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 and he’d resisted because it went against everything he’d planned for his life. But the more he’d thought about it, the more he’d realized it might be an answer for them both.

      He’d seen men out in the field who had cracked up over time. The work he did out there was stressful, to say the least. It wouldn’t hurt to have an anchor at home, something to help keep him on an even keel. He’d never known a woman he could even remotely imagine marrying. But Darcy—well, she was different. Maybe … maybe it would work with her.

      He hadn’t taken her vehement rejection of his idea too seriously. She hadn’t had time to think it over yet. If she were here, they could talk it over and find a way to make it work. If she wasn’t here, they couldn’t do a thing about it. He needed her here.

      That laugh again. He shuddered. Turning to his computer screen, he did a search on “Noise canceling headphones.” Hmm. It was a possibility.

      “Mitch?”

      Skylar came in, looking coy. “I hate to bother you, but the manager out at Bermuda Woods just called and he says there’s a document missing from the final packet.”

      Mitch shrugged. “So find it and get it out to him,” he said dismissively.

      She hesitated, then smiled flirtatiously. “He told me a bunch of stuff but I can’t figure out what he’s talking about. I thought maybe we could work on it together. I could really use your help.” She looked hopeful.

      Mitch frowned. “I’m not up to speed on that project, either.” He sighed resignedly. “Okay, we’d better call her.”

      Skylar blinked. “Call who?”

      “Darcy Connors, of course. She knows everything about this stuff.”

      “Oh.” Skylar didn’t look enthusiastic.

      “Dial her up.” He waved her toward the phone. “Let’s get her input.”

      Skylar sighed big. “Okay.”

      She looked up Darcy’s number and pushed the numbers on the phone.

      “Oh darn, it’s her machine,” she told Mitch, waving the receiver in the air.

      “Well, leave a message,” he said impatiently.

      “Oh. Okay.” She put the receiver to her ear. “Hi, Darcy, honey. It’s Skylar—at the office? Mr. Carver—Mitch—he would like to talk to you about—um—the Bermuda Woods development. He has some loose ends he wants to discuss. Please call us back. Okay? Thanks. See you soon, honey.”

      Mitch scowled and glanced at his watch. “If she doesn’t call in half an hour, call her again,” he ordered gruffly.

      Skylar tossed back her fire-engine-red hair, looked like she was going to launch into a diatribe, then stopped herself when she caught the expression on his face. “Whatever,” she said, rolling her eyes and flouncing out of the office.

      Mitch’s teeth were on edge again.

      “Whatever,” he echoed dully, staring out his window at the growing storm clouds. “Whatever it takes,” he added more softly, his gaze sharpening. He needed a plan. He was a man of action, wasn’t he? All right then. He would come up with a plan. How hard could that be?

      Darcy sat in Mimi’s kitchen listening to the message as Skylar gave it. There was no way she was picking up the phone to take the call. She was going to stay strong, even though she knew Mitch was right there, just seconds away. She’d promised she would take calls and help when needed. And she planned to be available by the end of the week. But not now. It was too soon. She and Mitch both needed to get used to the reality of her not being in the office. She couldn’t think of anything that couldn’t wait a few days. So she was standing pat.

      She hadn’t realized it would be this hard. She’d managed to remove Mitch from her daily life physically, but there didn’t seem to be any way to push him out of her mind.

      Still, she was having fun with the twins. Tonight she was making pizza and had games and songs ready. Tomorrow she was taking them to the park. If only she wasn’t haunted every step by thoughts of how much Mitch would like these little guys—if he ever let himself.

      That night it rained hard for a while. A little thunder. A little lightning. After checking on her babies who were sleeping through the turmoil, Darcy snuggled under her covers and listened to the storm. Was Mitch awake, too? Was he lying there, just a few miles away, staring at the ceiling of his room and thinking of her? For just a moment she could imagine reaching out and making a magical connection. She shivered delightfully, then closed her eyes and dreamed of him.

      The next day she ignored another phone message from Skylar—the third one, and packed the boys into the car, taking off for the park. They had a wonderful, if tiring couple of hours, stopped for icecream cones on the way home, which turned the inside of her car into a sticky zone, then headed for home.

      She knew something was wrong right away. For one thing, Mitch’s car was standing out in front of her house. But even more ominous, a moving truck was coming out of her driveway and taking off just as she drove up. She looked back. The two boys were sound asleep in their car seats. She debated leaving them there for a few minutes, then decided against it. You just couldn’t be too careful where these young lives were concerned.

      That meant she had to take time lugging both car seats into the house. The boys didn’t wake up, so at least she got a break there. She left them on the floor of their room with their seats tilted back into sleeping position, and hurried back into the living room to see what the heck was going on.

      She could see his car still parked at the curb, but there was no sign of him outside. So that meant he was probably inside somewhere, but where? The garage was her next target, but it was standing empty. She frowned. Maybe the converted sunporch on the side of the house. She hurried to it and opened the wide French doors that led onto the porch. And there he was.

      “Hi,” he said, leaning back in his desk chair. “I’ve been waiting for you. Where’ve you been?”

      She gaped at him in consternation, then went down the three steps to his level. He was looking like the cat that ate the canary, very bright-eyed and full of himself, and he was surrounded by an instant office that he must have set up in the short space of time she’d spent out with the boys.

      “What in the world …?” she muttered, in shock as she looked at the sparkling glass desk, equipped with a trendy slender notebook computer, printer, fax and copy machine—even his trademark big jar of jelly beans. A huge metal file cabinet sat beside the desk. All the comforts of the office gleaming attractively.

      “How did you get in here?” she demanded.

      He raised one eyebrow. “Please, Darcy. It’s a basic requirement of my profession to know how to get into locked places.”

      Of course. She knew that. But … but … he wasn’t supposed to get into her locked places!

      “You couldn’t wait until I got home?”

      “No. The moving van was on a tight schedule.”

      “Moving van …” She could hardly talk. In her wildest dreams she had never expected this. “But СКАЧАТЬ