Double trouble

by Boswell, Barbara

  rii~"

  '*Uh, people are starting to stare," Kristina cut in quickly. *'Why don't you two finish this somewhere else, preferably in private?" She dug deep into her purse and pulled out a set of keys. *'You can use my apartment while I head to the mall. I have an awful lot of shopping to do, so I'll just be on my way while you-—"

  "Not so fast!" Matt's commanding tone halted Kristina in her tracks. ''You're as guilty as your sister, Kristina. Perhaps more so. You broke some major rules by having your twin take your place at the fund-raiser, you know. That was a job-related function and sending your sister in your place was blatant fraud. Does PITA know that their lobbyist sends in a double when she has other things to do? And to add insult to injury, you sent a double who knows nothing about their interests!"

  Kristina looked chastened. '*I agree with everything you've said. Senator Minteer. I do plan to hand in my resignation." Her eyes brimming with tears, she turned to Kay la. "I feel terrible, Kayla. I really left you holding the bag and I don't blame you for being angry with me. I—I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted to see me again!"

  Kayla's temper flared. "Oh, give me a break, Kristina. If I had a dime for every time you said you wouldn't blame me for never wanting to see you again, my life-style would be featured on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, You say it every time you do something that makes me mad."

  "But this time I really mean it!" cried Kristina. "Kayla, I really do!"

  "You two can sort this out later," said Matt, growing impatient with the interruption. He took the keys Kristina was still dangling and fastened his other hand around Kay-

  la's wrist, *'Come with me," he ordered Kayla and took a step toward the entrance.

  Kayla didn't budge an inch. ''Take your hands off me!" She hated that her voice was a choked whisper and that her pulse was racing; she hated the tight, clutching sensation deep in her abdomen. Above all, she hated Matt Minteer for affecting her this way. *'If you think I'm going to Kristina's apartment with you, you're—-"

  ''If you'd rather go to my place instead, that's fine with me," Matt interrupted, his voice firm and commanding and utterly confident. "We have a lot to talk about and it's obvious, we can't talk here."

  "We have nothing to talk about. I have absolutely nothing to say to you." The words fairly tumbled from her mouth.

  "We'll go to my place, Michaela," Matt said decisively, as if she hadn't spoken at all. He handed the keys back to Kjristina.

  "I'm not going anywhere with you!" Kayla tried to wrench her wrist free. And failed. Matt's grip was an inexorable as a handcuff.

  "Why not? You had no qualms about going to that hotel room with me last week and we know each other a whole lot better now than we did then."

  Kayla raised her free hand to strike him. Matt caught it in midair and lowered it to her side. Now he had both her wrists manacled, and he held her fast, gazing down at her with hot, piercing blue eyes.

  Shaking inside and out, Kayla stared back at him. The look in his eyes was dark and dangerous. Compelling. And infinitely exciting. She caught her breath.

  "What's going on here?" Luke Minteer joined them, his voice low and a little frantic. "For Godsakes, it looks like the two of you are about to slug it out right here in the middle of Rillo's, with the governor's chief of staff and the state secretary of commerce and their aides looking on." He cast

  ,

  a quick glance to the table where the four gray suits were watching avidly from behind their menus.

  *'Slug it out?" Kristina repeated dryly. ''I don't think so. Guess again, Mr. Minteer."

  Luke scowled. "Well, whatever is going on, this is neither the time nor the place for it."

  '*I agree," said Kristina. ''That's why I think they should leave and—er—sort things out between them elsewhere."

  ''Leave?" Somehow Luke managed to convey a howl of protest in a mere whisper. "Matt, you can't leave! You're supposed to be having dinner with those very important people at that table over there to discuss the funding to upgrade that old rolling mill into a new specialty steel plant in Johnstown. Think of what that'll mean to the district. Matt. You just can't waltz out of here, without a thought to the area's economic development, not after all the work we've put into this proposal. You have too many people depending on you!"

  His brother's impassioned words hit Matt like a splash of icy-cold water. For the first time since seeing Kayla tonight, he remembered his dinner meeting, why he was here and who he'd come with. Slowly, almost dazedly, he dropped Kayla's hands. He was horrified with himself, with his loss of control, with the entire situation. How could he have forgotten that the governor's chief of staff and the state secretary of commerce and their top aides were sitting at the table, waiting to hear his pitch on why his district should receive a portion of the state's economic development fund?

  His gaze swept compulsively over Kayla and he felt that same powerful, enthralling feehng of desire envelop him once again, just as it had last Friday night. He had whimsically thought then that he'd been bewitched by her, not realizing that he had been under the influence of alcohol through WINDS's machinations. But what about now? He wasn't drunk, yet she was affecting him just as potently, and

  he was behaving just as mindlessly. He was appalled. And wildly, hopelessly intrigued.

  For the second time in his Ufe Matt Minteer wanted to cast aside duty, self-control and common sense and let his emotions lead him. But he couldn't, he simply couldn't. He had a tableful of prominent poUtical chieftains waiting to be convinced that his district needed that grant. The competition for such funding was fierce and he knew he had a convincing case to present. His economically depressed district needed that new steel plant and he could get it for them. His own needs and desires had to be put on hold. Exerting the steely self-control that had always infuriated his ex-almost-fiancee Debra Wheeler, Matt made his decision.

  *'We'll talk later," he said tonelessly and turned to follow the quick-stepping Luke back to the table.

  ''We will not!" Kayla whispered after him. ''I never want to speak to you again. I never want to see you again!"

  Kristina slipped her arm around her twin's waist. ''Let's go, Kayla."

  Kayla wriggled free and stalked ahead of her. "This was no accidental meeting. You planned this, didn't you?" she accused as they headed to the parking lot. "You invited me to visit for the weekend and then you suggested we come here, knowing full well that he was going to be here! Oh, Kristina, how could you do this to me?"

  "I felt I owed it to you," Kristina said glumly. "Kayla, I don't know what happened between you and Matt last weekend—um, that is, I have a fairly good idea what did— but-"

  "I don't want to talk about it or about him ever again, Kristina!"

  Kristina was silent for a full thirty seconds. And then, she said, "Kayla, I've been hearing all sorts of weird rumors and gossip about that fund-raiser and more than one person has cast less than subtle innuendos about my style of lobbying."

  The sisters got into the car. Kayla buried her face in her hands and groaned. ''Oh Kristina. I'm so sorry! I know I should've told you what happened on Friday night, but I was so mortified and confused that I just didn't know what to say or how to explain. All week I've been worried sick about what people might be saying about you and Matt Minteer. The last thing I ever wanted was to wreck your reputation."

  ''And the last thing I ever wanted was to get us both into trouble, but I did a spectacular job of it anyway," Kristina said morosely.

  Kayla sighed. "We were both in the wrong and the way things have worked out makes us more or less even. There's a bizarre sort of justice in that. Kristina, let's make a promise right now to never, ever switch roles again."

  "I promise!" Kristina said fervently. "But Kayla, no matter how wrong we were, something good did come out of it. You did me a tremendous favor by going to that dinner and thanks to you, Boyd and I are back together. I can never, ever repay you for that. But I wanted to try. That's why I
thought I'd help you straighten things out with Matt Minteer."

  Kayla's head shot up. "Let's get one thing straight, Kristina. I don't want to straighten things out with Matt Minteer. I don't want to have anything to do with him. I—I don't want/z/m.^"

  "It didn't look that way a few minutes ago," Kristina said archly. "In fact, it looked as if you were on the verge of leaving with him. If that pesty brother of his hadn't interfered, I'll bet the two of you would be on your way to Matt's place right now."

  Kayla flushed scarlet and shook her head vehemently. "No."

  "If only Matt would've said 'to hell with party polls and state funding, I have personal business that comes ahead of everything!'" Kristina lamented.

  Kayla gave a scornful laugh. "You know as well as I do that politics supersedes anything and everything in a politician's personal Hfe. Not that it matters to me what Matt Minteer does. I have an aversion to the man, Kristina. I still can't understand whatever possessed me to—" she paused, flushing and breathless ''—to be with him that night but-"

  "You were drunk," Kristina interrupted baldly. "And so was he. So was everybody there. What went on at that fundraiser is the worst-kept secret in Harrisburg."

  As they drove back to her apartment, Kristina explained what she'd heard about WINDS and their beverage-and-food spiking tactics. Kayla was shocked, horrified, humiliated and infuriated—all at the same time.

  "I want to press criminal charges. I want to sue!" she raged. "I was drugged, my constitutional rights were violated and—"

  "And WINDS is long gone," Kristina said flatly. "From what I've heard, they'd all left the state by Monday morning, and they didn't give a forwarding address. The consensus among the powers-that-be is to simply pretend that the whole mess never occurred. The official party line is that Matt Minteer's fund-raiser went as planned, without a hitch, although I've been getting quite a few sidelong, speculative looks and more than the usual number of propositions,"

  "Oh, Kristina, it's so unfair. You were with Boyd the whole time and I was the one who—who—" shuddering, Kayla forced herself to say the words "—behaved like a slut."

  "I don't believe that and neither does Matt," Kristina said firmly.

  "Oh, but he does! He-he-"

  "Matt came to my office on Monday afternoon, Kayla," Kristina cut in. "That was the first inkling I had that something, uh, out of the ordinary had occurred at the fund-

  raiser. Unfortunately, he caught Boyd and I in the middle of a very passionate kiss."

  "And?" prompted Kayla, curious about his reaction in spite of herself. "What did he say? What did he do?"

  "Keep in mind that he thought I was you. In his eyes, the woman he'd—cr—been with on Friday was now in a hot cHnch with another man on Monday."

  "He acted as if you were the town tramp!" Kayla surmised hotly. "He didn't bother to conceal his contempt."

  "But before that, before he put up his guard, I saw his face, Kayla. I saw the look in those gorgeous blue eyes of his. He looked.. .crushed. I knew I had to let him know that you weren't me and that I was someone else entirely." Kris-tina loosed an exasperated sigh. "Oh, it sounds ridiculous but you know what I mean."

  Kayla grimaced. "I know you meant well, Kristina. But I just want to put the whole thing behind me. Maybe pretending that nothing happened is the best way to handle this, after all. Now tell me, is there really an Elena Teslovic or did you invent her just to get me to Harrisburg this weekend?"

  Kristina brightened. "There really is an Elena Teslovic and you really do have an appointment with her on Monday. Taking her on as a client is going to be well worth your time and effort."

  "I certainly have the time to take on a new client," Kayla said wryly. "My roster isn't exactly growing by leaps and bounds. I believe in substance over style and too many candidates opt for the reverse and go with agencies like Dillon and Ward. It's like Penny always says—"

  "Kayla, please don't quote our stepmother to me. An advice maven, she isn't."

  "But she is one, Kristina. For pessimists and cynics. If she ever decides to get out of the real estate business, she could write viewpoint-affirming books for the chronically downbeat."

  *'I have the perfect title for her first one," said Kristina, getting into the spirit of the game. "How about How to Achieve Success and Have a Perfectly Miserable Life in Spite of ItT'

  ''The book could be divided into four parts," Kayla suggested. 'The four Z)'s by which Penny lives—Distrust, Disbelief, Disappointment, Disillusionment."

  "We've adopted those four D's and lived by them too, Kayla," Kristina said, suddenly serious. "For far too long. We expect things not to work out for us and we expect people to let us down. It can be a self-fulfilling prophecy."

  "We're both successful professionally," Kayla reminded her, but she knew her protest was a weak one. It wasn't professional success that had been a problem for her or Kristina. Or for Penny, either. It was in their personal lives that the four Z)'s reigned supreme.

  The twins were silent for a while, each lost in her own thoughts as Kristina steered the car along the highway. And then she turned to Kayla and said brightly, "We're letting Penny's gloom-and-doom philosophy get to us again. It's Friday night and we're together. Let's do something fun. Care to sample some of Harrisburg's nightlife?"

  "Is there any?" Kayla asked droUy.

  "Spoken with true big-city condescension!" Kristina pretended to be indignant. "I'll prove that there's life after dark in Harrisburg. I'll take you to Bootleggers. It's a club right on the riverfront that has this great reggae band. Are you game?"

  Kayla shrugged. A night on the town in Harrisburg was not high on her list of priorities, despite Kristina's attempts to make it sound appealing. She was tired from the long day and left emotionally battered by her encounter with Matt Minteer. The horrifying revelation that she'd been drunk when she'd slept with him had come as a profound shock. She'd never gotten drunk in her life and to do so at this late date and wind up in bed with a stranger...

  Perhaps the knowledge should have eased her guilt. After all, she now had the ultimate excuse: / didn't know what I was doing. Except that it didn't work for her. No amount of alcohol could induce her into doing something she didn't want to do, she knew that. Consequently, that meant she'd wanted to go to bed with Matt Minteer! And with her inhibitions and defenses conveniently obliterated, she'd done exactly that.

  Kayla swallowed hard. She had to stop thinking about that night, to stop thinking about him/ ''Sure, let's go," she said with determined cheer.

  Five

  Bootleggers, a club on the shores of the Susquehanna River, had wall-sized glass windows that looked out on the dark waters and a dock that enabled boats to pull right up to the club. Inside the wide main room, decorated in hot shades of coral, yellow and turquoise, a six-piece band known as Chill Factor played reggae to the lively crowd.

  The Afro-Caribbean rhythm was impossible to resist. While Kristina table-hopped—she seemed to know three-quarters of the people in the place—Kayla sat enjoying the music. It energized her and lifted her spirits. As the drums throbbed and the singer sang a lively calypso tune, Kayla felt herself begin to unwind. She decided she was glad that Kristina had insisted on coming here.

  **Luke, I'm beat. All I want to do is to go home and hit the sack." Matt frowned as Luke forged ahead of him, ignoring his older brother's protests, just as he'd been doing since their departure from Rillo's.

  **C'mon, Matt. It's time for a little celebration," Luke called over his shoulder. *'You just won that grant for the district. Think of the jobs the new steel plant will bring, not to mention the trickle-down effect on the rest of the city's economy."

  "It's premature to celebrate," Matt, ever-cautious, reminded him.

  "It's in the bag. You sold them tonight," Luke said, grinning with brash confidence. "Now it's time for a little fun. You're going to love Bootleggers. The sax player and the bassist unleash licks that will drive you wild and the percussion s
ets your blood drumming. I can't believe you've never been here. It's one of the hottest spots to—"

  "Meet girls, I suppose," Matt cut in reprovingly. "I've heard all about your adventures, little brother. You have an encyclopedia of pick-up lines and you make every attempt to proceed directly from introductions to bed. Since Steve Saraceni got married and discovered fidelity and fatherhood, you've taken over as Harrisburg's fastest zipper."

  "I know you meant that as a big brotherly reproach, but I'll take it as a compliment." Luke was cheerfully unabashed. "And it's women, Matthew. Women. Girls get testy when you call them girls, unless they're under eighteen or over seventy. And yes. Bootleggers is a good place to meet women, although I really dig the music here too."

  Matt was struck by a swift, sharp sense of deja vu. ''Now everybody in the place knows that you're my girl, " he had said as he held Kayla on his lap at the fund-raiser last Friday night.

  * ' Woman,' ' she had corrected.

  He'd heard her but had been far more interested in the feel of her, warm and soft and feminine on his lap, than in what was politically correct. He remembered what an irresistible temptation she had been, how desperately he'd wanted to slide his hand upward those few crucial inches and cup her breast in his palm, to take her soft ripe mouth in a

  kiss that was as hard and hungry as his body. Later in the dark privacy of the hotel room he'd done all that and more—

  The flashbacks had a visceral effect on him. His body hardened, fast and sharp, and he had to slow his pace and gulp for breath. He blindly followed Luke inside the club and then to a table where the music filled the room, primal and hot and sexy.

  The beat of the drums seemed to be throbbing inside him. Matt sank into a chair, ignoring Luke's attempt at conv^-sation. Kayla McClure. He turned the name over and over in his mind, hearing it instead of the song lyrics being sung. Her full name was Michaela but she preferred the shortened version of Kayla. He decided he liked both names, that either fit her better than '*Kristina."