Twin Ties, Twin Joys: The Boss's Double Trouble Twins / Twins for a Christmas Bride / Baby Twins: Parents Needed. Raye Morgan

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СКАЧАТЬ it really hard, I’m sure you’ll recall that I’m a property acquisitions agent.”

      She tucked the purse under her arm and started toward the elevator, looking back at him over her shoulder.

      “And I’m off to do some acquiring work right now. In fact, I’m late for a meeting with a contractor on the Pearson Development. So if you’ll excuse me …”

      He was following her, looking interested. “You’re meeting with him right now?”

      “Yes. I’m going out to Shadow Ridge.”

      “Great. I’ll go with you.”

      Stopping dead, she swung around to face him.

      “What?”

      He shrugged, looking remarkably handsome and civilized now that he’d wiped off the lipstick and straightened out his dark blue suit and the silver-blue tie. “Why not? I’ve got to get to know more about this business. You can show me the ropes.”

      She sagged. The last thing she needed was to spend the day carting him around and feeling resentful while doing it. “But Mitch …”

      He was taking no arguments. “Look, Darcy. I’m like someone who’s been dropped out of the sky here. I mean, I know I used to work here part-time when I was in high school and college, but I never paid much attention. I only wanted to get out of this town as soon as I could. On the whole, you know a lot more about this business right now than I do. If I’m going to do a decent job, I’ve got to learn. You can teach me.”

      She was supposed to teach him all she knew? Hah! That would be the day. She’d come by her knowledge the hard way, and he could do the same. Still, she couldn’t deny him a seat in her car. If only there was some way she could talk him out of coming with her.

      “You’re going to miss lunch,” she warned him hopefully.

      “Lunch.” He narrowed his eyes speculatively. “Are you talking about those cardboard slices of bread with some kind of fish substance slathered between them that they sell in the break room vending machine? Hmmm. Yes, that is a lot to give up just so that I can ride out into the warm sunny day to a rural area and listen to builders talk building. But sacrifices must be made.” He gave her a lopsided grin that was, unfortunately, totally endearing. “Besides, we can grab something on the road. A hamburger maybe.”

      Folding her arms over her chest, she frowned, feeling sulky. “I don’t ‘grab things on the road.’”

      He smiled, leaning across her to press the button for the elevator. “Don’t worry. There’s nothing to it. I’ll show you how.”

      “Oh brother!”

      “Besides,” he said, his smile fading and eyes darkening seriously as he leaned close to say it softly, “we have some things to talk about. This will give us a chance to do that.”

      Her heart began to thump in her chest. So he wasn’t going to ignore their situation after all. Well, good. Maybe. But just the fact that he thought they could discuss things on the fly given an odd moment or two didn’t bode well. You just didn’t make life commitments that way, did you?

      As they hit the highway and left city traffic behind them, her anxiety began to melt away. How could she stay tense when that big ole Texas sky was shockingly blue and almost cloudless above them? There was something irresistible about an open road. She relaxed, her hands loose on the wheel.

      Mitch had been quiet since they’d left the parking garage. Glancing at him sideways, she wondered what he was thinking. Was he preparing what he wanted to say to her? Or was he still mulling things over? Why didn’t he just go ahead and get it over with? She had a feeling it must be really bad if he couldn’t just spit it out on the spot.

      Now she was getting tense again. This was no good.

      “What kind of music do you like?” she asked, suddenly wanting something to fill the silence between them.

      “You choose.”

      She hesitated. “Well, are you still Texan enough to take in a little country and western? Or have you become too cosmopolitan and sophisticated for us hayseeds?”

      “Am I still Texan?” He turned toward her, appalled by the question. “Is the Pope Catholic?” She refused to give him a smile. “Last time I looked.”

      “There’s your answer.” He snorted. “Am I Texan?” he repeated, and for good measure, he sang her a few lines from, a popular song, finally coaxing a smile from her.

      “Not bad,” she had to admit. “You’re a man of many talents, aren’t you?”

      He laughed softly. “Darcy, I have only just begun to reveal myself to you.”

      She shook her head but she knew he was still feeling a bit full of himself after the way all those women had treated him that morning. He stretched out his long legs as best he could in the confinement of the car, and suddenly she was very much aware of him as a man—a man with a hard, gorgeous body, which she remembered only too well. She caught her breath as memories flooded her for a moment, pictures of his golden form stretched out on white sheets in lamplight.

      Oh my. She hadn’t thought of that for ages—and she really should block those things out of her mind, if she possibly could. She started to reach to turn up the air-conditioning, then caught herself just in time. But she couldn’t stop the heat from flooding her cheeks, and she was only glad he seemed too occupied with the passing landscape to notice.

      “You know, Darcy, you’ve got a few surprising facets to your persona as well,” he said a few minutes later, turning toward her again. “It was a real shock to find out you had … the twins.” His voice deepened. “I have to admit, though I thought of you often over the last two years, I never pictured you as a mother.”

      Well, that was just downright annoying. Sure, she was a mother. But that very fact made him a father. He seemed to be forgetting that part.

      “I never thought of you as a Texas businessman,” she shot back. “So we’re even.”

      He frowned. “I’m not a Texas businessman,” he protested.

      “No?”

      “Not really. Only temporarily.”

      “Well, cleaned up like you are, you could pass for one.”

      “Gee, thanks.”

      “Don’t mention it.”

      They were silent for a moment, then he spoke again.

      “So what did you think of me as?” he asked curiously.

      She raised an eyebrow. “Fishing for compliments?”

      “Not at all. Just curious.”

      She hesitated. What had she thought that day when she’d opened the door to Jimmy’s pied-à-terre and found the hunky hero from her teenage years standing there in the Paris rain? He was exactly what any woman would have conjured up for herself if she’d had a magic wand. But what had come to mind at the СКАЧАТЬ