Trouble In Triplicate Read Online Free PDF Page B

door. Damn, what was the matter with him? he wondered. She was the virgin, but he was the one running away in a state of nervous anxiety! Why, he'd faced two-hundred-eighty-pound defensive linemen in his football career and had never felt this urge, this need to run.
    It was a protective instinct, he consoled himself as he stepped onto the wide front porch. Look what her sister had done to his brother! Grant Saxon had been a cheerful bon vivant who'd been reduced to listening to endless refrains of "Send in the Clowns" after he'd tangled with Miranda Post. And look at the way Bobby Lee Taggert always trailed after Olivia Post. Like a faithful puppy dog!
    Caine couldn't fathom himself in either role. He did not carry torches and he was not a tagalong. Those Post triplets were dangerous! A must to avoid. He would do what he could for Grant, but he intended to steer clear of Juliet Post.
    "Scared?" A voice asked softly, tauntingly, as he stepped off the porch.
    He whirled around to find Juliet standing in the open doorway, watching him.
    He managed a choked sound of protest. That the little demon should have guessed what he was feeling! Never had he felt so mortified, so at a loss as a man.
    "You needn't be," she went on. "I have no interest in aging playboy athletes, remember?"
    "And I have none in violet-eyed virgins who are cloned three times over!"
    "Good!" She grinned at him. "Then let's reinstate our truce. After all, neither of us is susceptible to the other's . . . uh, charms."
    "How true!" Caine unlocked his car and climbed in. As he pulled away from the curb, he glanced in his rearview mirror. Juliet was still standing on the porch, and he had the uncomfortable feeling that she was laughing at him.

Chapter 3

    "Julie, it's for you," Olivia called, tucking the telephone receiver in the crook of her neck while she continued to deftly arrange pink and white buttercream roses on the iced chocolate fudge cake.
    There was no reason for her heart to begin thumping so violently, Juliet admonished herself as she retrieved the receiver from Olivia. The call could be from anyone. From a potential customer wanting to hire the Post Sisters' Catering Service, from any number of friends, or . . . from Caine Saxon. Her pulses careened wildly.
    "Hello?" she said into the phone.
    "Is this really Juliet?" It was Caine Saxon, and he sounded suspicious. "How do I know it's not Olivia or Miranda pretending to be Juliet? Hell, you all sound exactly alike. Even your voices are cloned!"
    "You're paranoid, Saxon. Why would Liwy or Randi pretend to be me? They don't want to talk to you."
    At the mention of the name Saxon Olivia mangled a buttercream rose and stared at Juliet with wide blue eyes. Juliet stretched the phone cord as far as she could to slip around the corner and out of sight.
    "Hmm, I guess you must be Juliet at that." Caine gave a slight laugh. "The nasty, sharp-tongued one." His voice lowered. "I talked to Sophia today and I'm sorry to say my suspicions were correct. She was the one who left the message on your answering machine and she arranged for her friend to call your sister. She even had Darla Ditmayer ready to say she was in Richmond with Grant, in case Miranda called to inquire."
    Juliet gasped. "How could she?" The calculated cruelty of the other woman's acts appalled her. "Why would she do such a thing? And to her own brother!"
    "I don't think she expected your sister to break the engagement," Caine said slowly. "But I'm not making any excuses for Sophia and I told her so. I also told our mother what happened and she's as furious and disgusted as I am. We both had a long talk with Sophia." His voice hardened. "My sister is ready to make a full confession—and apology—to both Grant and Miranda."
    Juliet guessed that Sophia Saxon had been given little choice in the matter. It must have been a thoroughly unpleasant scene with Caine Saxon letting his sister know the full vent of his fury and disgust. Not that she felt a