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

forget it.”
    She wondered what he’d do if she saluted him. No matter what Patrick said, she wasn’t a regular employee, and he wasn’t treating her like one. A part of her didn’t mind, but another part wanted to be strong, an independent woman standing on her own two feet. If nothing else, her parents deserved a daughter capable of managing her own life.
    “Would it help if I said it’s my policy to take all new KLMS employees to lunch?” Patrick asked.
    “Since when?”
    He grinned. “Since I said so. Let’s get going, they have a Marionberry milkshake at the café you can’t miss. That’s sort of like blackberry, only better.”
    “Make mine chocolate,” Maddie muttered rebelliously.
    “God save me from contrary women. For once I’d like to meet one who doesn’t argue everything with me.”
    “I’m sure contrary women are not a big problem in your life,” she said as severely as possible.
    “You’d be surprised. Give me an amenable guy like Stephen Traver. Stephen would never refuse to eat lunch with me.”
    Maddie rolled her eyes as she followed him to his Chevy Blazer. “I like Stephen,” she said. “Candy told me he was really nice.”
    “How did you get permission to call her Candy?” Patrick asked. “I’ve known the Formidable Finnsince I was fifteen and never dared call her anything but Miss Finney.”
    “Did you ever ask?”
    The question brought Patrick up short. He’d been awed by the Formidable Finn from their first, not-so-auspicious meeting. He met Maddie’s gaze and sighed.
    “No.”
    “That’s all I did. I asked and she said yes.”
    Somehow he doubted it was as easy as that. Something about Maddie was contagious. Her smile, the way she stuck out her hand to shake. She was straightforward and sincere, with a sun-bright smile and eyes as warm as tiger’s-eye topaz. Something about her turned him inside out, and that was a problem he still didn’t know how to handle.

Chapter Five
    P atrick held the door of the Blazer for Maddie, trying not to notice the tiny freckles on her nose and the way they made her skin seem even creamier by contrast.
    “Thank you,” she murmured.
    At least she didn’t object to men holding doors for her. He’d run into a few feminists who’d been vocal about holding their own doors, thank you.
    Of course, Maddie probably wasn’t finished arguing about who was paying for lunch. Patrick shrugged and headed for his favorite lunch spot; he’d deal with that when the time came.
    Maddie’s face brightened when she saw the small café. “This looks like the one we have back home.”
    “Grab any seat,” called the waitress from across the room.
    He nodded and directed Maddie to a corner booth. They’d lived in Crockett for a while when he was a boy, and nothing had changed at the café since then—samefood, same blue gingham curtains, same everything. They even had the same waitress, though she was grayer and rounder than before.
    “I love the food here,” he murmured. “It’s loaded with all the great stuff nutritionists keep saying we shouldn’t eat.”
    A smile tugged at Maddie’s mouth. “Is that so?”
    “Oh, yeah. Fried everything with tons of salt.”
    “How’re you doing, Patrick?” the waitress asked as she made her way over to their table.
    “Not bad. Shirley, this is Maddie Jackson. We think she might be Beth’s twin sister.”
    Shirley peered closely at Maddie and shook her head. “If that isn’t something. Like two peas in a pod.”
    “Does everyone around here know everyone else?” Maddie asked, blinking. She was used to people knowing her; Slapshot wasn’t that big and her father was the town mayor. But Crockett was much larger than her hometown.
    “Oh, everyone around here knows the O’Rourkes,” Shirley said as she pulled a pencil from behind her ear. “They practically saved Crockett when they built the textile mill. What’ll you have?”
    Maddie pointed to the wonder burger meal on the menu. “That