Thunderbolt over Texas

“Love some.”

“It’s a little better than yesterday.” One cup of coffee. That was it. And no matter what, he wasn’t letting her talk him into going back to the house for breakfast.

Kyle’s plan might be crazy, but Cole knew he’d cave—even if there was only a slight chance it would help Katie get pregnant. Because Katie without babies was positively unthinkable. She’d be the greatest mother in the world.

“Yesterday’s coffee was fine,” said Sydney.

“You lie,” said Cole.

She shrugged. “I’ve had worse.”

“Don’t know where.” He put a fresh, steaming mug on the table in front of her.

“Sherman’s on West Fifty-second. Ever been to New York?”

“Never have. You hungry?”

“Katie made eggs.”

He nodded and sat back down. “How’s she doing?”

Sydney wrapped her hands around the mug. “Sad, I think.”

Cole nodded, trying not to feel like a heel.

“You know your brother’s come up with a plan to fix this, right?” she asked.

Every muscle in Cole’s body contracted. His brother had brought Sydney into the loop? Why, that low-down, sneaky…

He bought a few seconds by taking a swallow of his coffee. “What kind of a plan?”

“He said he’d explained it all to you last night.”

Of course he did. “What did he tell you?”

“That my timing couldn’t have been better. That you and I should get married and let Katie think we’re expanding the Erickson dynasty.”

It was a conspiracy. It was a bloody conspiracy. “You actually think Katie will fall for it?”

Sydney gazed knowingly at him from under her thick lashes. “You don’t think she’ll believe you’re interested in me?”

“Fishing?”

Her smile turned self-conscious and she gave a shrug. “Maybe.”

“Or cornering me, perhaps?”

Her smiled widened then. “Maybe that, too.”

Cole sighed. “I meant no disrespect to you.” He simply didn’t want to marry a stranger. Was that such a horrible thing?

Sydney was assessing him with those gorgeous green eyes. “Okay, I’ll go first. You’re a good-looking, sexy guy. It’s not a big stretch for Katie to think I might go for you.”

Cole’s chest tightened on the word sexy.

It was Sydney who wrote the book on sexy. The way she moved with such fluid grace. The way her husky voice caught on that trembling laugh.

He could still feel her touch on his arm, on his thigh. Okay, so the thigh one wasn’t the most pleasant memory in the world. But it was still sexy. Which was pretty pathetic.

“Cole?”

“Hmm?”

“I think it’s a good plan.”

“Of course you do.”

“If we’re lucky, it’ll help Katie. It’ll definitely help the Laurent—a respected public institution, I might point out. So where’s the harm?”

“Don’t you have places to go? Things to dig up?”

“That’s archeologists. There’s nothing higher on my priority list than the Thunderbolt.”

Cole pushed aside his pancakes.

She wanted to take this seriously? Okay. They’d take it seriously for a minute. “What about your family? You’d lie to them about getting married?”

She waved a hand. “Not an issue.”

“You’re not close to them?” That surprised Cole. She was such a smart, perky, good-natured woman. What kind of a family wouldn’t want to stay close to her?

A shadow crossed her face. “My foster parents died five years ago.”

Cole’s stomach clenched in sympathy. He knew what it was like to lose parents. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

She shook her head. “It’s okay.”

“What about brothers and sisters?”

“None.”

His sympathy rush escalated. Now he had a sexy, vulnerable little orphan Annie challenging him to do right by his sister-in-law.

He stood up and took his dishes to the sink.

She followed. “Cole?”

“Yeah.” And there was that elusive scent again. He didn’t dare turn around.