The Right Twin For Him (O'Rourke Family 2) (9 page)

He let out a disbelieving snort. “Like hell. I couldn’t keep my hands off you, and you let me do it. What if I hadn’t stopped? A lot of guys wouldn’t stop after getting that hot and heavy, but you’re too innocent to believe it.”

“Yes, well, I’m learning fast, aren’t I?” Maddie gave a sensuous wriggle of her body, and just that
easily he was in trouble. “But I still have to figure out what’s real, and what isn’t. Maybe I’ll go out with a few other men and get some more lessons on living.”

Anger and jealousy hit Patrick hard, yet it faded when he looked at Maddie. In the soft light spilling from the twins playroom he saw a single tear trickle down her cheek, evidence of the emotions she was trying to conceal. “You’re trying to piss me off,” he said.

“Is it working?”

A ghost of a smile curved his mouth. “Yeah, it’s working.”

Maddie leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. “I don’t know why I care.”

Patrick rested one hand on the oak paneling above her head and stroked her cheek. “Because you have a big heart and care about everyone.”

“So do you.”

“No.” He shook his head. She was dead wrong about him. He wasn’t like her, pulled a thousand different directions by his emotions. It was impossible to undo the harsh lessons he’d received as a teenager.

“You can’t keep from getting hurt, no matter how hard you try,” she said.

“I can give it a bloody good shot. The world isn’t a nice place, Maddie.”

“Believe it or not, I already know that—it was difficult to miss when I found Ted with another woman. Or did you think I still wear rosy glasses and think that happily-ever-after is a foregone conclusion?”

“Maybe not foregone, but you still think it’s possible.”

“Don’t you? Don’t you think Beth and Kane are
going to make it? Don’t you want Neil and Shannon and Kathleen and all your other brothers and sisters to be happy?”

“They’re family, of course I want them to be happy. How could you question that?”

“You seem to question it more than I do.”

Weary all of a sudden, he leaned closer to her warmth. Maybe Maddie was right and he was just making excuses. Everything had been calm before she’d arrived, now it was crazy and mixed up, and he couldn’t decide if he liked it or wanted the confusion to go away.

“Tell me something,” Maddie murmured. “Do you still think I don’t know the difference between a great kiss and one that isn’t?”

Despite his churning thoughts, he chuckled. “Are you trying to provoke me again?”

“What if I am?”

Maddie angled her head back. She brushed her lips across Patrick’s jaw, and the rasp of his late-afternoon beard shadow made her tummy turn flip-flops. She felt the shudder that went through him, her own body shivering in response.

She’d been so certain she would never get married, never trust a man enough to take that chance. But maybe it wouldn’t be such a risk with the right man. Not that Patrick was right for her, but he was so good and decent and sexy she finally understood why women would fling themselves at a guy they barely knew.

“Well, are you going to do something about it?” she asked, her fingers easing over the broad expanse of his chest.

“Maddie…don’t.” Her name was a cross between
a groan and a plea. Tension stretched his nerves tight as a violin string, drawn by the same old argument between rationality and the demands of his body. “We’re in my mother’s house.”

“And everyone is either outside or asleep.”

“The twins could wake up…the others could come back inside,” he muttered.

Yet even as Patrick protested, he fumbled along the wall, searching for the doorknob of the closet used to store holiday decorations and seasonal clothing. It was just the sort of dark, private place he needed to kiss Maddie good and hard, then talk some sense into her.

Darkness closed around them as he pulled the door shut, and even sound was muffled by the press of winter coats it was still too early to need. But he hadn’t expected to hear Maddie giggle the moment he reached for her again.

“What’s so funny?”

“I guess we aren’t alone after all. Tiger Lily scooted in with us, she’s purring against my leg.”

“Tiger Lily can take care of herself.”

With unerring accuracy his mouth found hers, and it was such a relief to touch her again the unnatural tension drained out of him. It shouldn’t feel so right to sidestep his conscience and give in to his baser instincts.

The cat complained at being ignored, but it was too late. Patrick didn’t give a damn how Tiger Lily felt about being locked in a closet with two humans more interested in each other than her royal felininity. And he darned well wasn’t going to give Maddie a chance to care.

She felt too good beneath his hands, sweet and eager,
mixing sensuality with laughter and honest sexual curiosity.

“How in heaven did you stay a virgin this long?” he breathed.

“Who said I was a virgin?”

He let out a snort. “
I
did, that’s who.”

Maddie wiggled, freeing one hand and pressing it against his jaw to get some space between them. “You could be wrong.”

“No way. Only a virgin would have to ask about this…” Patrick said, rotating his hips, leaving her in no doubt about the hard ridge of his desire. “And few virgins, either. Your boyfriends must have been more gentlemanly than I ever thought of being.”

“Ted was my first and only boyfriend, and I think he was too scared of Daddy’s gun to try anything,” she confessed.

“Gun, huh?” Patrick ran his tongue across her index finger. The muscles in Maddie’s abdomen clenched, taken by surprise by the gliding caress. “I’m starting to wonder about that daddy of yours.”

“Mmm.” She had to take several breaths before her head cleared enough to say something sensible. “There’s nothing to wonder about. He used to be the county sheriff. Daddy, that is, not Ted.”

“Used to be, eh? Did Daddy get tired of politics?”

“Now he’s the mayor.”

“Oh.”

“I’m sure he didn’t actually
threaten
Ted. At least not much,” she murmured. “But he can look pretty fierce, and he’s very protective.”

Patrick was too distracted by feminine curves to answer right away. But if he ever had a daughter, he’d feel the same as Maddie’s father. It’s what came of
being a former bad boy, you knew all the trouble bad boys can make. With his luck he’d have a daughter as wild as he’d been, and there’d be hell to pay.

If
he had a daughter?

He hastily stomped on the thought.

“I guess your daddy did what he could, short of locking you up in a nunnery. And that would have been a real waste.” Patrick tugged at the hard nub of Maddie’s nipple and felt her shudder from head to toe.

She pulled his head back down to her mouth and he tasted the dark, rich taste of chocolate and coffee, with an underlying spice that was Maddie herself. His tongue plunged deeper, exploring her flavors, stroking the velvet softness. This was the way to kiss, slow and deep, wrapped in a cocoon of darkness. No one would ever think of looking for them in the closet, so he had all the time in the world to enjoy the moment.

“We have to talk,” he whispered a few minutes later, albeit reluctantly. It wasn’t often you found a woman who enjoyed the simple art of kissing the way Maddie seemed to.

“Uh-uh.”

“Now.”

“Not yet.” Maddie spread her fingers across the hot skin of Patrick’s back. He was so warm, sleeping with him would be like sleeping with a furnace.

Sleeping with Patrick…she shivered for an entirely different reason than cold. She’d wondered if kissing him would be just as powerful as the first time, but it was even more intense and overwhelming than before.

“Maddie.”

She slid her fingers inside his shirt, exploring the
smooth expanse of chest beneath. With a small, desperate sound, Patrick fastened both hands over hers. Both their breathing was erratic, which was small comfort now that he’d apparently decided the kissing was over and the inevitable talking should begin.

“I don’t want to talk,” she said simply.

“We have to.”

“No we don’t. We don’t have to say another word to each other. You can pretend I don’t exist again.”

“I never pretended you don’t exist.”

Maddie straightened her foot and heard a protest from Tiger Lily when she accidentally bumped her nose with her heel. “Sorry, baby,” she said. “We’re crowding you, aren’t we?”

“You don’t have to apologize to a cat.”

“Why not? They have feelings, too.”

If there had been any light in the closet she was certain she’d see Patrick rolling his eyes.

“You’re an animal lover, aren’t you?” he asked, sounding resigned. “You probably even talk to plants and carry spiders outside so they can go free.”

Maddie didn’t go quite that far—she killed black widow spiders when absolutely necessary—but she did love animals. Especially cats of any size. They even had a mountain lion who came down to drink at her parents’ swimming pool every evening. One time she’d brought her baby, and Maddie had hardly been able to breathe, she was so excited.

“Anything wrong with loving animals?”

“No.” Patrick shook his head wryly. She’d managed to effectively sidetrack him.
Again.

He didn’t think Maddie did it consciously, but her clever brain was more than capable of figuring out a way to avoid talking about things she’d rather not
discuss. Maddie was a creature of instinct and heart, and she seemed to have her instincts trained on him at the moment.

Only not for marriage, he thought curiously. Maybe not even an affair. Intrigued by sex, yes. Longing for a baby, definitely. But she wasn’t a kitten flexing her sexual claws, or a baby-hungry woman on the prowl. She was just…Maddie. Sweet, shimmering with light and possibility, and truly innocent in a way he’d never been, even before losing his father.

The sound of claws pulling on fabric sank slowly into his awareness. A moment later he yelped when something furry and determined dropped on his shoulder and head-butted his temple.

“Where did she come from?”

“The darling.” Maddie eased one hand from under his shirt and reached up to pet the little monster. “She must have climbed up the coats. I felt them moving.”

Patrick sighed. It seemed Tiger Lily was in cahoots with Maddie, helping her distract him from the important things that needed to be said. Even worse, the stinker was getting more attention now than
he
was.

Women always stuck together.

He opened his mouth only to close it again when he heard someone in the hall, not far from the closet door.

“They’re not with the girls,” said Kathleen.

“Maybe they went for a walk.”

“And I’ll bet they didn’t want company.” Shannon snickered. “No chance any of us might invite ourselves along.”

“That was really naughty of you the last time,” Kathleen scolded. “You knew Patrick was trying to get Maddie alone.”

Patrick winced, knowing Maddie wouldn’t appreciate the reminder of their “walk” the last time they’d been at his mother’s house together. He’d wanted to talk that night, too, and succeeded in spectacularly stuffing his foot in his mouth. Now he was hiding in the coat closet, trying to keep his family from knowing he’d been necking with a girl.

Maddie was shaking with suppressed laughter, small sounds escaping from her mouth.

“Shh,” he hissed.

“Do you feel like you’re in high school again?” she whispered.

“More like junior high school, and keep it down. They’ll go away in a minute. We can pretend we just came in the side door.”

His strategy might have worked if Tiger Lily hadn’t decided she’d had enough of the closet.

“Merroowoo.”

“Where did
that
come from?” Kathleen said.

Patrick reached up to soothe Tiger Lily back into silence, but the ungrateful little beast sank her teeth into his thumb.

“Ow!”

Tiger Lily dug her claws into his skin for traction when the door was jerked open. She leaped from his shoulder, hitting the floor at a dead run. He instinctively jerked away from the needle-sharp claws and toppled into the thick collection of winter clothing.

He landed on his rear end—which seemed strangely apropos to the situation—barely managing to keep Maddie from the same ignominious collision. Instead she landed on his lap. The breath whooshed out of him, not from her slight weight, but from the contact with his ill-controlled arousal.

Hands parted the various coats and sweaters they’d fallen into, and he gazed up at three of his sisters, two of his brothers and his mother. The topper was when his sleepy-eyed nieces peered at him through the sea of legs.

“I hope you have a good explanation for this, young man,” said Pegeen, merriment dancing in her eyes. “I’d hate to have to ground you.”

“D
o you really think so?” Maddie asked. She adjusted the headphones over her ears.

“Absolutely,” said the caller. “Trust me, men are pigs.”

She giggled. “Richard, you
are
a man.”

“Hey, what can I say? Who should know better than one of the swine? My wife says it’s genetically linked to the male chromosome.”

Patrick sat outside the control booth, watching Maddie charm, laugh and chat her way through her fourth broadcast of Heart-to-Heart. He honestly thought she forgot she was on the air when she was talking to the callers.

“She’s wonderful,” Dixie said. “So unselfconscious. And the callers just adore her.”

“What’s not to adore?” he muttered, unable to keep his gaze from Maddie’s face.

She had a voice that transmitted well electronically, and she was sweet and sincere. They’d originally
planned to play romantic country ballads with Maddie taking a call between the sets—if there were any calls—but talking was crowding out the music, much to the apparent pleasure of everyone tuned in.

For a woman who had every reason to dislike and distrust men, Maddie was as generous and open with the male callers as she was with the women. At the moment she was earnestly trying to convince Richard, and Richard’s wife, that being a man didn’t automatically condemn a guy to swine-like behavior.

Patrick sat back in his chair, shaking his head.

A secret concern he’d harbored about the show was that it would be one of those sappy, syrupy things that slowly began to grate on your nerves. To Dixie’s credit, she’d created an introduction and format that was as straightforward and unpretentious as Maddie herself.

“Didn’t I tell you this would work?” Dixie asked, gleefully rubbing her hands together. She was in her element as the producer of not one but two successful programs.

“I never said it wouldn’t,” he reminded.

“But you didn’t want her to do a show.”

He gave Dixie a repressive look. “Maddie has a mouth that runs away with itself faster than light speed. You never know what’s going to come out.”

The producer ducked her head to answer one of the incoming calls, but not before Patrick saw her grin. He didn’t blame her. By now everyone in the station had decided that he and Maddie were involved in some way. It was a huge source of amusement and jokes, though entirely out of Maddie’s earshot.

Thank goodness.

Crockett was a small town, but it was close enough
to Seattle that most everyone had a veneer of city sophistication. His employees seemed to understand Maddie was different and saved their raised eyebrows and comments for him alone.

At least they didn’t know about the coat closet.

Though he’d expected to wince each time he thought about getting caught with Maddie, it hadn’t worked out that way. All in all, it had been rather funny. Two grown people caught necking like a couple of kids. There hadn’t been any doubt about their activity, not with his shirt hanging out and Maddie’s face and neck showing a faint case of whisker burn.

Now Patrick understood why Kane had begun shaving so often, he didn’t want to irritate his wife’s delicate skin—skin that was just like Maddie’s.

In another few minutes Dixie signaled to Maddie that time was nearly up. They’d learned to schedule extra minutes for the wrap-up since Maddie wouldn’t hurry people off the phone because she claimed it was rude. If time was left over they just played a song until the next DJ took over.

The Seattle Kid, fully recovered from his bout with the flu, already waited inside the booth. Mack wore a paternal look on his face as he helped Maddie start a song, gently encouraging in a way the wisecracking DJ had probably never acted in his life.

“The audience isn’t the only one who thinks she’s great,” Dixie said, smiling.

“You’re just grateful he didn’t take your head off for getting his show shortened.”

“Naw, his audience is even bigger now ’cause they’re all hoping she’ll come back on again.”

Maddie came out a minute later. “Was that all right?” she asked the producer, a hint of anxiety in
her voice. He noticed she didn’t so much as flick an eyelash in his direction. It stung, although he should have been grateful she was trying to keep things on a professional level, at the station at least.

“You did great,” Dixie said. “Don’t forget we’re returning your rental tonight and picking up the car from your sister.”

Patrick frowned. “What?”

“Beth is loaning me her Honda to save money on the rental,” Maddie explained. “But the car place is at the Seatac Airport and I need a ride back. Beth wanted to go, but she doesn’t have a lot of energy right now because of her pregnancy. Kane didn’t want to leave her alone, and I didn’t want him hiring someone to do it, so Dixie offered to help.”

“You could have asked me.”

Maddie’s feet shifted uneasily. “I didn’t want to inconvenience you.”

“It isn’t inconvenient,” he said through his teeth. “I’ll take you myself.”

“But you aren’t—”

“Whatever you say, boss,” Dixie said, cutting off Maddie’s protest. She gave him a broad wink that was meant to be funny, but Patrick didn’t think it was the least bit humorous that Maddie hadn’t wanted to ask him for a simple favor.

It was no big deal to go to the airport and bring her back. He’d wanted things uncomplicated, but that didn’t mean he was living on a desert island or anything.

Hell, even his family hardly ever asked…

Time stretched endlessly as some hard truths sank into Patrick. His family was always careful not to ask more than he wanted to give, which apparently wasn’t
much from their perspective. The only thing his mother pushed about was coming to family dinner, and even then she was gentle and undemanding.

No guilt.

Just concern.

What he didn’t know is whether they felt they
couldn’t
count on him or were just giving him the distance he wanted.

Patrick ran his hand over his suddenly aching head. Maddie said he put up barriers between himself and the family. He’d denied it, but what if she was right? He didn’t want to deal with pain and confusion, so he just walled it away, outside his heart…along with everyone else.

“I’d better get back to my desk,” Maddie said. She was silently backing into the corridor as if getting ready to run.

“No. We’ll go for the car now.”

“I have work to do.”

“You’re a DJ now, and your show is over.”

“But Stephen needs—”

“Stephen is getting all the help he needs from Candy,” he interrupted harshly.

God, he’d been right about Maddie turning his life upside down. She’d put the station on its ear, upset the familiar order of things by getting her own show, plotting a romance between his stern receptionist and advertising director, and making him question his relationship with the entire world.

“We’re going now,” he said, grabbing Maddie’s arm and dragging her toward the door. It would probably take the entire drive to Seattle—Maddie in her rental and him in the Blazer—to get his head back together. Maybe they should take the long way
around through Tacoma, avoiding the ferry, then he’d have more time.

“You’re mad,” she said, trying to shake free.

“No, I’m not.”

“It’s all right. I’ll just keep the rental until Beth feels better.”

He stopped and sighed. “I don’t mind helping out. I have a lot on my mind, that’s all.”

Maddie could relate to that, she had a lot on her mind, too. Namely Patrick. He was the most frustrating, annoying,
wonderful
man she could imagine, and no matter how often she told herself they didn’t have a future together, she’d spent a lot of time daydreaming in the past few days.

Dumb.
Just plain nuts. Patrick might own a country music station, but he wasn’t going to fall for a country girl.

She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Leaving in the middle of the day smacked of special privileges from the station owner, but she wasn’t going to bring it up at this late date.

“I need my purse and the keys if we’re going into the city. I left them in the office.”

Patrick chuckled ruefully. “A little hard to drive without keys. Go ahead, I’ll wait outside.”

Maddie hurried to her desk, her heart thumping loudly. His smile tended to disturb the steady rhythm of her pulse, and today was no exception. Willing herself to calm down, she picked up the phone and dialed her sister’s number. It was the polite thing to do and would buy her a little time.

“Beth? It’s me,” she said when her twin answered. “We’ll be there earlier than I thought. Patrick wants
to go to the airport now, instead of waiting until this evening.”

“I thought someone else was bringing you.”

“No.” Maddie craned her head to see if Stephen was at his desk. She’d been so distracted she hadn’t even looked before. Thankfully, he was gone for the moment. “Patrick insisted.”

“That’s interesting.”

“Uh, Beth, about that thing with the closet. You know he…that is, we aren’t dating or anything. But he’s been very…uh, I don’t know how to describe it.”

“Attentive?”

“Not exactly. It’s more like trying to get acquainted with a yo-yo.”

“Patrick has had some tough times, but he’s a really good person,” Beth said earnestly. “Kane is so proud of him. And even though he’d like to help out, he respects how independent Patrick wants to be.”

“It’s more than being independent.”

“I know, but he’ll come around. Don’t give up on him.”

Maddie swallowed. “There isn’t anything to give up on. Patrick has made it very clear he isn’t a marrying kind of man and he doesn’t want children. He keeps warning me not to get ideas about us. And I’m not his type,” she added.

Her sister didn’t say anything for a long minute. “I wasn’t Kane’s type, either. Now he thinks I’m perfect. I’m not, but he makes me feel that way.”

“You’ve had two men in love with you,” Maddie said. “My fiancé cheated, then admitted he never really loved me, and Patrick has a thing for svelte brunettes.”

“Bet you could make him forget all about those brunettes.”

“You’d lose. Look, he’s waiting for me, so I’d better go. See you later.”

Maddie put the receiver down and pressed her palms against her eyes. Her trip to Washington hadn’t turned out the way she expected. It was satisfying to know she was good at her job. It was terrific having a sister; she and Beth were getting closer every day. She loved the O’Rourkes and the fact that Pegeen was trying to mother her, even though she had a wonderful mom of her own.

But Patrick…

He frustrated her so much she wanted to scream. There was such a wonderful guy inside him, a man perfect to be a husband and daddy. But no, he wanted to be free and single, standing square on his own two feet and needing no one else.

She’d never met such a mouthwatering man. His brothers were attractive, but Patrick had a mix of laughter and raw sexuality that was positively breathtaking. In all honesty she couldn’t blame Patrick for wanting someone who was prettier and more experienced, but the part she found so hard to take was that he didn’t want to want her. He even resented the extent to which he did find her attractive.

A hand on the back of her neck made her jerk upright. But it wasn’t Stephen with his warm, sympathetic eyes looking at her, it was Patrick.

“I’m sorry, I meant to come right out.”

He leaned on the edge of the desk. “Maybe we
should
wait if you have a headache.”

“It’s nothing. I was delayed because I called Beth to let her know we’d get there early.”

“I should have thought of that.”

“It was my responsibility.” She took her purse from the drawer and fished out the keys. “I’m ready when you are.”

“Maddie.” He paused and seemed to search for words. “I appreciate you taking on the new show. It’s really popular, which doesn’t happen very often.”

“I like talking to people.”

“That’s why it works. You just talk without trying to be clever at the cost of the caller’s feelings. People know you care about them.”

She opened her mouth, then shut it just as quickly. They
weren’t
going to get into another discussion that tore at them both. She cared about people, he thought he was immune from those feelings. He wanted to be alone, satisfied with his radio station, she wanted…everything.

Love with the right person wasn’t a myth or impossible or anything else. It was worth the risk of a broken heart, even a broken soul. She knew that now. But crying because Patrick refused to understand wouldn’t help either one of them. Neither would talking about it.

“I’m ready,” she said, standing. She automatically reached for her jacket, and just as automatically Patrick took the garment and helped her into it.

His old-fashioned manners were as deeply ingrained as the air he breathed. Too bad some old fashioned commitment wasn’t mixed in with those manners. It wasn’t as if he was a wolf, dating a different woman every night. Apparently Patrick wasn’t dating anyone at the moment. His entire focus seemed to be on his business and making it the number-one country music station in the state.

“Would you prefer following me?” he murmured as they stepped outside. It was a beautiful day filled with the colors of leaves turned yellow and bronze. “I won’t let you lose me.”

“Sure.”

Maddie started her car and waited. Patrick probably knew the way to the airport far better than she did and would negotiate the freeways and ferry without the consternation she would feel.

He did everything well.

Everything except let someone love him.

The following week Patrick decided he didn’t need to sit in the control booth and monitor Maddie’s broadcasts, mostly because it made him ache to listen to her.

In some strange way it seemed she was slipping away from him. He saw her just as much and could see her even more, but the feeling had more to do with the guardedness of her smiles and the way her mouth didn’t run away with itself when they were together. There were a dozen subtle changes in the way Maddie responded to him, though she was herself with everyone else.