Free A Conflict of Interest by Barbara Dunlop

casually, unemotionally.
    They were both in Fields. It was a small town. For the next few days, she’d have to cope with running into Max. It was probably good practice.
    She turned her attention back to the menu. “I think I’ll have a milk shake,” she mused, her sweet craving still out in full force. “Chocolate.”
    “Cara always did go wild at lunchtime.” Gillian laughed.
    “What about you?” Jake asked Gillian. “You ever get wild?” His intimate tone drew Cara’s attention. Appreciation of Gillian’s beauty was clear in his eyes.
    Cara had seen that look from men a hundred times. Although she and Gillian looked very much alike, Gillian had always had a glamorous streak, a little more makeup, a little heavier on the jewelry, professional highlights in her hair, designer clothes and an eye for accessorizing that Cara admired.
    Gillian rolled her eyes at Jake’s interest, then she deftly shifted her attention to Max. “Nice to see you again, Max. The kids were all talking about you in the lobby this morning.”
    “No good deed goes unpunished,” Max drawled.
    “Did something happen?” asked Cara, glancing from man to man.
    “Montana isn’t the strongest market for After Dark, ” Jake explained. “Max was hoping to stay a little bit under the radar.”
    “Not that you’re helping me any,” Max pointed out to Jake.
    “I got some good footage yesterday. There’s a chance editing can turn it into a sweet human interest story.” Jake closed his menu. “It’s not like we’re getting anything on the president.”
    Cara looked at Max, curiosity piqued. “You don’t say?”
    “Don’t give away our information,” Max admonished Jake.
    “Not blowing the case wide open?” Cara pressed Max.
    “Too busy teaching small children to snowboard,” he replied laconically as he perused the sandwich section of the menu. “And you?”
    “Haven’t been teaching anything to small children.” She felt her arm drop reflexively to her lap.
    Then Gillian smiled innocently over her menu at Max. “Do you have any children of your own?” she asked.
    Cara nearly choked. Had her sister lost her mind?
    Jake coughed out a hearty laugh. “Not Max. At least, none that he knows about.”
    Cara felt light-headed for a moment.
    “No children,” Max told Gillian in a firm voice. “You?”
    “No children,” Gillian responded. “No husband. No boyfriend.”
    “Really?” Jake angled his body toward her.
    “Down, boy,” Gillian put in, dropping her gaze to the open menu. “I think I’ll go with a strawberry shake.”
    “I’m recently single myself,” Jake told her smoothly.
    “Quit hitting on Cara’s sister,” said Max.
    “It’s fine,” Gillian assured Max with an impish smile that said she dealt with it all the time. Cara knew she did.
    “You think this is hitting on her?” Jake asked in a mock-wounded tone. “Clearly, you’ve never seen me in action.”
    “I’ve seen you in action on six continents,” Max replied. “I like Cara, and I don’t want you messing with her family.”
    Gillian’s gaze met Cara’s. He likes you, was her silent message. Makes no difference, was Cara’s message back. She and Max were headed in completely different directions in life. They were already in opposing worlds, and no amount of liking each other was going to change that.

Five
    T hey’d had to cut their lunch short. News that Max was in town had spread around Fields, and the level of attention on him continued to grow. Cara could tell that it frustrated him. And after the tenth polite but intrusive autograph request, they took their meals to go.
    “We should head up to one of the hotel rooms,” Jake suggested as they converged on the sidewalk.
    “I’m in a closet,” Cara responded. “The press office can’t be extravagant with the taxpayers’ money.”
    “I’ve got this suite thing on the top floor,” said Gillian. “I take it we’re hiding out?”
    “I don’t think I’m going to get