Double the Thrill

by Susan Kearney

  “Let me get this straight. You want to create a sex scandal?

  “And this scandal of ours—you want me to cover it in the Louisiana Daily Herald?” Zane continued incredulously.

  Toni took a deep breath. “It might raise circulation.”

  Zane bit back a chuckle. Yes, increasing circulation was just what the paper needed right now. If she was right, and profits increased, no one would have to be fired, a task he knew his brother, Grey, had been putting off.

  She cocked her head, then licked her bottom lip, possibly from nerves. Yet she seemed very sure of herself. The contrast intrigued him, almost as much as it confused him.

  “So, do we have a deal?” she asked brazenly.

  It was a good thing he and Grey had switched places, Zane thought. He couldn’t imagine his conservative twin even considering Toni’s bargain. On the other hand, Zane planned to enjoy himself fully.

  “Exactly how far are you prepared to go?” Zane asked, his voice even.

  Toni offered him a sultry smile. “That depends on how innovative you can be….”

  Dear Reader,

  When my good friend Julie Elizabeth Leto and I started working on the concept behind our linked stories, Double the Pleasure/Double the Thrill, all we had was a vision for the cover—sinfully sexy twin brothers who share the same face. And then we played the “what if” game. What if those twins decided to trade places? And what if we set both stories so that the time line in each was running concurrently? And to top it all off, wouldn’t it be cool if the books were published in the same month, placed on the shelves side by side, so that the two halves of the hero’s face formed a whole?

  Well, we’ve managed it. And while the writing of these stories has definitely been a challange, it’s been a lot of fun, too! It’s hard not to fall in love with the Masterson twins. Each is so confident, so cocky, so irresistibly sexy…and each gets exactly what’s coming to him when one special woman crosses his path.

  Although each book can stand alone, I fully believe you’ll double your reading enjoyment if you get them both. Why settle for one of these delicious guys when you can double the thrill and have both of them?

  Enjoy!

  Susan Kearney

  P.S. Check out my Web site at www.susankearney.com for news about upcoming releases.

  Books by Susan Kearney

  HARLEQUIN BLAZE

  25—ENSLAVED

  HARLEQUIN INTRIGUE

  594—LULLABY AND GOODNIGHT

  636—THE HIDDEN YEARS

  640—HIDDEN HEARTS

  644—LOVERS IN HIDING

  DOUBLE THE THRILL

  Susan Kearney

  For Brenda Chin,

  an editor who likes to buy new authors and new ideas.

  For Krystyna de Duleba, a creative art editor

  with a most excellent vision.

  And for Julie Elizabeth Leto, friend and fellow writer

  whose company I’ve had the good fortune

  to enjoy for the past ten years.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  1

  MAN, THAT SUCKER’S HUGE.

  Toni Maxwell’s mouth went drier than the New Orleans summer drought. She’d never expected anything so big, so in-your-face. But then how could she think straight under this kind of pressure? The never-ending heat wave must have fried her brain. Obviously, she’d been working too hard on her spring collection, because this couldn’t be happening. Not to her. Not now. She had always expected to hit the big time—but certainly not like this.

  Big was one thing. This qualified as enormous.

  Toni’s nerve endings danced with agitation and quickly repressed awe. She licked her bottom lip and told herself that she could not be intimidated. She would not say yes, no matter how enticing the offer.

  Her inner voice egged her on. Go on. Try it on for size.

  “I shouldn’t.”

  Oh, pull-ease! Indulge.

  Unable to resist the seductive temptation, carefully, Toni reached out, barely breathing, knowing it wouldn’t fit.

  It fit perfectly. As if custom-made for her.

  “Awesome ring.” Her oldest sister, Bobby, wearing pink running shorts, a pink sports bra and pink athletic shoes, jogged into the foyer swinging a two-pound weight in each hand and bouncing up and down on her toes as if fearing that if she rested for a second, she’d regain one of the thirty pounds she’d lost during the last year. “Hey, Mickey,” Bobby yelled to their youngest sister in the kitchen. “You better come have a look.”

  “Did you break another nail?” Mickey yelled back, in her naturally sultry voice, the one that the broken-hearted men she’d refused to date often called just to hear on the answering machine. “We’re out of pink nail polish.”

  “No, I didn’t break a nail,” Bobby replied, continuing to bounce and swing her arms. “Toni’s getting married.”

  “What?”

  “I most certainly am not,” Toni contradicted, her stomach clenching in protest. She should never have opened the damn box in the foyer. After signing for Senator Birdstrum’s present, she should have run up the stairs to her room where she could have had a little privacy, but she’d never expected an engagement ring—especially not after she’d repeatedly refused Birdstrum’s proposals. For attending a fund-raiser with him on short notice, she’d thought he might show his appreciation by sending over her favorite chocolate pralines. But a four-carat engagement ring?

  Why didn’t the senator understand that no meant no? She gulped, attempting to swallow the lump of welling panic in her throat. And now, before she’d even recovered from her shock at his determination and fixation on her, she had her sisters to contend with.

  The four Maxwell sisters shared the two-story house in the French Quarter. Expenses in this part of the city were high, especially for Toni, who had tapped out her funds to purchase the swankiest high-tech fabrics for her spring collection. But her new creations were sure to put her fledgling designer-wear boutique on the map and in the black—especially since several of the evening gowns had been featured in Southern Design Magazine. Her reckless decision to open her own business might soon pay off. According to the article, Toni Maxwell was “on her way,” although her bank account didn’t yet reflect her recent success. But she didn’t live with her sisters just to save money—they also liked one another, most of the time.

  Their personalities varied, from conscientious but sometimes rash Mickey to workaholic Toni to bubbly Bobby to Jude, the perennial student. All single, they looked out for one another in their own Maxwell way, which meant everything from blunt advice to shared clothing, comfort hugs, ice-cream binges on dateless Friday nights and elegant potluck dinners.

  Growing up, Toni had seemed to be her parents’ favorite, but her sisters didn’t mind since she always worked harder than the other three put together. She’d studied long hours to make A’s and B’s all through school while working two part-time jobs, one as a retail store clerk, the other sewing clothes for family and friends.

  But Toni could only remain serious-minded for so long before she had to blow off steam. This long period of sexual withdrawal was abnormal for her. Back then, as busy as she’d been, she’d still had time to indulge her passion between her busy days of hard work. Recently, her contacts with the opposite sex had dwindled to zilch, but she fully intended to correct her current predicament. She’d simply
been putting in too many hours designing and selling her creations. All that work meant no extra energy to hook up with a man for even so much as a weekend fling. Her unconscious had picked up on her body’s shortage of satisfaction, her mind taunting her while she slept with erotic images of a dream man, which had her awakening damp and slick. Self-gratification had barely taken the edge off her need for a man. She suspected the book she’d just read about actress Lane Morrow’s affair with Grey Masterson, a New Orleans publishing tycoon had triggered the dreams. Wild dreams. Fantasy dreams.

  So, she was eager to meet someone male. Someone hot. Someone who would make love to her for hours and make up for her abstinence. Someone like sexy Grey Masterson. Senator Birdstrum, too old, too stodgy, too bland, didn’t fit the bill.

  Dependable, hardworking, the one her siblings relied on when the chips where down, Toni could always count on her sisters to rally around her when she needed them. Back in high school on her prom night, her sisters had covered for her until she’d sneaked in through the three-story window at four in the morning. And they’d covered for her again during college when, on a whim, she’d accepted her French professor’s offer to fly her to Paris for spring break. Between her sexual libido begging to be fed and her too-long-contained reckless nature primed for action, Toni wanted her sisters’ input.

  While Bobby might pretend to be enthusiastic about the engagement ring, Toni wasn’t sure of her sister’s true feelings. Toni had always suspected that Bobby harbored a bit of an infatuation for the senator, which Bobby vehemently denied. Still, Toni wouldn’t hurt her for the world. But even if Toni was wrong about Bobby’s feelings, she’d still refuse the senator.

  What she needed right now was Mickey’s cool-headed thinking. Her younger sister wouldn’t be swept away by the romantic proposal from an old family friend Toni had dated exactly twice and whom she barely knew. The first time Birdstrum had proposed, Toni had been flabbergasted. When he’d told her she was the perfect woman for him, she’d been flattered, yet stunned. He’d stated his reasons that they should marry as if he were presenting a bill for a vote. She was beautiful, smart and well connected. He saw her boutique, Feminine Touch, as hip, her choice of career as clothing designer-retailer as the perfect way for her to remain busy while he worked in Washington. He’d given her logic—but no passion, something she most definitely wanted back in her life.

  Her self-imposed celibacy made her now eager to end her exile from the male species. If Birdstrum was as sexy as Grey Masterson or her dream man, she might have been tempted to enjoy a fling with him. But there was no chemistry. No zing. Not even the tiniest arc of lust between them.

  And as much as her life had been lacking in the sexual department, even she couldn’t create fire without matches. She didn’t mind starting the fire, but she needed a man who could fan the flames. A man creative in the sack, who knew how to excite a woman. A man as innovative and attentive as Grey Masterson had been in that bestselling novel. No wonder Lane Morrow’s book had infiltrated her dreams. She’d denied an essential part of herself for too long, imprisoned herself in her career, and her subconscious was screaming for freedom. Satisfaction. Pleasure.

  With her business going so well, she intended to take some time to appease her desires and find the zest missing in her life. Toni had no problem throwing herself into a romantic fling with the right man. She was young, single and enjoyed sex. While she might make her choices with a recklessness that made Mickey shudder, Toni’s decisions had a way of turning out to be good ones. A new man in her life would replace her erotic dreams with stimulating reality. But first, she had to extract herself from her unfortunate situation with the senator.

  With not even a droplet of attraction between them, turning down Birdstrum had been a no-brainer. And ever since he’d proposed the first time, she’d refused more dates with him and had let the machine answer his calls. Yet he’d continued to send her flowers and notes that repeated his offer of marriage. She’d never imagined he would buy her a ring, though. A four-carat diamond engagement ring! The man must be delusional to think she’d accept. It was downright scary to think that the senator enacted laws and represented his constituents so well when he had no clue about her non-feelings toward him. The ring was the last straw. It was time to put a stop to his antics.

  Of all her sisters, Mickey would understand the cloud of trouble looming on the horizon and threatening to break over their heads like a deluge. Indeed, Toni could already imagine her eyes narrowing with some kind of scheme to get her out of this mess. A mess made even more potentially disastrous by the fact that it could involve their father, who wanted a job with Birdstrum.

  Damn. Damn. Damn.

  The two youngest Maxwell sisters might not look much alike, but they often thought alike. Toni was blond, average in height, slender with feminine curves. Luckier Mickey oozed sex appeal, but didn’t seem to know it. With her blond hair streaked naturally by the summer sun, a voluptuous figure and a brain that never quit, her sister was not only a man magnet—she possessed uncommon good sense.

  Toni really needed some down-to-earth advice. Mickey glided into the room now as if she were walking down a runway, followed by the wondrous aroma of baking bread wafting through the air from the kitchen. Mickey was probably whipping up one of her wonderful Cajun meals, but she still managed to look pulled together in her hip jacket and slacks, likely bought at a thrift shop, and carefully protected from splatters with a funky apron.

  Before Mickey could even look at the ring, never mind give advice, Jude rushed through the front door. “Those idiots called me a tree hugger.”

  “Well, you are,” Mickey said, not unkindly, leaning forward to peek at the ring Toni held in her shaking fingers.

  Jude was wearing jeans and one of her “Save the Gulf” T-shirts. As a full-time student and part-time lobbyist for several environmental groups, her lifelong cause—trying to prevent oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico—had recently taken a back seat to lobbying for better protection of animals. Jude took in strays the way other women collected shoes. Thanks to Jude’s charitable heart, the four sisters lived with an iguana, three cats, two dogs and a fish tank that currently housed a turtle.

  Jude’s flashing green eyes flitted to the sparkling ring like a honeybee to a gardenia, and she skidded to a halt, almost tripping over their white cat. “Oh, my. That’s not costume jewelry, is it?”

  “Senator Birdstrum’s aide delivered it,” Toni explained. At least with all her sisters here, she’d only have to tell the story once. Though, God knew, there wasn’t much to tell.

  “He sent someone else to propose for him?” Mickey asked, her perfectly arched brows drawing over a frown of disapproval.

  “It’s kind of sudden, isn’t it?” Jude looked from the ring to Toni, then bent and scooped the cat into her arms.

  “He won’t take no for an answer.”

  “Typical man,” Jude muttered.

  Toni sighed. “And I only went out with him twice.”

  “You must have made quite an impression.” Bobby giggled.

  Toni could see by Bobby’s expression that her sister thought she’d made love to the senator. Toni might have been working too hard this last year, but she had a reputation for having fun. And if a new guy she met had the right combination of intelligence, charm and sex appeal, Toni dived right into the relationship. So now explanations were in order. “We didn’t have sex.”

  “It’s been a while for you, hasn’t it? You might want to try getting it on again sometime this millennium,” Jude told her with a straight face, her tone sarcastic. “It’s good exercise.”

  “Easy for you to say. You have a boyfriend.”

  Toni had been so wrapped up in the store she’d been on a sexual diet, and she missed everything about lovemaking. Touching and caressing. The scent of honest male sweat. The relaxation that came with losing oneself with another person. Good sex was like European chocolate, flavorful and yummy, and her mouth suddenly wat
ered with a craving that she needed to satisfy soon. But she didn’t want her sister’s pity. “I’ve never really been interested in him. I only hung out with the senator at Dad’s urging.”

  Their father specialized in drawing up budgets for the governor in the Department of Professional Regulation. But she well knew that he aspired to move to Washington, D.C., and work for the powerful Senator Birdstrum, head of the House Committee on Ways and Means. Her father’s dream was one of the reasons she’d agreed to date the senator. However, this was one time she should have said no to a favor for the father she adored.

  Toni might like to have fun, but she had her standards. The man had to appeal to her. From vivid descriptions in Lane Morrow’s book, she could imagine indulging her desires with a man like Grey Masterson, but never with Birdstrum.

  But how could she have predicted that Senator Birdstrum, who otherwise seemed normal in every way, would become fixated on her? Toni breathed in, then let out a frustrated sigh. “Apparently Birdstrum’s been telling mutual acquaintances that we’re engaged. I assured a customer just this morning that it was only a rumor.”

  “You can’t marry him,” Mickey told her.

  Toni resisted swearing under her breath and petted the cat Jude held instead, but took little comfort from his warm purr of affection. “Of course I can’t marry him.”

  Her sisters nodded, all three in agreement. Between the four of them, they would think of some way out that wouldn’t jeopardize the family’s interests.

  Charming, arrogant and honest, Birdstrum was a capable senator. He also refused to accept her refusal to marry him. She’d already told the man no. She didn’t know what else to do. Her father would never get the job he coveted in Washington if she dealt too harshly with the powerful senator. On top of that, Mickey could lose the cooking-school scholarship the senator had arranged for her, and Jude would lose her best lobbying connection.