Twin Temptation

by Cara Summers

  D.C. laughed. “Sounds like fun. I suppose you’re not going to tell me why.”

  “Later. Just put the plan in action.”

  “Dino just came in so it shouldn’t take us long. Anything I should know about this Adam Ware?”

  “He has an ego the size of Australia.”

  “That should work. What do they say—the bigger they are, the harder they fall? Am I stuck with your scenario or can I make up one of my own?”

  Jase bit back a grin. “Going to improvise, are you?”

  “When we were kids and got into scrapes, I always came up with a better story than you did.”

  Jase wouldn’t admit it out loud, but it was true. Not only was D.C. inventive, but he had a real flare for playing his audience. “Just keep it believable. And while you’re creating your scenario, see if you can keep Ware busy for the next few days or weeks if possible.”

  “Got it. You know the military police never get assignments like this. Maybe I ought to get out and come to work for you.”

  “Anytime,” Jase said before he closed his cell. If D.C. was serious, he and his brother would have to have a talk.

  Later.

  Cho and Maddie were now holding up the pendant to compare it to the sketch of the design. Neither of them glanced up when he moved to Adam’s chair, sat down and propped his feet on the desk. It was his favorite position for thinking—and there were several things he needed to mull over.

  At the top of the list was Maddie Farrell. Even now when he should be thinking of solving the puzzle of who’d robbed Eva’s store and then run her down, he couldn’t keep his eyes from returning to Maddie.

  What he was feeling for her was growing beyond that initial chemical connection that had ignited between them. Little by little he was coming to know her as a person. She was smart, brave, certainly not afraid to try new things. Her spunk reminded him of his mother and sister. His lips curved as he thought of the game way she’d taken on the challenge of walking in Jordan’s killer shoes, then handling her cousin. And now, she was also throwing herself into the task of working on one of her mother’s designs.

  As he watched, she picked up the pendant again and held it against the sketch. Though her back was to him, he knew that a little line was furrowing her brow. She’d inherited at least some of her mother’s focus. And she shared Jordan’s energy. And he’d experienced both of those qualities when they’d made love.

  Just thinking about the night they’d spent together had his body hardening and desire moving through him with rusty claws. It wasn’t just that he wanted to make love to her again. He had to. He needed to taste her again, touch her, to thrust into her when she knew it was him and not some dream lover.

  The only question was, how long could he wait?

  IT WAS two hours later when Jase and Maddie walked out of the work studio. Adam had checked on them once early on. Other than giving Maddie and Cho a frustrated look, he’d done nothing to interrupt them before leaving. “That was quite a design you finished.”

  “Thanks,” Maddie said. “How did you manage to keep Adam distracted for so long?”

  “Charm.”

  Maddie snorted. “I didn’t think your brand would work on him.”

  “Piece of cake. All I had to do was ooh and ahh over his designs. And then he got a phone call from his mother and left.”

  “My impression is that she rides him pretty hard.”

  “He certainly didn’t look like a happy camper when he got the call. What did you learn from Cho?”

  She drew in a deep breath and let it out. “That my mother wanted me here.”

  Jase stopped dead in his tracks and turned to her. “That’s the first time you’ve referred to Eva as your mother.”

  “I know.”

  “Did Eva tell Cho she wanted you here? Did he know about you?”

  “No. Cho says Eva never mentioned me. He never knew that Jordan had a sister until I was invited for the reading of the will. But Cho said the will proves that my mother wanted me here. I hadn’t thought about it quite that way before.”

  “He’s right.”

  “I still have questions, hundreds of them, but it helps to look at the will that way—as proof that she really wanted me here. That she wanted to unite Jordan and me. Cho also told me that she specifically wanted a store on Madison Avenue because she believed it would bring her luck. Am I foolish to think that means she was thinking of me?”

  Jase raised their joined hands to his lips and kissed her fingers. “No, it’s not foolish at all. You’ve had a good day, Maddie Farrell.”

  “Yes. The next thing I’m going to do is to ask Michelle about my mother’s appointment calendar.”

  But when they stepped into the office area, Michelle was on the phone and Dino Angelis was filming her with the video camera he had resting on his shoulder. Jase realized that when D.C. had promised fast action, he’d obviously meant it. Through the open doorway to one of the offices, Jase spotted Adam sitting behind his desk. Facing Jordan’s cousin, with a cane hooked over the arm of his chair, was D.C. Adam seemed to be hanging on his every word. Jase wondered if the cane was a prop or if D.C. needed it for that leg injury he’d mentioned. The latter, he bet. He made a mental note to stop by the office later in the afternoon.

  Putting down her phone, Michelle waved them over, and Dino moved toward the door to Adam’s office.

  “What’s going on?” Maddie asked.

  Michelle leaned closer and though her voice was pitched low, there was a thread of excitement running through it. “Those two men came to talk to Mr. Ware. The one with the cane is Mr. Duncan Dunleavy. He’s producing a new reality TV show about artists in the city. They want to feature Mr. Ware on it. They’ve already taken some footage of him downstairs in the main salon.”

  “Wow,” Jase said.

  Maddie shot him a look, then turned back to Michelle. “And they just showed up out of the blue?”

  “Oh, no. They phoned first, but they were in the area, and Mr. Ware told them to come right over. And he told me to send them right in when they arrived even though he was still talking with his mother.”

  “Dorothy Ware was here?” Maddie asked.

  “She still is.” Michelle put her fingers to her temples. “I was supposed to fetch you from the workroom, but I forgot. Then we all got distracted by the filming. Mrs. Ware too. She had a lot of questions for Mr. Dunleavy. She’s waiting in Jordan’s office to talk to you.”

  Maddie’s nerves began to jitter the moment that she entered Jordan’s office and saw Dorothy Ware sitting ramrod-straight in one of the chairs. The older woman was wearing a linen suit in raspberry red, a pair of black patent-leather pumps and her hands were resting over a designer clutch bag on her lap. It was ridiculous to be intimidated just because she looked as if she’d just come from a cover shoot for Vogue magazine.

  Reminding herself of the things that Cho had told her and of how she’d felt when she’d been working on the pendant her mother had designed, Maddie circled around Jordan’s desk, sat down in the chair, and folded her hands in front of her. “What can I do for you, Mrs. Ware?”

  “I’m here because I want to know what your plans are for my son. He doesn’t seem to have the capability or the ambition to ask that question himself. If he’s not marked for success here, his father can always find a place for him at Ware Bank.”

  The cool detached way Dorothy Ware was speaking about her son and his future sent a little chill through Maddie. “From what I’ve seen, Adam is a talented designer and he’s been very successful here.”

  “Not successful enough for my sister-in-law to leave him the business. And when I called him a few hours ago, he felt threatened. I had to cancel a very important meeting to come over here. Carleton and I are chairing a fashion show to benefit a new children’s cancer wing at Mount Sinai Hospital.” She glanced at her watch. “I’m due back there right now. So I’d like to clarify this matter once and for all.”

  What
matter? Maddie wondered. “Adam didn’t look threatened when I last saw him. In fact, he appeared to be excited and very engaged with the man in his office.”

  “Yes. Adam introduced me. Mr. Dunleavy wants to feature Adam in a TV show.” Dorothy raised a well-manicured nail and pointed it at Maddie. “That ought to give you some idea of how valuable Adam is to Eva Ware Designs. Eva depended on his genius.”

  “I know how valuable Adam is.”

  Dorothy met Maddie’s eyes steadily. “He believes that you intend to take over as head designer and push him out.”

  Maddie drew in a deep breath. “I don’t know where Adam got that idea. For the next three weeks all I intend to do is fulfill the terms of my mother’s will.”

  “I understood that you were to merely step into your sister’s shoes and do her job. Jordan doesn’t work in the design part of the business.”

  Maddie raised her chin. “Well, I do. And I intend to work with Cho Li to bring the sketches my mother left to fruition. However, I have no intention of getting rid of Adam or pushing him out. From what I’ve seen he’s a brilliant designer. I assure you his job is secure.”

  There was a beat of silence, then Dorothy Ware rose from her chair. “Thank you. If Adam was able to speak for himself, I wouldn’t have had to waste my time with a trip over here.”

  Maddie managed to suppress a shiver until Dorothy Ware had swept out of the room and Jase had closed the door. “Is it my imagination or did the temperature in the room just warm up a few degrees?”

  “She’s a cold one,” Jase murmured. “I wonder if Adam ever pleases her.”

  “We’re not seeing any of them under the best conditions. The terms of the will must have thrown everyone in the family a curve ball.” She turned to him then and gave him a speculative look. “Speaking of curve balls, Adam seems to be completely caught up in this reality-TV thing. Did you have something to do with it?”

  Jase smiled slowly. “You’re a sharp one, Maddie Farrell. What tipped you off that I had something to do with it?”

  “The timing. It was very convenient. Do they work for you?”

  “Duncan Dunleavy is my younger brother, D.C. And the man toting the video camera is my partner, Dino Angelis. I phoned and asked D.C. to come up with a distraction while you were working with Cho.”

  “It’s not going to be pretty when Adam finds out it’s all a hoax.”

  “No worries,” Jase assured her. “When the time comes, D.C. will have a plausible exit strategy. It won’t come back to bite you. And it may give Adam the time he needs to stop feeling so paranoid.”

  Maddie rose, walked to him. Then, rising on her toes, she kissed him lightly. “Thanks.”

  Jase found it took some effort not to grab her and deepen the kiss. Later, he promised himself. Then he wondered how much longer he could wait.

  MADDIE SANK onto one of the luxuriously upholstered couches in the ladies’ room. With D.C. and Jase’s partner filming, the only way Maddie could get Michelle alone was to bring her here. The restroom was a true lounge. In addition to three stalls as well as a double sink, there was a comfortably furnished outer sitting area. A mirrored wall allowed ample room for retouching makeup, and Michelle was making good use of it. Maddie made a mental note to use some tomorrow. In Santa Fe, she rarely bothered with anything more than a moisturizing sunscreen and a touch of lipstick.

  When Michelle finally turned, Maddie said, “Before we go back out there, would you mind if I asked you a question?”

  “Anything. I can’t imagine how difficult this must be for you, and Adam is being so rude.”

  “Does that surprise you?”

  Michelle shook her head. “No. He’s very absorbed in his work. In himself. But he doesn’t treat Jordan the way he’s treating you. Maybe it’s because you design jewelry and he sees that as a threat to his position here at Eva Ware Designs.” Michelle glanced at her watch. “I’d better get back. I’m not supposed to be away from my desk for long.”

  “Just one question,” Maddie said. “I’m assuming that Eva kept some sort of appointment calendar?”

  “She had a Palm Pilot.”

  “I’d like to see it. I don’t want anything important to slip through the cracks while I’m here.”

  Michelle grimaced. “The Palm Pilot should be in her desk drawer—top right. That’s where I put it each time I updated it from her desktop. But she never really got the hang of it. She always used one of those old-fashioned leather-bound books with a ribbon to mark the current page.”

  Something tightened around Maddie’s heart. She reached into her tote and pulled out her own day planner. “Was it like this?”

  Michelle’s eyes widened. “Just like it.”

  “Do you know where I could find Eva’s?”

  “That’s yours?”

  Maddie nodded.

  Michelle thought for a moment. “Eva always took it home with her at night. I imagine it would have been with her…effects. Jordan might have a better idea.”

  As she followed Michelle out of the room, Maddie reminded herself that she needed to talk to her sister.

  LEANING AGAINST a doorjamb, Jase watched the two women walk out of the restroom. A ringing phone had Michelle rushing for her desk.

  It was only as Maddie drew close that he noticed how tired she looked. Little wonder with the emotional roller-coaster ride she’d been on all morning. There were dark smudges under her eyes. He reached out and rubbed a thumb over one of them. “Tough day.”

  “But I’m making progress. I just learned that my mother kept an appointment calendar in a book very similar to mine.”

  Jase tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. “Like mother, like daughter.”

  She swallowed. “Maybe. I’m still getting used to thinking about her as my mother. And every time I do, I can’t help but wish I could have met her, talked to her. Had a chance to work at her side.”

  Jase traced a finger along her cheek. “I know.” He experienced a sudden urge to take her away and give her a break. Give them both a break.

  Behind them, the phone rang again, and Michelle said, “Eva Ware Designs.”

  Maddie glanced around. “Where’s Adam?”

  “They’re in the work studio. D.C. wanted to get some footage of the designer at work. The reality-TV gig should keep Adam out of your hair for a while.”

  “Jordan?” The excitement in Michelle’s voice had them both looking at her.

  “Yes. Yes, she’s right here.” Turning to Maddie, Michelle continued, “It’s your sister. Why don’t you take it in her office?”

  Maddie hurried into the room and picked up the phone.

  Closing the door, Jase said, “Put it on speaker.”

  Jordan’s voice filled the room. “Maddie, something terrible has happened. Are you alone?”

  “No,” Maddie said. “Jase is here. I’ve put the phone on speaker so he can hear.”

  “Jase is back?”

  “I’m right here, Jordan. We’re in your office. What’s happened?”

  “It’s Maddie’s design…” Jordan’s voice broke, and suddenly there was a man speaking on the other end of the line.

  “Maddie, this is Cash.”

  The cowboy, Jase thought as he stepped closer to the desk. “Jordan never cries,” he muttered to Maddie. He raised his voice. “Is Jordan all right?”

  “She’s fine. Who are you?”

  “Jase Campbell.”

  “Jordan said you were in South America.”

  “Maddie said you were out on a cattle drive.”

  “I’m back.”

  Maddie stared at Jase. Not only had he tensed up, but he’d used a more polite tone with Adam.

  “Is Maddie all right?” Cash asked.

  Maddie shifted her gaze to the phone. There was an edge to Cash’s voice too. “I’m fine. Put Jordan back on—or better still, push the speakerphone button.”

  “Maddie?” Jordan’s voice was stronger now. “I don’t want you
to worry. I can get it all fixed while I’m here. As far as we can tell, nothing was stolen. I wasn’t even going to tell you about it, but Cash said I had to.”

  “Tell me about what?”

  “Your design studio. Someone broke into it and…destroyed everything.”

  Maddie felt Jase’s hand close around hers, and she gripped it hard. “But you’re all right?”

  “She’s fine,” Cash said. “She told me about this will her mother left. I was thinking that perhaps someone vandalized the place to upset you enough to have you flying back here. Or perhaps to scare Jordan so she would leave. So stay right where you are, Maddie. I’m going to stick close to Jordan for the next three weeks. We’ll hire Mitch Cramer to repair the damage. And I’ll get one of my men to stand guard.”

  “Cash, you insisted Jordan tell us because you’re afraid that something similar might occur on this end too?” asked Jase.

  “Something like that.”

  “Good thinking.”

  Maddie studied Jase. The tension she’d sensed in him earlier had faded.

  “You should stick close to Maddie,” Cash said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

  “I’m fine standing.”

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

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