Joanna Sims – A Match Made in Montana (страница 2)

“I don’t have them...” Josephine admitted. “I always keep them right there in my glove box...” She gestured to her glove box. “I just received my new registration. I think I must have just forgotten to put the envelope back in the car. But, I promise you, I have a current registration and valid insurance.”

The officer gave one slight nod of his head, wrote something down on his clipboard, then walked to the front of her car to write down her tag number.

“I’ll be back,” he said to her before he headed back to his motorcycle parked in the median.

Josephine hit the steering wheel with the palms of her hands and dropped her head back. Now she was really late, and if this cop wanted to be a real jerk, he could easily cite her with reckless driving! Why couldn’t she flirt her way out of stuff like some of her friends did? She’d never been good at flirting or using her femininity to get her way. She always felt stupid when she tried to flirt and it usually backfired anyway. So she didn’t bother to try anymore.

While she waited for the cop to return, she called her twin sister, Jordan.

“I’m running a little late, Jordy.” She didn’t offer a reason why and she was glad when Jordan didn’t ask.

“Don’t worry about it. The plane can’t leave without you.” Unlike her, Jordan had never been uptight about sticking to a schedule.

Josephine noticed the cop heading her way and tried to rush off the phone. “I’ve got to go, okay? But, I should be there in fifteen or twenty minutes.”

“It’s all good,” Jordan said before they hung up the phone. For once, her sister’s cavalier attitude about being on time came in handy.

“I’m going to have to give you three citations today, Ms. Brand. One for lack of proof of insurance, one for failing to produce your vehicle registration, and one for speeding.” Logan handed her the clipboard and a pen. “I’ll need to get your signature on the bottom of all three citations.”

Josephine felt the blood drain from her face; her heart beat faster. She’d never gotten that many tickets at one time! She had a spotless driving record, and yet this cop couldn’t show her even one little ounce of mercy? All of her internal frustration flowed into her tense fingers; she gripped the pen so tightly that her knuckles turned white. The lines of her signatures were heavy, dark and smudgy.

When she was finished, she slapped the pen onto the top of the first citation, handed the clipboard back to the officer and then slid her sunglasses back down over her eyes. Since she couldn’t, at the moment, look at the officer with the respect she felt his uniform deserved, she didn’t want him to be able to see her eyes at all.

Logan quickly finished the transaction, separated her copy of the citations from his, handed them to her with her driver’s license.

“You’ll note that I didn’t cite you with reckless driving,” the officer said. “And, once you show proof of insurance and current vehicle registration, the other two citations will be dropped.”

Well, that was something at least; he’d dropped the reckless driving charge. Josephine folded the tickets neatly in half and tucked them into her purse. It sounded, to her ears, that the officer sounded almost...sorry...that he’d had to give her that many tickets. But it certainly hadn’t stopped him from throwing the book at her!

When she turned her face back to the officer, she noticed that he had taken his sunglasses off. She was immediately drawn, naturally drawn, to his eyes. They were such a dark, rich brown that they were very nearly as black as his pupils. His gaze was direct, and there was a moment, a flash second, when she thought that she had caught a glimpse of this man’s soul.

“On a personal note, are you related to Jordan Brand?” the officer surprised her by asking.

“She’s my sister.” Josephine replied stiffly. “You know her?”

“I actually pulled her over downtown about a year ago,” Logan explained.

“I’m not surprised.” Josephine retorted. “Unlike me, Jordy speeds all the time.”

“Well...” Logan hadn’t missed the sarcasm. “All I can say is that I’m sorry that we met under these circumstances and it’s actually ironic because...”

“Look...” Josephine cut him off. Was this guy really going to try to pick her up when he’d just written her three tickets? “Am I free to go? I’m really late...”

“Yes. You’re free to go.” The officer put his sunglasses back on and stepped away from her car. “Drive safely, Ms. Brand.”

* * *

Josephine ran through the private airport, lugging two overstuffed carry-on bags on each shoulder, and dragging one oversize rolling suitcase behind her. She had never been to Montgomery Airport in San Diego before, but she had printed out a map of the facility the night before and highlighted the quickest route to her destination. She had been raised on a Montana ranch, but she had learned how to run in high heels years ago. Up on the ball of the foot and full steam ahead!

“I’m so sorry I’m late!” Josephine called out to her sister, Jordan. Jordan was standing in front of her fiancé’s private jet, occupied with her phone.

Jordan looked up, spotted her, and smiled brightly. Her sister jogged over to greet her with a warm hug.

“Relax, sis!” Jordan said. “You know that nothing’s set in stone for me.”

Jordan slipped one of the bags off her shoulder, and the bag dropped to the ground with a dull thud. “Uh...wow, Jo. What in the heck did you pack?”

“Textbooks.” She would be a third-year law student in the fall and the suggested summer reading list had been pages long. “I hope I brought enough.”

“Trust me, you brought enough,” Jordan said teasingly. “I just hope your bags don’t put us over our weight restriction. We might have to make a tough choice between you and your books.”

“Haha, very funny.” Jordan had always picked on her about her overachieving ways. They were more than twins, more than sisters; they were best friends. But they were complete opposites. Jordan was a professional artist, a painter, who had dropped out of graduate school to pursue her passion. Josephine, on the other hand, could never stop something before she finished it. She finished everything she started, and she finished it well.

Together, they walked the short distance to Ian’s jet.

“I can’t believe that this is the start of your wedding trip, Jordy.” Both sisters stopped walking and talking at the same time; they looked at each other, and easily read each other’s thoughts.

“Holy crap, Jo! I’m getting married!” Jordan shook her head in disbelief.

“You’re getting married.” Josephine smiled, her eyes starting to tear from a mixture of happiness for her sister and sadness for the changes that would inevitably follow. Nothing ever stayed the same.

“OMG, don’t start crying already!” Jordan hugged her again. “I swear, between Mom and you, there’s not gonna be one tissue left in the entire state of Montana.”

Josephine laughed and brushed the tears out of her eyelashes. “I’ll do my best to keep the waterworks to a minimum...at least until the ceremony. After that, no deal.”

“Well, of course you have to cry at the ceremony,” her twin said as Josephine rolled her large suitcase over to the cargo area for the pilot to load.

“Hey, you got my message that Brice won’t be joining us, right?” Josephine asked.

“Yeah, what’s up with that?” Jordan put her hands on her slender hips. “Is everything okay with the two of you?”

“Well, actually, that’s why I was...” Josephine started to say.

Jordan got distracted by a man walking through the airplane hangar.

“Captain Stern!” her sister yelled and waved her hand in the air. To her, she said, “Hold that thought, Jo. That’s our pilot and I need to tell him something before I forget.”

“Okay.” Maybe she shouldn’t tell her sister about the fight with Brice anyway. Her family, especially Jordan, had never really been fond of him.

Jordan started the walk over to the waiting pilot; she turned around and walked backward for a few steps.

“Why don’t you go get settled?” her sister suggested. “Ian’ll tell you where to find the booze. He only stocks the best.”

Josephine lugged the carry-on bag loaded with textbooks up the small flight of stairs that led up to the main cabin of the jet. She’d seen pictures of the jet, of course, but to see it in person was an entirely different experience. The cabin was decked out in sophisticated grays and blacks and accented with polished mahogany. There was a long leather couch on one side, while the other had two separate seating areas with oversize recliners and a small table in between. In the back, there was a narrow hallway that led back to a bedroom and en-suite bathroom.

Ian Sterling, Jordan’s fiancé, was sitting on the couch. Next to Ian’s left leg sat a muscular black Labrador retriever.

“It’s me, Ian,” Josephine said to her soon-to-be brother-in-law.

“I thought I heard your voice.” Ian stood up to greet her. He was a model-handsome man and world-famous for his photography. But a rare eye disease had recently destroyed his central vision, rendering him legally blind and sidetracking his career as a professional photographer.