Double trouble by Barbara Boswell

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."
    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