When Lightning Strikes Twice Read Online Free Page A

Misty Tilden’s multimillion-dollar inheritance had fired his enthusiasm like imagining …
    What exactly was he imagining?
    Another one of those images of Rachel that he’d unwittingly stored in his mind played before him. Rachel standing rigidly in court wearing a custom-tailored, impeccably neat pale gray suit, her hair as dark, thick and rich as sable, cut in a precisely perfect bob that swung just below her chin without a strand ever out of order. He’d watched her, fascinated, during the entire Pedersen trial, waiting for her clothing to show a single wrinkle, or maybe for her hair to be rustled, even slightly, by the annoying air vents in the ceiling that blew everybody else’s hair, including his own.
    But it had never happened. Her clothing stayed impeccable, and her beautiful hair was impervious to the airvents. She remained as pristine and perfect as a porcelain doll secured behind a glass dome. Clearly, being wrinkled and mussed was not a condition achievable to Rachel Saxon.
    Intimidating fastidiousness. Iciness beyond the essence of the human condition. Sarah had called her Lady Antarctica. It was obvious, Rachel was a textbook case of untouchable frigidity. From the looks and the sounds of it, she could qualify as the poster girl for the Sexual Repression Foundation, should one exist.
    Quint felt his breathing quicken and his loins begin to grow heavy. He had no difficulty identifying his symptoms of sexual arousal, but the cause floored him.
The idea of sexual repression was turning him on?
    He hadn’t expected it to come to this, but maybe he shouldn’t be surprised. The last time he’d had sex had been during his short miserable marriage to Sharolyn and it had been duty sex, lousy for both Sharolyn and himself. Perhaps to punish himself—getting Sharolyn pregnant on their third date had been an epic blunder—he’d cut himself off. No sex, not even a single meaningless one-night stand.
    Maybe his body was now experiencing the consequences of acting against nature. Simply discussing a sexually repressed woman who hated his guts was arousing him. He was becoming unhinged, a victim of self-induced celibate lunacy.
    “Wade says no sane man is brave enough to take on Rachel, let alone get lucky with her,” Sarah prattled on cheerfully.
    Quint felt as if he were strangling. He cleared his throat. “Is—Is that so?”
    “You have a really weird look on your face, Quint.” Sarah was staring at him. Her eyes widened. “Omigod, you’re not thinking of trying to nail Rachel Saxon, are you?”
    He quickly attempted to rearrange his features into an impassive mask. “Of course not. I’m—uh—merely trying to plot strategy in the Tilden case.”
    “Cause Rachel is really pretty.” Sarah continued to study him curiously. “But you won’t get anywhere with her, Quint. Wade told Dana that more guys have struck out with Rachel than have been up to bat in the history of baseball.”
    “Definitely some hyperbole there, but I get the point. Thanks for your advice, Sarah,” Quint gritted through his teeth.
    Lectured by a twenty-one-year-old nanny. He was truly humbled.

2
    R achel’s hands trembled. Her insides felt as if they’d been twisted into knots. Her face was flushed, her breathing rapid and shallow.
    “Hey, cuz, are my eyes deceiving me?” Wade Saxon appeared in the doorway of her office and leaned against the frame. “You actually look ready to blow your cool. Seems we’re on the verge of an historic occasion here.”
    “Have you seen what arrived via messenger this morning?” Rachel asked tightly, ignoring his cousinly humor. Wade took nothing seriously. Unlike her.
    “Okay, I’ll bite. What arrived via messenger this morning?” Wade ambled into her office.
    “This!” Rachel shoved a manila envelope into his hands.
    “And I was hoping for a candy gram.” Wade feigned disappointment. “Or maybe a bundt cake.”
    Rachel resisted the urge to start throwing things. It wasn’t Wade