Fools Rush In by Ginna Gray Read Free Book Online

she could have an unearned vacation?"
    Max shrugged. "You're here, and she's not. That pretty well says it all."
    "All it says is that you have a nasty, suspicious mind and are good at jumping to conclusions. You couldn't be more wrong."
    "Uh-huh, sure. Then suppose you explain why you just spent several hours pretending to be Elise?"
    "I...well..." Too late, Erin realized she had backed herself into a corner. Fool! she scolded herself. Now what could she do? It would have been smarter to go along with his assumption. She groped for an excuse, but nothing she thought of sounded remotely plausible.
    "What's the matter? Can't you come up with a good enough story?" Max taunted. He laughed as a guilty flush colored Erin's face.
    "No, no. It's not that. I..." Erin bit her lower lip and watched him warily. She could only hope that Max was as innocent as he seemed, because she had no choice but to tell him the truth.
    "I came here looking for Elise. Or at least, I was hoping to discover where she'd gone. You see, last night she called me." Quickly, Erin told him about the mysterious call she'd received from Elise and the hysterical fear that had permeated her sister's incoherent babbling. "I tried to get more out of her, but she just warned me to stay away and hung up." Erin shrugged and spread her hands wide. "I was worried about her. I caught the first flight I could, but when I arrived she had already gone. From the looks of her apartment, she left in a hurry. The place is a mess."
    Max gave her a long, steady look, then slowly clapped his hands. "Very good. A bit farfetched, a tad melodramatic, but not bad for spur of the moment."
    Erin's face went slack with astonishment. "You don't believe me!"
    "Oh, come on, Erin. You didn't honestly expect me to swallow that tale, did you? That someone is trying to kill Elise because she stumbled onto some sort of skulduggery?" He laughed and shook his head. "Surely you can do better than that."
    "It's true!"
    "Look, she told me that you two pulled this stunt all the time when you were growing up. I think you hatched this scheme between you to give Elise a few days off. From what I've heard about you, you probably looked on it as another adventure. Though how you expected to pull it off, I don't know. You're really a rotten secretary, you know."
    "You're not exactly a candidate for boss of the year yourself," she retorted, stung. "But for your information, I am not making this up. My sister is out there somewhere, terrified and fleeing for her life."
    When Max merely continued to look at her with patent disbelief, Erin dragged a hand through her hair and snapped, "All right. All right. If we planned this whole thing, then why was Elise gone when I arrived? Explain that, if you can."
    Max laughed and shook his head. "Look, she knew you were coming to fill in for her, right? So.. .she decided to take off early, that's all. If you'll look around her apartment, you'll probably find that she left you a note, explaining. My guess is that at this very moment Elise is sharing some romantic hideaway with the man in her life."
    "That would be a bit difficult, don't you think," Erin charged with angry sarcasm, "since you happen to be the man in her life."
    "What!"
    Max bounded off the sofa and stared at her as though she'd lost her mind. Erin stared right back, daring him to deny the statement.
    "Now look here. There's nothing like that between Elise and me! My relationship with your sister is purely professional. She's my secretary. That's all!"
    "I don't know how you have the nerve to say that. Not after the way you've behaved all evening."
    "That was just to shake you up. It had nothing to do with Elise. I knew all along which sister I was kissing."
    The statement sent a little thrill racing through Erin, but she squashed it. "Very good, Delany, for spur of the moment," she taunted, throwing his words back at him.
    Max narrowed his eyes. "You don't believe me."
    "Do you believe that I'm here because