A Question of Trust (4 page)

“And I need to explain…?”

“Why the one man is dead and the other still alive.”

She nodded musingly. “Did he have a heart attack?”

Connor shook his head. It wasn’t working. Watching her mull over the puzzle was not making him any softer. “He was in perfect health.”

“Was he murdered?”

Ah ha. She was beginning to think outside the box. Good. He liked that. “He was.”

“By a dart?”

“Nope. The dart had nothing to do with it.”

“Was he attacked?”

“Nope.” He hesitated a fraction of a second before adding, “nothing happened to him that did not happen to his friend.” Just like with him and Gabe. But that was a whole other story. A whole other conundrum for Maddie to dwell on at a later stage.

“And yet his friend was fine…” Her voice trailed off as she contemplated the puzzle. Absently, she picked up her water and took a sip. Connor watched as her lips touched the rim of the glass, as she poured the clear liquid into her mouth. He watched as she swallowed delicately, once and then twice.

Christ, he wanted those lips on his dick. Wanted her to swallow any liquid she found there.

Ice tinkled against the glass as she set it down on the table. She raised an eyebrow and lifted the glass again. “The drink. There was poison in the drink.”

Beautiful, sexy and intelligent. Gabe, the lucky bastard, had struck gold. “Ah, but both men were given the identical drink. If there was poison in them, why did one man die and not the other?”

She tilted the glass beside his ear and jiggled it. The ice tinkled again.

He was right. There was more to Madeline Jones than blank eyes and an empty smile. The woman was sassy and savvy and sensual, and he liked her. A lot.

“Because, smart ass, it wasn’t the scotch that was poisoned, it was the ice.” Her smile was jubilant. “By the time the second man had his drink, the ice had melted and the poison had seeped into the scotch. The first man drank it straight away. There was no time for the poison to reach the drink.”

Connor nodded. “Not bad. Not bad at all.” She was the first person who’d ever worked out the puzzle. Everyone else gave up too easily or begged for clues. Not Maddie. She stuck at it and worked it out.

Would she stick with the Connor-Gabe conundrum too?

“I told you, I’m an expert.” Her tone was haughty, her nose in the air.

He laughed. Maddie wasn’t just smart and sexy, she was funny. Never mind the urge to sleep with her, he was enjoying her company just like this. Enjoying it a lot. Did Gabe get this much pleasure from spending time with her?

“Did you know I have a sister?” Maddie asked him.

“No, I didn’t.” He didn’t know much about her at all, other than the bits and pieces Gabe had shared, but now he found himself wanting to discover as much as he could. “Tell me about her.”

She gave him a cheeky smile. “She’s the same age as me. In fact we were born on the same day, to the same parents. But you know what?”

Maddie had a twin? There were two of her? “No, what?”

“We’re not twins.”

“Huh?”

“Yep. We’re not twins. Go figure.”

Connor frowned. “What are you talking about?”

She snickered. “Explain it. We’re born on the same day—the same hour even—to the same parents, but we’re not twins.”

And then it struck him. She wasn’t sharing bits of herself with him, she was giving him a lateral thinking puzzle. He grinned at her. No worries. He’d solve this and then find out the real facts about Maddie Jones. He looked forward to it.

“Do you look the same?” he asked.

“Oh, yes. Identical. You can’t tell us apart.”

Holy crap. He had a sudden picture of himself caught between two Maddies. Two naked Maddies. “Oh, Christ,” he muttered to himself. “A Maddie sandwich.”

Maddie’s fork dropped to her plate with a noisy clatter.

Conversation stopped as everyone turned to see what the commotion was. Gabe shot Connor a questioning look.

Connor shook his head.

Maddie’s cheeks flamed. “Sorry. Clumsy me,” she said by way of explanation. “Dropped my fork. No biggie.” But as soon as the talk around the table resumed, she hissed at Connor. “What did you just say?”

“I was thinking about the possibility of there being two of you. I called you a Maddie sandwich. Why?”

“I…oh…no reason.”

She was flustered. Interesting. He was flustered too, but that was because the idea of two Maddies made his jeans feel like a new form of Chinese torture. He decided not to question her further. His dick couldn’t take the agony.

“There are three of you,” he told her instead.

“In the sandwich?” she asked, her voice squeakier than usual.

“No sweetheart. In your puzzle. You’re a triplet.”

His answer broke the tension. She smiled. “You’re right. Well done.”

“I guess I should have told you before you mentioned your sister that I too am an expert lateral thinker.”

“There anything else I should know about you that you’re keeping secret?”

“Well, I don’t have an identical twin sister if that’s what you’re asking.”

She laughed out loud. “And brother?”

“I have one. But we’re not identical either. He’s five years younger than me. How about you?”

“Two sisters. One older, one younger, and nope. Not identical either.”

By the time the dishes had been cleared from the table and all that was left were coffees, Connor had learned that Maddie’s parents had recently celebrated their thirty-fifth anniversary. Her sister, Claire, was twenty-nine, and two years Maddie’s senior, and Julia was twenty-four. The older sisters ran a small children’s bookshop in East Sydney, and Julia would join them as soon as she completed her studies. They planned to turn the one bookstore into a chain of three or four over the next few years, and Maddie was excited by the prospect.

He also learned that Maddie loved cats but was allergic to them, had a compulsive need to buy nail polish (her collection currently sat at ninety-three bottles), and she detested
Desperate Housewives
.

He also learned that whenever she smiled her eyes crinkled up and a tiny dimple teased her left cheek. He noted that laughter made her plump breasts jiggle appealingly and when she frowned only one corner of her mouth tilted downwards.

Alas, by the time dinner was finished, the desire to kiss her had not receded the tiniest bit. He wanted to kiss more than her mouth though. He wanted to strip away her sleeveless, gunmetal grey shirt, rip off her black jeans and sample every inch of her delectable body. What would she taste like? Would her juices taste as good as her lips looked?

Godammit, would he ever be soft again?

Gabe’s voice broke through his musings. “We’re going across the road for a drink and to play pool.” He gestured to the front entrance of the restaurant, where the rest of their dinner companions were headed. “Want to join us?” Gabe stood behind Maddie’s seat, his hand caressing her neck. Maddie, Connor noted, stretched like a contented cat beneath his friend’s touch. Her eyes closed and a small sigh escaped from her parted lips.

Christ, it didn’t take much to imagine her naked and writhing under Gabe’s hands. He’d seen how his friend could reduce a woman to a shivering mass of desire, and more than anything he wanted to see Gabe work his wonders on Maddie. Fuck, he wanted to work his own charm on Maddie. He wanted it. Bad.

Without opening her eyes, Maddie said in a low, sexy voice. “Here’s something you never knew about me. I’m not much of a pool player.”

“You and Connor both,” Gabe muttered. “He’s lousy with a cue.”

Connor raised an eyebrow at Gabe, and Gabe nodded. Good thing Maddie could not see their silent communication or she’d know right off the understanding that passed between them had nothing to do with pool.

“Tell you what,” Connor suggested. “Why don’t you go ahead and play pool. I’ll take Maddie back to your place.”

Maddie opened one eye and looked at him suspiciously. Again. Clever woman.

He grinned, and not for the first time, gave silent thanks to his friend for insisting he make use of his spare bedroom, insisting he meet Maddie. “I’m going back there anyway,” he said with innocence. “I assume you are too?”

“I am.” She raised an eyebrow, telling him her suspicion had in no way been allayed. Then she turned to Gabe. “Would it be okay if I didn’t join you? Pool really isn’t my game. I’d rather just go back to your place and relax.” Then she added in a far softer voice. “And get ready for you to get back.”

Gabe’s pupils dilated. He leaned over and whispered something in Maddie’s ear, something Connor could not hear.

She tilted her head closer to Gabe’s mouth and smiled.

Gabe whispered something else.

Maddie’s eyes bulged and she gasped. Gabe kept whispering. Her gaze darted to Connor as she flushed a dark red.

Connor suppressed a howl of pain as his jeans bit back at his straining penis. Knowing Gabe the way he did, and knowing what Gabe and he had planned, he had a fair idea what his friend had said to Maddie.

The rush of blood to her cheeks did not divert his attention away from the other ways in which her body responded to Gabe’s comment. He couldn’t help but notice how her nipples poked through her blouse, teasing him, or that goose flesh had broken out over her arms.

Gabe smiled at Connor. Connor smiled back.

“Go with Connor,” Gabe told Maddie. “Get warm and cozy in my bed. I’ll see you later.” In full view of Connor, he turned Maddie’s still flushed face to his and kissed her.

Connor watched as Maddie’s lips softened and relaxed into the kiss. He watched her mouth open to Gabe’s probing. Her pink tongue met his darker one, and damn, he wanted to be the one kissing her, making her sigh like she’d just got a taste of heaven.

Christ, he wanted to be the one showing her heaven.

When Gabe pulled away, Maddie moaned her disapproval. “Later, baby,” he promised, then looked up at Connor. His mouth curved into a knowing smile. “She’s all yours,” he said with a wave and walked away.

“Don’t I wish,” Connor muttered under his breath.

“Wish what?” Maddie answered. Her voice was all lazy, her pupils tiny pricks of black in her hazel eyes. With her kiss-swollen lips, her beaded nipples and her luscious body, she looked like sex personified.

“That you were all mine,” he told her without skipping a beat.

She stood up, drawing her wrap around her shoulders. The glow from a light above her caught the gold glints in a wisp of her hair. She didn’t look like sex. She looked like an angel.

“I’m Gabe’s,” she said. “You know that.”

He too got up and touched her shoulder, indicating she should walk ahead of him. “I’ll share,” he told the back of her head. “You know that.”

Her footsteps faltered. “A Maddie sandwich,” she mumbled to herself

That’s when he grinned. He guessed she hadn’t meant for him to hear, but he had. And he was very happy indeed. It appeared she had conjured up a different version of a Maddie sandwich. A version which turned him on no less than his original recipe.

“Is it on the menu?” he asked. “Because I would like to order one. To go.”

She almost tripped, but he caught her arm, steadying her, and led her out of the restaurant. Her skin felt like silk beneath his fingers and he did not let her go until she was seated in the rental car and he had no choice.

The minute he switched on the engine Maddie spoke. “Connor—” She floundered, seemingly at a loss for words. “I…it’s… Look, it’s not…” Her voice dropped off and she shook her head. “How am I supposed to respond when you say something like that?”

He glanced at her and lowered his voice. “Tell me you want a bite too.”

The full moon and clear sky provided enough light in the dark of the night for Connor to see her color deepen. “I… I…”

“Okay, I’ll make it easier for you.” Christ, that virginal blush played havoc with his hard-on. “Tell me you
don’t
want a taste.”

She blanched. “
Connor.
Dear God, how did we even get on to this subject?”

When he noticed her nipples poking through her shirt, bathed in the moon’s soft rays, it was with a certain measure of satisfaction. This time Gabe was not the one who had induced the response. Connor’s desire hit him like a blow to the gut, hard and fierce. “You can’t do it, can you? You can’t deny you’d like to be the middle of a you, me and Gabe sandwich?”

She stared out of her window, silent for a long time. “I can’t do this, Connor,” she said at last. “I can’t play these games. I’m with Gabe. You know that.”

Such strong words. So why did she sound so unconvinced by them? He couldn’t help it, he had to touch her. Reaching out, he tucked a tendril of hair behind her ear. Beneath his hand she trembled.

“What if…” Shite, he had to change gear, had to pull his hand away, “…this wasn’t a game. What if the two of us, Gabe and I, turned your sandwich into a reality?”

Maddie let out a shuddery breath. Fog steamed up her window.