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

was small. There wasn’t enough room in any part of the station, but he was building capital so they could expand into a larger market audience. Most of his employees were an understanding group, and the rest didn’t say anything for fear ofupsetting the Formidable Finn—Candace Finney was the loyal type, even if she did scare people.
    Most people, Patrick thought, looking at Maddie from the corner of his eye. Somehow she’d cracked the Formidable Finn’s shell as if it were no harder than cracking an egg. Alarming thought, considering the way he felt around Maddie. Of course, he was much tougher than Miss Finney.
    “Your desk is in here,” he said, motioning to a workstation in the corner. The head of the department was just finishing a phone call, and Patrick waited until he’d replaced the receiver. “Stephen, this is Ms. Jackson. She’ll be working for you while Jeff is recovering from his surgery.”
    Maddie smiled and stuck out her hand—back home in Slapshot anyone who didn’t shake hands was being plain unfriendly. “Hi, call me Maddie,” she said.
    She liked Stephen at first sight. He was a handsome man in his early fifties, with strong shoulders and little laugh crinkles at the corners of his eyes. And since Candy had told her—a little longingly—what a nice man he was, Maddie already had ideas about getting them together. Just because she didn’t plan to get married herself it didn’t mean she couldn’t do some matchmaking for other people.
    Stephen leaned forward in his wheelchair and clasped her fingers. “You’re more than welcome, Maddie. We have plenty to keep you busy.”
    “I’m looking forward to it,” she said, hoping she sounded confident. It was one thing to talk about selling advertising, another to actually do it. Worst of all, she suspected Patrick had only offered her the job because he felt sorry for her. She wrinkled her nose.Pity was something she could survive very nicely with out.
    A sudden, unpalatable thought occurred to her and she turned to Patrick. “I need to talk to you for a minute,” she announced, grabbing his hand and dragging him from the office.
    “Don’t tell me—you already want a raise,” he said, a smile pulling at his mouth.
    “Of course not. I just…you didn’t tell anyone about my wedding getting called off, did you? I can’t believe I just blurted it out to you, especially after we’d barely met.”
    Bemused by Maddie’s lightning-fast change of mood, Patrick shook his head. “I’m the only one who knows about it here at the station.”
    “Well, okay.”
    The vulnerable uncertainty in her eyes made him sigh. He wasn’t good with hurt egos or wounded feelings. His sisters likened him to a human steamroller. Of course, they said the same thing about all the O’Rourke men, so maybe the accusation didn’t mean that much.
    The office door opened and Stephen came out, a thoughtful look on his face. “I hate to interrupt, but I wondered if this—” he tapped the arm of his wheelchair “—was the problem? Some people are uncomfortable about it. I can assure you I manage very well.”
    Maddie’s eyes widened, horrified. It had never occurred to her that her hasty retreat might have been misunderstood. “No. Heck, my uncle has one of those things, and he’s the most active guy in Slapshot.”
    The laugh lines around Stephen’s eyes deepened. “Slapshot?”
    “It’s my hometown in New Mexico. It used to be called Las Damas, but we had a famous hometown hockey player who willed all his money to the town in exchange for changing the name to Slapshot. It’s officially called Slapshot Irvine, but we shorten it most of the time. I mean, who wants to live in a town named Slapshot Irvine?”
    Patrick made a choking sound, but she ignored him.
    “Actually, I was worried Patrick might have told everyone about my wedding-from-hell,” she confided. “It was supposed to be a few days ago, but then I found my fiancé in a clinch with the