Free An Extraordinary Match (The Match Series Book 3) by Barbara Dunlop

shutting off the light behind the reception counter.
    The front door clicked shut behind him.
    Jade looked up from the molded plastic chair, blinking as if she was just coming back to reality.
    “I’m sorry to bother you,” she said.
    “ Bother me?” He took the few paces that put him directly in front of her.
    “I need your help.”
    He didn’t know whether to shout out the word no or laugh in her face. It was outrageous enough for her to even show her face here, never mind ask for his help.
    “I’m outta here,” said Danica, grabbing her coat from one of the wall hooks.
    “Good night,” Logan told her without looking.
    The front door opened and closed again.
    “I need to get to Denver,” said Jade.
    Her gaze touched his, then slipped to one side, then moved to the floor.
    “How’d you get out of jail?”
    “Bail. Apparently, my sister Jillian called my grandmother.”
    “You’re allowed to leave town?” He didn’t know why he was asking. He didn’t care. There was no reason in the world for him to be curious about anything except her eventual jail sentence and making sure the credit card information she’d stolen didn’t make it onto the black market.
    “I have to leave town. I can’t leave the state.” Her glance went to the small, burgundy suitcase parked beside her feet. “They kicked me out of the hotel.”
    “No kidding.”
    “The other hotels are all full. I tried to book a flight to Denver, but—”
    The office door burst open, bouncing against the wall stop.
    Jade’s complexion paled as looked up.
    Logan turned.
    His sister, Amy, rushed into the room. “Logan, what’s going—Jade, are you all right?” Amy’s momentum took her swiftly forward. She halted herself and slid into the seat next to Jade.
    “She tried to rip off the Twin Peaks,” said Logan.
    “So I heard.” Amy was talking directly to Jade. “What happened?”
    “Why are you asking her?” Logan demanded. “She’s only going to lie to you.”
    “Shut up, Logan. What happened?”
    “It’s complicated,” said Jade.
    Logan threw up his hands in disgust.
    “Try me,” said Amy.
    “What are you doing?” Logan asked his sister.
    “I was framed,” said Jade.
    “ Framed ? Is that your new story? This afternoon, you were wholly innocent.”
    “I am wholly innocent. Well, mostly innocent. I admitted that I piggybacked on the hotel’s Internet connection.”
    Amy shot Logan a sharp look. “Have you never heard of innocent until proven guilty?”
    He couldn’t figure out what was wrong with his sister. “Not when you know what happened.”
    “We don’t know what happened.”
    “Oh, yes, we do.”
    “Will you let her talk?”
    Logan clamped his jaw.
    “Jade?” Amy prompted.
    Jade brushed her hair back with a shaky hand. “I just want to get out of town.”
    “What happened?” Amy’s tone was sympathetic.
    Jade paused. She swallowed. She closed her eyes for a long moment. Logan assumed she was getting her story straight.
    “Like I said, it’s complicated. At first I thought it was a mistake. I borrowed the hotel’s Internet—”
    “Borrowed,” Logan scoffed.
    “Shut up,” Amy repeated.
    It took Jade a moment to start again, and for some reason, Logan felt guilty. Which was ridiculous. He was not buying into this wounded innocence act.
    “I checked my e-mail,” said Jade. “That’s all. The next thing I knew, the sheriff was at my door.”
    “Is that enough?” Logan asked Amy. “Can we stop now?”
    “She said ‘at first,’” said Amy. “What was the second part.”
    Jade looked up at Logan. Her luminous eyes seemed to trap him. They were shimmering, as if she was only just managing to keep from crying. This was night and day from the vivacious woman he’d spent the day with yesterday. Either something was off here, or she should be up for an Academy Award.
    “You remember those men?” she asked him.
    “What men?” The question was out before he had a chance to stop it. He