Double trouble (7 page)

The way he had smiled at her, his eyes heavy-lidded with passion, the sexy, stirring things he had whispered in her ear as he reached for her in the night. The hot, deep thrust of his body into hers as she opened herself to him, enveloping him in her aching melting softness.

Kayla felt hot all over. She realized that she wasn't breathing and painfully exhaled a shaky breath as she watched Matt's piercing blue eyes move from her to Kris-tina and then back to her face again.

''What the hell?" he managed to mutter before the full force of his shock and confusion crashed over him, rendering him momentarily speechless. Was he hallucinating? Standing before him were two Kristina McClures! Two of them! Were the WINDS crackpots at it again? Had they somehow managed to spike the chocolate bar he'd eaten for lunch with a mind-altering substance?

The long pause and staredown in the middle of the restaurant did not go unnoticed by the rest of Matt's party. Luke, standing just in front of him, glanced from Kristina to Kayla for a long moment before he moved ahead, gently but insistently nudging the other four frankly curious men toward their table.

Luke's departure seemed to prompt Kristina into action. ''Hi, Matt," she said with cheerful aplomb. "I believe you've already met my sister, Michaela McClure, better known as Kayla."

Matt's eyes swept over the two women. No, his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, and his mind was blessedly, chemically unaltered. What he was seeing was a set of identical twins. Identical twins! And he immediately knew beyond a shadow of a doubt which twin had shared his bed last Friday night.

"Michaela McClure, known as Kayla," he gritted, finding his voice at last. No, he hadn't lost his mind; instead, he was trapped in a real-life version of a soap opera plot. "But she's fl/50 known as Kristina, isn't she?"

Kristina looked down. "Well, uh, I guess last Friday she was," she said rather sheepishly.

Matt's eyes burned into Kayla's. The intense physical attraction that he had felt last Friday night when they'd first met surged through him all over again. Accompanying that

dizzying rush, almost overriding it, was a ferocious anger. How could it be? he wondered furiously. When he looked at Kristina McClure, he saw a pretty, stylish young woman who excited him not at all. Yet when he gazed at her identical twin—/zer identical twin/—he saw... he felt...

*'You two must have had a good laugh over all of this." He attempted to flash an amused, sophisticated smile, but the result came closer to a hostile baring of teeth. ''Do you do it often? And then compare notes afterward?"

Kay la shivered. Clearly, the twinly deception had infuriated him. He looked like a wolf about to execute a lethal pounce. Excruciatingly unnerved, she suddenly recalled how he had so cavalierly left her alone in bed after swaggering into the shower, without a single word of tenderness or concern—after placing full responsibility for their actions on her! It was a most bolstering memory.

Her temper flared to flash point. Mr. Minteer wasn't the only one with the right to be angry. And what about that crack he'd just made about ''doing it often and comparing notes afterward"? It was an insult to both her and Kristina, an unmistakable attack on their characters. Kayla knew she couldn't let that pass!

"What do you mean, 'do you do it often?'" Kayla demanded hotly. As if she needed to ask! The question was strictly rhetorical.

Matt, however, chose to answer it literally. "I think the statement is self-explanatory." He struggled to retain his cool. And it was a struggle. After his hapless trip to Kristina McClure's office earlier in the week, he'd considered himself cured of the temporary insanity that had claimed him for that one reckless, passionate night. But now, in the presence of Kayla McClure—how strange it seemed to think of her by that name—he felt himself in danger of a relapse.

''Do you do it often?'' His words echoed over and over in Kayla's head. What he really meant was, ''Do you pick up men and spend the night with them often?'' He'd al-

ready subtly accused her of that the morning they'd awakened in bed together, though he'd attempted an awkward disclaimer. She hadn't bought it, not then or now. Her guilt wouldn't let her; her conscience demanded that she be punished, that he view her as a tramp.

Kay la glowered at him, her insides churning with rage. Even worse was this sickening sense of betrayal sweeping through her. Though it was paradoxical, considering her own opinion of her behavior, it hurt terribly, knowing that he considered her nothing more than a cheap pickup, an easy roll in the sack.

Not that she would ever let him know. Defensively, she chose anger over pain. 'The statement is self-explanatory," Kay la mocked caustically, imitating his every inflection. ''Yes, all your insults are self-explanatory, aren't they? You're the quintessential straight-talking poUtician who never says what he doesn't mean and always means what he says. Or so you claim."

"Insults?" Matt was nonplussed enough to let her insult slide. "What are you talking about?"

"It's self-explanatory," Kayla snapped and attempted to stride past him. Unfortunately, her exit was thwarted by his failure to remove himself from her path. He remained right where he was, solid as a rock, blocking her way.

"Get out of my way!" she heard herself say. Her wrath seemed to be increasing exponentially to every second she spent in his presence. The sound and fury of her anger astonished her. She'd never behaved with outright hostility, no matter how great the provocation. In her profession, image must always prevail; one kept a cool head and stayed polite regardless. And she always had, until now...

"No. You're not going anywhere, Michaela. Not until I get an apology for your wild accusations and an explanation for that deceitful little game of yours last Friday." Matt's voice matched hers, note for primitive note.

Kay la gaped at him incredulously. '*If anyone deserves an apology and an explanation, it's me, you insensitive, self-involved snake! And if you don't step aside this instant,

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."