The Right Twin For Him (O'Rourke Family 2) by Julianna Morris Page B

a stranger, and asked if she was ready to go. They’d barely talked on the ferry ride and long drive to his mother’s place, and she didn’t think he’d so much as glanced at her since arriving.
    Maddie shifted restlessly, focusing on the cheerful game board lying on the floor. In a few years she might have been teaching her own children to play Candyland—if things had been different. She bit down on her bottom lip, wondering if she’d ever feel normal again.
    “I recognize that look,” Kathleen said in a low voice.
    “What look?”
    “That ‘my world just fell apart’ look. I’ve seen it often enough in the mirror.” She sighed. “You see, my husband ran off with my best friend when I was pregnant with the girls.”
    Maddie’s eyes opened wide. She felt horrid about finding Ted with another woman before the wedding, but she’d gotten off lightly considering what had happened to Kathleen. “That’s awful. What happened to me…it wasn’t…” Her voice trailed.
    Kathleen shrugged. “Betrayal is betrayal.”
    “Have you ever considered getting marriedagain?” Maddie blurted out, then bit her lip in consternation. She didn’t know Kathleen well enough to ask that sort of question, and it certainly wasn’t any of her business.
    But Kathleen didn’t seem offended. She stroked Amy’s sleep-flushed face and shook her head. “It might be different if it was just me, but I have to think about the girls,” she said. “I can’t take the chance of them getting hurt.”
    “That wouldn’t happen with the right man,” Beth said, clearly distressed for her sister-in-law. “At least stay open to the possibility.”
    Kathleen and Maddie shared an understanding look. Beth was expecting a baby, had a husband who adored her, and was probably the happiest woman alive. They may as well argue the earth wasn’t round as try to convince her that the risks of falling in love might outweigh the benefits.
    As if directed by an internal radar, Maddie’s gaze was drawn again to Patrick. From her position on the floor, she mostly saw his profile. He seemed relaxed except for the hand splayed tautly on his thigh, out of sight beneath the dining room table.
    He’d tensed earlier, almost imperceptibly, when Kane had suggested giving him a loan to expand KLMS. Of course Patrick had laughed it off with a joke about being independent, yet his underlying reaction puzzled Maddie. Independence was important, but it was as if there was a transparent wall between him and the rest of the O’Rourkes, one he didn’t want anyone to get through.
    Patrick turned his head and caught her watching him before she could look away. For once he was somber and unsmiling, and she squirmed uncomfortably.Was he thinking about how she’d looked with her dress unbuttoned, with his fingers teasing her nipples?
    Maddie shivered.
    Doubts were already creeping back. Nothing could change the fact he’d initially kissed her for reasons that had nothing to do with thinking she was attractive. He’d said as much. And just how much did it take a man to get aroused? She didn’t know enough about men and sex to be sure of anything, much less about a man like Patrick.
    All at once Patrick pushed back from the table and stood up. “Maddie, how about taking a walk with me?” he asked.
    “Good idea,” said Shannon. She was the eldest O’Rourke daughter, and so drop-dead glamorous that Maddie felt dowdy in comparison. “I need some exercise. I ate too much.”
    He looked pained. “Shannon, don’t be ridiculous. You can’t walk in those high heels.”
    His sister wrinkled her nose at him as she twirled her elegantly shod foot. “Always the charmer, aren’t you, dear brother?”
    “I can’t help myself, I was born to be charming.” Patrick looked back at Maddie. “How about it?”
    “Uh, sure,” she said, trying not to see the other O’Rourkes grin and nudge each other with their elbows. It must have seemed he was trying to get her alone,