And it struck him that right now her name was one of the few things he knew about her. While convincing the governor's chief of staff and the state secretary of commerce to invest in his district, he'd successfully banished the Kayla/ Kristina conundrum from his mind, but now there was nothing to keep him from rehving the profound shock of seeing the McClure sisters side by side. And knowing, without even being told, which woman had stirred his senses and taken him to heights he'd never believed existed.
And she loathed him. She'd made that perfectly clear tonight by the way she'd looked at him, by the things she'd said. 'I never want to speak to you again. I never want to see you again!'' left httle room for interpretation.
"And Dave Wilson wants you to do some campaigning for him in his district," Luke's voice filtered through Matt's troubled reverie. It was a welcome interruption; he hated raminating and he seemed to be doing a lot of it this past week. Entirely too much of it. He forced himself to concentrate fully on his brother.
''Seems Uke Dave is starting to sweat out his chances for reelection," Luke continued. ''Everybody in the legislature
knows what a dirty-dealing, double-crossing arrogant SOB Wilson is, but the voters in his district have been unaware of it...until now. There's this tough-talking nurse who's been stirring up the voters by telling them how and why their man in Harrisburg isn't working for them but against them. People are listening to her and Wilson's running scared. I told him you'd make a few appearances on his behalf and-"
"But I hate the guy, Luke," Matt interrupted, frowning. *'Everybody in Harrisburg hates him. He's two-faced, bad-tempered and suspicious. He's managed to stab everybody in the back at least once, from the governor on down. I can't blame the voters for wanting to turn him out of office. He's alienated everyone so thoroughly that he can't get support for any project he proposes. He's actually hurting his district by being in office."
Luke shrugged. ''But he's in the party, Matt, and his district borders ours. That makes him a neighbor and a political ally. He endorsed you when you first ran for the state senate and he's backing you for the congressional seat. He could've chosen to fight you for the nomination and run for that seat himself, you know. It encompasses his territory, too. But he stepped aside for you."
"I don't think it was loyalty or altruism that caused him to step aside and leave the field clear for me, Luke. Wilson; knows I can beat him."
Luke shrugged. "Motivation doesn't count. Party loyalty is the name of the game, Matt, you know that as well as I do. Anyway, we don't want some renegade nurse who's a complete political neophyte to take—w/z-o/z.^"
Matt tensed. "What's wrong?" He turned in his chair to follow Luke's line of vision—and saw a McClure sister sitting six tables away from them.
"I don't know which one she is, but I recommend you stay away from her, from both of them," Luke gritted out. "You're obviously not yourself when you're around either,
one of them and what we don't need is another Httle scene like the one at Rillo's eariier tonight."
Matt wasn't Kstening. He knew which twin she was and he was already on his feet, heading toward Kayla's table. She didn't see him coming; she was lost in the music, swaying to the rhythm and marveling at the band's ability to dance as they played their instruments.
*'Do you mind if I join you?"
Kayla knew who the voice belonged to without turning around to look at the speaker. She'd recognize that husky, deep male tone anywhere. For the past week, it had echoed in her head every night—and much too often during the day as well. Her chest tightened and something hot and wild surged through her. It was rage, Kayla decided. Definitely not excitement and certainly not desire.
"As a matter of fact, I do mind," she said, her frozen tones belying the heat blazing inside her. She kept her head high and straight, refusing to turn and look at him.
''Too bad." Matt pulled out the chair opposite hers and sat down. He was grim and unsmiling, and an unnerving determination glittered in his dark blue eyes.
The table was tiny and the length of Matt's legs caused an unavoidable collision of his limbs with Kayla's. Kayla drew back as if she'd been scalded. She stood up so fast she nearly upset the table. ''Since you seemed to have claimed this table, you can have it all to yourself."
She raced off, threading her way through the crowd, toward the neon-lit exit sign. Within moments she was standing outside on a wooden deck that jutted over the rocky shore, overlooking the boats docked beyond. Groaning, she realized that this was not where she and Kristina had come in. To reach the front entrance, she would have to traipse back through the club, where Matt Minteer sat at the table he had commandeered. Where he would be watching and waiting for her?
Her heart jumped, as she headed bhndly across the deck, to clutch the thick wooden raihng that surrounded it. She had to calm down, she admonished herself. A few more minutes out in the cool night air, a few deep breaths, and she would be in control of herself and up to the daunting challenge of getting out of this place.
Kayla heard the footsteps behind her with a nerve-tingling sense of inevitabihty. She whirled around to see Matt walking steadily, inexorably toward her. Her breath caught in her throat. She felt perilously rooted to the spot. Fingers trembling, she drew her thick boxy-knit sweater more closely around her.
'*Are you cold?" Matt asked, misinterpreting her nervous little gesture. The deck was dimly lit, but he had no difficulty focusing on her figure, which was somehow both concealed and enhanced by the long shrimp-colored sweater that skimmed to her mid-thighs and the tight charcoal gray leggings that clung to her shapely legs.
'*No." Her back was pressed against the wooden railing, and her eyes darted frantically, assessing her avenues of escape.
But it was too late for that now. Before she could think, move, or even breathe. Matt was directly in front of her, as close as he could possibly be without their bodies touching. He needed only to lean forward an inch or two to close the gap between them. "Don't even think of trying to run," he said tautly. ''You're not going anywhere until we've—"
''You can't threaten me," Kayla snapped with far more bravado than she was feeUng. She forced herself to look up at him, to meet his gaze squarely.
Matt stared at her. God, she was a knockout, he reluctantly admitted to himself, even more so than he'd remembered. She was conventionally pretty, true, but she had something else, some intangible charm, some irresistible appeal for him, that evoked feelings in him no one else ever had. It was exhilarating. More than that, it was downright
alarming. How could one woman have such power over him?
''And don't think you can scare me with that menacing glare of yours," Kay la piped up. The intensity in his eyes disturbed her, but it didn't scare her. The fact that it didn't—that it drew her, excited her—did. She didn't want anyone to have such a command over her emotions.
"Scare you, threaten you. You have some opinion of me." Matt laughed mirthlessly. ''I haven't meant to do either. I just want to talk to you and you make it damn difficult with your penchant for taking off. Is running away your usual style or am I the only one to inspire you to it?"
Kayla was instantly on the defensive. ''I wasn't running away from you. I—needed some air and I came outside to get it."
He raised his brows. ''And now?"
"Now that I've had some air, I'm going back inside. It has nothing to do v/ithyou/'
"Uh-huh. And what about last week? Saturday morning, to be specific. You disappeared without a word the moment I—"
"Swaggered triumphantly into the bathroom after you'd blithely informed me that the night before was entirely my design," Kayla cut in bitterly. "You couldn't—and wouldn't—be held responsible for anything. Of course I left as quickly as I could. You'd made it obvious that I had fulfilled my function and you were eager to dismiss me."
Matt stared at her, baffled. "Are we talking about the same day? Lady, I was there and the scene you just described isn't the one I lived. For one thin
g, I didn't do any 'triumphant swaggering' that morning. I—"
"Then what would you call that self-satisfied macho strut to the shower? You left me in that bed without a single word or look or—" Her voice was rising and Kayla quickly cut herself off. "I left immediately, as any self-respecting woman would do. And I don't care to discuss it any fur-
ther," she added in a low, angry whisper. "Now move out of the way and let me pass."
Matt didn't budge. 'That 'self-satisfied macho strut' to the shower you thought you saw? What you were really seeing was a frantic, mad dash to the John where I was sicker than I've ever been in my life, thanks to those WINDS cretins who spiked my entire fund-raiser. I didn't dare take time to stop and chat, or even to take a look at you, or I'd have embarrassed myself all over the room."
Kayla stared at him, momentarily nonplussed. "You were sick?"
"Weren't you?" he countered. "Those maniacs laced everything, including the water, with a hundred-and-twelve-proof vodka. Not only was I acutely ill that morning, I was nauseated for the rest of the weekend."
"I wasn't sick."
"Terrific." Matt scowled. "You have the cast-iron constitution of a vodka-swilling cossack, and I get sicker than a callow college freshman after his first fraternity beer blast."
Kayla almost smiled. She quickly restrained herself. She was not about to fall into swapping morning-after war stories; this was still Matt Minteer she was talking to. Matt "Do you do it often and compare notes afterward?'' Minteer.
"So that's why you took off without a goodbye," Matt said, preoccupied. "You thought I was an insensitive, thoughtless jerk who didn't have time for you?"
"Something like that," Kayla said fiercely. "I might not have been physically sick, but I was sick with regret. I know you'll find this impossible to believe, but last Friday night was totally out of character for me. My sister and I do not sleep around."
"And why would I find that impossible to believe?"
She was about to give him a hearty shove and stride away, but she couldn't resist throwing his accusation back at him.
His own words should wipe that phony, perplexed expression from his face.
It did. But the expression that replaced it was one of indignation. "I wasn't referring to anything sexual! What I meant was—do you and your sister trade places often? Do you step in for each other and then get together to revel in your trickery? A fair question under the circumstances, you'll have to admit."
"I don't have to admit anything!" This time she tried to stalk off, but Matt grasped her wrist and held fast.
'*You have to admit this." He gave one fierce tug, dragging her back to him. He wrapped his arms around her and stared down into her wide, startled eyes. *'We were good together. Damn good."
Kay la began to struggle. '*We were drunk! It was my first and only drunken one-night stand and all I want to do is to forget it ever happened."
The soft and shapely feel of her body against his, the enticing scent of her perfume, had the same potent effect on him as it had last week. He pulled her even closer, feeling the heat emanating from her into him. Her movements, intended to free herself, inciting him to hold her even tighter as his mind clouded in a haze of dizzying reminiscences.
''It was more than that," he said raspily. ''And you can't forget anymore than I can."
He leaned down to nuzzle the curve of her neck, his big hands shaping her more intimately to the hard male planes of his body. He felt as if his senses were exploding. Never had anything felt so necessary, so very right.
Kayla inhaled sharply. His masculine size and strength and heat made her head spin. She felt the hard power of his erection pressing against her, felt his hands moving possessively over her, and her knees went weak. His lips nibbled at her neck as he slid his thigh between hers. Pleasure exploded through her. It would be so easy to close her eyes and
give in to what she was feeHng. To lose herself in this moment.
Yet even as her body responded to him, her mind resisted. She hadn't given him the right to hold her this way or to keep her out here against her will, Kayla reminded herself. But he'd taken those rights and was bent on taking more. Granted, it appeared that she had misinterpreted him a few times, so perhaps he wasn't the thoughtless, snide opportunist she'd thought he was.
But he was still a politician and no one knew better than she that a politician's primary commitment and interests were in getting reelected, not in a romantic involvement. And Matt had made no secret that he despised political handlers and everything that they did. The secret was that she was one.
Kayla managed to slide her hands to his shoulders and push against him. "Let me go, Matt," she ordered and was embarrassed by the husky breathlessness of her voice. "This just isn't going to work out. It can't. You don't know--''
"I know I want you and that you want me just as much," Matt interrupted. "Stop fighting me, Kayla. Stop fighting yourself."
The sound of her name on his lips enthralled her. And distracted her just long enough for him to touch his lips to hers.
"I thought I was going crazy this past week," Matt murmured, his lips brushing hers as he spoke. "I wanted you even though I believed you'd dumped me Saturday morning without so much as a goodbye. I wanted you when I saw your sister and her boyfriend and thought it was you." He smiled against her lips. "And I want you now, of course. You can't have a single doubt about that." He slowly, subtly thrust against her, letting her feel the burgeoning evidence of his desire for her.
"You don't even know who I am," Kayla said, moaning softly. It was deliciously disorienting to talk while their
mouths were touching, their lips moving against each other's to form the words. And her mind was swiftly losing the internal war it had launched against her body's demands.
''You're Kayla,'' he said softly. ' 'That's all I have to know for now."
He took her mouth hungrily, sliding his tongue deeply inside to rub and stroke in excruciating sensual simulation. Kayla's fingers unclenched to clutch at him as the sweeping hot tide of pleasure crashed through her. She arched into him, her breasts swollen and sensitive, the tips almost painfully hard. She remembered how it felt to have him stroke them with his long, deft fingers, to have his warm, wet mouth touching her there, tasting her—
She wanted it again. Overwhelmed by the sensual electricity generated between them, her mind shut down. Who could think practically—-who could think at all?—when caught up in this tempestuous maelstrom? Kayla gave up and gave in. All her reasons and resolve against him melted in the lusty fire of their passion.
Why was she fighting, anyway? she wondered foggily. She wanted him so much, she needed him.
Matt felt the change within her, from h^ edgy surrender to the full-blown urgency that matched his own. They kissed and kissed, in a frenzy of ardor. His mouth grew rough, his hands firm and insistent, and she responded with a demanding hunger of her own. He remembered the feel of her body moving under his in bed, taking him into the yielding softness of her feminine heat. He wanted to feel it again, all of it, all of her. Now, tonight.
His pulse pounding, he lifted his mouth from hers, but continued to hold her tightly against him. His eyes and his arms were frankly, boldly possessive. "Let's get out of here," he said, his voice rough and husky with need.
Just the sound of it was wildly arousing. Kayla shivered and clung to him with unsteady fingers.
"We can go to your place or mine, wherever you want." His mouth took hers in another long, greedy kiss. Then, keeping one strong arm firmly around her waist, he started to walk her toward the door of the club.
A stiff breeze gusted from the river, whistling through the trees and whipping around them. Whether from the sudden blast of chilly air or from her being in motion or a combination of both, the sensual clouds that had blotted Kay la's mind began to lift.
''I don't have my own place here," she began. **I—"
"Then I guess it'll have to be my apartment, such as it is." Matt grinne
d. "It's more of an efficiency apartment, I guess, although my sisters refer to it as a closet equipped with a kitchen and a bath." He dropped a quick kiss on the top of Kayla's head and hugged her to his side. "But it does have a bed, king-size, my one and only decent piece of furniture."
A bed. Kay la was thinking clearly now, for the first time since Matt's lips had touched hers. He was intent on taking her to bed, and she, heaven help her, had been all set to go with him. Suddenly, she was thinking, very clearly.
"I'm not going to bed with you. Matt." Kayla stopped in her tracks and pulled away from him. "Nothing has changed since—"
"It's too late to play these games, Kayla," Matt cut in, snaking out his hand to cup the nape of her neck. He heaved a weary, frustrated sigh. "I don't know why you'd even want to. You're as eager to make love again as I am and you'll never convince me otherwise. Not after..." His words trailed off. A tremor of desire mixed with frustration ripped through him. It was an effort to keep his voice steady. "Not after the way you just responded to me."
Kayla rubbed her hands up and down her arms for warmth as the wind continued to buffet them. "I don't play games."
Matt gave a sarcastic hoot of laughter. ''That, from a woman who likes to take on her twin sister's identity! And is good enough in the role to fool half the town. I'd say you're a master at games, lady."
"Which goes to show how much you know about me," she retorted hotly. "Or don't know about me, starting with where I live. You were so all-fired eager to get me into bed you didn't even pick up on the fact that I said I don't have a place of my own here in Harrisburg."
"What's the big deal? You live with your sister," Matt concluded testily.
"Wrong! I don't hve with Kristina, I'm visiting her. I live in Washington, D.C., not Harrisburg. But you're not interested in any of that, are you? You're not interested in learning anything about me. All you want from me is another quick romp in the sack!"
Double trouble Page 7
