The Right Twin For Him (O'Rourke Family 2) by Julianna Morris Read Free Book Online Page A

such an innocent baby.
    Patrick grimaced.
    He needed to remember he wasn’t guilty of hurting Maddie, it was her scuzzy-almost-a-husband fiancé.
    “That’s the broadcast booth,” he murmured as they walked into the heart of the station. “We transmit a full twenty-four hours a day, and someone is always supposed to be in the booth. When you work for a radio station the most important thing to remember is that there’s nothing worse than dead air.”
    The producer of the morning show was inside with the DJ, so Patrick waved and continued walking.
    “How did you end up with a radio station?” Maddie asked. “Did you start out as a disc jockey?”
    “No.” Patrick shuddered at the thought. “I was working here, plus two other jobs and saving every nickel, figuring I’d invest it at the right time. Then I realized I already knew a lot about radio and liked the business, so I made a deal with old C. D. Dugan to buy the station when he retired.”
    Patrick didn’t add that it was C. D. Dugan who’d caught him trying to hotwire a truck when he was fifteen. C.D. had hauled him out by the collar and shaken him like a naughty puppy. Then he’d made Patrick work at the station after school in exchange for not being arrested. It had taken some time, but in the end C.D. had straightened him out, becoming across between surrogate grandfather and hard-nosed parole officer.
    “It looks like you’ve done a good job here.” Maddie’s expression seemed wistful, and Patrick sighed.
    “What is it?” he asked.
    “Nothing.”
    Yeah, he believed that.
    Maddie’s face had the look a kid gets with his or her face pressed to a candy shop window.
    He stopped and lifted an eyebrow. “Well?”
    She sighed. “It’s just that I’ve never figured out what to do with my life. I think that’s why it shook me up so much when I found out about Ted and…and broke things off.”
    Ted.
    Patrick scowled at the reminder of Maddie’s near-miss disaster of a wedding. The woman was a babe in the woods, and she’d get him into all kinds of problems if he wasn’t careful.
    “You’re better off without him,” Patrick declared. “You should be glad you caught him with the punch girl. Staying single is the right idea. I’m all for staying single.”
    Maddie looked at him curiously. “Marriage isn’t that bad. My parents have been happily married for twenty-eight years.”
    “I thought Ted soured you on the idea of marriage.”
    “Not altogether, just for me. Of course, I feel sorry for Mom and Dad,” she said reflectively. “They really wanted grandkids. And I’d like to have a baby. I love babies.”
    Patrick drew a deep breath. He’d never gone skydiving, but he was certain the sensation was identicalto what Maddie did to his equilibrium. “I don’t want kids,” he said hastily.
    She gave him an exasperated look. “I know that. And since nobody’s asked you to have any, you don’t have to keep reminding me about it.”
    Heat rose under his collar. “Right.”
    “What is it with you and children, anyway?” she demanded.
    “They’re okay, it’s just that I took care of my younger brothers and sisters often enough to hope I’ll never have to change another dirty diaper or read Mother Goose again.”
    “Are you sure that’s it?”
    “Absolutely.”
    Maddie’s eyes were doubtful, and Patrick shifted uncomfortably. Okay, maybe there was more to it, but it was his business. The truth was, he couldn’t be like his dad, not after all the trouble he’d gotten into. His father had been a terrific role model, the most Patrick could ever be was an example of how kids shouldn’t act. He’d come close to making the kind of mistakes that ruin lives…or end them.
    The idea of messing up his own children was more than he could take.
    He opened the door of the advertising office, grateful for the distraction. “You’ll be working in here. It’s small, but it’s the best we can do until we expand.”
    The office really