tank top. Without success.
“I’m still waiting for an answer.”
TWIN SEDUCTION
She wanted to taste him. She had to taste him.
As if he’d read her mind, he turned his head until his lips were just brushing hers. For a moment, she hesitated and she sensed that he was hesitating too. She was tempted to open her eyes, to try to see what he was thinking. But she knew, didn’t she? And if she opened her eyes, he might disappear.
She couldn’t let that happen. She had to keep him here. Tightening her fingers on his face, she drew him closer and whispered, “It’s all right. I want you to kiss me.”
Twin Temptation
By
Cara Summers
Twin Seduction
By
Cara Summers
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
CARA SUMMERS has written more than thirty books. She has won several awards, including an Award of Excellence, two Golden Quills and two Golden Leaf Awards. Last year she was also honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Series Storyteller of the Year from Romantic Times BOOKreviews. She loves writing for the Blaze
line because it allows her to write so many different kinds of stories – from Gothic romances and mystery adventures to romantic comedies. When Cara isn’t creating new stories, she teaches in the writing programme at Syracuse University.
Available in July 2010 from Mills & Boon® Blaze®
BLAZE 2-IN-1
Twin Temptation
by Cara Summers &
Twin Seduction by Cara Summers
The Soldier by Rhonda Nelson
Made You Look by Jamie Sobrato
Twin Temptation
By
Cara Summers
To my daughter-in-law Mary Plante Hanlon – who just happens to be a twin!
You’re also an amazing mother and a good friend. I love you!
Prologue
IT WAS a mansion right out of the books she’d read as a child—Jane Eyre, Rebecca, Wuthering Heights.
Those were Maddie’s first fanciful thoughts when she stepped out of the limousine and got a good look at the massive stone structure. Gray and solitary, Ware House soared up three stories and boasted three turrets and a roof edged in carved stone. A man could have tucked away a crazy wife in any of those turrets, she thought a bit giddily. And the fact that the sky was lead colored and cast the front of the house in shadows only added to the illusion.
But this wasn’t some English gentleman’s mysterious country home. It was the Long Island residence of the Ware family. And she was about to meet them for the first time.
A tall man who reminded her a bit of Michael Caine answered the door. He had to be a butler. His posture was ramrod-straight and his face totally expressionless. But Maddie thought she saw a flicker of surprise in his eyes before he stepped aside and said, “Come in, Ms. Farrell. Let me take your bag.” Just as if she were a regular visitor.
Still hesitating on the threshold, Maddie firmly reined in her imagination. It had rocketed into overdrive from the moment she’d received the phone call from that attorney, Edward Fitzwalter III. Gripping the strap of her purse more tightly, she stepped into the dark-paneled foyer. Since she wasn’t at all sure of her welcome, she’d asked the limo driver to wait for her. She had an escape plan in place.
“This way.” The man turned and started down a wide hallway. “The family has already gathered in the library.”
Family.
The knot of anxiety in Maddie’s stomach tightened. She was about to meet a family she hadn’t known existed until two days ago. Up until that time, she’d believed that she was the only daughter of Mike Farrell, a successful cattleman whose ranch was located about an hour north of Santa Fe. Mike had been an only child, the last of a line of ranchers, and Maddie was supposed to carry on his legacy. All her life she’d believed her mother had died when she was a baby. That was the story her father had told her…and since he’d passed away a year ago, there was no way she could ask him why he’d lied.
And according to the gruff-voiced attorney who’d called her two days ago, her father had indeed lied to her. And it had been a whopper. All these years, she’d had a mother she’d never met—a mother who’d been raised in this house and who just happened to be renowned Madison Avenue jewelry designer Eva Ware.
Oh, Maddie was very well-acquainted with the professional persona of Eva Ware. She’d studied the woman’s designs ever since she was in junior high and had first dreamed of creating her own line of Southwestern-style jewelry. Her father had known of her admiration for Eva Ware Designs, but he’d never once mentioned that the woman she’d so admired was her mother.
She was still struggling with the idea when the lawyer had told her that five days ago Eva Ware had been struck down by a hit-and-run driver.
No.
The news, shocking and unexpected, had set her head spinning. Sitting down hard on a nearby chair, she’d tried to gather her scattered thoughts as the voice on the other end of the phone droned on. Maddie had caught bits and pieces—her mother’s request…fly to New York…reading of the will…claim her inheritance.
Inheritance? She’d still been grappling with that word when the attorney had sprung another one on her. A real kicker. Sister. In addition to having a mother she’d never been aware of, she also had an uncle, a cousin and a sister—an identical twin, Jordan Ware.
For a few moments, the attorney’s voice had become nothing more than a buzz in her ear. She had a sister? A twin sister she’d been separated from since birth?
No. That was straight out of the plot a Disney movie—two of them, in fact. The Parent Trap had been one of her favorite films when she’d been a child. A memory flooded her mind of watching the older Hayley Mills/Maureen O’Hara version of the film with her father when she’d been nine or ten. And he’d never breathed a word.
No. She couldn’t accept that. Her father couldn’t have lied to her all these years. Gripping the phone as if it were a lifeline, Maddie had stood up and interrupted the man on the other end of the line. “You’re lying. If this is some kind of hoax, or some kind of scam you’re running, it won’t work.”
In a calm voice, as if he’d fully expected that reaction, he’d told her to call information and get the number of the Fitzwalter and Carnegie law firm in New York City and then to call it and ask for Edward Fitzwalter the Third. Pacing back and forth in the living room of the ranch house, she’d debated following his instructions for a full fifteen minutes.
She couldn’t, she wouldn’t believe that her father had lied to her. The man who’d called her had to be some kind of a con artist. Pausing at the window that filled one wall of the living room, she’d stared out at the land that had been in the Farrell family for five generations.
And then she’d thought of Daniel Pearson, the local real estate agent who’d been pressuring her to put the ranch on the market for the past six months. It was pretty common knowledge that ever since her father had died, she’d been struggling to run the ranch and still grow her jewelry design business. Could Mr. Fitzwalter’s call be connected to that? But how? If she had in truth inherited something from her mother, it would only help her hold on to the ranch and carry on her father’s legacy.
In the end, Maddie had succumbed to curiosity and a gut feeling that the man who’d called her was indeed Edward Fitzwalter the Third. And he had been. More than that, he’d been patient and kind enough to repeat all the information he’d given her before. He’d even told her that he’d booked an airline ticket for her on the following day. All she had to do was go to the airport and pick it up. A limousine would be waiting for her at JFK airport and it would take her to the Ware family’s estate on Long Island for the official reading of the will.
Maddie dragged her thoughts back to the present when the butler man stopped in front of a double set of paneled doors. Nerves jittered in her stomach as he turned the handles and pushed them open.
Still on the threshold, Maddie let her gaze sweep the room. It was cavernous. Three of the four walls were packed with books. The scent of leather-bound volumes mixed with the aromas of lemon wax and lilies from the vases scattered throughout the room. Four narrow stained-glass windows took up the wall directly across from her and let in a gloomy light.
And she was stalling. Screwing up her courage, she stepped into the room and one by one met the gazes of the five people who’d turned to stare at her. She began with the mustached and balding man who was sitting at the desk. She guessed him to be Edward Fitzwalter the Third. Then Maddie looked to the three people seated to the left of the desk.
Fitzwalter had given her a thumbnail sketch of each member of the Ware family. The handsome gray-haired man in the red leather chair must be Carleton Ware, Eva’s brother. Carleton wasn’t involved in Eva Ware Designs. He ran the Ware Bank, which had been established by his great-great-grandfather and whose branches were scattered all over Long Island. Carleton, his wife and son resided year round at Ware house. Eva, though she’d inherited half of the house, had lived in New York City. Carleton’s hazel eyes were cool and assessing as they met hers. The younger man seated to his right had to be her cousin Adam. He had wavy, chestnut-colored hair that he wore long and tucked behind his ears. His brown eyes held hostility.
According to Mr. Fitzwalter, Adam was very involved in Eva Ware Designs. He’d gone to work there right after college and he’d been trained by Eva from the time he was in high school. Fitzwalter had described Adam’s mother Dorothy, the woman seated to Carleton’s left, as a society matron with a very active social life both on Long Island and in Manhattan. She served on several charitable boards and spearheaded fundraisers for institutions like the Museum of Modern Art. She was a tall slender woman with a model’s figure. Her gaze was several degrees cooler than her husband’s, and superiority radiated off her in waves. Dorothy Ware’s perfectly coiffed brown hair and impeccably tailored black suit had Maddie feeling underdressed.
Growing up on a ranch had never allowed her much time to spend on fashion, and her khaki slacks, embroidered denim jacket and leather ankle boots were perfectly acceptable business attire in Santa Fe. She shifted her attention to the small Chinese man sitting farthest away from the attorney. He had to be Eva’s longtime assistant, Cho Li. He wore his long black hair pulled back into a ponytail, and it had begun to thin on top. According to Fitzwalter, Cho Li had been with Eva even before she’d opened her Madison Avenue store. When he nodded his head and smiled at her, she finally found the courage to turn to the one familiar face in the room—Jordan Ware’s.
On the long flight from Santa Fe, she’d imagined this moment so many ways. But she hadn’t anticipated the swift punch of recognition in her belly or the instant sense of connection. For a second she couldn’t quite catch her breath. It wasn’t like looking in a mirror—not exactly. In the dove-gray suit and turquoise blouse, Jordan looked as though she’d stepped right out of a fashion magazine, making Maddie feel even more the country bumpkin.
But the woman who rose from her chair and faced her now had the same blue-violet eyes and the same facial features. And though Jordan Ware wore her hair in a chic style that framed her face in a sleek curve and Maddie wore hers in a long braid down her back, the color was the same honey gold.
Everything that Fitzwalter had told her on the phone was true. For the first time, Maddie felt the reality of that sink in. She really did have a twin. A sister.
Maddie had no idea how long they stood there in that freeze-framed moment taking each other in, nor how many times Fitzwalter cleared his throat before the sound penetrated.
It was Jordan who moved first, rushing forward and taking Maddie’s hands. Looking into her sister’s eyes, Maddie saw her own feelings mirrored—curiosity, excitement and fear. Would they have anything in common? Would they even like each other?
“Welcome,” Jordan whispered.
For the first time since she’d entered the mansion, some of Maddie’s tension eased.
Then Jordan turned to the others in the room. “Uncle Carleton, Aunt Dorothy, Adam, Cho Li, this is my sister, Madison Farrell.”
For a moment there was silence in the room.
Cho Li was the first to speak. Stepping forward, he bowed. “It is my pleasure to meet Eva’s other daughter.”
Maddie found herself bowing back.
Then Carleton rose from his chair. “You’ll have to forgive us, Madison. The shock of my sister’s death coupled with the news that she had a second daughter tucked away all these years in Santa Fe…well, we’re still trying to absorb everything. Until you walked into the room right now, I’m not sure that any of us really believed what Edward had told us. Dorothy, Adam and I want to welcome you to Ware House.”
Adam and Dorothy, their eyes cool, remained silent.
Grateful that she didn’t have to walk into the room alone, Maddie let her sister lead her to a chair.
As they sat, Jordan sent her a smile and a conspiratorial wink. “Once the will stuff is over, we’ll talk.”
Chapter One
JORDAN WAS still holding Maddie’s hand when Fitzwalter opened the file in front of him and lifted the papers. Out of the corner of her eye, Maddie studied her sister. Jordan’s lips were pressed tightly together and her eyes were totally focused on the attorney.
She was nervous, Maddie realized. And it went beyond the fact that they’d just met. Since her chair was located at the right of the desk and angled in a way that gave her a view of the other occupants of the room, she took a moment to study the other Wares.
With his arm draped casually over the back of his wife’s chair, Carleton appeared to be perfectly at ease. But there was a stiffness in his shoulders and his mouth that belied that. At first glance Dorothy appeared to be bored, but her hands were clasped so tightly in her lap that the knuckles had turned white. Adam sat poker-straight, his hands gripping the arms of the chair.
If there was one thing her father had taught her it was the importance of reading facial expressions and body language. According to Mike Farrell, it was an essential skill in all kinds of activities—from playing poker to bargaining for a price on his cattle. Two things were clear to Maddie. The other Wares’ nerves were stretched as tightly as Jordan’s were. And the family didn’t seem to be very close-knit.
Why not? Had any of them provided support for Jordan as she’d dealt with the terrible news of her mother’s death? Something tightened around her heart as Maddie recalled the numbness and the piercing pain she’d felt when her father had passed on a year ago. That had been sudden too. She still felt guilty about the fact that she’d been at a jewelry show in Albuquerque, and Mike had suffered a heart attack while he’d been out checking some fences. Alone. Cash Landry, her neighbor and lifelong friend, had found the body the next morning.
Since she’d never met Eva Ware, Maddie couldn’t know exactly what Jordan was going through. Was there someone her sister could turn to as Maddie had been able to turn to Cash? As Edward Fitzwalter donned a pair of reading glasses, she linked her fingers with Jordan’s.
Gripping the papers in two hands, Fitzwalter peered over his glasses, first at the Wares and then at Jordan and Maddie. “My plan is to make this brief. If any of you want a complete draft of the document including all the whereases, wherefores and so on, I’ll be happy to make a copy. But if no one objects, I’ll get right to the bequests.”
Silence reigned in the room. When the attorney shifted his gaze back to the paper he was holding, Jordan’s fingers tightened on Maddie’s. She was worried about the contents of the will. Maddie’s heart sank. Of course she would be. So would everyone in the room. The only reason that Eva Ware would have requested her presence today was because she’d left something to the daughter she’d deserted. And that something would be taken out of someone else’s inheritance.
“To my personal design assistant Cho Li, I leave the sum of five hundred thousand dollars so that if he chooses, he can retire. But my hope is that he’ll remain in his position until the new owners of Eva Ware Designs get up to speed.”
Dorothy Ware whispered something to Adam and he jerked forward in his chair. “New owners? Who are the new owners?”
Fitzwalter glanced up. “I’ll get to that part sooner without interruptions.”
Adam opened his mouth and then shut it.
“To my brother Carleton, I leave all of my shares in the Ware Bank. I hope that he’ll finally make the fortune he’s always believed I’ve prevented him from getting.”
Maddie noted that the news didn’t seem to make Carleton very happy.
Fitzwalter cleared his throat. “The rest of my estate, including stocks, bonds, cash, Eva Ware Designs, my fifty-percent share of Ware House on Long Island and my New York City apartment, I leave to my two daughters, Jordan and Madison, to be shared equally. It is my sincere hope that they will run Eva Ware Designs together. However, there is one requirement. They must change places and walk around in each other’s lives for three consecutive and uninterrupted weeks beginning within seventy-two hours from the time this will is read. If they refuse to fulfill the terms as I’ve set them out or if they don’t stay the course for three weeks, my fifty percent of Ware House will go to my brother Carleton. Everything else, including the business and my apartment, will be sold and the profits divided equally among all my surviving relatives.”
Jordan’s mouth dropped open, and this time Maddie thought she knew exactly what her sister was feeling.
Dorothy touched Adam’s arm and he leapt out of his chair to plant both of his hands on the desk inches from the papers that Fitzwalter had just set down. Anger radiated off of him in waves, causing Maddie to sit forward in her chair.
“That can’t be right. I’ll be the chief designer now that Aunt Eva is gone. She should have put me in charge. She always led me to believe that one day I would step into her shoes.”
“He’s right.” Dorothy Ware spoke for the first time. Unlike her son’s, her voice held no trace of emotion.
Unperturbed, the attorney met first Dorothy’s and then Adam’s eyes. “I assure you that Ms. Ware’s will is in perfect order.”
“No,” Adam argued. “She had to have changed her mind since she wrote this. She was…busy. She just didn’t have the time to see you about it.”
Fitzwalter slipped the papers back in the file. “She came to my office two weeks ago and reviewed every detail.”
Adam’s face had colored to a deep red, and for a moment, Maddie was afraid that he was going to shove the oak desk over on the attorney when Carleton’s voice intervened. “Adam.”
The younger man drew a deep breath and backed away from the desk. As soon as he was a safe distance away, Maddie turned to Jordan and spoke softly. “I don’t get it. Why wouldn’t she leave the business to you—and why would she want us to change places after she’s kept us apart all these years?”
“I’ve got a theory about that.” Jordan glanced over at the other Wares who’d gone into a small huddle.
Maddie looked too. Dorothy was speaking, but her voice didn’t carry, and from the expression on Adam’s face, he didn’t like what he was hearing.
“Let’s blow this scene,” Jordan whispered. “I’ve got a reservation at an inn in Linchworth. I wanted you to myself and I thought staying over would be better than battling rush-hour traffic back into the city.”
They’d made it nearly to the front door when Adam caught up with them. He grabbed Jordan by the arm and jerked her around to face him. “You can’t get away with this.”
The fury in his voice sent Maddie into action. Enough was enough. She gripped the arm holding Jordan. “Let my sister go.”
“What?” Adam sent her a startled look.
Maddie placed both hands on his chest and gave him one hard shove into the wall. “Just because you’re frustrated by the terms of your aunt’s will doesn’t mean you can manhandle my sister. Got that?”
Adam stared at her. “You shoved me.”
“I did.”
“Adam.” The cool tones of Dorothy Ware’s voice carried the length of the hallway.
“This isn’t the end of this,” Adam said as he pushed himself away from the wall and strode back to his mother.
Jordan waited until they’d collected their bags from the butler and run down the steps to the waiting limo. Then she whirled to face Maddie. “I’ve wanted to give Adam a good shove for years.” She pulled Maddie into a hard hug. “I guess I’ve been waiting for my superhero sister to do it for me.”
JORDAN LED the way into the suite she’d rented in the Linchworth Inn. She hadn’t said a word to Maddie during the five-minute ride in the limousine. In spite of the distracting and somewhat amusing altercation with Adam, Jordan knew her head was still spinning with the contents of her mother’s will. Maddie’s must have been too. She’d tried to think, to plan her strategy. But in business, the key to any successful strategy always depended on knowing your audience.
And she didn’t know her sister very well at all. Oh, she’d done as much research as she could—first cross-examining Mr. Fitzwalter and then checking out Maddie’s Web site. In Jordan’s opinion, the Web site needed a makeover, but the jewelry didn’t. Her sister had talent. Most of Maddie’s work was focused on Southwestern belt buckles, tie clips and pins. The designs were dramatic, the workmanship exquisite, using a lot of turquoise and intricately inlaid patterns. There’d also been a few examples of finer pieces—earrings and bracelets. Perhaps she could use her sister’s interest in jewelry design as a bargaining chip.
But she needed to know more. And she didn’t have a lot of time. The seventy-two-hour clock was ticking.
Leaning down, she opened the door of a small refrigerator and then glanced back at Maddie standing just inside the room, taking it in.
Jordan let her own gaze sweep the area. It was a small suite with two bedrooms. The sitting room had dormer windows with lace curtains and was furnished in antiques. Two chintz-covered love seats faced each other across a small coffee table with a marble top.
“I can offer you some wine. Mom and I always liked white. But I can order up a bottle of red or something else if you’d prefer.”
“White’s fine,” Maddie said.
Silence stretched as Jordan uncorked a bottle of chardonnay and filled two glasses. Stalling. That’s what she was doing. What in the world was the matter with her? She was hardly ever at a loss for words.
“This is a lovely room,” Maddie said.
Jordan glanced around again and felt her throat tighten a little. “Mom liked it. We used to stay here whenever we had to visit Uncle Carleton and company.” She would never stay here again with her mother. But she couldn’t let herself think about that right now. Not yet.
“You didn’t stay at Ware House?”
Jordan handed her a glass and waved her over to one of the love seats. “The atmosphere there has always been a bit frigid. And things have gotten worse since I got my MBA and started working at Eva Ware Designs. But it goes back further than that. I don’t think that Uncle Carleton and Mom ever saw eye to eye even when they were kids. The friction escalated when my grandfather died. Uncle Carleton is one of those old-fashioned men who believes that the oldest son should inherit everything outright. Thank heavens, my grandfather didn’t agree. When he died, he divided everything up between Mom and Uncle Carleton—even Ware House. She took her half of the stocks, bonds and cash and invested everything in her design business. She was able to move into the Madison Avenue store.”
“Smart decision,” Maddie said.
“I agree, but the other Wares didn’t.”
Maddie grinned suddenly.
“What?”
“What you called them—the other Wares. I’d already started thinking of them that way.”
Smart, Jordan thought. Her twin was perceptive. That could work in her favor. Tucking her feet underneath her, she leaned back. “As a sort of peace offering, Mom agreed to let Uncle Carleton, Aunt Dorothy and Adam live in Ware House. She got to use the place for business parties, and she agreed to attend any social gatherings that had to do with Ware Bank.”
Maddie sipped her wine. “You said the friction’s gotten worse since you went to work for Eva Ware Designs.”
“Because before that, Adam thought he had a clear shot at taking over the business one day. He’d been there for three years before I joined the company. He’s a brilliant designer. Mom was very aware of that. His parents were disappointed with him because he didn’t go into banking, so I think he feels he has to succeed. Aunt Dorothy certainly does. Plus, he has a temper.”
“I noticed. He may be a fine designer, but he doesn’t have your background in business.”
Jordan studied her for a moment. “How do you know that?”
“I looked you up on the Internet. A bachelor’s degree from the Wharton School, an MBA from Harvard. Very impressive.”
Slowly, Jordan smiled. “Touché. I visited your Web site. It needs some work, by the way. But the jewelry doesn’t. What I saw was beautiful.”
Setting her glass down, Jordan leaned closer and fingered one of the earrings Maddie was wearing. The silver had been configured into fragile lace surrounding a clear turquoise stone. “This is quite lovely. Mom was always looking for turquoise of this quality.”
“She should have come to New Mexico.”
Jordan met her sister’s eyes and saw a hint of pain that she totally understood. “She was in New Mexico when she gave birth to us. I badgered Fitzwalter until he showed me our birth certificates. We were born in Santa Fe.”
“She was at the ranch?”
“I don’t know about that, but she was definitely in Santa Fe.”
“She should have come back.”
“Yes, she should have. And our father should have come here. I’m not sure we’ll ever find out why they didn’t. Or why they separated us.”
“Why does she want us to switch places?” Maddie asked. “You said you had a theory about that?”
“I do. I got it the moment I searched your name. I think she wants you to get an in-depth experience at Eva Ware Designs because she wants you here.”
“No. That’s impossible.”
“I know her. She was a very focused woman. I’m sure she was keeping track of your career, and if and when something happened to her, she wanted you to see what she’d created—to know that you could share in it.”
“But why didn’t she contact me? Why put it in her will?”
Jordan rose and began to pace. “I’ve asked myself those questions over and over. She could have been afraid to contact you after all these years. The other thing about her is that designing jewelry was her driving passion.” Jordan waved a hand. “She gets—used to get—totally lost in her work. Other things got pushed to the back burner.”
“Why three weeks?”
“She probably thought twenty-one straight days would do it.” Jordan’s smile was wry. “When she first started at her gym, her trainer told her that doing something every day for three weeks was what it took to build a habit.”
“But that’s…crazy. And it’s not fair to you.”
“It’s not crazy if you knew Mom. Eva Ware Designs meant everything to her.” Jordan paced to one of the windows before she turned back. “That’s why we have to talk about the will.”
Maddie rose also. “Yes, we do. I want you to know that—”
Jordan held up a hand. “Stop right there. Since I’m the oldest, I get to go first.”
Maddie’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know you’re the oldest?”
Not a pushover either, Jordan thought. “I told you I’d seen the birth certificates. I beat you into the world by almost four minutes.” Impulsively, she strode over and grabbed Maddie’s hands. “I want you to please hear me out before you say a word.”
Maddie nodded.
Jordan dropped her sister’s hands, whirling away. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to say this in a way that will convince you.”
“You don’t have to.”
Jordan glared at her and pointed a finger. “You said you’d hear me out.”
“Okay. Okay.” Maddie threw both hands up and sat back down on the love seat. Watching her sister made her think of her father. That glare Jordan had just given her had been pure Mike Farrell and her father had always paced when he was trying to talk her into something. But she’d just wanted to make it easy for Jordan. The money, the house, Eva Ware Designs—none of it belonged to her. It should have all gone to Jordan. How could her sister want her to take it?
“I know it’s crazy.” Jordan sat back down on the love seat. “The thing is, we have to agree to the terms of the will.”
Maddie simply stared at her. “How can you possibly want that? It’s not fair.”
Jordan ran her hands through her hair. “I know it’s not. It’s horribly unfair. Switching places will be complicated, to say the least. But I don’t see what else we can do. I saw on your Web site that you have a jewelry show in Santa Fe in four days.”
Maddie did, and in all the turmoil of the last few days it had entirely slipped her mind. “I can’t miss it. I’ve worked for months on those designs, and it’s essential that I be there to make contact with new buyers.”
“No worries. I should be able to handle the show. I’ve done several with my mother. Marketing the product is the part of the business I’m good at.”
“But there are other things—problems at the ranch,” Maddie said.
“What kind of problems?”
Maddie raised her hands and dropped them. “I’m just not the best rancher in the world, and I’ve been struggling to fill my father’s shoes and at the same time grow my jewelry business. My neighbor, Cash Landry, has been helping me, but I can’t let that go on forever. And there’s this real estate agent, Daniel Pearson, who wants to sell the ranch for me.”
Jordan moved back to the couch. “You can’t be seriously thinking of selling?”
“No.” But Maddie felt a stab of guilt. Wasn’t that exactly what she was thinking of doing? After all, she hadn’t given Daniel Pearson a flat-out no. And here her sister was, arguing that they keep her mother’s business going. How could she even think of doing less for her father?
A gleam of interest leapt into her sister’s eyes. “Maybe I can help.”
“How?”
“Three weeks will give me a chance to get a feel for what the problems are. Not that I’m a rancher—but I do have those business degrees. Plus I’ll bring a fresh perspective. How many people did you tell about flying east for the reading of the will?”
“No one. My foreman Mac and Cash were both away, driving my cattle to market, then meeting with future buyers in Albuquerque. They’re not due back for a few days yet. Cash’s foreman comes over to tend the horses and check on things when Cash is gone. But I didn’t even have a chance to tell him I was leaving.”
Jordan took a thoughtful sip of her wine. “I’ll bet I could pretend to be you at the jewelry show without anyone knowing the difference.”
“Pretend to be me? You’re serious about this.”
“Very.” Rising, Jordan began to pace again. “I know buyers prefer to talk to the designer, and I’ve learned enough at Eva Ware Designs to masquerade as you. If the ranch is deserted right now, I’d only have to pretend when I go into Santa Fe. You won’t be able to pass yourself off as me, of course. The other Wares already know who you are, and so does Cho Li. I’ll let everyone else at the Madison Avenue store know. You’ll just have to do my job for three weeks.”
“But I have no idea what you do for a job.”
“My schedule is on my laptop. And Cho Li will fill you in. He’s been working with Mom for as long as I can remember. Is there someone who can fill me in at the ranch?”
“Wait. You’re going too fast.” Maddie felt as if all her objections were being picked off like ducks in a shooting gallery. “I haven’t told you all the problems at the ranch. It might not be safe for you there.”
“Why not?”
“There’ve been some incidents of vandalism lately. Minor ones at first—cut fences, graffiti on the bunkhouse. Cash was pretty sure it was the Trainer twins. Joey, the older one, had a sort of a crush on me. But lately, the incidents have gotten more serious. Due to a cut fence, some of my cattle strayed, and we couldn’t round them up in time to drive them to market. And a couple of weeks ago someone doctored the feed in my stables and I nearly lost my horse.”
“You called the police?”
“They couldn’t do much except file a report.”
Jordan joined Maddie on the couch. “I’ll be careful. Besides, it’ll be as safe for me there as it would be for you.”
“I can handle myself.”
Jordan’s eyebrows shot up. “So can I. After all, I’ve been raised in New York City. But there’s something you should know about the store. A month ago Eva Ware Designs was robbed. Someone broke through the security codes and took approximately one hundred thousand dollars’ worth of jewelry from the main salon. The police are still looking into it. But in the meantime, the security codes have been changed. And it happened after hours, so you should be fine.”
Maddie was more worried about Jordan than she was about herself. But Cash was due back from the cattle drive in another few days, she told herself. She could call him and tell him to look out for Jordan.
Suddenly, nerves tightened in her stomach. Was she really thinking of switching places with her sister?
“Is there anyone at the ranch who can fill me in on what I have to do?”
“Cash and my foreman can when they get back from the cattle drive.”
Jordan narrowed her gaze on her sister. “This Cash—are you and he…seeing each other?”
Maddie shook her head. “No. We grew up together. He runs the ranch next to mine. My father and his father had this idea that someday we might fall in love and join the two ranches. But it hasn’t happened. Cash and I are just friends.”
“Good. Do you think I could fool him into thinking I’m you if he shows up at the ranch?”
Maddie studied Jordan. “You’re really getting into the idea of masquerading as me.”
“It’s a practical approach. I won’t have to explain to everyone about the will and switching places. Do you think your cowboy neighbor will buy it?”
Maddie considered, then shook her head. “He’s pretty astute.”
Jordan grinned at her. “Really? I love a challenge. We’ll have to write things up for each other, and we’ll keep in touch by phone. That’s what the girls did in The Parent Trap, and they were only half our age.”
“You saw that movie?”
“Only about fifteen times. When I was little I remember watching it with Mom.”
“There’s one big difference between us and The Parent Trap girls. They switched so that they could get to know the parent they were separated from. We’re not going to be able to do that.”
“No.” Jordan sat down next to Maddie again and took her hands. “We’re not. I wish with all my heart that there was a way for you to meet our mother.”
The understanding she saw in her sister’s eyes helped ease the tightness in Maddie’s throat. “Same goes about our father.”
“Maybe switching places is the only way we have left to get to know them. We can do this.”
Maddie searched her sister’s face. “I don’t understand. Why do you want to? And why would you want to share your inheritance with me?”
Jordan stared at her. “Because you’re my sister, and because our mother wanted it this way. However late it is, she must have had some regrets about separating us, and this is her way of making sure we get to know one another.”
“There are other ways for us to get to know one another.”
“Maddie, you heard the terms of the will. If we don’t change places for three weeks, Eva Ware Designs will be sold. I can’t stand by and let that happen. Our mother worked her whole life to create it, and I can’t let it be destroyed. I want her legacy to live on. No matter what it takes, we have to fulfill the terms of the will. Please say you’ll do it.”
Maddie wasn’t an impulsive person—at least she didn’t think of herself that way. But she could sympathize with what Jordan was trying to do. It was the same thing that made her want to hold on to the ranch and keep it going so that her father’s legacy would live on.
And Jordan was right. If she did switch places and step into Jordan’s job at Eva Ware Designs, it would provide her with the only opportunity she might ever have to learn more about the woman she so admired. The woman she’d never met. And it was just possible that she could find out why their parents had decided to separate them. Hadn’t that been one of the primary questions on her mind since she’d accepted the truth of what Edward Fitzwalter III had told her during that phone call?
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
“You will?”
Maddie nodded.
“Thanks.” Jordan gave her sister a quick hug. “Okay. Now for the practical matters. You can live in my apartment, of course. I have a roommate, Jase Campbell. He was a few years ahead of me in college and we shared an apartment there. He moved into my place when he came to New York and started up his security firm. The arrangement has become sort of permanent.”
“Are the two of you involved?”
“No, we’re strictly pals. He’s like a big brother to me. But you probably won’t even run into him. He’s off on some mysterious job in South America. I can’t even reach him by cell. I haven’t been able to even tell him about…”
When Jordan suddenly stopped talking, Maddie took her hands.
“I don’t think it’s totally sunk in yet that she’s gone,” Jordan said.
Maddie handed Jordan her wine. “How could it? You had to identify the body.” Fitzwalter had told her about that. “Then there were the funeral arrangements and to top it off you find out you have a sister you never knew about.”
Jordan met her sister’s eyes. “When you lost your father, how long did it take for you to accept it?”
Maddie sighed. “I think I’m still trying to adjust.” She raised a hand to her sister’s cheek. “But I think that visiting the ranch may help you. There’s a kind of serenity there.”
“I’m glad I have you, Maddie Farrell.”
“Ditto.”
“Well.” Jordan drew in a deep breath and let it out. “We only have about seventy hours left. We’d better get started.”
Maddie blinked as Jordan rose, strode to a desk and pulled out her laptop.
“There’s a lot we have to learn before we switch lives.”
Chapter Two
IT WAS nearly midnight when Jase Campbell descended the steps of a small private jet at LaGuardia Airport. After nearly a month in the bowels of the steamy Amazon jungle, he welcomed the stiff breeze that had made their landing a little rough. New York City’s humidity level couldn’t even begin to compete with what he’d been experiencing.
The Cessna was the third plane he’d been on in the last twenty-four hours and the only one that had provided any amenities. Thanks to Federman Corporation, the company that had hired him as a consultant in their efforts to free three hostages, he’d been able to shower, shave and even change his clothes—luxuries that he’d sorely missed.
The one thing he hadn’t been able to do was catch much sleep. The last days of the mission were still too fresh in his mind. It had only been partially successful—one of the men hadn’t made it out of the jungle. Each time he closed his eyes, his mind would run through the other options he might have used, other tacks he might have taken with the captors.
He needed sleep, Jase told himself as he strode up the steps of the terminal building. Thank heavens his apartment was only a thirty-minute cab ride. And at this hour of the night, Jordan would be sound asleep. That would save him from being cross-examined on what he’d been doing for the last three and a half weeks.
Jordan and he had been friends since they’d been undergraduates together at Wharton. His lips curved as he recalled exactly how they’d met. He’d been a senior and she a freshman. Off-campus housing had been at a premium, and they’d arrived to view an apartment at the same time. They’d each wanted to sign a lease, so the landlord had suggested they flip a coin. Jordan had flatly refused, claiming that her luck was abominable. Instead, she’d suggested that they share the place and split expenses.
For Jase it had been an ideal solution. Unlike a lot of the trust-fund students, he’d come to Wharton on a scholarship. Jordan had drawn up a set of rules to follow so that they kept out of each other’s way. The list with its bullets and highlighted passages had been Jase’s introduction to the highly organized world of Jordan Ware.
And though she was a very attractive woman, their relationship had never progressed down a more intimate path. Instead, she’d become like a sister to him, competing against him for grades, nagging him when he’d gotten so wrapped up in a project that he’d forgotten to keep in touch with his family and even criticizing his selection of dates. In Jordan’s opinion, Jase had a tendency to attract what she’d termed “psycho babes.”
Jase’s lips curved at the memory. The first thing he’d done when he’d left the navy and decided to set up a security business in New York City was to call Jordan. His goal had been to enlist her help in finding an apartment. Instead, she’d suggested he move in with her. If it didn’t work out, he’d at least have more time to find a place of his own. That had been a year ago, and so far everything had gone very smoothly. Jordan, who’d worked for her mother’s jewelry design studio since she’d gotten her master’s degree, had put him in touch with a few clients, and he’d even done some work for Eva Ware Designs. In fact, there was a job he’d left hanging when he’d taken on the hostage-negotiation project.
Once he entered the terminal, Jase glanced around, spotted a secluded niche and headed toward it. Before he caught a cab, he needed some privacy to check in at his office. He’d been out of contact for far too long, and his patchwork of odd flights home hadn’t allowed any calls. Even at this hour, there’d be someone at Campbell and Angelis Security picking up the phone. With any luck, it might even be Dino Angelis, his partner of six months.
Sure enough, someone answered on the second ring.
“Campbell and Angelis Security.”
Jase frowned as he tried to place the familiar voice. Not Dino. His partner’s voice was much deeper and he didn’t speak with a drawl. But it couldn’t be who he thought it was. His brother D.C. was currently serving with the military police on a second tour of duty in Baghdad.
“D.C.?” Jase asked.
“At your service. Where are you? Dino and I were getting worried.”
“I’m at La Guardia. What are you doing in my office?”
“Since I got here two days ago, I’ve been holding down the fort and helping Dino out. Got my leg busted up a little, and the army decided that I should take some leave time while I got it back in shape.”
Jase frowned. “How bad is the leg?”
“Nothing that can’t be fixed.”
“Does Mom know?”
“I spent a week in Baltimore and let her pamper me. I gained at least five pounds while I checked out Darcy’s latest boyfriend.” Some of Jase’s tension eased. If his brother had the time and energy to torment their kid sister, then he must be on the mend.
“Are you going to tell me how bad the leg is?”
“You’re as bad as Mom. It’s going to be fine. With any luck I’ll be back in Iraq by Christmas.”
Jase didn’t see that as lucky. But he knew he’d gotten as much out of D.C. on the subject of his injury as he was going to. “Let’s go back to my first question. What exactly are you doing in my office? And where’s Dino?”
“I came to pay you a surprise visit and Dino offered me a temporary job. Right now I believe he’s at his fiancée’s apartment.”
It was thanks to Dino’s pretty fiancée Cat McGuire that Jase had been able to persuade Dino, his old navy buddy, to become his partner last December.
“Where are you staying?”
“Dino fixed me up temporarily with an empty apartment in their building. Not that I get to spend much time there.”
“Business is good, I take it?” Jase asked.
“So good that you’ve been missed, bro.”
More of Jase’s tension eased. If Campbell and Angelis had to take on some extra help, Dino couldn’t have found a more perfect person than D.C. His brother had a sharp and inventive mind and the kind of intuition that made for an excellent cop. Unable to stop himself, he yawned hugely. What he needed even more than a good night’s sleep was work. One lesson he’d learned when he’d been working special ops was that the best way to dim the images from the previous operation was to immerse yourself totally in a new one.
“By the way, your roommate, Jordan Ware, has been trying to contact you. Mom told me that the two of you are sharing an apartment again.”
“When? What did she want?”
“About a week ago. She talked to Dino and asked him to pass on a message to contact her if you called in.”
Once again, Jase frowned. Jordan never called him at work. Then he pushed the small worry aside. No doubt she’d called the office because his cell phone had been worthless where he’d been for the last few weeks. At any rate, he’d see her sometime tomorrow.
“Hold down the fort. If Dino calls in, tell him I’ll be in the office tomorrow afternoon.” Once Dino brought him up to speed on all their active files, he knew exactly which case he would start on. He’d promised Eva Ware that he’d look further into that break-in and robbery at her Madison Avenue jewelry store. In his opinion, it had to have been an inside job, and that worried him a bit.
“Right now, my aim is to crash for at least twelve hours,” Jase said, then added, “Thanks for covering.”
“I live to serve.”
A BIT DIZZY from sleep deprivation and jet lag, Maddie let herself into Jordan’s Soho apartment. During the last few days, she’d managed to lose all sense of time. The only reason she knew that it was shortly after midnight was because she’d asked the cab driver who’d driven her from JFK.
According to her estimate, she’d spent nearly eighteen of the last forty-eight hours on an airplane. Severe thunderstorms in the midwest had delayed her flights both to and back from Santa Fe. She’d barely been at the ranch long enough to pack what she thought she’d need for a three-week stay in New York. Jordan, the lucky girl, had only had to make one flight.
In the very short time they’d spent together before Jordan had insisted she immediately fly back to the ranch and set things in order for the switch, Maddie had learned that her sister was a ruthlessly organized woman who gathered data, made lists, assembled files and was quite used to having her “suggestions” followed. Had Eva Ware been like that? Maddie wondered. Would she ever know? She hoped that Jordan was right and that by switching lives each of them would come to know the other parent better. But she was beginning to feel a sense of loss that she would never have a chance to talk to Eva about her design process.
And Jordan would never hear Mike Farrell’s laugh.
Not that her sister wouldn’t discover as much as she could about the ranch and their father. The woman was meticulous. She couldn’t think of one thing that had escaped Jordan’s attention. Jordan had even suggested that since Maddie possessed very few outfits appropriate for the city and Jordan experienced the same lack of wardrobe for ranch life, they could borrow clothes from one another and cut down on what they needed to pack. Maddie figured that was Jordan’s subtle way of letting her know not to appear at Eva Ware Designs in her jeans and boots.
Yawning hugely, she muscled her suitcase through the door, then sagged against it for a moment, nearly paralyzed with exhaustion.
“Just a few more minutes,” she muttered. “You can do it.”
She groped blindly along the wall until she located a switch. The muted light from a Tiffany-style lamp allowed her only a shadowy impression of the living room—stained-glass-fronted bookcases flanking a brick fireplace, an antique desk, a comfy-looking leather couch and a flat-screen TV. The furnishings with their mix of the feminine and the masculine suddenly reminded her about Jordan’s roommate—Jase Campbell.
The man’s image slipped instantly into her mind. Jordan had provided her with photos of everyone she might possibly meet during her three weeks in New York, and she’d been reviewing them one by one on the long flight from Santa Fe. From the moment she’d glanced at Jase’s picture, she hadn’t quite been able to get him out of her mind.
Maddie recalled Jordan describing Jase as a big brother. They’d been friends ever since they’d roomed off-campus together in college, and when he’d left the navy to start up his own security firm here in New York, he and Jordan had hooked up as roommates again. Jordan’s description of her relationship with Jase Campbell could have fit her own relationship with her neighbor, Cash.
However, as Maddie had studied Jase’s photo, her response to him had been anything but sisterly. He had a strong face, lean with sharply defined bones. And though he wore a jacket and a tie, he didn’t look quite…tamed. Perhaps it was the longish, windblown hair that hinted at a streak of recklessness. Or maybe it was the eyes. She was baffled by the fact that every single time she’d closed her own eyes and tried to sleep on the plane, she’d thought of those angled cheekbones, the strong jawline and firm lips.
And each time his image had popped into her mind, her palms had tingled with the desire to touch his face. When she’d imagined herself doing just that, a heat had begun to build inside her. She’d even foolishly given into an impulse to run her fingertips over the image in the photo—touching first his mouth, then the rest of those sharp features.
When the heat simmering inside her had rushed to her face, she’d glanced nervously around to see if anyone had witnessed what she’d done. To her great relief, everyone within sight had been sleeping. Something she herself should have been doing. But instead of slipping the photo back into the file, she’d glanced down at it again.
And traced her fingertips over it once more. Her desire to touch the image, to touch him was baffling…and unprecedented. She’d experienced a purely chemical reaction to a man before. But no man’s photo had ever affected her in such a physical way.
Perhaps it was because she hadn’t had any sex in a while. During the past year, between the plans she had to expand her jewelry design business and the extra work she’d had to take on at the ranch, she simply hadn’t had the time. Or the desire.
Yawning again, Maddie struggled against a huge wave of exhaustion as she turned and dragged her suitcase down a narrow hallway. The effort of placing one foot in front of the other almost defeated her.
Probably her whole odd reaction to Jase Campbell’s photo was due to sleep deprivation and the emotional whirlwind she’d been caught up in during the past few days. When she met him, she’d find him a pleasant man, and her unusual and highly sensual response to his photo would turn out to be much ado about nothing.
Not that meeting Jase was a sure thing. Jordan had mentioned that for the last three and a half weeks he’d been out of the country and out of contact. So she had no idea when he’d be back.
Maddie stopped short at the first door she came to, not sure if she could take another step. If she didn’t find a bedroom soon, she was simply going to curl right up on the floor. She bit back a groan when the door to her left opened onto a tiny bathroom. Putting all her effort into the move, she half stumbled into the room directly across the hall. There was just enough moonlight pouring through the window for her to make out a bed. Not bothering to turn on the light, she shoved her suitcase against the wall. Unpacking would have to wait. Using the foot of the bed as her guide, she moved to the side nearest the window and pulled the drapes. Then she stripped down to her tank top and panties. With the last bit of energy she could summon up, she tugged just enough of the covers back to slip beneath them. The moment her head touched the pillow, she fell abruptly into sleep.
IT WAS nearly one when Jase let himself into the apartment. At some point during the taxi ride from La Guardia, the adrenaline that had fueled him for the last few weeks had drained away as surely as if someone had pulled a plug. Setting his duffel down, he shut the door and locked it. Then, without turning on the lights, he made his way to his bedroom, shed his clothes, eased back the covers, and climbed in. Sleep claimed him before his head settled fully into the pillow.
THE DREAM came slowly, slipping into his mind as a lover might slip into his bed. A woman, soft and warm, was nestled against him. With lazy pleasure, he let himself drift in sensations, absorbing each one. The press of a palm against his chest, the silky length of a thigh trapped between his. And the scent—he had to draw her closer to place it—he’d caught that fragrance before on drives through the country—a mix of wildflowers and sunshine.
When she sighed and snuggled closer, Jase ran a hand from her shoulder to her thigh and back again, absorbing the contrasting textures of smooth, soft skin and rougher cotton. Desire tugged at him when she pressed against him and her hands moved to slide over his back.
Drifting with the sensations, Jase touched his mouth to her temple and slipped his hand beneath her shirt. The throaty sound of pleasure she made when he cupped her breast had the tug of desire turning into a sharp pull. Nothing would be simpler than to give in to the temptation to shift her onto her back and make a place for himself between her legs. To thrust into her and lose himself in her.
But equally tempting was the thought of exploring her more thoroughly and discovering how far the dream would take him. Slowly, he ran his hand from her breast down the taut length of her torso, over that firm, narrow waist until he could slip his fingers beneath the band of her panties. The soft moan she made when he found her heat and began to stroke her urged him to take his mouth on a leisurely journey over her face from her temple to jawline and back again. Her breath was hitching now and she began to arch faster and faster against his hand. Desire pulled even more strongly against his control. But first…first, he wanted to take more, to give her more. He traced her mouth with his tongue, then began to tease her lips with his. When he finally allowed himself to fully taste her, the flavor was so sweet, so potent, that he thought he might never get enough. Taking the kiss ever deeper, he slipped two fingers into her and felt her soar.
THE ORGASM shot through Maddie in one glorious wave after another until she was sure she was going to drown. When she finally surfaced, she had only a few moments of respite, barely enough time to register what that clever mouth was doing to hers before those long hard fingers began to move inside her again. She’d never dreamed anything this vividly before. Even as the incredible pressure began to build once more, other sensations bombarded her. She inhaled his scent, something dark and male. The sharp nip of his teeth on her bottom lip. And his body—it was so hot that she felt as if it was branding her at each and every contact point.
The second orgasm was sharper than the first, and before it peaked, he was there, just where she wanted him to be, thrusting into her. And then they began to move together.
Yes, she thought as she wrapped arms and legs around him. This was what she wanted—this wild, fast race. This was what she’d always wanted, and no one had been ever able to give it to her before. Holding on for dear life, she rode the climax, rode him, until they leapt over that final crest together.
Chapter Three
MADDIE DRIFTED UP slowly through layers of sleep, trying to hold on to each one. The dream she’d been having was so wonderful, so real. With each breath, she drew in her lover’s scent—potent, male. His arm held her close, and she felt the length of that hard body pressed against her. The sensations were vivid enough to have her blood heating all over again.
She wanted more than anything to sink back into the dream so that he would touch her, tempt her, tease her again. But there was light beyond her closed eyelids and she could hear muted sounds. Motors rumbling, brakes squealing…
Traffic? Frowning, she struggled to remember.
The insistent beep of a horn, louder than the others, triggered a kaleidoscope of memories. Her sister, the terms of her mother’s will, the endless series of plane rides, the detailed files Jordan had insisted she study.
The horn blasted again.
She definitely wasn’t in Kansas anymore. Nor was she at the ranch in Santa Fe. She was in her sister’s New York City apartment. The last thing she clearly recalled was dragging her suitcase into the closest bedroom and falling into bed.
That’s when the dream had begun—and her lover had joined her. And he was still with her. The smooth taut skin on his shoulder was warm beneath her hand, and above the sounds from the street below she heard the steady rate of his breathing.
Was she still trapped in her dream?
A mix of emotions swept through her—fear, excitement. Anticipation? Gingerly, Maddie opened one eye. There was just enough light seeping through the slit in the drapes for her to see that her senses were not deceiving her. Her hand was indeed resting against a man’s shoulder. And the rest of her body was totally wrapped around his. Everything about him, the hint of stubble on his chin, the strength of the arm wrapped around her waist—even the erection growing harder against her stomach—seemed to be very real.
Squeezing her eye shut again, Maddie drew in a deep breath and let it out. One thing she’d learned growing up on her father’s ranch was that you had to face facts. So the dream lover who’d joined her in bed last night had been real. Was real.
And facts had to be dealt with. A cut fence had to be mended ASAP so cattle didn’t stray. Still, a real lover in one’s bed instead of a dream one presented more complicated problems—one of them being that she didn’t seem to want to disentangle herself from him. What she was tempted to do more than anything else was to push him onto his back and taste him again, touch him again.
Not happening, Maddie lectured herself. And why was she even considering the possibility? No man had ever made her feel the way this one had. Ever. And she didn’t even know who he was.
Stiffening her resolve, Maddie slowly drew her head back and this time she opened both eyes. Even in the dim light, recognition was instantaneous. After all, she’d memorized those features—the angled cheekbones, that strong chin, the firm lips.
At some point in the night, she’d made love to Jase Campbell. And he’d made love to her.
Heat shot through her. But it wasn’t from embarrassment. Her body was on fire because she wanted to repeat the experience. Right now.
Not going to happen. She had to get a grip. And she had to get out of this bed. If she could just get away before he woke up, maybe she could pretend that the night they’d just shared hadn’t happened. If he brought it up, she’d just tell him that he’d been dreaming. That would be one way to mend the fence. Maybe the only way.
Dragging her eyes away from his face, she focused on ungluing herself from him. But her body rebelled, refusing to take orders from her brain. Her hand seemed permanently affixed to his shoulder, her fingers splayed. Maddie faced another fact—she didn’t want to stop touching him, and she knew that if her hand moved at all, it would slide down to wrap itself around the length of his erection which was pressing against her stomach more insistently with each passing moment.
When he sighed, his breath feathered along her temple, and his arm tightened more firmly around her waist. Maddie barely managed to stifle a moan. He was waking up. Once he did, the pretend-it-never-happened scenario would no longer be an option. But it wasn’t panic she was feeling, it was a wild thrill.
What was happening to her? Why was she reacting this way?
He stirred again. Maybe there was still time to slip away. She focused all her effort on pushing against his shoulder. It was like trying to dislodge a boulder. Then she felt his whole body stiffen. Before she could blink, he slipped a hand beneath her chin and tilted it up so that she had to meet his eyes.
She was aware of several things at once. The body pressed against hers had grown harder, and the heat that seemed to leap from him to her was enough to melt her bones. But it was his eyes she couldn’t look away from. The photo hadn’t captured the color. The mix of dark green and blue reminded her of some of the rarer turquoise stones she worked with.
Then suddenly his gaze narrowed, darkened, and his fingers tightened their grip on her chin. Their mouths were close, nearly touching. If either one of them moved…Just anticipating the brush of those lips against hers, Maddie felt her brain cells wink off one by one. Yes.
No. Jase felt his mind clouding over and fought to clear it. He was holding a woman in his arms, and he had no idea how that had come to happen.
The last thing he remembered was reaching his apartment and falling into bed. Memories began to trickle in. That’s when the dream had begun. There’d been a lover waiting for him, hungry for him. What she’d ignited in him had gone beyond anything he’d ever experienced before. Desire had never been so compelling. Passion had never been so consuming.
But what had happened during the night hadn’t been a dream.
It was morning now. The sound of traffic floated up from the street below. Her hair was just brushing his chin, her breath was hot on his chest. She was very real. And so was the fresh surge of desire he was feeling. A thin stream of sunlight fell across the delicate line of her cheekbone.
If he gave into temptation and traced a finger along the path of the light, he knew just what her skin would feel like. Soft as the petal of a flower, warm…
Jase clamped down on the heat that shot through him. She wasn’t a dream. This was a real woman. And she was wrapped so tightly around him that he wasn’t sure he could ever break free.
And he still wanted her. Desperately. Her mouth was so close, barely a breath away. His leg was already nestled between hers, and he could feel that she was ready for him. More than anything, he wanted to sink into her, to lose himself in her again.
No. Gripping her shoulders, Jase disentangled himself, pulling back far enough so that he could see her face clearly for the first time. It was the eyes that drew his attention first. They were dark—a deep blue that bordered on violet. And they were very familiar. The color, the shape—they were Jordan’s eyes. And she had Jordan’s face. But…Narrowing his gaze, he studied her more closely.
“You’re not Jordan.”
He would have staked his life on it. Her scent was all wrong. Jordan always smelled like some exotic French perfume. This woman smelled like wild flowers and sunshine. And Jordan’s hair wasn’t long enough to pull into a braid.
Then there was the chemistry. As long as he and Jordan had known each other, there’d never been any spark between them. And spark was far too tame a word for what he’d experienced with this woman.
Those eyes, damn them, were still clouded with desire. The pulse at the base of her throat was hammering. Whoever she was, he could have her again. Right now. Jase wasn’t usually one to throw caution to the winds either in his personal or his business life. But for one precarious moment, he was outrageously tempted.
He tightened his grip on her shoulders. “Who are you and what are you doing in my bed?”
THE NOTE of command in Jase’s voice snapped Maddie out of the trance she’d fallen into ever since he’d pulled back and she’d looked into those mesmerizing blue-green eyes. A moment ago, she’d been sure he was going to kiss her again. And she’d wanted him to. More than that, she’d willed him to. But he hadn’t. And now he seemed to be focused on getting answers. Okay, maybe he had a right. But so did she.
She squirmed backward, intending to get out of bed. But she was naked. Sweeping her hand beneath the covers, she searched for her tank top. Without success.
“I’m still waiting for an answer.”
The sudden hint of humor in his tone had her chin lifting and her temper surging. This was not funny. “What I was trying to do here was sleep. When I arrived last night, I was nearly blind with exhaustion and I simply got into the wrong bed. Do you know how many planes I’ve been on in the past three days?”
“Not as many as I have, I’ll wager. Is this what you’re looking for?”
She glanced up barely in time to catch the tank top he tossed her. Then her gaze focused on him. Big mistake. He was lying on his side now, his head propped on his hand. The sheet barely covered him to the waist.
An intense wave of hunger shot through her. Why was this happening to her? Baffled, she tore her eyes away from him, slid off the side of the bed, and tried to cover as much as she could with the tank top. If she wanted to think clearly, her best bet was to get out of the room. But the door was on his side of the bed. There was just no way to make any kind of a dignified exit.
“You haven’t answered my first question. Who are you?”
She shot him a narrow look. He was definitely enjoying this. “I’m Jordan’s twin sister and Eva’s other daughter.”
It gave her some satisfaction when a bit of the humor faded from his gaze.
“You’ll have to do better than that. Jordan doesn’t have a twin.”
“Yes, she does. Turns out we were separated when we were babies, and neither one of us knew anything about it until four days ago.”
For two full heartbeats silence stretched between them. He was studying her as if he were weighing what she’d told him. And she couldn’t take her eyes off him. Worse, she could feel her brain cells start to click off again. She had to get a grip.
“Where is Jordan?” he asked.
Her chin lifted. “She’s at our father’s ranch in Santa Fe.”
“Why?”
Maddie welcomed the surge of temper. “Look. It’s a very long story, and if you were any kind of a gentleman, you’d leave right now and give me a chance to get dressed. Then I’ll be happy to answer all of your questions.”
He smiled slowly, fully.
Maddie felt the heat shoot all the way to her toes.
“Never let it be said that my mother didn’t raise me to be a gentleman.”
Maddie stared as he threw back the covers and got out of bed. For the first time, she got a good look at what she’d explored with her hands during the night—the broad shoulders, the strongly muscled back, the bronze skin that ended with a clearly defined tan line at his waist.
And his butt. There were muscles there too. She remembered exactly what they’d felt like beneath her palms, tensing and then relaxing as he’d moved inside her. When he turned, Maddie’s throat went dry as fresh need thrummed through her.
“My jeans…ah, there they are.” He leaned down to scoop them up. “But these are yours, I believe.” He laid her panties on the foot of the bed.
She ignored the panties and focused her gaze on his. He knew exactly what effect he was having on her. Damn him.
Still smiling, he took another step toward her, extending his free hand. “I’m Jase Campbell, by the way. I’m Jordan’s roommate. And your name is…?”
“I’m Maddie Farrell.” She sent him a thin smile as she shook his hand. The instant he relaxed his grip, she hooked her foot behind his right ankle, then used both hands to shove hard against his chest. His butt hit the floor with a very satisfactory thud. There, she thought. Enjoy that.
He grinned up at her. “Nice move, Maddie Farrell.”
She snatched her panties off the bed. “I believe you said something about your mother raising a gentleman.”
He winced a little. “So I did.” He stretched out a hand. “You wouldn’t want to give me a hand, would you?”
“Do I look as though I have stupid branded on my forehead?”
“No. But it was worth a try.” He rose in one graceful movement, but she noticed that he took his time walking to the bedroom door. When he reached it, he turned back. “I’ll make us some coffee, Maddie Farrell. Then we’ll talk.”
For a full thirty seconds after he’d disappeared from view, Maddie didn’t move. Because she wanted to run after him? What in the world was wrong with her? The man thought this whole situation had a humorous side to it. Maybe—in a hundred years—she could agree with him.
Biting back a groan, she sank onto the bed. Maybe if she burrowed under the covers, she’d wake up and discover that it was all a dream.
But it wasn’t. In a few moments she was going to have to join him for coffee and answer his questions. Besides, she wasn’t the kind of person who ran from problems. On a ranch you just couldn’t do that.
You grew up around men. You know how to handle them.
All she needed was a plan.
Chapter Four
JASE LEANED his hip against the counter and sipped coffee. He could hear the shower still running in the bathroom, so he had a few more minutes to figure out what in the hell he was going to do. Usually, he wasn’t at such a loss. But the night he’d just spent with the woman who called herself Maddie Farrell had been unprecedented. She’d scrambled his brain.
And she was going to be a problem for him.
For the first few minutes after he’d left her in the bedroom, he’d struggled hard against the urge to forget about the questions he had and just walk back in there, toss her onto the bed and make love to her again. Instead, he’d run water in the sink and splashed it on his face. He might not be a gentle lover, but caveman tactics weren’t his style.
Then again, no other woman had ever shoved him onto his ass. His lips twitched at the memory, then he sipped more coffee. He’d told her the truth about his mother. His father, a career army man, had died when he was ten. D.C. had been nine and their sister Darcy had been six. Their mother had gotten a teaching job in Baltimore and had proceeded to raise her children the way she managed her classes—with a firm hand.
Problem was, he didn’t want to be a gentleman with Maddie. If he did make a move on her, she wouldn’t resist. Just in those few moments that they’d lain together in his bed after they’d awakened, he’d sensed she was as reluctant as he to pull away. And she was just as curious as he was about what it would be like to make love while they were both fully awake. That made the temptation almost irresistible.
If he joined her in that shower now, they could both find out. In a matter of seconds—perhaps ten to get into the bathroom and another five to strip out of his jeans—he could step under the spray and…
With an oath, Jase set his mug down, then gripped the edge of the counter with both hands. Being this enthralled by a woman just wasn’t like him. He couldn’t deny that he had a reckless streak. He and D.C. had gotten into more than their fair share of trouble in their teenage years. According to his mother, they were responsible for turning her hair prematurely gray. But college with a major in business and four years in the navy, two in special ops, had pretty much drummed recklessness out of his system.
As he glanced down the hall at the closed shower door, guilt moved through him. Hadn’t he already taken enough advantage of her? Sure, he’d been exhausted, sleep-deprived, but the bottom line was that he’d allowed himself to be lulled into making love to a woman he’d found in his bed. He should have fought harder against the dream she’d enveloped him in. Making love to her had been a mistake. A big one.
And he shouldn’t have to be fighting so damn hard against the desire to repeat the experience. If she was telling the truth, she was his best friend’s sister.
Jase refilled his mug and took a long swallow. Time to step back, look at the big picture and come up with a plan. That was what had saved his life several times during his specialops missions in the navy.
He should be focusing on what she was doing here, not joining her in that shower. And what in the hell was Jordan doing on a ranch in Santa Fe? He nearly grinned at the thought. Talk about a fish out of water. From the time he’d first met her, Jordan had been a city girl right down to her weekly manicure and pedicure.
While he’d waited for the coffee to brew, he’d tried to contact Jordan on her cell to check out the twin story, but she wasn’t picking up. Then he’d typed Maddie Farrell into his laptop.
Madison Farrell was a Southwestern jewelry designer in Santa Fe. In addition to her photo, her Web site featured images of finely carved silver pins, belt buckles and rings, all with a clearly Southwestern flair. When he’d searched Santa Fe’s newspaper, The New Mexican, he’d found an article praising the intricacy and modern artistry of her designs. Like mother, like daughter, he’d thought. He’d also come across an obituary for a local rancher, Mike Farrell, who’d died a year ago and had been survived by his only daughter, Madison.
So, she was evidently who she said she was, and she looked enough like Jordan to be her twin—but he still had questions—a lot of them.
And until he got some answers, he was going to put any plans for taking Maddie Farrell back to his bed on hold.
MADDIE TURNED a complete circle in the shower and let the hot water sluice over her. Her body ached in places it had never ached before, places where Jase Campbell had touched her. And it felt wonderful.
With a sigh she rested her head against the shower wall. She had to think—and not about Jase. What had happened between them in that bed of his during the night had been crazy. Wonderful. Amazing. But it had been a mistake. And mistakes were for learning, not for repeating.
Waking up beside him had distracted her. Big-time. He didn’t even know about Eva’s death. Jordan hadn’t been able to reach him.
Pouring shampoo into her palms, she lathered her hair lavishly, then rinsed it, wishing she could wash the man right out just as easily as soap. It might not be that simple, but she was going to try. She had to be practical, use some common sense. And get herself back on track.
After all, she only had three weeks to walk around in Jordan’s shoes, and she had a lot to do. It hadn’t been just to please her sister and fulfill the terms of the will that she’d come to New York, she reminded herself. Before she went back to Santa Fe, she intended to find out everything she could about Eva Ware. If Jordan was right and Eva had been truly interested in a daughter who designed jewelry, why had she waited so long to act on that interest? Too long.
Each time she thought about the fact that she’d never really get to meet or talk with Eva, a little band of pain tightened around her heart.
If she could, she was going to find out why she and Jordan had been separated. The key was there. She was sure of it. Though she hadn’t mentioned it to her sister, she had a theory that Eva might have confided in someone that she’d had twins. She’d bet that Cash’s father had known. But he’d passed on a year before her own father had.
Getting the answers to her questions and getting to know as much as she could about Eva Ware—those had to be her priorities.
Twisting off the faucets, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped her hair in a towel. Then she swiped the steam off the mirror over the sink and faced her image.
“You have too much on your plate right now to fit Jase Campbell in.”
And wasn’t it possible that Jase felt the same way about her? After all, he’d been out of the country for over three weeks. He must have a lot to catch up on at his office.
Bending over, Maddie began to towel-dry her hair. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that she might have hit on the key to extricate them both from an…awkward situation.
Reason and logic—that was the strategy. After all, she’d grown up surrounded by men—her father and Cash, to name two. The business of running the ranch had always been the men’s primary focus. Her father had even missed her first jewelry show because he’d had to meet personally with a buyer in Albuquerque.
Though it had hurt at the time, she’d come to understand his decision. How many times during the past year had she prioritized her growing design business over the ranch? Often enough that Cash was growing concerned. He’d taken over more and more of the work she should have been doing, including driving her cattle to market.
It had helped to talk to Jordan about her concerns that she really couldn’t run the ranch on her own. How much longer could she rely on Cash’s help? She hoped that Jordan would have some ideas on that score, because she didn’t want to have to sell.
Maddie hung up the towel and pulled on the clothes she’d unpacked from her suitcase—her old standbys—jeans and a T-shirt. Then she frowned as she glanced at her image in the mirror. Her problems at the ranch had to go to the back burner for now. Jase Campbell was the big issue she had to deal with. Surely he’d understand that what had happened between them was, no, had to be, a one-time fling. A mistake that could not and would not be repeated.
Her frown deepened when she felt the sharp twist of regret. She wondered for a moment just who it was she was trying to convince that the time they’d spent in Jase’s bed couldn’t be repeated.
WHEN JASE heard the door to the bathroom open, his first instinct was to turn away. But there was no time like the present to discover just what effect Maddie Farrell would have on his senses after their short reprieve. Her walk was a lot like Jordan’s—long purposeful strides—but Maddie’s was slower. And he’d never found himself staring at Jordan’s legs. He slid his gaze up body-hugging denim and over the white T-shirt that revealed everything about that tight compact body he’d only begun to explore during the night. The clothes were nothing that he’d ever seen Jordan in. Even when she went casual, she looked like a fashion plate.
When Maddie finally came to a stop in front of the island that separated the main room of the apartment from the galley-sized kitchen, Jase shifted his eyes to her face. It was there that he noted the biggest difference between the twins.
He’d accepted the fact that the two women were twins. They had to be. Except for the length of their hair, they might be mirror images of each other. And it was just his luck that he found the single braid that fell over one of Maddie’s shoulders sexy as hell. Each time his eyes strayed to it, he felt an urge to loosen it and run his fingers through it.
Tucking his hands firmly into the back pockets of his jeans, Jase transferred his attention to Maddie’s other features. Jordan’s expression was more animated, and her eyes often held a glint of humor. Maddie, with her chin lifted and her eyes solemn, looked as if she were about to face a firing squad. There was a resolve there that he couldn’t help but admire.
The little twist of guilt he felt had him putting himself in her shoes for the first time. She’d come to New York, and as part of her introduction to the city she’d found herself in his bed. And he’d taken full advantage of it. No matter that she’d cooperated fully. Quite suddenly, it became his goal to set her at ease and to wipe that facing-the-firing-squad expression off her face.
“We have to talk,” she said.
“We do. How do you take your coffee—plain or loaded?”
“Plain—if that means black.”
“Good taste. Jordan barely puts a dollop of coffee in her cream and sugar.” He filled a mug and handed it to her. “Do you want an apology for what happened in my bed last night?”
Surprise had her nearly spilling her coffee. Gripping the mug in two hands, she said, “No. Of course not.”
“Good.” He slid onto one of the stools on his side of the narrow island, keeping his eyes steady on hers. “Because I’m not sorry it happened. Are you?”
“I…” She paused as if to consider the question. “I suppose in a way, I am. Because it complicates things.”
“But…?”
Twin spots of heat flared in her cheeks. He couldn’t recall Jordan ever blushing.
“But in another way, I’m not sorry. Because I’ve never…It was…”
He smiled slowly. “Yeah, it was for me too.”
She could have evaded his pointed questions. Lied. But she hadn’t. His admiration for her shot up another notch.
“While we’re on the subject, there’s something else I need to ask. Are you protected? I didn’t use a condom last night.”
Two spots of color reappeared on her face. “I’m on the pill.”
“You’re seeing someone then?” Jase was surprised at how much he disliked that idea.
“No.” Her chin shot up. “Not that it’s any of your business.”
Relief warred with amusement. She certainly had her sister’s temper. He was careful to bite back the grin. “I’m not seeing anyone either.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Did I ask?”
How often had he heard Jordan use that same haughty tone?
“Look.” Maddie set her mug down on the countertop and sat on the stool across from his. “I think we need to agree that what happened between us last night was a mistake. And when I make one, I don’t like to repeat it.”
He narrowed his eyes on her. “Why was it a mistake?”
She braced a hand on the counter, fingers spread. “Because it’s a complication I don’t have time for. I need to explain why I’m here and why Jordan is in Santa Fe.”
Yes, you do, Jase thought. And he was baffled at how her mere presence in the room could distract his mind from that pivotal question.
Maddie drew in a deep breath and let it out. “Jordan told me she hadn’t had time to contact you, so I’m sorry to have to tell you that Eva Ware is dead.”
Jase’s eyes narrowed and something in his gut tightened. “She’s dead? How? When?”
“An accident. She was killed by a hit-and-run driver in front of her apartment building a week ago.”
An accident? Even as he struggled to absorb what she was saying, he reached for her hand. “I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.” Maddie linked her fingers with his. “I didn’t know her, and now I never will. I’m still trying to accept that.”
“How’s Jordan?” He couldn’t stop thinking that he’d been away. Jordan had been alone.
“I don’t think she’s had time for the loss to fully sink in. She’s been busy handling details—the funeral and then the will. The whole thing will probably catch up with her at the ranch. It’s a very special place. I’m hoping that being there will help her.”
“Why is she there—and why are you here? Why aren’t you together?”
“Because of Eva’s will.”
Her fingers were holding on to his like a lifeline now. “Tell me everything.”
Maddie did just that, beginning with the phone call from Fitzwalter, then the meeting with her sister and the other Wares, the reading of the will and their decision to meet its terms.
“And Jordan’s alone at the ranch?”
“Yes.” A frown furrowed her forehead. “I’m a little concerned about that. We’ve had some problems lately—vandalism, and my horses had a close call.”
“How so?”
“Someone poisoned their feed, but don’t worry—Cash is due back tomorrow.”
“Who’s Cash?”
“My closest neighbor. We grew up together, actually.”
When Jase noticed that his knuckles had turned white gripping the handle of the coffee mug, he set it carefully down on the counter and flexed his fingers. “And you’re involved with this Cash?”
“When it comes to the running of the ranch, you could say we’re involved. Since my Dad died, Cash is always poking his nose in, making suggestions, offering to do things. He’s gotten very protective. The last few days he’s been helping my foreman get my cattle to market. He doesn’t even know about Jordan or about anything that’s happened.”
Jase found that he didn’t like the idea of some cowboy—childhood friend or not—hanging around Maddie. It was the second time that she’d made him come close to feeling jealous. And he’d only known her—what? A handful of hours?
In the silence that stretched between them, Maddie’s stomach growled.
“You’re hungry.” Jase rose from his stool and pulled the refrigerator door open. Nothing except two bottles of energy water. He pulled them out and set them on the island. “When was the last time you ate?”
Maddie shrugged as she opened one of the bottles. “They served some pretzels when we were stranded for three hours on the runway at O’Hare.”
Jase began a methodical search of the cupboards. “Jordan doesn’t cook, and she’s a regular old Mother Hubbard when it comes to stocking provisions. But she usually keeps a stash of cookies.” Giving up on the cupboards, he opened the microwave door. “Aha, success.” He pulled out a bag. “Chocolate chip. Will these tide you over?”
Maddie selected one from the stack he piled in front of her. “They’re my favorite. I always keep some in my studio at the ranch.”
Jase smiled. “Another thing you and Jordan have in common besides temper, I guess.”
When she’d finished the first cookie, she began to fiddle with her braid. Jase found himself wanting to reach out and touch it too—instead of asking some important questions. Alarm bells had been going off in his head ever since she’d told him that Eva had been the victim of a hit-and-run driver. Three weeks after her store had been robbed.
“Maddie, do you have any idea why Eva made out her will that way?”
“Jordan thinks that in the event of her death, Eva wanted a daughter with a flair for jewelry design to get involved in her business.”
Jase didn’t much care for the way Eva had set up her will, but all he said was, “Do you know if anyone knew about the terms of the will ahead of time?”
As she reached for another cookie, she considered the question. Then she shook her head. “They all seemed pretty shocked when Fitzwalter read the will. Except for Cho Li. Besides Jordan’s, his was the only friendly face in the room.”
“Why do you think Eva wanted you and Jordan to change places?”
She set down the cookie. “I’m not sure. But I’m not comfortable with Jordan’s theory. I don’t like the idea of taking something that belongs to her. I’m hoping that Eva’s plan had a broader design and that she wanted Jordan to experience what she’d missed all these years by not growing up on a ranch. While she’s out there, Jordan’s going to try to see what she can do to help me make the ranch more profitable.”
Jase studied her. “The ranch is in trouble beyond the vandalism?”
Maddie sighed. “I’m not the rancher my father was. And I can’t help feeling guilty about that.”
“Guilt can be hard to deal with.”
Maddie’s eyes flew to his. After a moment she said, “I’m sorry. All I’m doing is talking about myself. Jordan said that you were away all this time because you were trying to free some hostages. Were you successful?”
“Partially. There were three. We lost one of them.”
This time, she was the one who reached for his hand. “I’m sorry.”
For the first time since he’d left South America, Jase felt something loosen inside of him. Then he said aloud what he’d been telling himself ever since he’d looked down at the body of the man he hadn’t been able to rescue. “The two we did free were a man and his son. They were reunited with the rest of their family in Panama City yesterday.”
“Sometimes, no matter what you try to do, you lose someone. For months after my father died, I kept thinking if I’d just been with him—or if I’d just done something differently. Maybe if I’d nagged at him more not to ride out by himself. He had a heart attack while he was alone. If he’d just had someone with him…”
His fingers tightened on hers. “You shouldn’t blame yourself.”
“Neither should you.”
As the silence stretched between them, Maddie became intensely aware of the pull between them. She’d felt it the moment she’d stepped out of the bathroom and started toward him. But now she sensed that it was more than a pull. As she looked into those blue-green eyes, something moved through her. Recognition? How could that be? They were strangers.
Dragging her gaze away from his, she glanced down at their joined hands. His was so large that hers was barely visible. And even though her skin was tan, it was shades lighter than his. They were so different, yet somehow her hand felt just right in his. She might be baffled by it, but she couldn’t deny it was true.
“Maddie, I don’t think what happened between us last night was a mistake.”
Even as she jerked her hand away, she met his eyes again. What she saw had her bones melting. She fought against losing brain cells and swallowed hard. She’d had a clear plan when she’d stepped out of the bathroom. She’d just gotten off track. “Whether it was a mistake or not, it just can’t happen again.”
“Why not? Especially if we both want it to?”
The man was nothing if not direct. And the hint of recklessness she saw in his eyes triggered not panic, but a thrill. Maddie tried to ignore it. Logic and reason. Those were the keys. “Like I said before, we’re both busy. And I only have three weeks.”
“But you’re not saying you don’t want it to happen again.” He rose and moved around the island.
She slid off her stool but held her ground. “If you come nearer, you’ll end up on your butt again.”
“It might not be so easy if you try that a second time.”
She felt her temper rise, and she very nearly said, Wanna bet? But she swallowed the words.
He took a step closer. “On the other hand, it might be fun to find out.”
Maddie absolutely hated the fact that a part of her agreed with him. She detested that she took two steps in retreat. But she couldn’t deny that that the way he was advancing on her had excitement streaming through her.
Reason and logic. Reason and logic. She struggled to infuse both into her voice. “That’s just it. I don’t have time for fun and games. That’s not what I came to New York for.”
She very nearly sighed in relief when her words stopped Jase. But he was only a couple of feet away. If she reached out, she could touch him again. Disgusted with herself, she fisted her hands at her side.
The recklessness in his eyes faded. “You’re right, Maddie Farrell.” He reached out to toy with the end of her braid. “I’m not sure why I keep getting distracted by you, but I’ll figure it out. In the meantime, there’s a phone call I have to make. I want to find out what really happened when your mother was run down.”
Chapter Five
“DAVE, I need a favor.” Jase paced back and forth in the small kitchen, his cell phone at his ear. He was very much aware that Maddie’s eyes were on him. He knew from the line furrowing her forehead that she was worried. That might be a very good thing.
On the other end of the line, Detective Dave Stanton drawled. “And what can the lowly NYPD do for a top-notch security ace like yourself?”
Stanton was a giant of a man with chocolate-brown skin, and his jovial teddy-bear exterior hid a tough cop. Jase had run into him on a case he’d been working six months ago and they’d since become friends. Stanton had also been assigned to the break-in and robbery at Eva Ware Designs.
“It’s about Eva Ware—the hit-and-run. I’ve been working a case out of the country for the past three weeks or so, and I just heard about her death. Can you check into it and call me back?”
“Won’t have to. I’ve been keeping tabs on the investigation. It’s stalled out but the file is still open.”
“What do you know?” Jase stopped pacing when Maddie slid off her stool and strode toward him. He switched his cell phone to speaker so that she could hear too.
“She was run down on her way home from the gym when she was crossing the street to her apartment,” Stanton explained. “It was part of her regular routine to visit the gym twice a week right after she left the Madison Avenue store. She walked home taking the same route. According to her doorman, she always crossed the street directly in front of her apartment instead of walking to the corner.”
“So someone could have been waiting for her?”
“That’s the bug I put in the ear of the two detectives assigned to the case. They followed up and someone in her building with a window facing the street remembers seeing a light-colored sedan parked across the street in a delivery zone. Says it was there for some time before it pulled out and clipped Ms. Ware.”
“There was a witness to the accident?”
“Several of them, including the doorman of her building. All agree that it was a light-colored car. One insisted it was a Mercedes. But no one got a plate number. That’s where things stand.”
“So Eva Ware’s death probably wasn’t an accident.”
“That’s my gut feeling.”
“You know a lot about a case you’re not working,” Jase said.
“I liked Eva Ware. She was a classy lady. So is her daughter Jordan. How’s she holding up?”
That’s exactly what Jase wanted to know. He still hadn’t been able to reach Jordan on her cell. “I haven’t had a chance to connect with her yet. Thanks, Dave.”
“No problem. Keep me in the loop if you find out anything.”
“Will do.”
As Jase closed his cell, Maddie shook her head. “Jordan never said a word about Eva’s death being anything other than an accident.”
Jase lifted the coffeepot and topped off both of their mugs. “That’s probably how the original report read. It sounds to me like Detective Stanton was the one to push looking into it more carefully. By that time Jordan was probably caught up in making funeral arrangements. I wish I’d been here.” It ate bitterly at him that Jordan had had to handle everything on her own.
“I wish that I could have been here for her too. I don’t know if I could have made it through my father’s death if Cash hadn’t been there for me.”
Tilting her head, Maddie studied Jase for a moment. “You believed that Eva’s death wasn’t an accident even before you called Detective Stanton. Why? Is there someone who would want to harm her?”
“Perhaps.” For a minute, Jase debated how much he wanted to tell Maddie and decided she’d have to know it all. Jordan too. “Have you been able to reach your sister? I tried her cell earlier with no luck.”
“Cell signals are seldom available at the ranch. And the land line seems to be out. I called before I showered. There was a nasty storm predicted last night. But she intends to go into Santa Fe today and visit the hotel where they’re holding the jewelry show tomorrow. Her cell should work there, and she’ll call. It’s our plan to keep in daily contact. And you must know how Jordan is about plans.”
Jase smiled. “A real stickler.”
Maddie set her coffee on the counter. “You haven’t answered my question. Why did you instantly suspect that our mother’s death might not be an accident?”
“Do you ever have gut feelings that something isn’t quite right?”
She met his eyes. “Yes. I get them sometimes when I’m designing a piece of jewelry. Then I know I’m going in the wrong direction.”
Jase leaned against the counter and crossed his legs at the ankles. Maddie Farrell was a good listener, astute too. Maybe it would help him to talk it out. “I got one the minute you told me that Eva had been run down. A few days before I left for South America, your mother’s store was broken into and approximately one hundred thousand dollars worth of jewelry was stolen.”
Maddie frowned. “Jordan told me about that. She said that they’d gotten past the security. Considering the kind of pieces I’ve seen on Eva Ware’s Web site, I’m surprised they didn’t steal more. Some of her individual pieces go for two or three times that.”
Smart girl, Jase thought. “The break-in occurred in the main salon. Most of the designs are kept in the safe and only brought out at a specific customer’s request. But there were more expensive pieces on display. The police thought that the thief or thieves purposely took small pieces that could easily be fenced. And they only took pieces with gems.”
“Which could be taken out and sold.”
“That was the thinking. Detective Stanton worked the case, but Eva asked me to look into it also. I would have anyway since I was the one who’d installed the security system. The robbery was a very slick job. Either the thief was a highly sophisticated pro, or he’d had help from the inside. I thought the latter and I told Eva. She hired me to look into it further when I got back from South America. I suggested that she let me turn the investigation over to my partner, Dino Angelis, but she refused.”
“Maybe she wanted a little time to gather information herself. Could be she suspected who the insider was and she wanted to be able to confront him or her.”
Jase studied her. “Yeah. That’s what I thought at the time, but how did you make that leap? You didn’t even know Eva.”
“I guess because if I were in her place, that’s how I’d want to handle it. Jordan tells me that the business meant the world to Eva, that she’d devoted her life to it. On a much smaller scale, I know how I feel about my own fledgling design business. And I can sympathize with Eva wanting to try to handle it herself. Maybe she didn’t even want the thief prosecuted.”
“Why not?”
“Perhaps she didn’t want a scandal. As I understand from Jordan, almost everyone there has been with her a long time.”
“Good point.”
Maddie climbed on a stool and folded her hands in front of her. “So. How are we going to find out who broke into Eva Ware Designs?”
He frowned at her. “We’re not.”
“We have to.”
Jase straightened from the counter. “Maddie, if Eva did figure out who the thief was and threatened exposure, that person might be the one who ran her down. If he or she killed once, they won’t hesitate to do it again.”
Maddie swallowed hard and tried to ignore the sudden chill that radiated through her. Hearing the words spoken aloud in that blunt tone was a lot worse than thinking it. “You believe the thief killed Eva?”
“It’s a strong possibility, and I think that’s why my friend Dave Stanton is keeping an eye on the file.”
His eyes had gone as flat as his tone. He was purposely trying to scare her. “But you’re going to look further into the robbery?”
“Yes.”
If he was right and someone had run Eva down, there was no way she wasn’t going to do her best to find the person. She just had to find the right strategy to convince him. “I can help.”
“No. It’s too dangerous. Do what you came here to do—get to know your mother and her jewelry design business. My office will handle looking into who might have been behind the break-in and robbery.”
A plan was already forming in her mind. Maddie leaned forward. “But I’m going to be on the inside. And my cover is perfect. Jordan has told everyone about me. I’m Eva Ware’s other daughter, the one she left behind. I can play on the sympathy factor. Not from my cousin Adam, but perhaps from the others.”
Jase moved to her then and covered her folded hands with his. “I’m sorry. It’s got to be rough on you.”
“On Jordan too.”
“Yes.”
“That’s exactly what the others are going to think. And I’ll be expected to ask a lot of questions anyway. I already intend to talk to people about Eva—what she was like, how she got started in the business, what her creative process was like. It’s the only way that I have of getting to know her now. I’m going to insist on a tour of her workroom.”
Jase was looking at her, saying nothing. But he was thinking. She could almost hear the wheels turning. Reason and logic. “The break-in could come up as a part of those kinds of conversations. I could find out things that they’ll never tell you if you come into the office in your official capacity.”
“You’re not a trained investigator.”
Her chin lifted. “No. But I already have an idea of where to start.”
Jase slid onto his stool. “Don’t keep me in suspense.”
“I’ll be right back.” Whirling, she raced down the hall to Jordan’s bedroom. Once there, she grabbed the file her twin had prepared for her along with her bag.
When she returned, Jase was waiting. She placed the file on top of the island and dug in her purse for her appointment book. It was an old-fashioned leather-bound volume with a ribbon she used as a bookmark. Right now it was stuffed with business cards, paper clippings and sticky notes. Next she drew out the neatly printed papers Jordan had given her. They contained her hour-by-hour schedule for the next three weeks.
Jase regarded them in silence for a moment. “Explain.”
“They’re appointment calendars. Jordan and I have very different styles. She keeps track of her daily and weekly schedule on some high-tech thing she carries in her purse.” She patted the bursting leather book. “I do it in a less high-tech way. My father used to give me one of these every Christmas. I’m betting Eva would have kept some version of an appointment calendar. If not, her personal assistant must keep one.” She paused to consult her file. “Her name is Michelle Tan. According to Jordan, she started out as an intern and took over the job of Eva’s personal assistant when it opened up. Jordan says she’s been with Eva for nearly a year now.”
“And you’re interested in Eva’s appointment calendar because…?”
“If you’re right and Eva had some idea of who was behind the break-in, it makes sense that she would have confronted him at some point. And I’m betting that she wouldn’t have done it at Eva Ware Designs. But she may have made note of the meeting place in her calendar.”
Jase’s eyes narrowed as he considered. “You may be right. She came to my office when she decided to hire me to investigate further. And she told me not to mention it to Jordan until we had something more concrete to go on.”
“See? She was being discreet.”
Too discreet, Jake thought. It might have gotten her killed.
Jase pointed to the stack of cookies. “You going to finish those?”
“Help yourself.”
He took a cookie and bit into it. He was being manipulated. Living with a mother and a sister, he and D.C. had learned early on what that felt like. The thing was, Maddie made sense. Eva’s appointment calendar was a good place to start looking. And Maddie did have a good cover. Plus, she was going to poke her nose into this whether he wanted her to or not. If Jordan were here, he’d be facing the same problem. The two of them were as curious as Alice when she’d decided to follow that rabbit down his hole.
Maddie leaned forward. “My father was a firm believer in two heads being better than one. Whenever there was a problem at the ranch, he used to talk it over with our neighbor, Jesse Landry. After Jesse died, he’d talk with Cash and me.” She beamed a smile at him. “Admit it. You could use my help.”
For a moment, the smile and the way she was looking at him had his thoughts scattering. Jase firmly anchored them in place. He was going to have to learn to deal with her effect on him if he was going to keep her safe.
“I’ll go along with this, but I’m going to be your constant companion.”
Her brows shot up. “Constant companion?”
“For the next three weeks—or until we get this sorted out—I’m going to be at your side.”
“No way. That will spoil everything. You run a security firm. I’ll never be able to get any of them to talk freely with you hanging around.”
“Jordan has dragged me to Christmas parties and a couple of other events Eva threw at her apartment. So they know me mostly as Jordan’s friend and roommate. When I went to check the security system after the break-in, it was after hours. And as I mentioned, Eva came to my office when she decided to hire me to investigate further.”
“But that’s not going to explain why you’re tagging along after me.”
He smiled slowly at her. “Here’s my cover. Even though we just met, it was love at first sight for you and me. And I’m determined to spend as much time as possible with you during the three weeks you’re here.”
Chapter Six
“WE’RE SORRY that we cannot complete your call at this time. Please try again later.”
Maddie frowned at the handset as she replaced it in its cradle. It was the second time she’d tried the number at the ranch since she and Jase had returned to their separate bedrooms. Both times she’d received the metallic, recorded message. Even if there’d been a storm at the ranch last night, it had to be over. The phone lines should be working.
She needed her sister’s help. Her gaze strayed to the small bookcase the phone was perched on and for the first time she noted the framed photo that sat on the first shelf. Jordan was in her cap and gown, and Eva Ware stood close, her arm around Jordan. Both smiled into the camera.
A little band of pain tightened around Maddie’s heart. It was immature and not fair to Jordan to be jealous of the fact that Eva hadn’t been at her college graduation, nor had she witnessed all of the other milestones in Maddie’s life. Her father had been present, she reminded herself. And Mike Farrell had missed all of Jordan’s big events.
Maddie swallowed hard as she studied Eva’s face and noted the braid that fell over one of her shoulders. She fingered her own. It was hard even now to really get her mind around the fact that Eva Ware was her mother. In her own thoughts and even when talking to Jase about her, she was still referring to her as Eva Ware.
Would she ever get used to the idea? She set the photo carefully back on the shelf. Why? Why had her father and Eva decided to separate? Why had they each cut one daughter out of their lives? She was determined to find an answer to that question before she left New York. Maybe she would discover at least a partial answer as she came to know Eva better.
The second shelf of the small bookcase was filled with paperback books. Curious, she ran her fingers along the spines. Her lips curved when she realized that Jordan lined her paperbacks up alphabetically according to the last name of the author.
Didn’t that just figure?
But what really surprised her was that she had nearly half the same books in the small bookcase in her bedroom at the ranch—starting with the Brontës and Jane Austen. Then there were more modern writers—Linda Howard, Jayne Ann Krentz, Karen Robards, J.D. Robb, Nora Roberts and Robert B. Parker. Maddie’s smile widened as she realized Jordan obviously shared her own weakness for romantic suspense and mysteries.
Then she glanced at the bottom shelf and simply stared. The books there were alphabetized too, but they were all westerns—Zane Grey, Louis L’Amour, Luke Short, Larry McMurtry. She recognized the authors because they were her father’s favorites. There were two copies of Lonesome Dove—one that was falling apart and another that seemed to be brand new. How many times had she teased her father about rereading that novel? It appeared that her sister might have the same addiction.
Could a taste in reading run in a family? And what else might she and Jordan have in common? Certainly not their taste in clothes. Striding toward the full-length mirror on the open closet door, Maddie studied the outfit she’d selected. She’d searched high and low for a plain pair of slacks and a blazer—but Jordan didn’t seem to believe in them. Her twin favored clothes that were either a little too frilly or fashion-forward for Maddie’s taste. Her own wardrobe consisted almost entirely of jeans or slacks and jackets and T-shirts.
Simple, flexible—and you seldom had to worry about color coordination.
She’d finally decided on a suit she’d initially been drawn to because of the color—a pale blue that reminded her of a summer sky in Santa Fe. The skirt had a flouncy, fluted ruffle along its hem. Turning in a half circle, she watched it flare out. The jacket had feminine bell-shaped sleeves. It was certainly not something she could wear at the ranch, but it was growing on her.
She dropped her gaze to her bare feet. What she needed now was shoes. She sent a worried glance at the rows upon rows of them that took up a wall in Jordan’s closet. So many choices, so little time. The shower in the bathroom had stopped running five minutes ago. Since then, she figured Jase had probably shaved and now was dressing.
And she doubted he was stumped by shoe selection. The problem with Jordan’s was they all looked to be ankle-breakers. Still, there was a dark blue pair with a silver buckle that her eye kept returning to. Moving into the closet, she ran her finger over the buckle. But they’d never been worn. She didn’t feel right about wearing a pair of shoes that Jordan never had.
Which was one of the reasons she needed to talk to her sister. Striding back to the phone, she once more punched in the number of the ranch. To her surprise, it rang. Then she listened to her own voice telling her to leave a message.
When the beep sounded, she said, “Jordan, this is Maddie. Pick up if you can. Otherwise call me back ASAP.”
A glance at her watch told her it was nine-thirty. “I’m running a little late, but you should be able to reach me at Eva Ware Designs a little after ten. Jase is coming with me.”
She’d lost some time trying to talk him out of his plan to become her constant companion, but he’d remained firm. Until they had a clearer idea of what was going on, he was going to stick to her like glue. And he hadn’t missed his chance to tell her that two heads were better than one. There was nothing like having your own words come back to bite you.
“You didn’t mention in his file that he was mule-headed. Anyway, it’s a long story, and there’s something else I need to tell you.” There was no way she was going to mention what they’d discovered about the investigation into Eva’s death on an answering machine.
“So call me.” She was about to hang up when she remembered. “One other thing. There’s a pair of shoes in your closet that doesn’t look as if it’s ever been worn. Hope you don’t mind if I break them in. Bye.”
She stared at the handset for a minute after she’d replaced it. She hadn’t exactly asked permission. But those blue shoes were definitely calling her name.
Striding to the closet, she plucked them off the shelf, stepped into them, and winced. Was this what Cinderella’s stepsisters had felt like when they’d tried on the glass slipper?
But they were the right size. She’d checked that out. The tight fit had to be due to the fact that she was used to wearing boots. Very comfortable, worn-in boots. She took an experimental step out of the closet and had to slam a hand into the door frame to keep her balance. Maddie shifted her gaze to the mirror. “This can’t be that hard. You learned to ride a horse, rope a cow and shoot a gun.”
She took one step and teetered. This time she didn’t reach for the wall. “You can learn to walk in these. Millions of other women have. How hard can it be?”
Turning away from her reflection, Maddie started for the foot of the bed, stumbled, and nearly went down.
“About as hard as learning to walk on stilts,” she muttered. Then she focused on her destination. It was less than ten feet away. Concentrating hard, she raised her arms for balance the way a tightrope walker would and put one foot gingerly in front of the other. By the time she reached the bed, she could lower her arms.
And breathe.
So far, so good. She took another breath and started toward the dresser on the other side of Jordan’s bed. She raised her arms again, but by the time she was halfway there, she no longer felt the need to use them for balance. Thank heavens the learning curve for navigating around in the shoes was going to be short.
On the surface of Jordan’s dresser lay a silver-plated brush and comb, a small box of hairpins and a jewelry box. Raising her eyes, Maddie regarded her image in the mirror and frowned. The hair was definitely wrong for the outfit.
In her mind’s eye she pictured Jordan’s sophisticated, layered cut. Much better. There had to be something she could do. Quickly, she unraveled the braid and ran her fingers through it. Then using the hairbrush, she pulled it smoothly back from her face into a ponytail. Finally, she twisted the ponytail into a bun and secured it to the back of her head with pins.
Better. But were the earrings okay? With a critical eye, she studied the tiny silver horseshoes that dangled from each of her ears. The sky-blue of the turquoise was fine in terms of color. But her hand was already reaching to open Jordan’s jewelry box. What she saw inside took her breath away.
Of course, she’d seen Eva’s jewelry in magazines and on the store’s Web site, but nothing had captured the delicacy of the designs. In comparison, her horseshoes looked almost gaudy. She was reaching for a froth of lacy gold in a teardrop shape when she suddenly became aware that she wasn’t alone in the room.
Turning, she saw Jase standing in the open doorway. How long had he been watching her? The way he was looking at her, the heat in his eyes, had her throat going desert-dry. Quickly she dropped her gaze from his. Not that it helped. He’d changed into a dark blue T-shirt and blazer which only emphasized his broad shoulders. And he wore jeans that fit snugly at the hips and hugged his legs like a second skin.
And, in spite of everything she’d said to him, she wanted him again. For a moment, as the silence stretched between them, she became very aware of the fact that they were separated only by Jordan’s bed. If she moved toward it, would he? A wave of longing struck her, so intense that for a second, she nearly lost her balance.
It wasn’t the shoes this time.
It was the man.
And she could have him right now. She could tell by the expression in his eyes. An image filled her mind of the two of them on the bed, naked, their limbs entwined, their bodies moving as one.
No! Maddie fisted her hands at her sides. She had to get a grip on the way he was affecting her. Everything she’d said to him was true. She didn’t have time to indulge in…this…this…craziness. She had to learn to walk around in Jordan’s shoes. Literally as well as figuratively. She had to get to Eva Ware Designs.
Dragging her eyes back to his face, she forced her mind back to the problem that had consumed her before Jase had entered the room—what she was wearing. She raised her hands and dropped them. “What do you think?”
FOR A MOMENT Jase didn’t respond. How could he when he simply wasn’t thinking at all? His thoughts had scattered the moment he’d caught sight of her on the other side of the bed. He’d stopped in the doorway because he hadn’t trusted himself to go farther into the room.
Or perhaps it was because desire had struck him with the force of a Mack truck. When she’d loosened her braid and run her fingers through it, he’d nearly lost it. He’d grabbed the doorjamb with one hand and held on tight as his mind emptied and filled with sensations—of how that long, loose hair would feel between his fingers, on his skin.
He didn’t even know how long he’d been standing there staring at her. Long enough for him to weave a nice little fantasy about getting her out of that suit and touching her. Really touching her. He’d pictured them on that bed—this time in the daylight when they were both awake. And he knew exactly how that skin would feel—soft as rainwater, smooth as the petal of an exotic flower one might come across in the steamy jungle he’d just left.
“Well?”
Jase gathered enough of himself to note that her hands had fisted on her hips and one foot was tapping. And still he couldn’t get a word out. For the first time, something like fear moved through him.
No woman had ever tied his tongue in knots before.
“If this outfit is that bad, you’d better come right out and say it. I’m used to wearing jeans and slacks, so I don’t have much fashion sense when it comes to fancy clothes. I went for the color. But Jordan has lots of other clothes.”
Jase pulled himself together. And finally found his voice. “It’s fine.”
She studied him as she moved toward him, giving the bed a wide berth. He appreciated the strategy and took some satisfaction that he wasn’t the only one thinking about tumbling her into it.
“You’re not just saying that? You’re sure?”
“Yeah,” he lied. The only thing he was really sure of was that she wasn’t going to be wearing the outfit much longer if they didn’t get out of Jordan’s bedroom. And until he found out exactly who might have run down Eva Ware, he needed to be able to think clearly. Still, he couldn’t prevent his gaze from raking her one more time. “Are you going to be able to walk in those shoes?”
She glanced down at them. “Yeah, I’ve got that under control, I think.”
Control. That was the key word, Jase reminded himself. He released his grip on the doorjamb, flexed his fingers to assure himself that they were still there. Last but not least, he dragged his gaze away from the bed and led the way out of the room.
TRUE TO FORM, New York City traffic was crawling along at less than a snail’s pace. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Maddie was staring wide-eyed out the open window of the taxi, craning her neck to take in the buildings, the people, and breathing in the mix of scents—hot pavement, rotting garbage, exhaust fumes—that he took for granted.
He glanced at his watch and saw that it was nearly ten. Even though it was only a twenty-block walk to Eva Ware Designs, he’d decided in deference to her shoes to hail a cab. But what should have been a five-minute cab ride was stretching into thirty. Even in the ankle-breakers she was wearing, they could have easily arrived at the jewelry store by now.
Brakes squealed as the car in front of them came to an abrupt stop. Someone stepped out of the passenger door and hurried into a small store that specialized in fresh produce. Their cabbie leaned on his horn and shouted something out the window in a language Jase wasn’t familiar with. Glancing out the rear window, Jase could see that their taxi was neatly boxed in.
He looked at Maddie and saw that she was staring at a policeman astride a horse. They hadn’t said much to each other since they’d left the building. She’d been intent on drinking in the sights, and he’d welcomed the reprieve of just being away from the apartment. They’d have to go back there eventually and good idea or not, he was sure that they were going to end up in bed together again.
He’d never met a woman who pulled at him the way she did. Even now his hand was fisted on the seat because he wanted to reach out and touch her. Just to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear or to run a finger down her throat.
But that wouldn’t be enough. He’d need more. And he’d have more. It might be the biggest mistake of his life, but one way or another, he did intend to make love with Maddie Farrell again.
Right now, he had to put that aside and switch gears. She still had her eyes on the mounted policeman, and he reminded himself that she had just switched places with her sister and was feeling her way through a strange, new world. Maybe he could help with that.
“In the file she gave you, did Jordan mention that she keeps a horse on a farm just a little north of the city?”
“No.”
For the first time since they’d entered the taxi, she turned to face him. He read both surprise and interest on her face. “It’s a stallion. She bought him when she moved to the city to work for your mother. She named him Julius Caesar because he was born on the Ides of March.”
Maddie stared at him. “My horse is Brutus. What are the chances?”
“Jordan has always loved horses. She started riding lessons when she was six, and she was a natural. She began competing two years after that and didn’t give it up until she started college.”
A small frown creased Maddie’s forehead. He’d seen the same expression before when she was carefully considering something.
“A penny for your thoughts,” he said.
“It’s just…odd. No, ironic is a better word.”
“For what?”
The frown on her forehead deepened. “I love riding, and I enjoy living on a ranch, but I’ve discovered that my real passion is designing jewelry. And Jordan seems to have a passion for horses and riding the way my father did. From what I saw on her bookshelf, they even share a passion for westerns.”
“You’re thinking they picked the wrong daughters when they made their choices.”
She nodded.
Even though he knew it was a mistake, he took her hand in his. “I doubt that either your father or your mother would feel that way.”
HE UNDERSTOOD. Something tightened in Maddie’s throat. Even though her hand was clasped lightly in his, she was aware of the pressure of each one of his fingers. But it wasn’t a sizzle of passion that moved through her blood. This time it was something warmer and much sweeter. He leaned toward her and brushed the merest hint of a kiss over her lips.
Without thinking, she raised her free hand to his face—to push him away? To keep him there?
Before she could decide, he drew back and said, “Do you think you can manage three blocks on foot?”
Maddie frowned at her feet. “No promises, but I’m game to try. After all, I’m supposed to be walking around in Jordan’s shoes.”
He grinned at her. “She always wore her sneakers when she walked to work and carried the ankle-breakers in her bag.”
Maddie glared at him. “You might have told me that before we left the apartment.”
“It’s only a couple more blocks.” Jase passed the taxi driver two bills. Then he grabbed Maddie’s hand again and pulled her with him to the sidewalk. As they blended into the flow of pedestrians headed uptown, a cacophony of noise enveloped them—horns blaring, engines thrumming, one-sided snatches of conversations as passersby chatted into their cell phones.
Jase raised his voice. “How are the shoes?”
“Glorious to look at—but agony to wear.” She shot him a determined look. “It’s going to be worth every bit of discomfort when I walk into that store not looking like the country bumpkin they’re probably expecting.”
“You’ll be fine. Just remember the roles we’re assuming.”
“I’ll be playing myself—the other daughter.”
Taking her hand, he raised it to his lips and kissed her fingers. “And I’ll be playing your lover.”
Heat shot through her and Maddie was sure that if there had been room in the shoes, her toes would have curled. In spite of the role Jase was playing, she intended to keep her focus.
Suddenly, she stopped short and a startled pedestrian jostled her as he passed.
Gripping her shoulders, Jase pulled her out of the flow of traffic into a doorway. “What is it?”
“I forgot the earrings.”
“No, you didn’t. You’re wearing them.”
She shook her head. “I was going to take these off and put on one of Eva’s designs. My style is so…different. Next to hers, my earrings look…” She paused, searching for the right word.
“Beautiful.” He reached up and ran his finger down one of the horseshoes.
Her thoughts scattered. He was going to kiss her again. She could see the desire in his eyes, feel her own response rip through her. The noises that had surrounded them since they’d left the cab faded to a dim buzz. Her mind constricted like a spotlight on a stage until there was only Jase.
He slid his hands from her upper arms over her shoulders, then framed her face. It seemed as if it had been forever since he’d touched her. Had it only been a matter of hours?
Using his thumbs, he tilted her chin up. “I want to kiss you. I thought I could wait until later when we got back to the apartment. Back to my bed. But I can’t.”
He lowered his mouth slowly until it was nearly touching hers. Then he paused.
She should push him away, Maddie thought dimly. She’d always prided herself on having a logical, practical turn of mind. But she’d never experienced this kind of desire before. Each time he touched her or even looked at her, she wanted. It was just that elemental.
“I can’t wait either.” The words tumbled out of her on a ragged breath as she slipped her arms beneath his jacket and rose on her tiptoes. Finally, finally, their mouths were touching, tasting, exploring as hunger deepened into a fierce need.
The kiss was so much more than she remembered. What had happened between them during the night seemed more like a dream. This was reality. Each sensation was so intense—the hard planes and angles of body pressing her into the unyielding glass of the display window, the scrape of his teeth on her bottom lip, the heat of his hand as he slipped it beneath her jacket and ran it possessively from her waist to the side of her breast. Then he changed the angle of the kiss and she sampled again the flavor of his need. Irresistible.
Jase ran his hand down to her waist and then back up again. It seemed that he’d been waiting forever to touch her. She was driving him crazy. That had to be why he was acting this way. It wasn’t that he hadn’t lived dangerously or taken risks before. He’d made his living so far doing both. But he’d always been in control. Maddie Farrell was draining that away.
The taste of her surrender poured into him. He drew her closer until every curve of her body was molded against his. The thin material of her blouse was tempting, maddening. He wanted her out of it. Desperately.
They were standing in the middle of a busy Manhattan street. In some dim corner of his mind that hadn’t yet shut down, Jase reminded himself of that. But it was almost impossible to keep a grip on reality when the concrete sidewalk beneath his feet seemed to shift as easily as sand on a beach. He struggled to keep his balance. Shocked, he tried to strengthen the slim grip he had on his control. He should be damning himself for acting like a hormone-driven teenager. He should be damning her for driving him to this. But all he wanted was more of her.
When it finally struck him that he might not be able to stop himself from taking more, a sharp stab of fear gave him the strength to draw back. Releasing her, he took a step away. Even then he struggled, his mind battling against his emotions, and he very nearly dragged her back and kissed her again. He might have if a woman hadn’t chosen that moment to walk by them and enter the store.
Jase backed up another step. The first completely coherent thought that slipped into his mind was that he wasn’t capable of controlling this. The realization stunned him.
Maddie spoke first. “This is ridiculous.”
Jase studied her closely. There was a vulnerability in her that he hadn’t noticed before. And because he wanted badly to reach out to her, he slid his fingers into the pockets of his jeans. “That’s not exactly the word I’d choose.”
“I don’t understand what’s happening between us.”
“It’s a puzzler all right.”
“We’re on a crowded street and all I could think of was that I wanted to kiss you.”
“The feeling was mutual.”
She frowned at him then. “That only increases the problem. What we need is a solution. What are we going to do about this?”
Jase dropped his gaze to her mouth, then met her eyes again. “I think we both know the answer to that.”
She frowned at him. “I don’t like it. It’s going to interfere with everything. I have enough on my plate.”
“Me too.” The fact that the frustration in her tone was such a perfect match to his own eased what he was feeling. He managed a smile. “I guess we’ll just have to compartmentalize and work around it. And speaking of work, Eva Ware Designs has been open for a good fifteen minutes. I suggest we resume this discussion later.”
Maddie lifted her chin. “Fine. Good. We’ll keep our focus on our investigation.”
Together, they threaded their way back into the stream of pedestrians.
“I meant to tell you in the car that I have an idea about what we should do when we get to Eva Ware Designs.”
Jase glanced at her. “Don’t keep me in the dark.”
“We seem to have two goals. You’re primarily interested in figuring out who on the inside might have robbed the store. Of course, I’m interested in that too. I want to learn as much as I can about Eva, but I also want to find if there’s someone there Eva confided in.”
“Someone who might have known about you?”
Maddie nodded. “The more I think about it, the more I believe she must have confided in someone. And that someone may be able to shed some light on why Jordan and I were separated.”
Jase held his tongue. His impression of Eva Ware was that she was a very self-contained woman. He’d had some time to think in the shower earlier. As he’d turned it over in his mind, he’d become convinced that she’d had some idea of who had broken into her store from the very beginning, yet she confided in no one. Not in Jordan. Not in him. She was a private woman and she knew how to keep a secret. She’d kept a very important one for twenty-six years.
“And I want to see Eva’s appointment calendar. It might be better when we get there to separate and gather our information separately.”
It wasn’t a bad idea, Jake thought. “As long as I don’t have to let you out of my sight.”
“I have a question,” she said.
“Ask away.”
“Do you have any thoughts on why my mother asked Jordan and me to change places?”
Jase thought for a moment. “I think Jordan’s theory that she wanted the two of you to experience the life she and your father had separated you from is a strong possibility. Did the fact that you’re a talented jewelry designer play into it? Perhaps. But I also think she may have been experiencing some regret.”
“It that’s true, why didn’t she just bring us together? Why put it in her will so that our coming together would only occur after her death? Now, I’ll never get to know her.”
“I don’t know the answer to that question, Maddie. But this way she’ll never get to know you either. Her loss.”
“I’m going to get some answers.”
When they stopped at the corner, he ran a finger down one of her earrings. “By the way, I like these. For what it’s worth, your mother might have wanted you to experience Jordan’s life—but I don’t think she wanted you to stop being true to yourself.”
Chapter Seven
EVA WARE DESIGNS was housed in a building on the corner of Madison Avenue and 51st Street. Because her nerves had been steadily building during the last few blocks, Maddie slowed and focused her attention on the display windows. As distracting as the man beside her was, she was going to put him out of her mind and concentrate on what she’d come to New York to do—learn as much as she could about Eva and Jordan.
The white marble facade of the building framed four two-foot-square windows, two on each side of the glass-doored entrance. Each window was artfully lit and showcased a single piece of jewelry.
Bait, she thought. The minimalist approach intrigued her, especially when she recalled the more cluttered window displays in the boutiques that carried her jewelry in Santa Fe. Most of the shop owners had no acquaintance with the idea that less might be more.
Maddie moved from one window to the next, not as a delaying tactic anymore, but because she was fascinated. Her eyes widened when they spotted the solitary emerald set in a delicately woven gold band. She guessed the ring to be at least two full carats, and yet the craftsmanship of the design made it look so delicate. Eager to see more, she bypassed the entrance and walked around the corner.
“We haven’t even gone inside, and you look like a kid in a candy shop.”
She grinned at Jase. “That’s exactly how I feel.” She waved a hand at a window holding a pair of earrings, each offering a mini explosion of tiny, multicolored gems. “Putting only one piece in each window—it’s a brilliant marketing idea. It forces the viewer to focus solely on the artistry of the piece.”
“It was Jordan’s brainchild. It took her almost six months to win your mother over. Your cousin Adam fought her tooth and nail.”
The last window held a pendant, three inches square. The gold was hammered and though it was crafted on a much smaller scale, it still made her think of a breast plate that an ancient warrior might have worn into battle. Wanting to get a closer look, she barely kept herself from pressing her nose against the window. There was a diamond set in the center of the pendant and radiating out from it were four rows of turquoise stones.
Something tightened around her heart. “I didn’t know Eva worked with turquoise.”
“Sorry,” Jase said. “I don’t have much information on that. I knew about the display windows because Jordan vented about it for several months.”
Maddie pressed her fingers against the glass, wanting very much to touch the pendant. “It’s a little like some of the pieces I’ve designed—except I don’t use diamonds or gold. I’d like to know how she developed that hammering technique.”
“We should go in. That’s the kind of question your cousin Adam should be able to answer.”
Yes. She turned to look at him and saw that he was leaning against the white marble wall, regarding her steadily.
She cocked her head to the side and regarded him right back. “You’re thinking that I’m stalling. And I have to admit, my window-shopping started out that way. And then I just got caught up in out-and-out gawking. I’ve been in awe of Eva Ware’s jewelry ever since I started to dream of designing some myself.”
Straightening her shoulders, she moved past him and around the corner. “And you’ve made your point. I didn’t come here as a besotted fan. I came to get some answers.”
She pulled the front door open, then paused and shot him a look over her shoulder. “When I talk to Adam about Eva’s techniques, I can ask him other questions too.”
Before she could enter the store, Jase took her hand.
Maddie tried to tug it free and failed. “I thought we agreed to postpone our…personal situation until later.”
“Our personal situation?” Jase grinned. “Yeah, we’ll deal with that later.” Thoroughly, he thought. “This is work related. Remember my cover?”
When he leaned down to kiss her nose, Maddie froze. She was aware that two people in the store had turned to watch them—a sturdily built, well-dressed woman at one of the display cases and a very distinguished-looking man who must be the manager.
“You’re making a scene,” she breathed.
“That’s the plan. The first time I spotted you, I fell hard. Haven’t been able to think straight since. As long as we’re in the store, I’m your besotted boy toy. If everyone buys in to that, I won’t come off as any kind of a threat.”
Boy toy? That much she could see. But even with the windblown hair and wearing jeans and a blazer, it was hard for Maddie to imagine Jase Campbell not coming across as a threat.
ONCE THEY were inside the store, Jase released Maddie’s hand. Touching her in any way clouded his thoughts, and he needed a clear head. The rather flip description of the role he intended to play as her besotted admirer was a bit too close to the truth to suit his liking.
But he’d worked enough special ops and cases to know that it was sometimes essential to make use of the cards you were dealt. He kept the two occupants of the store in his peripheral vision. The man in the pin-striped gray suit and ruthlessly knotted tie was staring at Maddie now.
Jase searched his memory. Jordan had introduced him as the store manager at a party she’d dragged him to at her mother’s apartment. What was his name? Arnold? Albert? His face was tanned, his graying blond hair carefully styled, and he still reminded Jase of Sean Connery.
Arnold Bartlett. That was it. Jase noted that the portly woman who favored the kind of outfits Queen Elizabeth wore, right down to a pink pillbox hat, had turned her attention back to the display case.
Three steps in front of him Maddie twirled in a circle. A kid in a candy store didn’t quite do justice to the expression on her face. It was such a mix of wonder, excitement, pride—and jealousy?
He could understand all of those. Jewelry was a business to Jordan, but it was clearly Maddie’s passion. This was her mother’s world. What must it feel like to have been cut out of Eva’s life? To have been denied the experience of growing up beside her sister? And now, she would never have the chance to talk to Eva about it.
He thought of his relationship with his own family—his sister Darcy, his mom, his brother D.C. What would his life be like, what would he be like now if he’d been denied a relationship with them?
Maddie moved back to him. “It’s so lovely.”
Once more she let her gaze sweep the room, drinking in every detail. He’d only been in the store once before, after hours, when he’d come to check out the security system his firm had installed. He’d been impressed. The floor was white marble, the walls a creamy color broken every five feet or so with raised carvings of Greek columns. Potted plants and vases of fresh flowers were scattered throughout the room.
Even here the jewelry was displayed discreetly—just a few pieces in each of the five display cases. That too had been Jordan’s idea. Since so much of the store’s business consisted of special orders, she’d argued that the display cases as well as the windows should have the purpose of giving their customers ideas.
Scattered throughout the main salon, antique couches and chairs were grouped in conversation areas. On an intricately carved sideboard near the front of the store sat silver urns offering coffee and tea. Another sideboard offered chilled sparkling water.
Over Maddie’s shoulder, Jase saw Arnold Bartlett pick up a phone.
“I’m so out of my league,” Maddie said.
His eyes cut to Maddie’s as anger moved through him. It wasn’t directed at Maddie, but at the two people who’d put her in this situation—her parents. He grabbed her shoulders. “You’re not. You belong here every bit as much as Jordan does. You remember that.” Then he pulled her close for a quick hard kiss.
Maddie tried to keep her focus as her brain clouded and her knees went weak. He was playing a role, she reminded herself. And she had to do her part. Plus, she had to keep her mind on her goals.
A deep masculine voice said, “Ms. Farrell.”
When Maddie turned toward him, the dignified-looking man smiled and extended his hand. “Arnold Bartlett—store manager. I want to welcome you to Eva Ware Designs.”
Beaming a smile at him, Maddie shook his hand. “Thank you, Mr. Bartlett.”
“Call me Arnold. Your sister does.” He studied her for a moment. “Even though Jordan told us about you, I…The resemblance is striking. When you first walked in, I was sure you were Jordan. She sometimes wears her hair pulled back.”
Still smiling, he shot a look of polite inquiry at Jase.
Jase threw a friendly arm around Maddie and pulled her possessively close. “Jase Campbell. I’m an old pal of Jordan’s.”
“Ah, yes. But I assumed Maddie would be coming here alone.”
Jase gave Maddie a little squeeze. “Since she’s only going to be here three weeks, I just can’t bring myself to let her out of my sight. I’m sure you can understand why.”
“Yes, well…”
“Madison?”
Maddie’s gaze shifted to Adam Ware who was striding purposefully toward them.
“Adam told me to notify him the moment you arrived,” Arnold Bartlett explained. “He wants to give you a personal tour.”
Maddie stifled a surge of nerves as her cousin approached. He was even more classically handsome than she recalled. Today he wore a pale gray suit and a silk shirt and tie in varying hues of the same color. His longish chestnut-brown hair was shoved behind his ears revealing a single diamond in his right earlobe. His features were chiseled, his skin tanned and his profile might easily have graced some ancient coin.
Adam reminded Maddie a bit of the real estate agent, Daniel Pearson, who’d been so intent on getting her to let him list and sell her ranch. Both had a sheen of smooth sophistication. Adam was a bit more volatile, but she was reluctant to put her trust in either of them.
The man standing at her side with his arm around her was anything but smooth. Though if he decided to act the role of the city sophisticate, Maddie had no doubt that Jase could pull it off. Her father would have liked Jase, she suddenly realized. If for no other reason than that he seemed to be able to lie like a trouper.
When Adam reached her, he gave her a smile that didn’t succeed in reaching his eyes. That was another difference between the two men. Jase’s slow and easy smiles always reached his eyes.
“If you’ll come this way, I’ll show you to Jordan’s office.” Then he turned to Jase. “You’ll have to stay here. We don’t allow anyone but employees or family beyond the main salon.”
A little flare of anger began to build inside Maddie. Jase tightened his arm around her, and Maddie knew he was going to say something. To warn him off, she shifted her balance and pressed one of her narrow heels into his foot.
He stiffened, but he kept silent.
Maddie brightened her smile. She wasn’t going to allow herself to be intimidated. She might not have been a part of Eva’s life for the past twenty-six years, but she was here now.
“I came here for more than a tour, Adam. I’m stepping into Jordan’s shoes for the next three weeks, so you’re going to see a lot of me and Jase. And Jase will be accompanying me beyond the salon as my special guest.”
Drawing Jase with her, she strode toward the elevator she’d seen Adam step out of.
“Nicely done.” Jase spoke in a voice only she could hear.
She jabbed a finger into the call button. Once they were all in the elevator, Maddie said to Adam, “Before you take me to Jordan’s office, I want to see where Eva worked.”
Her cousin stared at her. “No one is allowed in there except members of the design team. That’s a strict rule that Aunt Eva made.”
Maddie raised her eyebrows at him. “I’m sure that Jordan has been allowed into the workroom?”
Now Adam frowned. “Occasionally, but she doesn’t work there. She’s not a designer.”
“Well, I am. And since I’m Eva Ware’s other daughter and a fellow jewelry designer, I’m certain she wanted me to visit.”
“Oh, very well.” Adam’s tone was less than gracious as he punched the button for the second floor. “Our workroom is adjacent to our office.” Once again he shot a look at Jase. “But I can’t allow your friend access to the design studio. It’s one of Aunt Eva’s hard and fast rules that outsiders are never allowed in her workroom. No one is permitted to see works in progress. She’s even kept my parents out.”
“The thing is, Eva Ware isn’t in charge here anymore,” Maddie said.
Adam’s face turned red. He opened his mouth, shut it and finally said, “Very well.”
The elevator door slid open on a small, high-ceilinged room with three offices opening off it. Desks and cabinets were partially visible through the open doorways. Oriental rugs in muted pastel shades dotted the marble floors. Sunlight poured through narrow windows. An antique cherry desk sat in the center of the room, and a young Asian girl glanced up, then rose and moved toward them. “Welcome to Eva Ware Designs. I’m Michelle Tan.”
Maddie summoned up the name from the notes Jordan had given her as she shook the hand the young woman extended. Then as the Michelle’s gaze shifted to Jase, Maddie said, “This is my friend, Jase Campbell.”
“Ah. Jordan’s roommate,” Michelle said. “She’s spoken of you.”
“I hope in a positive way,” Jase said.
Michelle smiled, but Adam interrupted before she could speak. “They’ve asked to see Aunt Eva’s workroom. We’ll be back shortly.” Then he turned and led the way down a short hall.
“You’re doing a nice job of handling your cousin, darlin’,” Jase murmured for Maddie’s ears only. “The pushier you are with him, the more easily I can fade into the background.”
“His mother isn’t here to prompt him. He seems more assertive when she is.” Then she shot him a look. “Darlin’?”
“Payback for my foot.”
The short exchange eased the nerves in Maddie’s stomach.
“When we get in the studio,” Jase continued, “I’ll distract your cousin so you can take your time.”
Adam opened the door and strode into the room. Over his shoulder, Maddie could see Cho Li, her mother’s long-time assistant, bent over something at a desk. He wore jeans and a loose-fitting chambray shirt.
“Cho, what are you doing working in Aunt Eva’s space?”
Adam’s voice had the small man swiveling in his chair.
Cho Li wore rimless glasses.
“I was finishing a design that Eva was working on,” Cho replied in a calm voice. “She would want it completed.”
For a moment the gazes of the two men clashed. In the end, it was Adam who dropped his. “You remember Madison Farrell.”
Cho rose from his chair and moved toward Maddie. When he reached her, he bowed.
Jase released Maddie’s hand as she also bowed. He knew from Jordan that Cho Li was in his midseventies, but he looked younger and his eyes were smiling. Jase quickly scanned the room. It was large, nearly twice the space of the office area where they’d left Michelle. Tall narrow windows along two walls let in plenty of light, and there were three clearly defined workspaces.
“Welcome, Ms. Farrell,” Cho Li said. “What can I do for you?”
Maddie smiled at him. “Please call me Maddie.”
He nodded his head. “Maddie then.”
“I’d love to see the design that you were completing for Eva.”
A smile spread over Cho’s face. “Come.”
When Adam started to follow them, Jase put a hand on his arm. “I wonder if I could have a word with you.”
“What about?”
Jase glanced at Maddie, then lowered his voice. “In private?” Then he drew Adam over to the far end of the room. He settled his hip against a worktable so that Adam would have to face him. “The thing is, I need some help.”
Adam’s eyes narrowed. “With what?”
Over Adam’s shoulder, Jase could see Maddie and Cho standing in front of the worktable. Cho was holding up a ring of yellow gold with a smaller ring of white gold inside it.
Jase met Adam’s eyes. “Maddie and I have only just met. Jordan and I have been pals for years, and they look so much alike. But when I met Maddie, something just clicked. You know what I mean?”
“Your relationship with Madison is of no interest to me. Now if you’ll excuse—”
Jase put a hand on Adam’s arm. “The thing is, I’d like to buy her something while we’re here. Can you help me with that?”
Adam frowned at him. “Do I look like a salesperson? If you came to purchase something, Arnold could have taken care of you in the main salon.”
Jase shrugged. “You’re one of the designers, aren’t you?”
Adam’s chin lifted. “Yes, I am. Now that Eva is gone, I’m the head designer at Eva Ware Designs.”
“And you’re Maddie’s cousin. Family’s important to her. I was thinking that one of your creations might be just the ticket. Something exclusive that hasn’t made its way downstairs yet? Do you have some pieces that I could look at?”
Adam was torn. Jase could see the struggle in his face, but in the end ego won out. He opened a drawer in his worktable, took out a thick ring of keys and led the way to a cabinet in the corner. “I can show you three of my latest creations.”
MADDIE TOUCHED the pendant of concentric gold rings that Cho had been working on when they’d entered the room. “Would you mind if I picked it up?”
“Go ahead,” Cho said.
Maddie examined it more closely. The larger ring was yellow gold and the smaller circle dangling inside it was white gold. Cho had nearly completed hammering the finish onto the larger ring.
“There’s the sketch your mother was working from.”
Maddie shifted her gaze to the corkboard that formed the walls above each workspace. There were at least a dozen sketches pinned to the wall, and it took her a moment to locate the right one. She saw that the inner circular ring was supposed to be hammered too.
She looked back at the pendant now nestled in the palm of her hand. “It’s beautiful. Just beautiful. I’ve been experimenting with a technique like this one.”
“Why don’t you try your hand on the silver?”
“Silver?” Maddie’s eyes narrowed on the inner ring. “I thought it had to be white gold.” But it wasn’t. She could see that now. “I didn’t know that Eva worked with silver.”
“She had just started.” Cho held out the small hammer. “Go ahead.”
Her fingers itched to take it. Instead, she met Cho’s eyes. “You knew her for a long time.”
He nodded. “I worked with her for a year before she opened this store.”
Maddie drew in a deep breath. “Did she ever tell you about me?”
“No. I’m sorry.”
Maddie read both sadness and understanding in Cho’s eyes. Swallowing her disappointment, she glanced back at the tool he held in his hand. “I think you’d better finish this. I’m not sure she’d want me to work on her pieces.”
“But she brought you here,” Cho said.
Maddie stared at him. He was right. Eva had brought her here with the terms of the will. She must have wanted her to be here. When Cho swiveled the chair and she felt it at the back of her knees, she sank into it.
He sat down beside her. “One thing I can tell you. I worked with her for a year before she signed the lease on this building. There were three other places she looked at, but she told me that she wanted a store on Madison Avenue. She believed it would bring her luck. It did.”
Maddie took the tool that Cho offered and turned back to the circular rings. Then, drawing in a deep breath, she hit the first stroke.
Chapter Eight
WHILE ADAM had waxed on and on extolling the design values of first a ring and then a bracelet, Jase had taken the time to study the room. The worktable that Cho and Maddie sat at ran nearly the length of one wall. It had two workspaces. Adam’s desk and worktable sat on the opposite wall.
Occasionally, Adam would glance over to see what Maddie was doing. Jase had used those opportunities to take a quick inventory of the sketches that nearly covered the walls. He knew from Jordan that Cho didn’t create any original jewelry, that he worked on executing and occasionally modifying Eva’s designs.
Adam’s jewelry was bolder than Eva’s, and his use of gems was more dramatic. Jase glanced down at the piece Adam had described as a tennis necklace of multicolored gems nestled between stations of etched gold. It was a stunner, and it was the only piece Adam had shown him that might suit Maddie.
“How much?” Jase asked.
“One hundred and fifty thousand.” Adam glanced over his shoulder to check on Maddie and Cho again.
Jase took advantage of his distraction to pull open a second drawer in the small chest. It held hundreds of gems separated by colors into different compartments.
“Stop that.”
It was only his lightning-fast reflexes that kept Jase’s fingers from being caught when Adam slammed the drawer shut.
“That’s a lot of bling,” Jase commented.
“Yes.” Adam held out his hand for the tennis necklace. “If that tennis necklace isn’t to your taste, Arnold has more on the main floor.”
Instead of handing it over, Jase poured the necklace from one hand into the other. “I heard there was a robbery here about a month ago. I guess they didn’t get in here.”
“No,” Adam said shortly, wiggling his fingers impatiently for the necklace. “The thieves hit the main salon.”
“I heard that what they took roughly amounted to fifty thousand less than the price of this necklace. But I suppose something like this would be harder to fence than the smaller pieces that were taken.”
Adam stiffened. “Every piece that was taken was one of a kind. It was a terrible loss.”
“Were some of your pieces stolen?”
Something flashed into Adam’s eyes. Anger, or maybe fear. “As a matter of fact, none of my pieces were stolen. If your theory is correct, the thieves might have found my designs a little too pricey. Now, if you’ll give me that necklace?”
“Actually, I like it. But it’s a little large for Maddie. Could you make one a little bit daintier with smaller stones?”
Though Jase hadn’t supposed it possible, Adam grew even stiffer and his voice rose slightly. “Absolutely not. I never alter one of my designs.”
Jase allowed a puzzled expression to fill his face. “But Jordan told me that was why so few pieces were on display in the main salon—so that customers could consult with the designer and place special orders.”
Adam snatched the necklace, placed it back in the cabinet and locked the drawer. “That’s Jordan’s strategy. Aunt Eva went along with it. I didn’t.”
“But wouldn’t you have made more money in the long run by following Jordan’s strategy?”
Adam’s chin lifted. “I’m an artist. I won’t modify my designs.”
Jase would grant Adam was creative. But if he had to choose two other words to describe Maddie and Jordan’s cousin, they would be arrogant and rebellious. The rebelliousness was something he and his aunt Eva had shared. According to Jordan, both had shunned going into the family banking business. Perhaps Eva Ware had seen a bit of herself in her nephew. But in the end, she hadn’t seen enough to leave him her business.
At the far end of the room, the first hit of a hammer sounded.
Adam whirled toward Maddie and Cho. “Wait a minute. You can’t—”
Jase gripped his arm and kept him firmly anchored in place. He pitched his voice low. “Actually, she can. You have no authority to stop her.”
Adam’s face went red with fury. But whatever he would have said was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. He glanced impatiently at the caller ID and then took the call. “Mother, I’m…No…Yes. I can explain.”
Adam glanced once more at Maddie and Cho; then with frustration radiating off him in waves, he whirled and left the room.
What exactly did Adam Ware have to explain to his mother, Jase wondered. Whatever it was, he didn’t seem happy about it. On the bright side, it had gotten Adam out of the room.
Jase shifted his attention to Maddie and Cho. Their heads were bent low over the pendant Maddie was working on, and Cho was speaking in a low murmur. They were so absorbed in their work that he doubted they were aware that Adam had just stormed out.
Satisfied, Jase moved to a far window that looked down on 51st Street. Pedestrians moved quickly along the sidewalks in steady streams interrupted only by the changing traffic lights.
Adam Ware was going to be a problem. Jase knew from Jordan that Adam was twenty-nine and he’d joined Eva Ware Designs right out of college. He’d already been working there for three years and designing his own line of jewelry when Jordan had come on board. He’d resented her presence from the beginning and complained regularly about any changes she wanted to make.
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Cara Summers
Twin Temptation Heiress Maddie’s just discovered she’s got a secret twin sister! Now their inheritance depends on temporarily switching places. Sex with her sister’s gorgeous friend Jase is just an added bonus. Yet can she give him up when it’s time to return to her life?Twin SeductionJordan has always had Wild West fantasies. Until her long-lost twin sister arrives…and they switch places! Jordan heads to Santa Fe and encounters red-hot cowboy Cash, who’s everything she imagined and more – and he isn’t about to let her just return to her old life!
TWIN TEMPTATION
“Who are you and what are you doing in my bed?”
The note of command in Jase’s voice snapped Maddie out of the trance she’d fallen into ever since he’d pulled back and she’d looked into those mesmerising blue-green eyes. A moment ago, she’d been sure he was going to kiss her again. And she’d wanted him to. More than that, she’d willed him to. But he hadn’t. And now he seemed to be focused on getting answers. OK, maybe he had a right. But so did she.
She squirmed backwards, intending to get out of bed. But she was naked. Sweeping her hand beneath the covers, she searched for her tank top. Without success.
“I’m still waiting for an answer.”
TWIN SEDUCTION
She wanted to taste him. She had to taste him.
As if he’d read her mind, he turned his head until his lips were just brushing hers. For a moment, she hesitated and she sensed that he was hesitating too. She was tempted to open her eyes, to try to see what he was thinking. But she knew, didn’t she? And if she opened her eyes, he might disappear.
She couldn’t let that happen. She had to keep him here. Tightening her fingers on his face, she drew him closer and whispered, “It’s all right. I want you to kiss me.”
Twin Temptation
By
Cara Summers
Twin Seduction
By
Cara Summers
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
CARA SUMMERS has written more than thirty books. She has won several awards, including an Award of Excellence, two Golden Quills and two Golden Leaf Awards. Last year she was also honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Series Storyteller of the Year from Romantic Times BOOKreviews. She loves writing for the Blaze
line because it allows her to write so many different kinds of stories – from Gothic romances and mystery adventures to romantic comedies. When Cara isn’t creating new stories, she teaches in the writing programme at Syracuse University.
Available in July 2010 from Mills & Boon® Blaze®
BLAZE 2-IN-1
Twin Temptation
by Cara Summers &
Twin Seduction by Cara Summers
The Soldier by Rhonda Nelson
Made You Look by Jamie Sobrato
Twin Temptation
By
Cara Summers
To my daughter-in-law Mary Plante Hanlon – who just happens to be a twin!
You’re also an amazing mother and a good friend. I love you!
Prologue
IT WAS a mansion right out of the books she’d read as a child—Jane Eyre, Rebecca, Wuthering Heights.
Those were Maddie’s first fanciful thoughts when she stepped out of the limousine and got a good look at the massive stone structure. Gray and solitary, Ware House soared up three stories and boasted three turrets and a roof edged in carved stone. A man could have tucked away a crazy wife in any of those turrets, she thought a bit giddily. And the fact that the sky was lead colored and cast the front of the house in shadows only added to the illusion.
But this wasn’t some English gentleman’s mysterious country home. It was the Long Island residence of the Ware family. And she was about to meet them for the first time.
A tall man who reminded her a bit of Michael Caine answered the door. He had to be a butler. His posture was ramrod-straight and his face totally expressionless. But Maddie thought she saw a flicker of surprise in his eyes before he stepped aside and said, “Come in, Ms. Farrell. Let me take your bag.” Just as if she were a regular visitor.
Still hesitating on the threshold, Maddie firmly reined in her imagination. It had rocketed into overdrive from the moment she’d received the phone call from that attorney, Edward Fitzwalter III. Gripping the strap of her purse more tightly, she stepped into the dark-paneled foyer. Since she wasn’t at all sure of her welcome, she’d asked the limo driver to wait for her. She had an escape plan in place.
“This way.” The man turned and started down a wide hallway. “The family has already gathered in the library.”
Family.
The knot of anxiety in Maddie’s stomach tightened. She was about to meet a family she hadn’t known existed until two days ago. Up until that time, she’d believed that she was the only daughter of Mike Farrell, a successful cattleman whose ranch was located about an hour north of Santa Fe. Mike had been an only child, the last of a line of ranchers, and Maddie was supposed to carry on his legacy. All her life she’d believed her mother had died when she was a baby. That was the story her father had told her…and since he’d passed away a year ago, there was no way she could ask him why he’d lied.
And according to the gruff-voiced attorney who’d called her two days ago, her father had indeed lied to her. And it had been a whopper. All these years, she’d had a mother she’d never met—a mother who’d been raised in this house and who just happened to be renowned Madison Avenue jewelry designer Eva Ware.
Oh, Maddie was very well-acquainted with the professional persona of Eva Ware. She’d studied the woman’s designs ever since she was in junior high and had first dreamed of creating her own line of Southwestern-style jewelry. Her father had known of her admiration for Eva Ware Designs, but he’d never once mentioned that the woman she’d so admired was her mother.
She was still struggling with the idea when the lawyer had told her that five days ago Eva Ware had been struck down by a hit-and-run driver.
No.
The news, shocking and unexpected, had set her head spinning. Sitting down hard on a nearby chair, she’d tried to gather her scattered thoughts as the voice on the other end of the phone droned on. Maddie had caught bits and pieces—her mother’s request…fly to New York…reading of the will…claim her inheritance.
Inheritance? She’d still been grappling with that word when the attorney had sprung another one on her. A real kicker. Sister. In addition to having a mother she’d never been aware of, she also had an uncle, a cousin and a sister—an identical twin, Jordan Ware.
For a few moments, the attorney’s voice had become nothing more than a buzz in her ear. She had a sister? A twin sister she’d been separated from since birth?
No. That was straight out of the plot a Disney movie—two of them, in fact. The Parent Trap had been one of her favorite films when she’d been a child. A memory flooded her mind of watching the older Hayley Mills/Maureen O’Hara version of the film with her father when she’d been nine or ten. And he’d never breathed a word.
No. She couldn’t accept that. Her father couldn’t have lied to her all these years. Gripping the phone as if it were a lifeline, Maddie had stood up and interrupted the man on the other end of the line. “You’re lying. If this is some kind of hoax, or some kind of scam you’re running, it won’t work.”
In a calm voice, as if he’d fully expected that reaction, he’d told her to call information and get the number of the Fitzwalter and Carnegie law firm in New York City and then to call it and ask for Edward Fitzwalter the Third. Pacing back and forth in the living room of the ranch house, she’d debated following his instructions for a full fifteen minutes.
She couldn’t, she wouldn’t believe that her father had lied to her. The man who’d called her had to be some kind of a con artist. Pausing at the window that filled one wall of the living room, she’d stared out at the land that had been in the Farrell family for five generations.
And then she’d thought of Daniel Pearson, the local real estate agent who’d been pressuring her to put the ranch on the market for the past six months. It was pretty common knowledge that ever since her father had died, she’d been struggling to run the ranch and still grow her jewelry design business. Could Mr. Fitzwalter’s call be connected to that? But how? If she had in truth inherited something from her mother, it would only help her hold on to the ranch and carry on her father’s legacy.
In the end, Maddie had succumbed to curiosity and a gut feeling that the man who’d called her was indeed Edward Fitzwalter the Third. And he had been. More than that, he’d been patient and kind enough to repeat all the information he’d given her before. He’d even told her that he’d booked an airline ticket for her on the following day. All she had to do was go to the airport and pick it up. A limousine would be waiting for her at JFK airport and it would take her to the Ware family’s estate on Long Island for the official reading of the will.
Maddie dragged her thoughts back to the present when the butler man stopped in front of a double set of paneled doors. Nerves jittered in her stomach as he turned the handles and pushed them open.
Still on the threshold, Maddie let her gaze sweep the room. It was cavernous. Three of the four walls were packed with books. The scent of leather-bound volumes mixed with the aromas of lemon wax and lilies from the vases scattered throughout the room. Four narrow stained-glass windows took up the wall directly across from her and let in a gloomy light.
And she was stalling. Screwing up her courage, she stepped into the room and one by one met the gazes of the five people who’d turned to stare at her. She began with the mustached and balding man who was sitting at the desk. She guessed him to be Edward Fitzwalter the Third. Then Maddie looked to the three people seated to the left of the desk.
Fitzwalter had given her a thumbnail sketch of each member of the Ware family. The handsome gray-haired man in the red leather chair must be Carleton Ware, Eva’s brother. Carleton wasn’t involved in Eva Ware Designs. He ran the Ware Bank, which had been established by his great-great-grandfather and whose branches were scattered all over Long Island. Carleton, his wife and son resided year round at Ware house. Eva, though she’d inherited half of the house, had lived in New York City. Carleton’s hazel eyes were cool and assessing as they met hers. The younger man seated to his right had to be her cousin Adam. He had wavy, chestnut-colored hair that he wore long and tucked behind his ears. His brown eyes held hostility.
According to Mr. Fitzwalter, Adam was very involved in Eva Ware Designs. He’d gone to work there right after college and he’d been trained by Eva from the time he was in high school. Fitzwalter had described Adam’s mother Dorothy, the woman seated to Carleton’s left, as a society matron with a very active social life both on Long Island and in Manhattan. She served on several charitable boards and spearheaded fundraisers for institutions like the Museum of Modern Art. She was a tall slender woman with a model’s figure. Her gaze was several degrees cooler than her husband’s, and superiority radiated off her in waves. Dorothy Ware’s perfectly coiffed brown hair and impeccably tailored black suit had Maddie feeling underdressed.
Growing up on a ranch had never allowed her much time to spend on fashion, and her khaki slacks, embroidered denim jacket and leather ankle boots were perfectly acceptable business attire in Santa Fe. She shifted her attention to the small Chinese man sitting farthest away from the attorney. He had to be Eva’s longtime assistant, Cho Li. He wore his long black hair pulled back into a ponytail, and it had begun to thin on top. According to Fitzwalter, Cho Li had been with Eva even before she’d opened her Madison Avenue store. When he nodded his head and smiled at her, she finally found the courage to turn to the one familiar face in the room—Jordan Ware’s.
On the long flight from Santa Fe, she’d imagined this moment so many ways. But she hadn’t anticipated the swift punch of recognition in her belly or the instant sense of connection. For a second she couldn’t quite catch her breath. It wasn’t like looking in a mirror—not exactly. In the dove-gray suit and turquoise blouse, Jordan looked as though she’d stepped right out of a fashion magazine, making Maddie feel even more the country bumpkin.
But the woman who rose from her chair and faced her now had the same blue-violet eyes and the same facial features. And though Jordan Ware wore her hair in a chic style that framed her face in a sleek curve and Maddie wore hers in a long braid down her back, the color was the same honey gold.
Everything that Fitzwalter had told her on the phone was true. For the first time, Maddie felt the reality of that sink in. She really did have a twin. A sister.
Maddie had no idea how long they stood there in that freeze-framed moment taking each other in, nor how many times Fitzwalter cleared his throat before the sound penetrated.
It was Jordan who moved first, rushing forward and taking Maddie’s hands. Looking into her sister’s eyes, Maddie saw her own feelings mirrored—curiosity, excitement and fear. Would they have anything in common? Would they even like each other?
“Welcome,” Jordan whispered.
For the first time since she’d entered the mansion, some of Maddie’s tension eased.
Then Jordan turned to the others in the room. “Uncle Carleton, Aunt Dorothy, Adam, Cho Li, this is my sister, Madison Farrell.”
For a moment there was silence in the room.
Cho Li was the first to speak. Stepping forward, he bowed. “It is my pleasure to meet Eva’s other daughter.”
Maddie found herself bowing back.
Then Carleton rose from his chair. “You’ll have to forgive us, Madison. The shock of my sister’s death coupled with the news that she had a second daughter tucked away all these years in Santa Fe…well, we’re still trying to absorb everything. Until you walked into the room right now, I’m not sure that any of us really believed what Edward had told us. Dorothy, Adam and I want to welcome you to Ware House.”
Adam and Dorothy, their eyes cool, remained silent.
Grateful that she didn’t have to walk into the room alone, Maddie let her sister lead her to a chair.
As they sat, Jordan sent her a smile and a conspiratorial wink. “Once the will stuff is over, we’ll talk.”
Chapter One
JORDAN WAS still holding Maddie’s hand when Fitzwalter opened the file in front of him and lifted the papers. Out of the corner of her eye, Maddie studied her sister. Jordan’s lips were pressed tightly together and her eyes were totally focused on the attorney.
She was nervous, Maddie realized. And it went beyond the fact that they’d just met. Since her chair was located at the right of the desk and angled in a way that gave her a view of the other occupants of the room, she took a moment to study the other Wares.
With his arm draped casually over the back of his wife’s chair, Carleton appeared to be perfectly at ease. But there was a stiffness in his shoulders and his mouth that belied that. At first glance Dorothy appeared to be bored, but her hands were clasped so tightly in her lap that the knuckles had turned white. Adam sat poker-straight, his hands gripping the arms of the chair.
If there was one thing her father had taught her it was the importance of reading facial expressions and body language. According to Mike Farrell, it was an essential skill in all kinds of activities—from playing poker to bargaining for a price on his cattle. Two things were clear to Maddie. The other Wares’ nerves were stretched as tightly as Jordan’s were. And the family didn’t seem to be very close-knit.
Why not? Had any of them provided support for Jordan as she’d dealt with the terrible news of her mother’s death? Something tightened around her heart as Maddie recalled the numbness and the piercing pain she’d felt when her father had passed on a year ago. That had been sudden too. She still felt guilty about the fact that she’d been at a jewelry show in Albuquerque, and Mike had suffered a heart attack while he’d been out checking some fences. Alone. Cash Landry, her neighbor and lifelong friend, had found the body the next morning.
Since she’d never met Eva Ware, Maddie couldn’t know exactly what Jordan was going through. Was there someone her sister could turn to as Maddie had been able to turn to Cash? As Edward Fitzwalter donned a pair of reading glasses, she linked her fingers with Jordan’s.
Gripping the papers in two hands, Fitzwalter peered over his glasses, first at the Wares and then at Jordan and Maddie. “My plan is to make this brief. If any of you want a complete draft of the document including all the whereases, wherefores and so on, I’ll be happy to make a copy. But if no one objects, I’ll get right to the bequests.”
Silence reigned in the room. When the attorney shifted his gaze back to the paper he was holding, Jordan’s fingers tightened on Maddie’s. She was worried about the contents of the will. Maddie’s heart sank. Of course she would be. So would everyone in the room. The only reason that Eva Ware would have requested her presence today was because she’d left something to the daughter she’d deserted. And that something would be taken out of someone else’s inheritance.
“To my personal design assistant Cho Li, I leave the sum of five hundred thousand dollars so that if he chooses, he can retire. But my hope is that he’ll remain in his position until the new owners of Eva Ware Designs get up to speed.”
Dorothy Ware whispered something to Adam and he jerked forward in his chair. “New owners? Who are the new owners?”
Fitzwalter glanced up. “I’ll get to that part sooner without interruptions.”
Adam opened his mouth and then shut it.
“To my brother Carleton, I leave all of my shares in the Ware Bank. I hope that he’ll finally make the fortune he’s always believed I’ve prevented him from getting.”
Maddie noted that the news didn’t seem to make Carleton very happy.
Fitzwalter cleared his throat. “The rest of my estate, including stocks, bonds, cash, Eva Ware Designs, my fifty-percent share of Ware House on Long Island and my New York City apartment, I leave to my two daughters, Jordan and Madison, to be shared equally. It is my sincere hope that they will run Eva Ware Designs together. However, there is one requirement. They must change places and walk around in each other’s lives for three consecutive and uninterrupted weeks beginning within seventy-two hours from the time this will is read. If they refuse to fulfill the terms as I’ve set them out or if they don’t stay the course for three weeks, my fifty percent of Ware House will go to my brother Carleton. Everything else, including the business and my apartment, will be sold and the profits divided equally among all my surviving relatives.”
Jordan’s mouth dropped open, and this time Maddie thought she knew exactly what her sister was feeling.
Dorothy touched Adam’s arm and he leapt out of his chair to plant both of his hands on the desk inches from the papers that Fitzwalter had just set down. Anger radiated off of him in waves, causing Maddie to sit forward in her chair.
“That can’t be right. I’ll be the chief designer now that Aunt Eva is gone. She should have put me in charge. She always led me to believe that one day I would step into her shoes.”
“He’s right.” Dorothy Ware spoke for the first time. Unlike her son’s, her voice held no trace of emotion.
Unperturbed, the attorney met first Dorothy’s and then Adam’s eyes. “I assure you that Ms. Ware’s will is in perfect order.”
“No,” Adam argued. “She had to have changed her mind since she wrote this. She was…busy. She just didn’t have the time to see you about it.”
Fitzwalter slipped the papers back in the file. “She came to my office two weeks ago and reviewed every detail.”
Adam’s face had colored to a deep red, and for a moment, Maddie was afraid that he was going to shove the oak desk over on the attorney when Carleton’s voice intervened. “Adam.”
The younger man drew a deep breath and backed away from the desk. As soon as he was a safe distance away, Maddie turned to Jordan and spoke softly. “I don’t get it. Why wouldn’t she leave the business to you—and why would she want us to change places after she’s kept us apart all these years?”
“I’ve got a theory about that.” Jordan glanced over at the other Wares who’d gone into a small huddle.
Maddie looked too. Dorothy was speaking, but her voice didn’t carry, and from the expression on Adam’s face, he didn’t like what he was hearing.
“Let’s blow this scene,” Jordan whispered. “I’ve got a reservation at an inn in Linchworth. I wanted you to myself and I thought staying over would be better than battling rush-hour traffic back into the city.”
They’d made it nearly to the front door when Adam caught up with them. He grabbed Jordan by the arm and jerked her around to face him. “You can’t get away with this.”
The fury in his voice sent Maddie into action. Enough was enough. She gripped the arm holding Jordan. “Let my sister go.”
“What?” Adam sent her a startled look.
Maddie placed both hands on his chest and gave him one hard shove into the wall. “Just because you’re frustrated by the terms of your aunt’s will doesn’t mean you can manhandle my sister. Got that?”
Adam stared at her. “You shoved me.”
“I did.”
“Adam.” The cool tones of Dorothy Ware’s voice carried the length of the hallway.
“This isn’t the end of this,” Adam said as he pushed himself away from the wall and strode back to his mother.
Jordan waited until they’d collected their bags from the butler and run down the steps to the waiting limo. Then she whirled to face Maddie. “I’ve wanted to give Adam a good shove for years.” She pulled Maddie into a hard hug. “I guess I’ve been waiting for my superhero sister to do it for me.”
JORDAN LED the way into the suite she’d rented in the Linchworth Inn. She hadn’t said a word to Maddie during the five-minute ride in the limousine. In spite of the distracting and somewhat amusing altercation with Adam, Jordan knew her head was still spinning with the contents of her mother’s will. Maddie’s must have been too. She’d tried to think, to plan her strategy. But in business, the key to any successful strategy always depended on knowing your audience.
And she didn’t know her sister very well at all. Oh, she’d done as much research as she could—first cross-examining Mr. Fitzwalter and then checking out Maddie’s Web site. In Jordan’s opinion, the Web site needed a makeover, but the jewelry didn’t. Her sister had talent. Most of Maddie’s work was focused on Southwestern belt buckles, tie clips and pins. The designs were dramatic, the workmanship exquisite, using a lot of turquoise and intricately inlaid patterns. There’d also been a few examples of finer pieces—earrings and bracelets. Perhaps she could use her sister’s interest in jewelry design as a bargaining chip.
But she needed to know more. And she didn’t have a lot of time. The seventy-two-hour clock was ticking.
Leaning down, she opened the door of a small refrigerator and then glanced back at Maddie standing just inside the room, taking it in.
Jordan let her own gaze sweep the area. It was a small suite with two bedrooms. The sitting room had dormer windows with lace curtains and was furnished in antiques. Two chintz-covered love seats faced each other across a small coffee table with a marble top.
“I can offer you some wine. Mom and I always liked white. But I can order up a bottle of red or something else if you’d prefer.”
“White’s fine,” Maddie said.
Silence stretched as Jordan uncorked a bottle of chardonnay and filled two glasses. Stalling. That’s what she was doing. What in the world was the matter with her? She was hardly ever at a loss for words.
“This is a lovely room,” Maddie said.
Jordan glanced around again and felt her throat tighten a little. “Mom liked it. We used to stay here whenever we had to visit Uncle Carleton and company.” She would never stay here again with her mother. But she couldn’t let herself think about that right now. Not yet.
“You didn’t stay at Ware House?”
Jordan handed her a glass and waved her over to one of the love seats. “The atmosphere there has always been a bit frigid. And things have gotten worse since I got my MBA and started working at Eva Ware Designs. But it goes back further than that. I don’t think that Uncle Carleton and Mom ever saw eye to eye even when they were kids. The friction escalated when my grandfather died. Uncle Carleton is one of those old-fashioned men who believes that the oldest son should inherit everything outright. Thank heavens, my grandfather didn’t agree. When he died, he divided everything up between Mom and Uncle Carleton—even Ware House. She took her half of the stocks, bonds and cash and invested everything in her design business. She was able to move into the Madison Avenue store.”
“Smart decision,” Maddie said.
“I agree, but the other Wares didn’t.”
Maddie grinned suddenly.
“What?”
“What you called them—the other Wares. I’d already started thinking of them that way.”
Smart, Jordan thought. Her twin was perceptive. That could work in her favor. Tucking her feet underneath her, she leaned back. “As a sort of peace offering, Mom agreed to let Uncle Carleton, Aunt Dorothy and Adam live in Ware House. She got to use the place for business parties, and she agreed to attend any social gatherings that had to do with Ware Bank.”
Maddie sipped her wine. “You said the friction’s gotten worse since you went to work for Eva Ware Designs.”
“Because before that, Adam thought he had a clear shot at taking over the business one day. He’d been there for three years before I joined the company. He’s a brilliant designer. Mom was very aware of that. His parents were disappointed with him because he didn’t go into banking, so I think he feels he has to succeed. Aunt Dorothy certainly does. Plus, he has a temper.”
“I noticed. He may be a fine designer, but he doesn’t have your background in business.”
Jordan studied her for a moment. “How do you know that?”
“I looked you up on the Internet. A bachelor’s degree from the Wharton School, an MBA from Harvard. Very impressive.”
Slowly, Jordan smiled. “Touché. I visited your Web site. It needs some work, by the way. But the jewelry doesn’t. What I saw was beautiful.”
Setting her glass down, Jordan leaned closer and fingered one of the earrings Maddie was wearing. The silver had been configured into fragile lace surrounding a clear turquoise stone. “This is quite lovely. Mom was always looking for turquoise of this quality.”
“She should have come to New Mexico.”
Jordan met her sister’s eyes and saw a hint of pain that she totally understood. “She was in New Mexico when she gave birth to us. I badgered Fitzwalter until he showed me our birth certificates. We were born in Santa Fe.”
“She was at the ranch?”
“I don’t know about that, but she was definitely in Santa Fe.”
“She should have come back.”
“Yes, she should have. And our father should have come here. I’m not sure we’ll ever find out why they didn’t. Or why they separated us.”
“Why does she want us to switch places?” Maddie asked. “You said you had a theory about that?”
“I do. I got it the moment I searched your name. I think she wants you to get an in-depth experience at Eva Ware Designs because she wants you here.”
“No. That’s impossible.”
“I know her. She was a very focused woman. I’m sure she was keeping track of your career, and if and when something happened to her, she wanted you to see what she’d created—to know that you could share in it.”
“But why didn’t she contact me? Why put it in her will?”
Jordan rose and began to pace. “I’ve asked myself those questions over and over. She could have been afraid to contact you after all these years. The other thing about her is that designing jewelry was her driving passion.” Jordan waved a hand. “She gets—used to get—totally lost in her work. Other things got pushed to the back burner.”
“Why three weeks?”
“She probably thought twenty-one straight days would do it.” Jordan’s smile was wry. “When she first started at her gym, her trainer told her that doing something every day for three weeks was what it took to build a habit.”
“But that’s…crazy. And it’s not fair to you.”
“It’s not crazy if you knew Mom. Eva Ware Designs meant everything to her.” Jordan paced to one of the windows before she turned back. “That’s why we have to talk about the will.”
Maddie rose also. “Yes, we do. I want you to know that—”
Jordan held up a hand. “Stop right there. Since I’m the oldest, I get to go first.”
Maddie’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know you’re the oldest?”
Not a pushover either, Jordan thought. “I told you I’d seen the birth certificates. I beat you into the world by almost four minutes.” Impulsively, she strode over and grabbed Maddie’s hands. “I want you to please hear me out before you say a word.”
Maddie nodded.
Jordan dropped her sister’s hands, whirling away. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to say this in a way that will convince you.”
“You don’t have to.”
Jordan glared at her and pointed a finger. “You said you’d hear me out.”
“Okay. Okay.” Maddie threw both hands up and sat back down on the love seat. Watching her sister made her think of her father. That glare Jordan had just given her had been pure Mike Farrell and her father had always paced when he was trying to talk her into something. But she’d just wanted to make it easy for Jordan. The money, the house, Eva Ware Designs—none of it belonged to her. It should have all gone to Jordan. How could her sister want her to take it?
“I know it’s crazy.” Jordan sat back down on the love seat. “The thing is, we have to agree to the terms of the will.”
Maddie simply stared at her. “How can you possibly want that? It’s not fair.”
Jordan ran her hands through her hair. “I know it’s not. It’s horribly unfair. Switching places will be complicated, to say the least. But I don’t see what else we can do. I saw on your Web site that you have a jewelry show in Santa Fe in four days.”
Maddie did, and in all the turmoil of the last few days it had entirely slipped her mind. “I can’t miss it. I’ve worked for months on those designs, and it’s essential that I be there to make contact with new buyers.”
“No worries. I should be able to handle the show. I’ve done several with my mother. Marketing the product is the part of the business I’m good at.”
“But there are other things—problems at the ranch,” Maddie said.
“What kind of problems?”
Maddie raised her hands and dropped them. “I’m just not the best rancher in the world, and I’ve been struggling to fill my father’s shoes and at the same time grow my jewelry business. My neighbor, Cash Landry, has been helping me, but I can’t let that go on forever. And there’s this real estate agent, Daniel Pearson, who wants to sell the ranch for me.”
Jordan moved back to the couch. “You can’t be seriously thinking of selling?”
“No.” But Maddie felt a stab of guilt. Wasn’t that exactly what she was thinking of doing? After all, she hadn’t given Daniel Pearson a flat-out no. And here her sister was, arguing that they keep her mother’s business going. How could she even think of doing less for her father?
A gleam of interest leapt into her sister’s eyes. “Maybe I can help.”
“How?”
“Three weeks will give me a chance to get a feel for what the problems are. Not that I’m a rancher—but I do have those business degrees. Plus I’ll bring a fresh perspective. How many people did you tell about flying east for the reading of the will?”
“No one. My foreman Mac and Cash were both away, driving my cattle to market, then meeting with future buyers in Albuquerque. They’re not due back for a few days yet. Cash’s foreman comes over to tend the horses and check on things when Cash is gone. But I didn’t even have a chance to tell him I was leaving.”
Jordan took a thoughtful sip of her wine. “I’ll bet I could pretend to be you at the jewelry show without anyone knowing the difference.”
“Pretend to be me? You’re serious about this.”
“Very.” Rising, Jordan began to pace again. “I know buyers prefer to talk to the designer, and I’ve learned enough at Eva Ware Designs to masquerade as you. If the ranch is deserted right now, I’d only have to pretend when I go into Santa Fe. You won’t be able to pass yourself off as me, of course. The other Wares already know who you are, and so does Cho Li. I’ll let everyone else at the Madison Avenue store know. You’ll just have to do my job for three weeks.”
“But I have no idea what you do for a job.”
“My schedule is on my laptop. And Cho Li will fill you in. He’s been working with Mom for as long as I can remember. Is there someone who can fill me in at the ranch?”
“Wait. You’re going too fast.” Maddie felt as if all her objections were being picked off like ducks in a shooting gallery. “I haven’t told you all the problems at the ranch. It might not be safe for you there.”
“Why not?”
“There’ve been some incidents of vandalism lately. Minor ones at first—cut fences, graffiti on the bunkhouse. Cash was pretty sure it was the Trainer twins. Joey, the older one, had a sort of a crush on me. But lately, the incidents have gotten more serious. Due to a cut fence, some of my cattle strayed, and we couldn’t round them up in time to drive them to market. And a couple of weeks ago someone doctored the feed in my stables and I nearly lost my horse.”
“You called the police?”
“They couldn’t do much except file a report.”
Jordan joined Maddie on the couch. “I’ll be careful. Besides, it’ll be as safe for me there as it would be for you.”
“I can handle myself.”
Jordan’s eyebrows shot up. “So can I. After all, I’ve been raised in New York City. But there’s something you should know about the store. A month ago Eva Ware Designs was robbed. Someone broke through the security codes and took approximately one hundred thousand dollars’ worth of jewelry from the main salon. The police are still looking into it. But in the meantime, the security codes have been changed. And it happened after hours, so you should be fine.”
Maddie was more worried about Jordan than she was about herself. But Cash was due back from the cattle drive in another few days, she told herself. She could call him and tell him to look out for Jordan.
Suddenly, nerves tightened in her stomach. Was she really thinking of switching places with her sister?
“Is there anyone at the ranch who can fill me in on what I have to do?”
“Cash and my foreman can when they get back from the cattle drive.”
Jordan narrowed her gaze on her sister. “This Cash—are you and he…seeing each other?”
Maddie shook her head. “No. We grew up together. He runs the ranch next to mine. My father and his father had this idea that someday we might fall in love and join the two ranches. But it hasn’t happened. Cash and I are just friends.”
“Good. Do you think I could fool him into thinking I’m you if he shows up at the ranch?”
Maddie studied Jordan. “You’re really getting into the idea of masquerading as me.”
“It’s a practical approach. I won’t have to explain to everyone about the will and switching places. Do you think your cowboy neighbor will buy it?”
Maddie considered, then shook her head. “He’s pretty astute.”
Jordan grinned at her. “Really? I love a challenge. We’ll have to write things up for each other, and we’ll keep in touch by phone. That’s what the girls did in The Parent Trap, and they were only half our age.”
“You saw that movie?”
“Only about fifteen times. When I was little I remember watching it with Mom.”
“There’s one big difference between us and The Parent Trap girls. They switched so that they could get to know the parent they were separated from. We’re not going to be able to do that.”
“No.” Jordan sat down next to Maddie again and took her hands. “We’re not. I wish with all my heart that there was a way for you to meet our mother.”
The understanding she saw in her sister’s eyes helped ease the tightness in Maddie’s throat. “Same goes about our father.”
“Maybe switching places is the only way we have left to get to know them. We can do this.”
Maddie searched her sister’s face. “I don’t understand. Why do you want to? And why would you want to share your inheritance with me?”
Jordan stared at her. “Because you’re my sister, and because our mother wanted it this way. However late it is, she must have had some regrets about separating us, and this is her way of making sure we get to know one another.”
“There are other ways for us to get to know one another.”
“Maddie, you heard the terms of the will. If we don’t change places for three weeks, Eva Ware Designs will be sold. I can’t stand by and let that happen. Our mother worked her whole life to create it, and I can’t let it be destroyed. I want her legacy to live on. No matter what it takes, we have to fulfill the terms of the will. Please say you’ll do it.”
Maddie wasn’t an impulsive person—at least she didn’t think of herself that way. But she could sympathize with what Jordan was trying to do. It was the same thing that made her want to hold on to the ranch and keep it going so that her father’s legacy would live on.
And Jordan was right. If she did switch places and step into Jordan’s job at Eva Ware Designs, it would provide her with the only opportunity she might ever have to learn more about the woman she so admired. The woman she’d never met. And it was just possible that she could find out why their parents had decided to separate them. Hadn’t that been one of the primary questions on her mind since she’d accepted the truth of what Edward Fitzwalter III had told her during that phone call?
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
“You will?”
Maddie nodded.
“Thanks.” Jordan gave her sister a quick hug. “Okay. Now for the practical matters. You can live in my apartment, of course. I have a roommate, Jase Campbell. He was a few years ahead of me in college and we shared an apartment there. He moved into my place when he came to New York and started up his security firm. The arrangement has become sort of permanent.”
“Are the two of you involved?”
“No, we’re strictly pals. He’s like a big brother to me. But you probably won’t even run into him. He’s off on some mysterious job in South America. I can’t even reach him by cell. I haven’t been able to even tell him about…”
When Jordan suddenly stopped talking, Maddie took her hands.
“I don’t think it’s totally sunk in yet that she’s gone,” Jordan said.
Maddie handed Jordan her wine. “How could it? You had to identify the body.” Fitzwalter had told her about that. “Then there were the funeral arrangements and to top it off you find out you have a sister you never knew about.”
Jordan met her sister’s eyes. “When you lost your father, how long did it take for you to accept it?”
Maddie sighed. “I think I’m still trying to adjust.” She raised a hand to her sister’s cheek. “But I think that visiting the ranch may help you. There’s a kind of serenity there.”
“I’m glad I have you, Maddie Farrell.”
“Ditto.”
“Well.” Jordan drew in a deep breath and let it out. “We only have about seventy hours left. We’d better get started.”
Maddie blinked as Jordan rose, strode to a desk and pulled out her laptop.
“There’s a lot we have to learn before we switch lives.”
Chapter Two
IT WAS nearly midnight when Jase Campbell descended the steps of a small private jet at LaGuardia Airport. After nearly a month in the bowels of the steamy Amazon jungle, he welcomed the stiff breeze that had made their landing a little rough. New York City’s humidity level couldn’t even begin to compete with what he’d been experiencing.
The Cessna was the third plane he’d been on in the last twenty-four hours and the only one that had provided any amenities. Thanks to Federman Corporation, the company that had hired him as a consultant in their efforts to free three hostages, he’d been able to shower, shave and even change his clothes—luxuries that he’d sorely missed.
The one thing he hadn’t been able to do was catch much sleep. The last days of the mission were still too fresh in his mind. It had only been partially successful—one of the men hadn’t made it out of the jungle. Each time he closed his eyes, his mind would run through the other options he might have used, other tacks he might have taken with the captors.
He needed sleep, Jase told himself as he strode up the steps of the terminal building. Thank heavens his apartment was only a thirty-minute cab ride. And at this hour of the night, Jordan would be sound asleep. That would save him from being cross-examined on what he’d been doing for the last three and a half weeks.
Jordan and he had been friends since they’d been undergraduates together at Wharton. His lips curved as he recalled exactly how they’d met. He’d been a senior and she a freshman. Off-campus housing had been at a premium, and they’d arrived to view an apartment at the same time. They’d each wanted to sign a lease, so the landlord had suggested they flip a coin. Jordan had flatly refused, claiming that her luck was abominable. Instead, she’d suggested that they share the place and split expenses.
For Jase it had been an ideal solution. Unlike a lot of the trust-fund students, he’d come to Wharton on a scholarship. Jordan had drawn up a set of rules to follow so that they kept out of each other’s way. The list with its bullets and highlighted passages had been Jase’s introduction to the highly organized world of Jordan Ware.
And though she was a very attractive woman, their relationship had never progressed down a more intimate path. Instead, she’d become like a sister to him, competing against him for grades, nagging him when he’d gotten so wrapped up in a project that he’d forgotten to keep in touch with his family and even criticizing his selection of dates. In Jordan’s opinion, Jase had a tendency to attract what she’d termed “psycho babes.”
Jase’s lips curved at the memory. The first thing he’d done when he’d left the navy and decided to set up a security business in New York City was to call Jordan. His goal had been to enlist her help in finding an apartment. Instead, she’d suggested he move in with her. If it didn’t work out, he’d at least have more time to find a place of his own. That had been a year ago, and so far everything had gone very smoothly. Jordan, who’d worked for her mother’s jewelry design studio since she’d gotten her master’s degree, had put him in touch with a few clients, and he’d even done some work for Eva Ware Designs. In fact, there was a job he’d left hanging when he’d taken on the hostage-negotiation project.
Once he entered the terminal, Jase glanced around, spotted a secluded niche and headed toward it. Before he caught a cab, he needed some privacy to check in at his office. He’d been out of contact for far too long, and his patchwork of odd flights home hadn’t allowed any calls. Even at this hour, there’d be someone at Campbell and Angelis Security picking up the phone. With any luck, it might even be Dino Angelis, his partner of six months.
Sure enough, someone answered on the second ring.
“Campbell and Angelis Security.”
Jase frowned as he tried to place the familiar voice. Not Dino. His partner’s voice was much deeper and he didn’t speak with a drawl. But it couldn’t be who he thought it was. His brother D.C. was currently serving with the military police on a second tour of duty in Baghdad.
“D.C.?” Jase asked.
“At your service. Where are you? Dino and I were getting worried.”
“I’m at La Guardia. What are you doing in my office?”
“Since I got here two days ago, I’ve been holding down the fort and helping Dino out. Got my leg busted up a little, and the army decided that I should take some leave time while I got it back in shape.”
Jase frowned. “How bad is the leg?”
“Nothing that can’t be fixed.”
“Does Mom know?”
“I spent a week in Baltimore and let her pamper me. I gained at least five pounds while I checked out Darcy’s latest boyfriend.” Some of Jase’s tension eased. If his brother had the time and energy to torment their kid sister, then he must be on the mend.
“Are you going to tell me how bad the leg is?”
“You’re as bad as Mom. It’s going to be fine. With any luck I’ll be back in Iraq by Christmas.”
Jase didn’t see that as lucky. But he knew he’d gotten as much out of D.C. on the subject of his injury as he was going to. “Let’s go back to my first question. What exactly are you doing in my office? And where’s Dino?”
“I came to pay you a surprise visit and Dino offered me a temporary job. Right now I believe he’s at his fiancée’s apartment.”
It was thanks to Dino’s pretty fiancée Cat McGuire that Jase had been able to persuade Dino, his old navy buddy, to become his partner last December.
“Where are you staying?”
“Dino fixed me up temporarily with an empty apartment in their building. Not that I get to spend much time there.”
“Business is good, I take it?” Jase asked.
“So good that you’ve been missed, bro.”
More of Jase’s tension eased. If Campbell and Angelis had to take on some extra help, Dino couldn’t have found a more perfect person than D.C. His brother had a sharp and inventive mind and the kind of intuition that made for an excellent cop. Unable to stop himself, he yawned hugely. What he needed even more than a good night’s sleep was work. One lesson he’d learned when he’d been working special ops was that the best way to dim the images from the previous operation was to immerse yourself totally in a new one.
“By the way, your roommate, Jordan Ware, has been trying to contact you. Mom told me that the two of you are sharing an apartment again.”
“When? What did she want?”
“About a week ago. She talked to Dino and asked him to pass on a message to contact her if you called in.”
Once again, Jase frowned. Jordan never called him at work. Then he pushed the small worry aside. No doubt she’d called the office because his cell phone had been worthless where he’d been for the last few weeks. At any rate, he’d see her sometime tomorrow.
“Hold down the fort. If Dino calls in, tell him I’ll be in the office tomorrow afternoon.” Once Dino brought him up to speed on all their active files, he knew exactly which case he would start on. He’d promised Eva Ware that he’d look further into that break-in and robbery at her Madison Avenue jewelry store. In his opinion, it had to have been an inside job, and that worried him a bit.
“Right now, my aim is to crash for at least twelve hours,” Jase said, then added, “Thanks for covering.”
“I live to serve.”
A BIT DIZZY from sleep deprivation and jet lag, Maddie let herself into Jordan’s Soho apartment. During the last few days, she’d managed to lose all sense of time. The only reason she knew that it was shortly after midnight was because she’d asked the cab driver who’d driven her from JFK.
According to her estimate, she’d spent nearly eighteen of the last forty-eight hours on an airplane. Severe thunderstorms in the midwest had delayed her flights both to and back from Santa Fe. She’d barely been at the ranch long enough to pack what she thought she’d need for a three-week stay in New York. Jordan, the lucky girl, had only had to make one flight.
In the very short time they’d spent together before Jordan had insisted she immediately fly back to the ranch and set things in order for the switch, Maddie had learned that her sister was a ruthlessly organized woman who gathered data, made lists, assembled files and was quite used to having her “suggestions” followed. Had Eva Ware been like that? Maddie wondered. Would she ever know? She hoped that Jordan was right and that by switching lives each of them would come to know the other parent better. But she was beginning to feel a sense of loss that she would never have a chance to talk to Eva about her design process.
And Jordan would never hear Mike Farrell’s laugh.
Not that her sister wouldn’t discover as much as she could about the ranch and their father. The woman was meticulous. She couldn’t think of one thing that had escaped Jordan’s attention. Jordan had even suggested that since Maddie possessed very few outfits appropriate for the city and Jordan experienced the same lack of wardrobe for ranch life, they could borrow clothes from one another and cut down on what they needed to pack. Maddie figured that was Jordan’s subtle way of letting her know not to appear at Eva Ware Designs in her jeans and boots.
Yawning hugely, she muscled her suitcase through the door, then sagged against it for a moment, nearly paralyzed with exhaustion.
“Just a few more minutes,” she muttered. “You can do it.”
She groped blindly along the wall until she located a switch. The muted light from a Tiffany-style lamp allowed her only a shadowy impression of the living room—stained-glass-fronted bookcases flanking a brick fireplace, an antique desk, a comfy-looking leather couch and a flat-screen TV. The furnishings with their mix of the feminine and the masculine suddenly reminded her about Jordan’s roommate—Jase Campbell.
The man’s image slipped instantly into her mind. Jordan had provided her with photos of everyone she might possibly meet during her three weeks in New York, and she’d been reviewing them one by one on the long flight from Santa Fe. From the moment she’d glanced at Jase’s picture, she hadn’t quite been able to get him out of her mind.
Maddie recalled Jordan describing Jase as a big brother. They’d been friends ever since they’d roomed off-campus together in college, and when he’d left the navy to start up his own security firm here in New York, he and Jordan had hooked up as roommates again. Jordan’s description of her relationship with Jase Campbell could have fit her own relationship with her neighbor, Cash.
However, as Maddie had studied Jase’s photo, her response to him had been anything but sisterly. He had a strong face, lean with sharply defined bones. And though he wore a jacket and a tie, he didn’t look quite…tamed. Perhaps it was the longish, windblown hair that hinted at a streak of recklessness. Or maybe it was the eyes. She was baffled by the fact that every single time she’d closed her own eyes and tried to sleep on the plane, she’d thought of those angled cheekbones, the strong jawline and firm lips.
And each time his image had popped into her mind, her palms had tingled with the desire to touch his face. When she’d imagined herself doing just that, a heat had begun to build inside her. She’d even foolishly given into an impulse to run her fingertips over the image in the photo—touching first his mouth, then the rest of those sharp features.
When the heat simmering inside her had rushed to her face, she’d glanced nervously around to see if anyone had witnessed what she’d done. To her great relief, everyone within sight had been sleeping. Something she herself should have been doing. But instead of slipping the photo back into the file, she’d glanced down at it again.
And traced her fingertips over it once more. Her desire to touch the image, to touch him was baffling…and unprecedented. She’d experienced a purely chemical reaction to a man before. But no man’s photo had ever affected her in such a physical way.
Perhaps it was because she hadn’t had any sex in a while. During the past year, between the plans she had to expand her jewelry design business and the extra work she’d had to take on at the ranch, she simply hadn’t had the time. Or the desire.
Yawning again, Maddie struggled against a huge wave of exhaustion as she turned and dragged her suitcase down a narrow hallway. The effort of placing one foot in front of the other almost defeated her.
Probably her whole odd reaction to Jase Campbell’s photo was due to sleep deprivation and the emotional whirlwind she’d been caught up in during the past few days. When she met him, she’d find him a pleasant man, and her unusual and highly sensual response to his photo would turn out to be much ado about nothing.
Not that meeting Jase was a sure thing. Jordan had mentioned that for the last three and a half weeks he’d been out of the country and out of contact. So she had no idea when he’d be back.
Maddie stopped short at the first door she came to, not sure if she could take another step. If she didn’t find a bedroom soon, she was simply going to curl right up on the floor. She bit back a groan when the door to her left opened onto a tiny bathroom. Putting all her effort into the move, she half stumbled into the room directly across the hall. There was just enough moonlight pouring through the window for her to make out a bed. Not bothering to turn on the light, she shoved her suitcase against the wall. Unpacking would have to wait. Using the foot of the bed as her guide, she moved to the side nearest the window and pulled the drapes. Then she stripped down to her tank top and panties. With the last bit of energy she could summon up, she tugged just enough of the covers back to slip beneath them. The moment her head touched the pillow, she fell abruptly into sleep.
IT WAS nearly one when Jase let himself into the apartment. At some point during the taxi ride from La Guardia, the adrenaline that had fueled him for the last few weeks had drained away as surely as if someone had pulled a plug. Setting his duffel down, he shut the door and locked it. Then, without turning on the lights, he made his way to his bedroom, shed his clothes, eased back the covers, and climbed in. Sleep claimed him before his head settled fully into the pillow.
THE DREAM came slowly, slipping into his mind as a lover might slip into his bed. A woman, soft and warm, was nestled against him. With lazy pleasure, he let himself drift in sensations, absorbing each one. The press of a palm against his chest, the silky length of a thigh trapped between his. And the scent—he had to draw her closer to place it—he’d caught that fragrance before on drives through the country—a mix of wildflowers and sunshine.
When she sighed and snuggled closer, Jase ran a hand from her shoulder to her thigh and back again, absorbing the contrasting textures of smooth, soft skin and rougher cotton. Desire tugged at him when she pressed against him and her hands moved to slide over his back.
Drifting with the sensations, Jase touched his mouth to her temple and slipped his hand beneath her shirt. The throaty sound of pleasure she made when he cupped her breast had the tug of desire turning into a sharp pull. Nothing would be simpler than to give in to the temptation to shift her onto her back and make a place for himself between her legs. To thrust into her and lose himself in her.
But equally tempting was the thought of exploring her more thoroughly and discovering how far the dream would take him. Slowly, he ran his hand from her breast down the taut length of her torso, over that firm, narrow waist until he could slip his fingers beneath the band of her panties. The soft moan she made when he found her heat and began to stroke her urged him to take his mouth on a leisurely journey over her face from her temple to jawline and back again. Her breath was hitching now and she began to arch faster and faster against his hand. Desire pulled even more strongly against his control. But first…first, he wanted to take more, to give her more. He traced her mouth with his tongue, then began to tease her lips with his. When he finally allowed himself to fully taste her, the flavor was so sweet, so potent, that he thought he might never get enough. Taking the kiss ever deeper, he slipped two fingers into her and felt her soar.
THE ORGASM shot through Maddie in one glorious wave after another until she was sure she was going to drown. When she finally surfaced, she had only a few moments of respite, barely enough time to register what that clever mouth was doing to hers before those long hard fingers began to move inside her again. She’d never dreamed anything this vividly before. Even as the incredible pressure began to build once more, other sensations bombarded her. She inhaled his scent, something dark and male. The sharp nip of his teeth on her bottom lip. And his body—it was so hot that she felt as if it was branding her at each and every contact point.
The second orgasm was sharper than the first, and before it peaked, he was there, just where she wanted him to be, thrusting into her. And then they began to move together.
Yes, she thought as she wrapped arms and legs around him. This was what she wanted—this wild, fast race. This was what she’d always wanted, and no one had been ever able to give it to her before. Holding on for dear life, she rode the climax, rode him, until they leapt over that final crest together.
Chapter Three
MADDIE DRIFTED UP slowly through layers of sleep, trying to hold on to each one. The dream she’d been having was so wonderful, so real. With each breath, she drew in her lover’s scent—potent, male. His arm held her close, and she felt the length of that hard body pressed against her. The sensations were vivid enough to have her blood heating all over again.
She wanted more than anything to sink back into the dream so that he would touch her, tempt her, tease her again. But there was light beyond her closed eyelids and she could hear muted sounds. Motors rumbling, brakes squealing…
Traffic? Frowning, she struggled to remember.
The insistent beep of a horn, louder than the others, triggered a kaleidoscope of memories. Her sister, the terms of her mother’s will, the endless series of plane rides, the detailed files Jordan had insisted she study.
The horn blasted again.
She definitely wasn’t in Kansas anymore. Nor was she at the ranch in Santa Fe. She was in her sister’s New York City apartment. The last thing she clearly recalled was dragging her suitcase into the closest bedroom and falling into bed.
That’s when the dream had begun—and her lover had joined her. And he was still with her. The smooth taut skin on his shoulder was warm beneath her hand, and above the sounds from the street below she heard the steady rate of his breathing.
Was she still trapped in her dream?
A mix of emotions swept through her—fear, excitement. Anticipation? Gingerly, Maddie opened one eye. There was just enough light seeping through the slit in the drapes for her to see that her senses were not deceiving her. Her hand was indeed resting against a man’s shoulder. And the rest of her body was totally wrapped around his. Everything about him, the hint of stubble on his chin, the strength of the arm wrapped around her waist—even the erection growing harder against her stomach—seemed to be very real.
Squeezing her eye shut again, Maddie drew in a deep breath and let it out. One thing she’d learned growing up on her father’s ranch was that you had to face facts. So the dream lover who’d joined her in bed last night had been real. Was real.
And facts had to be dealt with. A cut fence had to be mended ASAP so cattle didn’t stray. Still, a real lover in one’s bed instead of a dream one presented more complicated problems—one of them being that she didn’t seem to want to disentangle herself from him. What she was tempted to do more than anything else was to push him onto his back and taste him again, touch him again.
Not happening, Maddie lectured herself. And why was she even considering the possibility? No man had ever made her feel the way this one had. Ever. And she didn’t even know who he was.
Stiffening her resolve, Maddie slowly drew her head back and this time she opened both eyes. Even in the dim light, recognition was instantaneous. After all, she’d memorized those features—the angled cheekbones, that strong chin, the firm lips.
At some point in the night, she’d made love to Jase Campbell. And he’d made love to her.
Heat shot through her. But it wasn’t from embarrassment. Her body was on fire because she wanted to repeat the experience. Right now.
Not going to happen. She had to get a grip. And she had to get out of this bed. If she could just get away before he woke up, maybe she could pretend that the night they’d just shared hadn’t happened. If he brought it up, she’d just tell him that he’d been dreaming. That would be one way to mend the fence. Maybe the only way.
Dragging her eyes away from his face, she focused on ungluing herself from him. But her body rebelled, refusing to take orders from her brain. Her hand seemed permanently affixed to his shoulder, her fingers splayed. Maddie faced another fact—she didn’t want to stop touching him, and she knew that if her hand moved at all, it would slide down to wrap itself around the length of his erection which was pressing against her stomach more insistently with each passing moment.
When he sighed, his breath feathered along her temple, and his arm tightened more firmly around her waist. Maddie barely managed to stifle a moan. He was waking up. Once he did, the pretend-it-never-happened scenario would no longer be an option. But it wasn’t panic she was feeling, it was a wild thrill.
What was happening to her? Why was she reacting this way?
He stirred again. Maybe there was still time to slip away. She focused all her effort on pushing against his shoulder. It was like trying to dislodge a boulder. Then she felt his whole body stiffen. Before she could blink, he slipped a hand beneath her chin and tilted it up so that she had to meet his eyes.
She was aware of several things at once. The body pressed against hers had grown harder, and the heat that seemed to leap from him to her was enough to melt her bones. But it was his eyes she couldn’t look away from. The photo hadn’t captured the color. The mix of dark green and blue reminded her of some of the rarer turquoise stones she worked with.
Then suddenly his gaze narrowed, darkened, and his fingers tightened their grip on her chin. Their mouths were close, nearly touching. If either one of them moved…Just anticipating the brush of those lips against hers, Maddie felt her brain cells wink off one by one. Yes.
No. Jase felt his mind clouding over and fought to clear it. He was holding a woman in his arms, and he had no idea how that had come to happen.
The last thing he remembered was reaching his apartment and falling into bed. Memories began to trickle in. That’s when the dream had begun. There’d been a lover waiting for him, hungry for him. What she’d ignited in him had gone beyond anything he’d ever experienced before. Desire had never been so compelling. Passion had never been so consuming.
But what had happened during the night hadn’t been a dream.
It was morning now. The sound of traffic floated up from the street below. Her hair was just brushing his chin, her breath was hot on his chest. She was very real. And so was the fresh surge of desire he was feeling. A thin stream of sunlight fell across the delicate line of her cheekbone.
If he gave into temptation and traced a finger along the path of the light, he knew just what her skin would feel like. Soft as the petal of a flower, warm…
Jase clamped down on the heat that shot through him. She wasn’t a dream. This was a real woman. And she was wrapped so tightly around him that he wasn’t sure he could ever break free.
And he still wanted her. Desperately. Her mouth was so close, barely a breath away. His leg was already nestled between hers, and he could feel that she was ready for him. More than anything, he wanted to sink into her, to lose himself in her again.
No. Gripping her shoulders, Jase disentangled himself, pulling back far enough so that he could see her face clearly for the first time. It was the eyes that drew his attention first. They were dark—a deep blue that bordered on violet. And they were very familiar. The color, the shape—they were Jordan’s eyes. And she had Jordan’s face. But…Narrowing his gaze, he studied her more closely.
“You’re not Jordan.”
He would have staked his life on it. Her scent was all wrong. Jordan always smelled like some exotic French perfume. This woman smelled like wild flowers and sunshine. And Jordan’s hair wasn’t long enough to pull into a braid.
Then there was the chemistry. As long as he and Jordan had known each other, there’d never been any spark between them. And spark was far too tame a word for what he’d experienced with this woman.
Those eyes, damn them, were still clouded with desire. The pulse at the base of her throat was hammering. Whoever she was, he could have her again. Right now. Jase wasn’t usually one to throw caution to the winds either in his personal or his business life. But for one precarious moment, he was outrageously tempted.
He tightened his grip on her shoulders. “Who are you and what are you doing in my bed?”
THE NOTE of command in Jase’s voice snapped Maddie out of the trance she’d fallen into ever since he’d pulled back and she’d looked into those mesmerizing blue-green eyes. A moment ago, she’d been sure he was going to kiss her again. And she’d wanted him to. More than that, she’d willed him to. But he hadn’t. And now he seemed to be focused on getting answers. Okay, maybe he had a right. But so did she.
She squirmed backward, intending to get out of bed. But she was naked. Sweeping her hand beneath the covers, she searched for her tank top. Without success.
“I’m still waiting for an answer.”
The sudden hint of humor in his tone had her chin lifting and her temper surging. This was not funny. “What I was trying to do here was sleep. When I arrived last night, I was nearly blind with exhaustion and I simply got into the wrong bed. Do you know how many planes I’ve been on in the past three days?”
“Not as many as I have, I’ll wager. Is this what you’re looking for?”
She glanced up barely in time to catch the tank top he tossed her. Then her gaze focused on him. Big mistake. He was lying on his side now, his head propped on his hand. The sheet barely covered him to the waist.
An intense wave of hunger shot through her. Why was this happening to her? Baffled, she tore her eyes away from him, slid off the side of the bed, and tried to cover as much as she could with the tank top. If she wanted to think clearly, her best bet was to get out of the room. But the door was on his side of the bed. There was just no way to make any kind of a dignified exit.
“You haven’t answered my first question. Who are you?”
She shot him a narrow look. He was definitely enjoying this. “I’m Jordan’s twin sister and Eva’s other daughter.”
It gave her some satisfaction when a bit of the humor faded from his gaze.
“You’ll have to do better than that. Jordan doesn’t have a twin.”
“Yes, she does. Turns out we were separated when we were babies, and neither one of us knew anything about it until four days ago.”
For two full heartbeats silence stretched between them. He was studying her as if he were weighing what she’d told him. And she couldn’t take her eyes off him. Worse, she could feel her brain cells start to click off again. She had to get a grip.
“Where is Jordan?” he asked.
Her chin lifted. “She’s at our father’s ranch in Santa Fe.”
“Why?”
Maddie welcomed the surge of temper. “Look. It’s a very long story, and if you were any kind of a gentleman, you’d leave right now and give me a chance to get dressed. Then I’ll be happy to answer all of your questions.”
He smiled slowly, fully.
Maddie felt the heat shoot all the way to her toes.
“Never let it be said that my mother didn’t raise me to be a gentleman.”
Maddie stared as he threw back the covers and got out of bed. For the first time, she got a good look at what she’d explored with her hands during the night—the broad shoulders, the strongly muscled back, the bronze skin that ended with a clearly defined tan line at his waist.
And his butt. There were muscles there too. She remembered exactly what they’d felt like beneath her palms, tensing and then relaxing as he’d moved inside her. When he turned, Maddie’s throat went dry as fresh need thrummed through her.
“My jeans…ah, there they are.” He leaned down to scoop them up. “But these are yours, I believe.” He laid her panties on the foot of the bed.
She ignored the panties and focused her gaze on his. He knew exactly what effect he was having on her. Damn him.
Still smiling, he took another step toward her, extending his free hand. “I’m Jase Campbell, by the way. I’m Jordan’s roommate. And your name is…?”
“I’m Maddie Farrell.” She sent him a thin smile as she shook his hand. The instant he relaxed his grip, she hooked her foot behind his right ankle, then used both hands to shove hard against his chest. His butt hit the floor with a very satisfactory thud. There, she thought. Enjoy that.
He grinned up at her. “Nice move, Maddie Farrell.”
She snatched her panties off the bed. “I believe you said something about your mother raising a gentleman.”
He winced a little. “So I did.” He stretched out a hand. “You wouldn’t want to give me a hand, would you?”
“Do I look as though I have stupid branded on my forehead?”
“No. But it was worth a try.” He rose in one graceful movement, but she noticed that he took his time walking to the bedroom door. When he reached it, he turned back. “I’ll make us some coffee, Maddie Farrell. Then we’ll talk.”
For a full thirty seconds after he’d disappeared from view, Maddie didn’t move. Because she wanted to run after him? What in the world was wrong with her? The man thought this whole situation had a humorous side to it. Maybe—in a hundred years—she could agree with him.
Biting back a groan, she sank onto the bed. Maybe if she burrowed under the covers, she’d wake up and discover that it was all a dream.
But it wasn’t. In a few moments she was going to have to join him for coffee and answer his questions. Besides, she wasn’t the kind of person who ran from problems. On a ranch you just couldn’t do that.
You grew up around men. You know how to handle them.
All she needed was a plan.
Chapter Four
JASE LEANED his hip against the counter and sipped coffee. He could hear the shower still running in the bathroom, so he had a few more minutes to figure out what in the hell he was going to do. Usually, he wasn’t at such a loss. But the night he’d just spent with the woman who called herself Maddie Farrell had been unprecedented. She’d scrambled his brain.
And she was going to be a problem for him.
For the first few minutes after he’d left her in the bedroom, he’d struggled hard against the urge to forget about the questions he had and just walk back in there, toss her onto the bed and make love to her again. Instead, he’d run water in the sink and splashed it on his face. He might not be a gentle lover, but caveman tactics weren’t his style.
Then again, no other woman had ever shoved him onto his ass. His lips twitched at the memory, then he sipped more coffee. He’d told her the truth about his mother. His father, a career army man, had died when he was ten. D.C. had been nine and their sister Darcy had been six. Their mother had gotten a teaching job in Baltimore and had proceeded to raise her children the way she managed her classes—with a firm hand.
Problem was, he didn’t want to be a gentleman with Maddie. If he did make a move on her, she wouldn’t resist. Just in those few moments that they’d lain together in his bed after they’d awakened, he’d sensed she was as reluctant as he to pull away. And she was just as curious as he was about what it would be like to make love while they were both fully awake. That made the temptation almost irresistible.
If he joined her in that shower now, they could both find out. In a matter of seconds—perhaps ten to get into the bathroom and another five to strip out of his jeans—he could step under the spray and…
With an oath, Jase set his mug down, then gripped the edge of the counter with both hands. Being this enthralled by a woman just wasn’t like him. He couldn’t deny that he had a reckless streak. He and D.C. had gotten into more than their fair share of trouble in their teenage years. According to his mother, they were responsible for turning her hair prematurely gray. But college with a major in business and four years in the navy, two in special ops, had pretty much drummed recklessness out of his system.
As he glanced down the hall at the closed shower door, guilt moved through him. Hadn’t he already taken enough advantage of her? Sure, he’d been exhausted, sleep-deprived, but the bottom line was that he’d allowed himself to be lulled into making love to a woman he’d found in his bed. He should have fought harder against the dream she’d enveloped him in. Making love to her had been a mistake. A big one.
And he shouldn’t have to be fighting so damn hard against the desire to repeat the experience. If she was telling the truth, she was his best friend’s sister.
Jase refilled his mug and took a long swallow. Time to step back, look at the big picture and come up with a plan. That was what had saved his life several times during his specialops missions in the navy.
He should be focusing on what she was doing here, not joining her in that shower. And what in the hell was Jordan doing on a ranch in Santa Fe? He nearly grinned at the thought. Talk about a fish out of water. From the time he’d first met her, Jordan had been a city girl right down to her weekly manicure and pedicure.
While he’d waited for the coffee to brew, he’d tried to contact Jordan on her cell to check out the twin story, but she wasn’t picking up. Then he’d typed Maddie Farrell into his laptop.
Madison Farrell was a Southwestern jewelry designer in Santa Fe. In addition to her photo, her Web site featured images of finely carved silver pins, belt buckles and rings, all with a clearly Southwestern flair. When he’d searched Santa Fe’s newspaper, The New Mexican, he’d found an article praising the intricacy and modern artistry of her designs. Like mother, like daughter, he’d thought. He’d also come across an obituary for a local rancher, Mike Farrell, who’d died a year ago and had been survived by his only daughter, Madison.
So, she was evidently who she said she was, and she looked enough like Jordan to be her twin—but he still had questions—a lot of them.
And until he got some answers, he was going to put any plans for taking Maddie Farrell back to his bed on hold.
MADDIE TURNED a complete circle in the shower and let the hot water sluice over her. Her body ached in places it had never ached before, places where Jase Campbell had touched her. And it felt wonderful.
With a sigh she rested her head against the shower wall. She had to think—and not about Jase. What had happened between them in that bed of his during the night had been crazy. Wonderful. Amazing. But it had been a mistake. And mistakes were for learning, not for repeating.
Waking up beside him had distracted her. Big-time. He didn’t even know about Eva’s death. Jordan hadn’t been able to reach him.
Pouring shampoo into her palms, she lathered her hair lavishly, then rinsed it, wishing she could wash the man right out just as easily as soap. It might not be that simple, but she was going to try. She had to be practical, use some common sense. And get herself back on track.
After all, she only had three weeks to walk around in Jordan’s shoes, and she had a lot to do. It hadn’t been just to please her sister and fulfill the terms of the will that she’d come to New York, she reminded herself. Before she went back to Santa Fe, she intended to find out everything she could about Eva Ware. If Jordan was right and Eva had been truly interested in a daughter who designed jewelry, why had she waited so long to act on that interest? Too long.
Each time she thought about the fact that she’d never really get to meet or talk with Eva, a little band of pain tightened around her heart.
If she could, she was going to find out why she and Jordan had been separated. The key was there. She was sure of it. Though she hadn’t mentioned it to her sister, she had a theory that Eva might have confided in someone that she’d had twins. She’d bet that Cash’s father had known. But he’d passed on a year before her own father had.
Getting the answers to her questions and getting to know as much as she could about Eva Ware—those had to be her priorities.
Twisting off the faucets, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped her hair in a towel. Then she swiped the steam off the mirror over the sink and faced her image.
“You have too much on your plate right now to fit Jase Campbell in.”
And wasn’t it possible that Jase felt the same way about her? After all, he’d been out of the country for over three weeks. He must have a lot to catch up on at his office.
Bending over, Maddie began to towel-dry her hair. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that she might have hit on the key to extricate them both from an…awkward situation.
Reason and logic—that was the strategy. After all, she’d grown up surrounded by men—her father and Cash, to name two. The business of running the ranch had always been the men’s primary focus. Her father had even missed her first jewelry show because he’d had to meet personally with a buyer in Albuquerque.
Though it had hurt at the time, she’d come to understand his decision. How many times during the past year had she prioritized her growing design business over the ranch? Often enough that Cash was growing concerned. He’d taken over more and more of the work she should have been doing, including driving her cattle to market.
It had helped to talk to Jordan about her concerns that she really couldn’t run the ranch on her own. How much longer could she rely on Cash’s help? She hoped that Jordan would have some ideas on that score, because she didn’t want to have to sell.
Maddie hung up the towel and pulled on the clothes she’d unpacked from her suitcase—her old standbys—jeans and a T-shirt. Then she frowned as she glanced at her image in the mirror. Her problems at the ranch had to go to the back burner for now. Jase Campbell was the big issue she had to deal with. Surely he’d understand that what had happened between them was, no, had to be, a one-time fling. A mistake that could not and would not be repeated.
Her frown deepened when she felt the sharp twist of regret. She wondered for a moment just who it was she was trying to convince that the time they’d spent in Jase’s bed couldn’t be repeated.
WHEN JASE heard the door to the bathroom open, his first instinct was to turn away. But there was no time like the present to discover just what effect Maddie Farrell would have on his senses after their short reprieve. Her walk was a lot like Jordan’s—long purposeful strides—but Maddie’s was slower. And he’d never found himself staring at Jordan’s legs. He slid his gaze up body-hugging denim and over the white T-shirt that revealed everything about that tight compact body he’d only begun to explore during the night. The clothes were nothing that he’d ever seen Jordan in. Even when she went casual, she looked like a fashion plate.
When Maddie finally came to a stop in front of the island that separated the main room of the apartment from the galley-sized kitchen, Jase shifted his eyes to her face. It was there that he noted the biggest difference between the twins.
He’d accepted the fact that the two women were twins. They had to be. Except for the length of their hair, they might be mirror images of each other. And it was just his luck that he found the single braid that fell over one of Maddie’s shoulders sexy as hell. Each time his eyes strayed to it, he felt an urge to loosen it and run his fingers through it.
Tucking his hands firmly into the back pockets of his jeans, Jase transferred his attention to Maddie’s other features. Jordan’s expression was more animated, and her eyes often held a glint of humor. Maddie, with her chin lifted and her eyes solemn, looked as if she were about to face a firing squad. There was a resolve there that he couldn’t help but admire.
The little twist of guilt he felt had him putting himself in her shoes for the first time. She’d come to New York, and as part of her introduction to the city she’d found herself in his bed. And he’d taken full advantage of it. No matter that she’d cooperated fully. Quite suddenly, it became his goal to set her at ease and to wipe that facing-the-firing-squad expression off her face.
“We have to talk,” she said.
“We do. How do you take your coffee—plain or loaded?”
“Plain—if that means black.”
“Good taste. Jordan barely puts a dollop of coffee in her cream and sugar.” He filled a mug and handed it to her. “Do you want an apology for what happened in my bed last night?”
Surprise had her nearly spilling her coffee. Gripping the mug in two hands, she said, “No. Of course not.”
“Good.” He slid onto one of the stools on his side of the narrow island, keeping his eyes steady on hers. “Because I’m not sorry it happened. Are you?”
“I…” She paused as if to consider the question. “I suppose in a way, I am. Because it complicates things.”
“But…?”
Twin spots of heat flared in her cheeks. He couldn’t recall Jordan ever blushing.
“But in another way, I’m not sorry. Because I’ve never…It was…”
He smiled slowly. “Yeah, it was for me too.”
She could have evaded his pointed questions. Lied. But she hadn’t. His admiration for her shot up another notch.
“While we’re on the subject, there’s something else I need to ask. Are you protected? I didn’t use a condom last night.”
Two spots of color reappeared on her face. “I’m on the pill.”
“You’re seeing someone then?” Jase was surprised at how much he disliked that idea.
“No.” Her chin shot up. “Not that it’s any of your business.”
Relief warred with amusement. She certainly had her sister’s temper. He was careful to bite back the grin. “I’m not seeing anyone either.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Did I ask?”
How often had he heard Jordan use that same haughty tone?
“Look.” Maddie set her mug down on the countertop and sat on the stool across from his. “I think we need to agree that what happened between us last night was a mistake. And when I make one, I don’t like to repeat it.”
He narrowed his eyes on her. “Why was it a mistake?”
She braced a hand on the counter, fingers spread. “Because it’s a complication I don’t have time for. I need to explain why I’m here and why Jordan is in Santa Fe.”
Yes, you do, Jase thought. And he was baffled at how her mere presence in the room could distract his mind from that pivotal question.
Maddie drew in a deep breath and let it out. “Jordan told me she hadn’t had time to contact you, so I’m sorry to have to tell you that Eva Ware is dead.”
Jase’s eyes narrowed and something in his gut tightened. “She’s dead? How? When?”
“An accident. She was killed by a hit-and-run driver in front of her apartment building a week ago.”
An accident? Even as he struggled to absorb what she was saying, he reached for her hand. “I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.” Maddie linked her fingers with his. “I didn’t know her, and now I never will. I’m still trying to accept that.”
“How’s Jordan?” He couldn’t stop thinking that he’d been away. Jordan had been alone.
“I don’t think she’s had time for the loss to fully sink in. She’s been busy handling details—the funeral and then the will. The whole thing will probably catch up with her at the ranch. It’s a very special place. I’m hoping that being there will help her.”
“Why is she there—and why are you here? Why aren’t you together?”
“Because of Eva’s will.”
Her fingers were holding on to his like a lifeline now. “Tell me everything.”
Maddie did just that, beginning with the phone call from Fitzwalter, then the meeting with her sister and the other Wares, the reading of the will and their decision to meet its terms.
“And Jordan’s alone at the ranch?”
“Yes.” A frown furrowed her forehead. “I’m a little concerned about that. We’ve had some problems lately—vandalism, and my horses had a close call.”
“How so?”
“Someone poisoned their feed, but don’t worry—Cash is due back tomorrow.”
“Who’s Cash?”
“My closest neighbor. We grew up together, actually.”
When Jase noticed that his knuckles had turned white gripping the handle of the coffee mug, he set it carefully down on the counter and flexed his fingers. “And you’re involved with this Cash?”
“When it comes to the running of the ranch, you could say we’re involved. Since my Dad died, Cash is always poking his nose in, making suggestions, offering to do things. He’s gotten very protective. The last few days he’s been helping my foreman get my cattle to market. He doesn’t even know about Jordan or about anything that’s happened.”
Jase found that he didn’t like the idea of some cowboy—childhood friend or not—hanging around Maddie. It was the second time that she’d made him come close to feeling jealous. And he’d only known her—what? A handful of hours?
In the silence that stretched between them, Maddie’s stomach growled.
“You’re hungry.” Jase rose from his stool and pulled the refrigerator door open. Nothing except two bottles of energy water. He pulled them out and set them on the island. “When was the last time you ate?”
Maddie shrugged as she opened one of the bottles. “They served some pretzels when we were stranded for three hours on the runway at O’Hare.”
Jase began a methodical search of the cupboards. “Jordan doesn’t cook, and she’s a regular old Mother Hubbard when it comes to stocking provisions. But she usually keeps a stash of cookies.” Giving up on the cupboards, he opened the microwave door. “Aha, success.” He pulled out a bag. “Chocolate chip. Will these tide you over?”
Maddie selected one from the stack he piled in front of her. “They’re my favorite. I always keep some in my studio at the ranch.”
Jase smiled. “Another thing you and Jordan have in common besides temper, I guess.”
When she’d finished the first cookie, she began to fiddle with her braid. Jase found himself wanting to reach out and touch it too—instead of asking some important questions. Alarm bells had been going off in his head ever since she’d told him that Eva had been the victim of a hit-and-run driver. Three weeks after her store had been robbed.
“Maddie, do you have any idea why Eva made out her will that way?”
“Jordan thinks that in the event of her death, Eva wanted a daughter with a flair for jewelry design to get involved in her business.”
Jase didn’t much care for the way Eva had set up her will, but all he said was, “Do you know if anyone knew about the terms of the will ahead of time?”
As she reached for another cookie, she considered the question. Then she shook her head. “They all seemed pretty shocked when Fitzwalter read the will. Except for Cho Li. Besides Jordan’s, his was the only friendly face in the room.”
“Why do you think Eva wanted you and Jordan to change places?”
She set down the cookie. “I’m not sure. But I’m not comfortable with Jordan’s theory. I don’t like the idea of taking something that belongs to her. I’m hoping that Eva’s plan had a broader design and that she wanted Jordan to experience what she’d missed all these years by not growing up on a ranch. While she’s out there, Jordan’s going to try to see what she can do to help me make the ranch more profitable.”
Jase studied her. “The ranch is in trouble beyond the vandalism?”
Maddie sighed. “I’m not the rancher my father was. And I can’t help feeling guilty about that.”
“Guilt can be hard to deal with.”
Maddie’s eyes flew to his. After a moment she said, “I’m sorry. All I’m doing is talking about myself. Jordan said that you were away all this time because you were trying to free some hostages. Were you successful?”
“Partially. There were three. We lost one of them.”
This time, she was the one who reached for his hand. “I’m sorry.”
For the first time since he’d left South America, Jase felt something loosen inside of him. Then he said aloud what he’d been telling himself ever since he’d looked down at the body of the man he hadn’t been able to rescue. “The two we did free were a man and his son. They were reunited with the rest of their family in Panama City yesterday.”
“Sometimes, no matter what you try to do, you lose someone. For months after my father died, I kept thinking if I’d just been with him—or if I’d just done something differently. Maybe if I’d nagged at him more not to ride out by himself. He had a heart attack while he was alone. If he’d just had someone with him…”
His fingers tightened on hers. “You shouldn’t blame yourself.”
“Neither should you.”
As the silence stretched between them, Maddie became intensely aware of the pull between them. She’d felt it the moment she’d stepped out of the bathroom and started toward him. But now she sensed that it was more than a pull. As she looked into those blue-green eyes, something moved through her. Recognition? How could that be? They were strangers.
Dragging her gaze away from his, she glanced down at their joined hands. His was so large that hers was barely visible. And even though her skin was tan, it was shades lighter than his. They were so different, yet somehow her hand felt just right in his. She might be baffled by it, but she couldn’t deny it was true.
“Maddie, I don’t think what happened between us last night was a mistake.”
Even as she jerked her hand away, she met his eyes again. What she saw had her bones melting. She fought against losing brain cells and swallowed hard. She’d had a clear plan when she’d stepped out of the bathroom. She’d just gotten off track. “Whether it was a mistake or not, it just can’t happen again.”
“Why not? Especially if we both want it to?”
The man was nothing if not direct. And the hint of recklessness she saw in his eyes triggered not panic, but a thrill. Maddie tried to ignore it. Logic and reason. Those were the keys. “Like I said before, we’re both busy. And I only have three weeks.”
“But you’re not saying you don’t want it to happen again.” He rose and moved around the island.
She slid off her stool but held her ground. “If you come nearer, you’ll end up on your butt again.”
“It might not be so easy if you try that a second time.”
She felt her temper rise, and she very nearly said, Wanna bet? But she swallowed the words.
He took a step closer. “On the other hand, it might be fun to find out.”
Maddie absolutely hated the fact that a part of her agreed with him. She detested that she took two steps in retreat. But she couldn’t deny that that the way he was advancing on her had excitement streaming through her.
Reason and logic. Reason and logic. She struggled to infuse both into her voice. “That’s just it. I don’t have time for fun and games. That’s not what I came to New York for.”
She very nearly sighed in relief when her words stopped Jase. But he was only a couple of feet away. If she reached out, she could touch him again. Disgusted with herself, she fisted her hands at her side.
The recklessness in his eyes faded. “You’re right, Maddie Farrell.” He reached out to toy with the end of her braid. “I’m not sure why I keep getting distracted by you, but I’ll figure it out. In the meantime, there’s a phone call I have to make. I want to find out what really happened when your mother was run down.”
Chapter Five
“DAVE, I need a favor.” Jase paced back and forth in the small kitchen, his cell phone at his ear. He was very much aware that Maddie’s eyes were on him. He knew from the line furrowing her forehead that she was worried. That might be a very good thing.
On the other end of the line, Detective Dave Stanton drawled. “And what can the lowly NYPD do for a top-notch security ace like yourself?”
Stanton was a giant of a man with chocolate-brown skin, and his jovial teddy-bear exterior hid a tough cop. Jase had run into him on a case he’d been working six months ago and they’d since become friends. Stanton had also been assigned to the break-in and robbery at Eva Ware Designs.
“It’s about Eva Ware—the hit-and-run. I’ve been working a case out of the country for the past three weeks or so, and I just heard about her death. Can you check into it and call me back?”
“Won’t have to. I’ve been keeping tabs on the investigation. It’s stalled out but the file is still open.”
“What do you know?” Jase stopped pacing when Maddie slid off her stool and strode toward him. He switched his cell phone to speaker so that she could hear too.
“She was run down on her way home from the gym when she was crossing the street to her apartment,” Stanton explained. “It was part of her regular routine to visit the gym twice a week right after she left the Madison Avenue store. She walked home taking the same route. According to her doorman, she always crossed the street directly in front of her apartment instead of walking to the corner.”
“So someone could have been waiting for her?”
“That’s the bug I put in the ear of the two detectives assigned to the case. They followed up and someone in her building with a window facing the street remembers seeing a light-colored sedan parked across the street in a delivery zone. Says it was there for some time before it pulled out and clipped Ms. Ware.”
“There was a witness to the accident?”
“Several of them, including the doorman of her building. All agree that it was a light-colored car. One insisted it was a Mercedes. But no one got a plate number. That’s where things stand.”
“So Eva Ware’s death probably wasn’t an accident.”
“That’s my gut feeling.”
“You know a lot about a case you’re not working,” Jase said.
“I liked Eva Ware. She was a classy lady. So is her daughter Jordan. How’s she holding up?”
That’s exactly what Jase wanted to know. He still hadn’t been able to reach Jordan on her cell. “I haven’t had a chance to connect with her yet. Thanks, Dave.”
“No problem. Keep me in the loop if you find out anything.”
“Will do.”
As Jase closed his cell, Maddie shook her head. “Jordan never said a word about Eva’s death being anything other than an accident.”
Jase lifted the coffeepot and topped off both of their mugs. “That’s probably how the original report read. It sounds to me like Detective Stanton was the one to push looking into it more carefully. By that time Jordan was probably caught up in making funeral arrangements. I wish I’d been here.” It ate bitterly at him that Jordan had had to handle everything on her own.
“I wish that I could have been here for her too. I don’t know if I could have made it through my father’s death if Cash hadn’t been there for me.”
Tilting her head, Maddie studied Jase for a moment. “You believed that Eva’s death wasn’t an accident even before you called Detective Stanton. Why? Is there someone who would want to harm her?”
“Perhaps.” For a minute, Jase debated how much he wanted to tell Maddie and decided she’d have to know it all. Jordan too. “Have you been able to reach your sister? I tried her cell earlier with no luck.”
“Cell signals are seldom available at the ranch. And the land line seems to be out. I called before I showered. There was a nasty storm predicted last night. But she intends to go into Santa Fe today and visit the hotel where they’re holding the jewelry show tomorrow. Her cell should work there, and she’ll call. It’s our plan to keep in daily contact. And you must know how Jordan is about plans.”
Jase smiled. “A real stickler.”
Maddie set her coffee on the counter. “You haven’t answered my question. Why did you instantly suspect that our mother’s death might not be an accident?”
“Do you ever have gut feelings that something isn’t quite right?”
She met his eyes. “Yes. I get them sometimes when I’m designing a piece of jewelry. Then I know I’m going in the wrong direction.”
Jase leaned against the counter and crossed his legs at the ankles. Maddie Farrell was a good listener, astute too. Maybe it would help him to talk it out. “I got one the minute you told me that Eva had been run down. A few days before I left for South America, your mother’s store was broken into and approximately one hundred thousand dollars worth of jewelry was stolen.”
Maddie frowned. “Jordan told me about that. She said that they’d gotten past the security. Considering the kind of pieces I’ve seen on Eva Ware’s Web site, I’m surprised they didn’t steal more. Some of her individual pieces go for two or three times that.”
Smart girl, Jase thought. “The break-in occurred in the main salon. Most of the designs are kept in the safe and only brought out at a specific customer’s request. But there were more expensive pieces on display. The police thought that the thief or thieves purposely took small pieces that could easily be fenced. And they only took pieces with gems.”
“Which could be taken out and sold.”
“That was the thinking. Detective Stanton worked the case, but Eva asked me to look into it also. I would have anyway since I was the one who’d installed the security system. The robbery was a very slick job. Either the thief was a highly sophisticated pro, or he’d had help from the inside. I thought the latter and I told Eva. She hired me to look into it further when I got back from South America. I suggested that she let me turn the investigation over to my partner, Dino Angelis, but she refused.”
“Maybe she wanted a little time to gather information herself. Could be she suspected who the insider was and she wanted to be able to confront him or her.”
Jase studied her. “Yeah. That’s what I thought at the time, but how did you make that leap? You didn’t even know Eva.”
“I guess because if I were in her place, that’s how I’d want to handle it. Jordan tells me that the business meant the world to Eva, that she’d devoted her life to it. On a much smaller scale, I know how I feel about my own fledgling design business. And I can sympathize with Eva wanting to try to handle it herself. Maybe she didn’t even want the thief prosecuted.”
“Why not?”
“Perhaps she didn’t want a scandal. As I understand from Jordan, almost everyone there has been with her a long time.”
“Good point.”
Maddie climbed on a stool and folded her hands in front of her. “So. How are we going to find out who broke into Eva Ware Designs?”
He frowned at her. “We’re not.”
“We have to.”
Jase straightened from the counter. “Maddie, if Eva did figure out who the thief was and threatened exposure, that person might be the one who ran her down. If he or she killed once, they won’t hesitate to do it again.”
Maddie swallowed hard and tried to ignore the sudden chill that radiated through her. Hearing the words spoken aloud in that blunt tone was a lot worse than thinking it. “You believe the thief killed Eva?”
“It’s a strong possibility, and I think that’s why my friend Dave Stanton is keeping an eye on the file.”
His eyes had gone as flat as his tone. He was purposely trying to scare her. “But you’re going to look further into the robbery?”
“Yes.”
If he was right and someone had run Eva down, there was no way she wasn’t going to do her best to find the person. She just had to find the right strategy to convince him. “I can help.”
“No. It’s too dangerous. Do what you came here to do—get to know your mother and her jewelry design business. My office will handle looking into who might have been behind the break-in and robbery.”
A plan was already forming in her mind. Maddie leaned forward. “But I’m going to be on the inside. And my cover is perfect. Jordan has told everyone about me. I’m Eva Ware’s other daughter, the one she left behind. I can play on the sympathy factor. Not from my cousin Adam, but perhaps from the others.”
Jase moved to her then and covered her folded hands with his. “I’m sorry. It’s got to be rough on you.”
“On Jordan too.”
“Yes.”
“That’s exactly what the others are going to think. And I’ll be expected to ask a lot of questions anyway. I already intend to talk to people about Eva—what she was like, how she got started in the business, what her creative process was like. It’s the only way that I have of getting to know her now. I’m going to insist on a tour of her workroom.”
Jase was looking at her, saying nothing. But he was thinking. She could almost hear the wheels turning. Reason and logic. “The break-in could come up as a part of those kinds of conversations. I could find out things that they’ll never tell you if you come into the office in your official capacity.”
“You’re not a trained investigator.”
Her chin lifted. “No. But I already have an idea of where to start.”
Jase slid onto his stool. “Don’t keep me in suspense.”
“I’ll be right back.” Whirling, she raced down the hall to Jordan’s bedroom. Once there, she grabbed the file her twin had prepared for her along with her bag.
When she returned, Jase was waiting. She placed the file on top of the island and dug in her purse for her appointment book. It was an old-fashioned leather-bound volume with a ribbon she used as a bookmark. Right now it was stuffed with business cards, paper clippings and sticky notes. Next she drew out the neatly printed papers Jordan had given her. They contained her hour-by-hour schedule for the next three weeks.
Jase regarded them in silence for a moment. “Explain.”
“They’re appointment calendars. Jordan and I have very different styles. She keeps track of her daily and weekly schedule on some high-tech thing she carries in her purse.” She patted the bursting leather book. “I do it in a less high-tech way. My father used to give me one of these every Christmas. I’m betting Eva would have kept some version of an appointment calendar. If not, her personal assistant must keep one.” She paused to consult her file. “Her name is Michelle Tan. According to Jordan, she started out as an intern and took over the job of Eva’s personal assistant when it opened up. Jordan says she’s been with Eva for nearly a year now.”
“And you’re interested in Eva’s appointment calendar because…?”
“If you’re right and Eva had some idea of who was behind the break-in, it makes sense that she would have confronted him at some point. And I’m betting that she wouldn’t have done it at Eva Ware Designs. But she may have made note of the meeting place in her calendar.”
Jase’s eyes narrowed as he considered. “You may be right. She came to my office when she decided to hire me to investigate further. And she told me not to mention it to Jordan until we had something more concrete to go on.”
“See? She was being discreet.”
Too discreet, Jake thought. It might have gotten her killed.
Jase pointed to the stack of cookies. “You going to finish those?”
“Help yourself.”
He took a cookie and bit into it. He was being manipulated. Living with a mother and a sister, he and D.C. had learned early on what that felt like. The thing was, Maddie made sense. Eva’s appointment calendar was a good place to start looking. And Maddie did have a good cover. Plus, she was going to poke her nose into this whether he wanted her to or not. If Jordan were here, he’d be facing the same problem. The two of them were as curious as Alice when she’d decided to follow that rabbit down his hole.
Maddie leaned forward. “My father was a firm believer in two heads being better than one. Whenever there was a problem at the ranch, he used to talk it over with our neighbor, Jesse Landry. After Jesse died, he’d talk with Cash and me.” She beamed a smile at him. “Admit it. You could use my help.”
For a moment, the smile and the way she was looking at him had his thoughts scattering. Jase firmly anchored them in place. He was going to have to learn to deal with her effect on him if he was going to keep her safe.
“I’ll go along with this, but I’m going to be your constant companion.”
Her brows shot up. “Constant companion?”
“For the next three weeks—or until we get this sorted out—I’m going to be at your side.”
“No way. That will spoil everything. You run a security firm. I’ll never be able to get any of them to talk freely with you hanging around.”
“Jordan has dragged me to Christmas parties and a couple of other events Eva threw at her apartment. So they know me mostly as Jordan’s friend and roommate. When I went to check the security system after the break-in, it was after hours. And as I mentioned, Eva came to my office when she decided to hire me to investigate further.”
“But that’s not going to explain why you’re tagging along after me.”
He smiled slowly at her. “Here’s my cover. Even though we just met, it was love at first sight for you and me. And I’m determined to spend as much time as possible with you during the three weeks you’re here.”
Chapter Six
“WE’RE SORRY that we cannot complete your call at this time. Please try again later.”
Maddie frowned at the handset as she replaced it in its cradle. It was the second time she’d tried the number at the ranch since she and Jase had returned to their separate bedrooms. Both times she’d received the metallic, recorded message. Even if there’d been a storm at the ranch last night, it had to be over. The phone lines should be working.
She needed her sister’s help. Her gaze strayed to the small bookcase the phone was perched on and for the first time she noted the framed photo that sat on the first shelf. Jordan was in her cap and gown, and Eva Ware stood close, her arm around Jordan. Both smiled into the camera.
A little band of pain tightened around Maddie’s heart. It was immature and not fair to Jordan to be jealous of the fact that Eva hadn’t been at her college graduation, nor had she witnessed all of the other milestones in Maddie’s life. Her father had been present, she reminded herself. And Mike Farrell had missed all of Jordan’s big events.
Maddie swallowed hard as she studied Eva’s face and noted the braid that fell over one of her shoulders. She fingered her own. It was hard even now to really get her mind around the fact that Eva Ware was her mother. In her own thoughts and even when talking to Jase about her, she was still referring to her as Eva Ware.
Would she ever get used to the idea? She set the photo carefully back on the shelf. Why? Why had her father and Eva decided to separate? Why had they each cut one daughter out of their lives? She was determined to find an answer to that question before she left New York. Maybe she would discover at least a partial answer as she came to know Eva better.
The second shelf of the small bookcase was filled with paperback books. Curious, she ran her fingers along the spines. Her lips curved when she realized that Jordan lined her paperbacks up alphabetically according to the last name of the author.
Didn’t that just figure?
But what really surprised her was that she had nearly half the same books in the small bookcase in her bedroom at the ranch—starting with the Brontës and Jane Austen. Then there were more modern writers—Linda Howard, Jayne Ann Krentz, Karen Robards, J.D. Robb, Nora Roberts and Robert B. Parker. Maddie’s smile widened as she realized Jordan obviously shared her own weakness for romantic suspense and mysteries.
Then she glanced at the bottom shelf and simply stared. The books there were alphabetized too, but they were all westerns—Zane Grey, Louis L’Amour, Luke Short, Larry McMurtry. She recognized the authors because they were her father’s favorites. There were two copies of Lonesome Dove—one that was falling apart and another that seemed to be brand new. How many times had she teased her father about rereading that novel? It appeared that her sister might have the same addiction.
Could a taste in reading run in a family? And what else might she and Jordan have in common? Certainly not their taste in clothes. Striding toward the full-length mirror on the open closet door, Maddie studied the outfit she’d selected. She’d searched high and low for a plain pair of slacks and a blazer—but Jordan didn’t seem to believe in them. Her twin favored clothes that were either a little too frilly or fashion-forward for Maddie’s taste. Her own wardrobe consisted almost entirely of jeans or slacks and jackets and T-shirts.
Simple, flexible—and you seldom had to worry about color coordination.
She’d finally decided on a suit she’d initially been drawn to because of the color—a pale blue that reminded her of a summer sky in Santa Fe. The skirt had a flouncy, fluted ruffle along its hem. Turning in a half circle, she watched it flare out. The jacket had feminine bell-shaped sleeves. It was certainly not something she could wear at the ranch, but it was growing on her.
She dropped her gaze to her bare feet. What she needed now was shoes. She sent a worried glance at the rows upon rows of them that took up a wall in Jordan’s closet. So many choices, so little time. The shower in the bathroom had stopped running five minutes ago. Since then, she figured Jase had probably shaved and now was dressing.
And she doubted he was stumped by shoe selection. The problem with Jordan’s was they all looked to be ankle-breakers. Still, there was a dark blue pair with a silver buckle that her eye kept returning to. Moving into the closet, she ran her finger over the buckle. But they’d never been worn. She didn’t feel right about wearing a pair of shoes that Jordan never had.
Which was one of the reasons she needed to talk to her sister. Striding back to the phone, she once more punched in the number of the ranch. To her surprise, it rang. Then she listened to her own voice telling her to leave a message.
When the beep sounded, she said, “Jordan, this is Maddie. Pick up if you can. Otherwise call me back ASAP.”
A glance at her watch told her it was nine-thirty. “I’m running a little late, but you should be able to reach me at Eva Ware Designs a little after ten. Jase is coming with me.”
She’d lost some time trying to talk him out of his plan to become her constant companion, but he’d remained firm. Until they had a clearer idea of what was going on, he was going to stick to her like glue. And he hadn’t missed his chance to tell her that two heads were better than one. There was nothing like having your own words come back to bite you.
“You didn’t mention in his file that he was mule-headed. Anyway, it’s a long story, and there’s something else I need to tell you.” There was no way she was going to mention what they’d discovered about the investigation into Eva’s death on an answering machine.
“So call me.” She was about to hang up when she remembered. “One other thing. There’s a pair of shoes in your closet that doesn’t look as if it’s ever been worn. Hope you don’t mind if I break them in. Bye.”
She stared at the handset for a minute after she’d replaced it. She hadn’t exactly asked permission. But those blue shoes were definitely calling her name.
Striding to the closet, she plucked them off the shelf, stepped into them, and winced. Was this what Cinderella’s stepsisters had felt like when they’d tried on the glass slipper?
But they were the right size. She’d checked that out. The tight fit had to be due to the fact that she was used to wearing boots. Very comfortable, worn-in boots. She took an experimental step out of the closet and had to slam a hand into the door frame to keep her balance. Maddie shifted her gaze to the mirror. “This can’t be that hard. You learned to ride a horse, rope a cow and shoot a gun.”
She took one step and teetered. This time she didn’t reach for the wall. “You can learn to walk in these. Millions of other women have. How hard can it be?”
Turning away from her reflection, Maddie started for the foot of the bed, stumbled, and nearly went down.
“About as hard as learning to walk on stilts,” she muttered. Then she focused on her destination. It was less than ten feet away. Concentrating hard, she raised her arms for balance the way a tightrope walker would and put one foot gingerly in front of the other. By the time she reached the bed, she could lower her arms.
And breathe.
So far, so good. She took another breath and started toward the dresser on the other side of Jordan’s bed. She raised her arms again, but by the time she was halfway there, she no longer felt the need to use them for balance. Thank heavens the learning curve for navigating around in the shoes was going to be short.
On the surface of Jordan’s dresser lay a silver-plated brush and comb, a small box of hairpins and a jewelry box. Raising her eyes, Maddie regarded her image in the mirror and frowned. The hair was definitely wrong for the outfit.
In her mind’s eye she pictured Jordan’s sophisticated, layered cut. Much better. There had to be something she could do. Quickly, she unraveled the braid and ran her fingers through it. Then using the hairbrush, she pulled it smoothly back from her face into a ponytail. Finally, she twisted the ponytail into a bun and secured it to the back of her head with pins.
Better. But were the earrings okay? With a critical eye, she studied the tiny silver horseshoes that dangled from each of her ears. The sky-blue of the turquoise was fine in terms of color. But her hand was already reaching to open Jordan’s jewelry box. What she saw inside took her breath away.
Of course, she’d seen Eva’s jewelry in magazines and on the store’s Web site, but nothing had captured the delicacy of the designs. In comparison, her horseshoes looked almost gaudy. She was reaching for a froth of lacy gold in a teardrop shape when she suddenly became aware that she wasn’t alone in the room.
Turning, she saw Jase standing in the open doorway. How long had he been watching her? The way he was looking at her, the heat in his eyes, had her throat going desert-dry. Quickly she dropped her gaze from his. Not that it helped. He’d changed into a dark blue T-shirt and blazer which only emphasized his broad shoulders. And he wore jeans that fit snugly at the hips and hugged his legs like a second skin.
And, in spite of everything she’d said to him, she wanted him again. For a moment, as the silence stretched between them, she became very aware of the fact that they were separated only by Jordan’s bed. If she moved toward it, would he? A wave of longing struck her, so intense that for a second, she nearly lost her balance.
It wasn’t the shoes this time.
It was the man.
And she could have him right now. She could tell by the expression in his eyes. An image filled her mind of the two of them on the bed, naked, their limbs entwined, their bodies moving as one.
No! Maddie fisted her hands at her sides. She had to get a grip on the way he was affecting her. Everything she’d said to him was true. She didn’t have time to indulge in…this…this…craziness. She had to learn to walk around in Jordan’s shoes. Literally as well as figuratively. She had to get to Eva Ware Designs.
Dragging her eyes back to his face, she forced her mind back to the problem that had consumed her before Jase had entered the room—what she was wearing. She raised her hands and dropped them. “What do you think?”
FOR A MOMENT Jase didn’t respond. How could he when he simply wasn’t thinking at all? His thoughts had scattered the moment he’d caught sight of her on the other side of the bed. He’d stopped in the doorway because he hadn’t trusted himself to go farther into the room.
Or perhaps it was because desire had struck him with the force of a Mack truck. When she’d loosened her braid and run her fingers through it, he’d nearly lost it. He’d grabbed the doorjamb with one hand and held on tight as his mind emptied and filled with sensations—of how that long, loose hair would feel between his fingers, on his skin.
He didn’t even know how long he’d been standing there staring at her. Long enough for him to weave a nice little fantasy about getting her out of that suit and touching her. Really touching her. He’d pictured them on that bed—this time in the daylight when they were both awake. And he knew exactly how that skin would feel—soft as rainwater, smooth as the petal of an exotic flower one might come across in the steamy jungle he’d just left.
“Well?”
Jase gathered enough of himself to note that her hands had fisted on her hips and one foot was tapping. And still he couldn’t get a word out. For the first time, something like fear moved through him.
No woman had ever tied his tongue in knots before.
“If this outfit is that bad, you’d better come right out and say it. I’m used to wearing jeans and slacks, so I don’t have much fashion sense when it comes to fancy clothes. I went for the color. But Jordan has lots of other clothes.”
Jase pulled himself together. And finally found his voice. “It’s fine.”
She studied him as she moved toward him, giving the bed a wide berth. He appreciated the strategy and took some satisfaction that he wasn’t the only one thinking about tumbling her into it.
“You’re not just saying that? You’re sure?”
“Yeah,” he lied. The only thing he was really sure of was that she wasn’t going to be wearing the outfit much longer if they didn’t get out of Jordan’s bedroom. And until he found out exactly who might have run down Eva Ware, he needed to be able to think clearly. Still, he couldn’t prevent his gaze from raking her one more time. “Are you going to be able to walk in those shoes?”
She glanced down at them. “Yeah, I’ve got that under control, I think.”
Control. That was the key word, Jase reminded himself. He released his grip on the doorjamb, flexed his fingers to assure himself that they were still there. Last but not least, he dragged his gaze away from the bed and led the way out of the room.
TRUE TO FORM, New York City traffic was crawling along at less than a snail’s pace. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Maddie was staring wide-eyed out the open window of the taxi, craning her neck to take in the buildings, the people, and breathing in the mix of scents—hot pavement, rotting garbage, exhaust fumes—that he took for granted.
He glanced at his watch and saw that it was nearly ten. Even though it was only a twenty-block walk to Eva Ware Designs, he’d decided in deference to her shoes to hail a cab. But what should have been a five-minute cab ride was stretching into thirty. Even in the ankle-breakers she was wearing, they could have easily arrived at the jewelry store by now.
Brakes squealed as the car in front of them came to an abrupt stop. Someone stepped out of the passenger door and hurried into a small store that specialized in fresh produce. Their cabbie leaned on his horn and shouted something out the window in a language Jase wasn’t familiar with. Glancing out the rear window, Jase could see that their taxi was neatly boxed in.
He looked at Maddie and saw that she was staring at a policeman astride a horse. They hadn’t said much to each other since they’d left the building. She’d been intent on drinking in the sights, and he’d welcomed the reprieve of just being away from the apartment. They’d have to go back there eventually and good idea or not, he was sure that they were going to end up in bed together again.
He’d never met a woman who pulled at him the way she did. Even now his hand was fisted on the seat because he wanted to reach out and touch her. Just to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear or to run a finger down her throat.
But that wouldn’t be enough. He’d need more. And he’d have more. It might be the biggest mistake of his life, but one way or another, he did intend to make love with Maddie Farrell again.
Right now, he had to put that aside and switch gears. She still had her eyes on the mounted policeman, and he reminded himself that she had just switched places with her sister and was feeling her way through a strange, new world. Maybe he could help with that.
“In the file she gave you, did Jordan mention that she keeps a horse on a farm just a little north of the city?”
“No.”
For the first time since they’d entered the taxi, she turned to face him. He read both surprise and interest on her face. “It’s a stallion. She bought him when she moved to the city to work for your mother. She named him Julius Caesar because he was born on the Ides of March.”
Maddie stared at him. “My horse is Brutus. What are the chances?”
“Jordan has always loved horses. She started riding lessons when she was six, and she was a natural. She began competing two years after that and didn’t give it up until she started college.”
A small frown creased Maddie’s forehead. He’d seen the same expression before when she was carefully considering something.
“A penny for your thoughts,” he said.
“It’s just…odd. No, ironic is a better word.”
“For what?”
The frown on her forehead deepened. “I love riding, and I enjoy living on a ranch, but I’ve discovered that my real passion is designing jewelry. And Jordan seems to have a passion for horses and riding the way my father did. From what I saw on her bookshelf, they even share a passion for westerns.”
“You’re thinking they picked the wrong daughters when they made their choices.”
She nodded.
Even though he knew it was a mistake, he took her hand in his. “I doubt that either your father or your mother would feel that way.”
HE UNDERSTOOD. Something tightened in Maddie’s throat. Even though her hand was clasped lightly in his, she was aware of the pressure of each one of his fingers. But it wasn’t a sizzle of passion that moved through her blood. This time it was something warmer and much sweeter. He leaned toward her and brushed the merest hint of a kiss over her lips.
Without thinking, she raised her free hand to his face—to push him away? To keep him there?
Before she could decide, he drew back and said, “Do you think you can manage three blocks on foot?”
Maddie frowned at her feet. “No promises, but I’m game to try. After all, I’m supposed to be walking around in Jordan’s shoes.”
He grinned at her. “She always wore her sneakers when she walked to work and carried the ankle-breakers in her bag.”
Maddie glared at him. “You might have told me that before we left the apartment.”
“It’s only a couple more blocks.” Jase passed the taxi driver two bills. Then he grabbed Maddie’s hand again and pulled her with him to the sidewalk. As they blended into the flow of pedestrians headed uptown, a cacophony of noise enveloped them—horns blaring, engines thrumming, one-sided snatches of conversations as passersby chatted into their cell phones.
Jase raised his voice. “How are the shoes?”
“Glorious to look at—but agony to wear.” She shot him a determined look. “It’s going to be worth every bit of discomfort when I walk into that store not looking like the country bumpkin they’re probably expecting.”
“You’ll be fine. Just remember the roles we’re assuming.”
“I’ll be playing myself—the other daughter.”
Taking her hand, he raised it to his lips and kissed her fingers. “And I’ll be playing your lover.”
Heat shot through her and Maddie was sure that if there had been room in the shoes, her toes would have curled. In spite of the role Jase was playing, she intended to keep her focus.
Suddenly, she stopped short and a startled pedestrian jostled her as he passed.
Gripping her shoulders, Jase pulled her out of the flow of traffic into a doorway. “What is it?”
“I forgot the earrings.”
“No, you didn’t. You’re wearing them.”
She shook her head. “I was going to take these off and put on one of Eva’s designs. My style is so…different. Next to hers, my earrings look…” She paused, searching for the right word.
“Beautiful.” He reached up and ran his finger down one of the horseshoes.
Her thoughts scattered. He was going to kiss her again. She could see the desire in his eyes, feel her own response rip through her. The noises that had surrounded them since they’d left the cab faded to a dim buzz. Her mind constricted like a spotlight on a stage until there was only Jase.
He slid his hands from her upper arms over her shoulders, then framed her face. It seemed as if it had been forever since he’d touched her. Had it only been a matter of hours?
Using his thumbs, he tilted her chin up. “I want to kiss you. I thought I could wait until later when we got back to the apartment. Back to my bed. But I can’t.”
He lowered his mouth slowly until it was nearly touching hers. Then he paused.
She should push him away, Maddie thought dimly. She’d always prided herself on having a logical, practical turn of mind. But she’d never experienced this kind of desire before. Each time he touched her or even looked at her, she wanted. It was just that elemental.
“I can’t wait either.” The words tumbled out of her on a ragged breath as she slipped her arms beneath his jacket and rose on her tiptoes. Finally, finally, their mouths were touching, tasting, exploring as hunger deepened into a fierce need.
The kiss was so much more than she remembered. What had happened between them during the night seemed more like a dream. This was reality. Each sensation was so intense—the hard planes and angles of body pressing her into the unyielding glass of the display window, the scrape of his teeth on her bottom lip, the heat of his hand as he slipped it beneath her jacket and ran it possessively from her waist to the side of her breast. Then he changed the angle of the kiss and she sampled again the flavor of his need. Irresistible.
Jase ran his hand down to her waist and then back up again. It seemed that he’d been waiting forever to touch her. She was driving him crazy. That had to be why he was acting this way. It wasn’t that he hadn’t lived dangerously or taken risks before. He’d made his living so far doing both. But he’d always been in control. Maddie Farrell was draining that away.
The taste of her surrender poured into him. He drew her closer until every curve of her body was molded against his. The thin material of her blouse was tempting, maddening. He wanted her out of it. Desperately.
They were standing in the middle of a busy Manhattan street. In some dim corner of his mind that hadn’t yet shut down, Jase reminded himself of that. But it was almost impossible to keep a grip on reality when the concrete sidewalk beneath his feet seemed to shift as easily as sand on a beach. He struggled to keep his balance. Shocked, he tried to strengthen the slim grip he had on his control. He should be damning himself for acting like a hormone-driven teenager. He should be damning her for driving him to this. But all he wanted was more of her.
When it finally struck him that he might not be able to stop himself from taking more, a sharp stab of fear gave him the strength to draw back. Releasing her, he took a step away. Even then he struggled, his mind battling against his emotions, and he very nearly dragged her back and kissed her again. He might have if a woman hadn’t chosen that moment to walk by them and enter the store.
Jase backed up another step. The first completely coherent thought that slipped into his mind was that he wasn’t capable of controlling this. The realization stunned him.
Maddie spoke first. “This is ridiculous.”
Jase studied her closely. There was a vulnerability in her that he hadn’t noticed before. And because he wanted badly to reach out to her, he slid his fingers into the pockets of his jeans. “That’s not exactly the word I’d choose.”
“I don’t understand what’s happening between us.”
“It’s a puzzler all right.”
“We’re on a crowded street and all I could think of was that I wanted to kiss you.”
“The feeling was mutual.”
She frowned at him then. “That only increases the problem. What we need is a solution. What are we going to do about this?”
Jase dropped his gaze to her mouth, then met her eyes again. “I think we both know the answer to that.”
She frowned at him. “I don’t like it. It’s going to interfere with everything. I have enough on my plate.”
“Me too.” The fact that the frustration in her tone was such a perfect match to his own eased what he was feeling. He managed a smile. “I guess we’ll just have to compartmentalize and work around it. And speaking of work, Eva Ware Designs has been open for a good fifteen minutes. I suggest we resume this discussion later.”
Maddie lifted her chin. “Fine. Good. We’ll keep our focus on our investigation.”
Together, they threaded their way back into the stream of pedestrians.
“I meant to tell you in the car that I have an idea about what we should do when we get to Eva Ware Designs.”
Jase glanced at her. “Don’t keep me in the dark.”
“We seem to have two goals. You’re primarily interested in figuring out who on the inside might have robbed the store. Of course, I’m interested in that too. I want to learn as much as I can about Eva, but I also want to find if there’s someone there Eva confided in.”
“Someone who might have known about you?”
Maddie nodded. “The more I think about it, the more I believe she must have confided in someone. And that someone may be able to shed some light on why Jordan and I were separated.”
Jase held his tongue. His impression of Eva Ware was that she was a very self-contained woman. He’d had some time to think in the shower earlier. As he’d turned it over in his mind, he’d become convinced that she’d had some idea of who had broken into her store from the very beginning, yet she confided in no one. Not in Jordan. Not in him. She was a private woman and she knew how to keep a secret. She’d kept a very important one for twenty-six years.
“And I want to see Eva’s appointment calendar. It might be better when we get there to separate and gather our information separately.”
It wasn’t a bad idea, Jake thought. “As long as I don’t have to let you out of my sight.”
“I have a question,” she said.
“Ask away.”
“Do you have any thoughts on why my mother asked Jordan and me to change places?”
Jase thought for a moment. “I think Jordan’s theory that she wanted the two of you to experience the life she and your father had separated you from is a strong possibility. Did the fact that you’re a talented jewelry designer play into it? Perhaps. But I also think she may have been experiencing some regret.”
“It that’s true, why didn’t she just bring us together? Why put it in her will so that our coming together would only occur after her death? Now, I’ll never get to know her.”
“I don’t know the answer to that question, Maddie. But this way she’ll never get to know you either. Her loss.”
“I’m going to get some answers.”
When they stopped at the corner, he ran a finger down one of her earrings. “By the way, I like these. For what it’s worth, your mother might have wanted you to experience Jordan’s life—but I don’t think she wanted you to stop being true to yourself.”
Chapter Seven
EVA WARE DESIGNS was housed in a building on the corner of Madison Avenue and 51st Street. Because her nerves had been steadily building during the last few blocks, Maddie slowed and focused her attention on the display windows. As distracting as the man beside her was, she was going to put him out of her mind and concentrate on what she’d come to New York to do—learn as much as she could about Eva and Jordan.
The white marble facade of the building framed four two-foot-square windows, two on each side of the glass-doored entrance. Each window was artfully lit and showcased a single piece of jewelry.
Bait, she thought. The minimalist approach intrigued her, especially when she recalled the more cluttered window displays in the boutiques that carried her jewelry in Santa Fe. Most of the shop owners had no acquaintance with the idea that less might be more.
Maddie moved from one window to the next, not as a delaying tactic anymore, but because she was fascinated. Her eyes widened when they spotted the solitary emerald set in a delicately woven gold band. She guessed the ring to be at least two full carats, and yet the craftsmanship of the design made it look so delicate. Eager to see more, she bypassed the entrance and walked around the corner.
“We haven’t even gone inside, and you look like a kid in a candy shop.”
She grinned at Jase. “That’s exactly how I feel.” She waved a hand at a window holding a pair of earrings, each offering a mini explosion of tiny, multicolored gems. “Putting only one piece in each window—it’s a brilliant marketing idea. It forces the viewer to focus solely on the artistry of the piece.”
“It was Jordan’s brainchild. It took her almost six months to win your mother over. Your cousin Adam fought her tooth and nail.”
The last window held a pendant, three inches square. The gold was hammered and though it was crafted on a much smaller scale, it still made her think of a breast plate that an ancient warrior might have worn into battle. Wanting to get a closer look, she barely kept herself from pressing her nose against the window. There was a diamond set in the center of the pendant and radiating out from it were four rows of turquoise stones.
Something tightened around her heart. “I didn’t know Eva worked with turquoise.”
“Sorry,” Jase said. “I don’t have much information on that. I knew about the display windows because Jordan vented about it for several months.”
Maddie pressed her fingers against the glass, wanting very much to touch the pendant. “It’s a little like some of the pieces I’ve designed—except I don’t use diamonds or gold. I’d like to know how she developed that hammering technique.”
“We should go in. That’s the kind of question your cousin Adam should be able to answer.”
Yes. She turned to look at him and saw that he was leaning against the white marble wall, regarding her steadily.
She cocked her head to the side and regarded him right back. “You’re thinking that I’m stalling. And I have to admit, my window-shopping started out that way. And then I just got caught up in out-and-out gawking. I’ve been in awe of Eva Ware’s jewelry ever since I started to dream of designing some myself.”
Straightening her shoulders, she moved past him and around the corner. “And you’ve made your point. I didn’t come here as a besotted fan. I came to get some answers.”
She pulled the front door open, then paused and shot him a look over her shoulder. “When I talk to Adam about Eva’s techniques, I can ask him other questions too.”
Before she could enter the store, Jase took her hand.
Maddie tried to tug it free and failed. “I thought we agreed to postpone our…personal situation until later.”
“Our personal situation?” Jase grinned. “Yeah, we’ll deal with that later.” Thoroughly, he thought. “This is work related. Remember my cover?”
When he leaned down to kiss her nose, Maddie froze. She was aware that two people in the store had turned to watch them—a sturdily built, well-dressed woman at one of the display cases and a very distinguished-looking man who must be the manager.
“You’re making a scene,” she breathed.
“That’s the plan. The first time I spotted you, I fell hard. Haven’t been able to think straight since. As long as we’re in the store, I’m your besotted boy toy. If everyone buys in to that, I won’t come off as any kind of a threat.”
Boy toy? That much she could see. But even with the windblown hair and wearing jeans and a blazer, it was hard for Maddie to imagine Jase Campbell not coming across as a threat.
ONCE THEY were inside the store, Jase released Maddie’s hand. Touching her in any way clouded his thoughts, and he needed a clear head. The rather flip description of the role he intended to play as her besotted admirer was a bit too close to the truth to suit his liking.
But he’d worked enough special ops and cases to know that it was sometimes essential to make use of the cards you were dealt. He kept the two occupants of the store in his peripheral vision. The man in the pin-striped gray suit and ruthlessly knotted tie was staring at Maddie now.
Jase searched his memory. Jordan had introduced him as the store manager at a party she’d dragged him to at her mother’s apartment. What was his name? Arnold? Albert? His face was tanned, his graying blond hair carefully styled, and he still reminded Jase of Sean Connery.
Arnold Bartlett. That was it. Jase noted that the portly woman who favored the kind of outfits Queen Elizabeth wore, right down to a pink pillbox hat, had turned her attention back to the display case.
Three steps in front of him Maddie twirled in a circle. A kid in a candy store didn’t quite do justice to the expression on her face. It was such a mix of wonder, excitement, pride—and jealousy?
He could understand all of those. Jewelry was a business to Jordan, but it was clearly Maddie’s passion. This was her mother’s world. What must it feel like to have been cut out of Eva’s life? To have been denied the experience of growing up beside her sister? And now, she would never have the chance to talk to Eva about it.
He thought of his relationship with his own family—his sister Darcy, his mom, his brother D.C. What would his life be like, what would he be like now if he’d been denied a relationship with them?
Maddie moved back to him. “It’s so lovely.”
Once more she let her gaze sweep the room, drinking in every detail. He’d only been in the store once before, after hours, when he’d come to check out the security system his firm had installed. He’d been impressed. The floor was white marble, the walls a creamy color broken every five feet or so with raised carvings of Greek columns. Potted plants and vases of fresh flowers were scattered throughout the room.
Even here the jewelry was displayed discreetly—just a few pieces in each of the five display cases. That too had been Jordan’s idea. Since so much of the store’s business consisted of special orders, she’d argued that the display cases as well as the windows should have the purpose of giving their customers ideas.
Scattered throughout the main salon, antique couches and chairs were grouped in conversation areas. On an intricately carved sideboard near the front of the store sat silver urns offering coffee and tea. Another sideboard offered chilled sparkling water.
Over Maddie’s shoulder, Jase saw Arnold Bartlett pick up a phone.
“I’m so out of my league,” Maddie said.
His eyes cut to Maddie’s as anger moved through him. It wasn’t directed at Maddie, but at the two people who’d put her in this situation—her parents. He grabbed her shoulders. “You’re not. You belong here every bit as much as Jordan does. You remember that.” Then he pulled her close for a quick hard kiss.
Maddie tried to keep her focus as her brain clouded and her knees went weak. He was playing a role, she reminded herself. And she had to do her part. Plus, she had to keep her mind on her goals.
A deep masculine voice said, “Ms. Farrell.”
When Maddie turned toward him, the dignified-looking man smiled and extended his hand. “Arnold Bartlett—store manager. I want to welcome you to Eva Ware Designs.”
Beaming a smile at him, Maddie shook his hand. “Thank you, Mr. Bartlett.”
“Call me Arnold. Your sister does.” He studied her for a moment. “Even though Jordan told us about you, I…The resemblance is striking. When you first walked in, I was sure you were Jordan. She sometimes wears her hair pulled back.”
Still smiling, he shot a look of polite inquiry at Jase.
Jase threw a friendly arm around Maddie and pulled her possessively close. “Jase Campbell. I’m an old pal of Jordan’s.”
“Ah, yes. But I assumed Maddie would be coming here alone.”
Jase gave Maddie a little squeeze. “Since she’s only going to be here three weeks, I just can’t bring myself to let her out of my sight. I’m sure you can understand why.”
“Yes, well…”
“Madison?”
Maddie’s gaze shifted to Adam Ware who was striding purposefully toward them.
“Adam told me to notify him the moment you arrived,” Arnold Bartlett explained. “He wants to give you a personal tour.”
Maddie stifled a surge of nerves as her cousin approached. He was even more classically handsome than she recalled. Today he wore a pale gray suit and a silk shirt and tie in varying hues of the same color. His longish chestnut-brown hair was shoved behind his ears revealing a single diamond in his right earlobe. His features were chiseled, his skin tanned and his profile might easily have graced some ancient coin.
Adam reminded Maddie a bit of the real estate agent, Daniel Pearson, who’d been so intent on getting her to let him list and sell her ranch. Both had a sheen of smooth sophistication. Adam was a bit more volatile, but she was reluctant to put her trust in either of them.
The man standing at her side with his arm around her was anything but smooth. Though if he decided to act the role of the city sophisticate, Maddie had no doubt that Jase could pull it off. Her father would have liked Jase, she suddenly realized. If for no other reason than that he seemed to be able to lie like a trouper.
When Adam reached her, he gave her a smile that didn’t succeed in reaching his eyes. That was another difference between the two men. Jase’s slow and easy smiles always reached his eyes.
“If you’ll come this way, I’ll show you to Jordan’s office.” Then he turned to Jase. “You’ll have to stay here. We don’t allow anyone but employees or family beyond the main salon.”
A little flare of anger began to build inside Maddie. Jase tightened his arm around her, and Maddie knew he was going to say something. To warn him off, she shifted her balance and pressed one of her narrow heels into his foot.
He stiffened, but he kept silent.
Maddie brightened her smile. She wasn’t going to allow herself to be intimidated. She might not have been a part of Eva’s life for the past twenty-six years, but she was here now.
“I came here for more than a tour, Adam. I’m stepping into Jordan’s shoes for the next three weeks, so you’re going to see a lot of me and Jase. And Jase will be accompanying me beyond the salon as my special guest.”
Drawing Jase with her, she strode toward the elevator she’d seen Adam step out of.
“Nicely done.” Jase spoke in a voice only she could hear.
She jabbed a finger into the call button. Once they were all in the elevator, Maddie said to Adam, “Before you take me to Jordan’s office, I want to see where Eva worked.”
Her cousin stared at her. “No one is allowed in there except members of the design team. That’s a strict rule that Aunt Eva made.”
Maddie raised her eyebrows at him. “I’m sure that Jordan has been allowed into the workroom?”
Now Adam frowned. “Occasionally, but she doesn’t work there. She’s not a designer.”
“Well, I am. And since I’m Eva Ware’s other daughter and a fellow jewelry designer, I’m certain she wanted me to visit.”
“Oh, very well.” Adam’s tone was less than gracious as he punched the button for the second floor. “Our workroom is adjacent to our office.” Once again he shot a look at Jase. “But I can’t allow your friend access to the design studio. It’s one of Aunt Eva’s hard and fast rules that outsiders are never allowed in her workroom. No one is permitted to see works in progress. She’s even kept my parents out.”
“The thing is, Eva Ware isn’t in charge here anymore,” Maddie said.
Adam’s face turned red. He opened his mouth, shut it and finally said, “Very well.”
The elevator door slid open on a small, high-ceilinged room with three offices opening off it. Desks and cabinets were partially visible through the open doorways. Oriental rugs in muted pastel shades dotted the marble floors. Sunlight poured through narrow windows. An antique cherry desk sat in the center of the room, and a young Asian girl glanced up, then rose and moved toward them. “Welcome to Eva Ware Designs. I’m Michelle Tan.”
Maddie summoned up the name from the notes Jordan had given her as she shook the hand the young woman extended. Then as the Michelle’s gaze shifted to Jase, Maddie said, “This is my friend, Jase Campbell.”
“Ah. Jordan’s roommate,” Michelle said. “She’s spoken of you.”
“I hope in a positive way,” Jase said.
Michelle smiled, but Adam interrupted before she could speak. “They’ve asked to see Aunt Eva’s workroom. We’ll be back shortly.” Then he turned and led the way down a short hall.
“You’re doing a nice job of handling your cousin, darlin’,” Jase murmured for Maddie’s ears only. “The pushier you are with him, the more easily I can fade into the background.”
“His mother isn’t here to prompt him. He seems more assertive when she is.” Then she shot him a look. “Darlin’?”
“Payback for my foot.”
The short exchange eased the nerves in Maddie’s stomach.
“When we get in the studio,” Jase continued, “I’ll distract your cousin so you can take your time.”
Adam opened the door and strode into the room. Over his shoulder, Maddie could see Cho Li, her mother’s long-time assistant, bent over something at a desk. He wore jeans and a loose-fitting chambray shirt.
“Cho, what are you doing working in Aunt Eva’s space?”
Adam’s voice had the small man swiveling in his chair.
Cho Li wore rimless glasses.
“I was finishing a design that Eva was working on,” Cho replied in a calm voice. “She would want it completed.”
For a moment the gazes of the two men clashed. In the end, it was Adam who dropped his. “You remember Madison Farrell.”
Cho rose from his chair and moved toward Maddie. When he reached her, he bowed.
Jase released Maddie’s hand as she also bowed. He knew from Jordan that Cho Li was in his midseventies, but he looked younger and his eyes were smiling. Jase quickly scanned the room. It was large, nearly twice the space of the office area where they’d left Michelle. Tall narrow windows along two walls let in plenty of light, and there were three clearly defined workspaces.
“Welcome, Ms. Farrell,” Cho Li said. “What can I do for you?”
Maddie smiled at him. “Please call me Maddie.”
He nodded his head. “Maddie then.”
“I’d love to see the design that you were completing for Eva.”
A smile spread over Cho’s face. “Come.”
When Adam started to follow them, Jase put a hand on his arm. “I wonder if I could have a word with you.”
“What about?”
Jase glanced at Maddie, then lowered his voice. “In private?” Then he drew Adam over to the far end of the room. He settled his hip against a worktable so that Adam would have to face him. “The thing is, I need some help.”
Adam’s eyes narrowed. “With what?”
Over Adam’s shoulder, Jase could see Maddie and Cho standing in front of the worktable. Cho was holding up a ring of yellow gold with a smaller ring of white gold inside it.
Jase met Adam’s eyes. “Maddie and I have only just met. Jordan and I have been pals for years, and they look so much alike. But when I met Maddie, something just clicked. You know what I mean?”
“Your relationship with Madison is of no interest to me. Now if you’ll excuse—”
Jase put a hand on Adam’s arm. “The thing is, I’d like to buy her something while we’re here. Can you help me with that?”
Adam frowned at him. “Do I look like a salesperson? If you came to purchase something, Arnold could have taken care of you in the main salon.”
Jase shrugged. “You’re one of the designers, aren’t you?”
Adam’s chin lifted. “Yes, I am. Now that Eva is gone, I’m the head designer at Eva Ware Designs.”
“And you’re Maddie’s cousin. Family’s important to her. I was thinking that one of your creations might be just the ticket. Something exclusive that hasn’t made its way downstairs yet? Do you have some pieces that I could look at?”
Adam was torn. Jase could see the struggle in his face, but in the end ego won out. He opened a drawer in his worktable, took out a thick ring of keys and led the way to a cabinet in the corner. “I can show you three of my latest creations.”
MADDIE TOUCHED the pendant of concentric gold rings that Cho had been working on when they’d entered the room. “Would you mind if I picked it up?”
“Go ahead,” Cho said.
Maddie examined it more closely. The larger ring was yellow gold and the smaller circle dangling inside it was white gold. Cho had nearly completed hammering the finish onto the larger ring.
“There’s the sketch your mother was working from.”
Maddie shifted her gaze to the corkboard that formed the walls above each workspace. There were at least a dozen sketches pinned to the wall, and it took her a moment to locate the right one. She saw that the inner circular ring was supposed to be hammered too.
She looked back at the pendant now nestled in the palm of her hand. “It’s beautiful. Just beautiful. I’ve been experimenting with a technique like this one.”
“Why don’t you try your hand on the silver?”
“Silver?” Maddie’s eyes narrowed on the inner ring. “I thought it had to be white gold.” But it wasn’t. She could see that now. “I didn’t know that Eva worked with silver.”
“She had just started.” Cho held out the small hammer. “Go ahead.”
Her fingers itched to take it. Instead, she met Cho’s eyes. “You knew her for a long time.”
He nodded. “I worked with her for a year before she opened this store.”
Maddie drew in a deep breath. “Did she ever tell you about me?”
“No. I’m sorry.”
Maddie read both sadness and understanding in Cho’s eyes. Swallowing her disappointment, she glanced back at the tool he held in his hand. “I think you’d better finish this. I’m not sure she’d want me to work on her pieces.”
“But she brought you here,” Cho said.
Maddie stared at him. He was right. Eva had brought her here with the terms of the will. She must have wanted her to be here. When Cho swiveled the chair and she felt it at the back of her knees, she sank into it.
He sat down beside her. “One thing I can tell you. I worked with her for a year before she signed the lease on this building. There were three other places she looked at, but she told me that she wanted a store on Madison Avenue. She believed it would bring her luck. It did.”
Maddie took the tool that Cho offered and turned back to the circular rings. Then, drawing in a deep breath, she hit the first stroke.
Chapter Eight
WHILE ADAM had waxed on and on extolling the design values of first a ring and then a bracelet, Jase had taken the time to study the room. The worktable that Cho and Maddie sat at ran nearly the length of one wall. It had two workspaces. Adam’s desk and worktable sat on the opposite wall.
Occasionally, Adam would glance over to see what Maddie was doing. Jase had used those opportunities to take a quick inventory of the sketches that nearly covered the walls. He knew from Jordan that Cho didn’t create any original jewelry, that he worked on executing and occasionally modifying Eva’s designs.
Adam’s jewelry was bolder than Eva’s, and his use of gems was more dramatic. Jase glanced down at the piece Adam had described as a tennis necklace of multicolored gems nestled between stations of etched gold. It was a stunner, and it was the only piece Adam had shown him that might suit Maddie.
“How much?” Jase asked.
“One hundred and fifty thousand.” Adam glanced over his shoulder to check on Maddie and Cho again.
Jase took advantage of his distraction to pull open a second drawer in the small chest. It held hundreds of gems separated by colors into different compartments.
“Stop that.”
It was only his lightning-fast reflexes that kept Jase’s fingers from being caught when Adam slammed the drawer shut.
“That’s a lot of bling,” Jase commented.
“Yes.” Adam held out his hand for the tennis necklace. “If that tennis necklace isn’t to your taste, Arnold has more on the main floor.”
Instead of handing it over, Jase poured the necklace from one hand into the other. “I heard there was a robbery here about a month ago. I guess they didn’t get in here.”
“No,” Adam said shortly, wiggling his fingers impatiently for the necklace. “The thieves hit the main salon.”
“I heard that what they took roughly amounted to fifty thousand less than the price of this necklace. But I suppose something like this would be harder to fence than the smaller pieces that were taken.”
Adam stiffened. “Every piece that was taken was one of a kind. It was a terrible loss.”
“Were some of your pieces stolen?”
Something flashed into Adam’s eyes. Anger, or maybe fear. “As a matter of fact, none of my pieces were stolen. If your theory is correct, the thieves might have found my designs a little too pricey. Now, if you’ll give me that necklace?”
“Actually, I like it. But it’s a little large for Maddie. Could you make one a little bit daintier with smaller stones?”
Though Jase hadn’t supposed it possible, Adam grew even stiffer and his voice rose slightly. “Absolutely not. I never alter one of my designs.”
Jase allowed a puzzled expression to fill his face. “But Jordan told me that was why so few pieces were on display in the main salon—so that customers could consult with the designer and place special orders.”
Adam snatched the necklace, placed it back in the cabinet and locked the drawer. “That’s Jordan’s strategy. Aunt Eva went along with it. I didn’t.”
“But wouldn’t you have made more money in the long run by following Jordan’s strategy?”
Adam’s chin lifted. “I’m an artist. I won’t modify my designs.”
Jase would grant Adam was creative. But if he had to choose two other words to describe Maddie and Jordan’s cousin, they would be arrogant and rebellious. The rebelliousness was something he and his aunt Eva had shared. According to Jordan, both had shunned going into the family banking business. Perhaps Eva Ware had seen a bit of herself in her nephew. But in the end, she hadn’t seen enough to leave him her business.
At the far end of the room, the first hit of a hammer sounded.
Adam whirled toward Maddie and Cho. “Wait a minute. You can’t—”
Jase gripped his arm and kept him firmly anchored in place. He pitched his voice low. “Actually, she can. You have no authority to stop her.”
Adam’s face went red with fury. But whatever he would have said was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. He glanced impatiently at the caller ID and then took the call. “Mother, I’m…No…Yes. I can explain.”
Adam glanced once more at Maddie and Cho; then with frustration radiating off him in waves, he whirled and left the room.
What exactly did Adam Ware have to explain to his mother, Jase wondered. Whatever it was, he didn’t seem happy about it. On the bright side, it had gotten Adam out of the room.
Jase shifted his attention to Maddie and Cho. Their heads were bent low over the pendant Maddie was working on, and Cho was speaking in a low murmur. They were so absorbed in their work that he doubted they were aware that Adam had just stormed out.
Satisfied, Jase moved to a far window that looked down on 51st Street. Pedestrians moved quickly along the sidewalks in steady streams interrupted only by the changing traffic lights.
Adam Ware was going to be a problem. Jase knew from Jordan that Adam was twenty-nine and he’d joined Eva Ware Designs right out of college. He’d already been working there for three years and designing his own line of jewelry when Jordan had come on board. He’d resented her presence from the beginning and complained regularly about any changes she wanted to make.
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Cara Summers
Тип: электронная книга
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
Язык: на английском языке
Издательство: HarperCollins
Дата публикации: 16.04.2024
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О книге: Twin Temptation Heiress Maddie’s just discovered she’s got a secret twin sister! Now their inheritance depends on temporarily switching places. Sex with her sister’s gorgeous friend Jase is just an added bonus. Yet can she give him up when it’s time to return to her life?Twin SeductionJordan has always had Wild West fantasies. Until her long-lost twin sister arrives…and they switch places! Jordan heads to Santa Fe and encounters red-hot cowboy Cash, who’s everything she imagined and more – and he isn’t about to let her just return to her old life!