Secret Twins For The Texan

“You need to work on your pillow talk.” He was just standing in front of the couch—completely naked, no less.

She was not going to let visions of his physique get in the way of her quick escape. She grabbed her fancy undergarments from the floor. What had she been thinking putting these on when she got dressed? She knew where she was going. Cole didn’t deserve French lace. He didn’t deserve to see her in a potato sack, as far as she was concerned. She gave him everything once—her heart, body, and devotion. He threw it all away.

A bundle of clothes in her arms, she tore off down the hall to the powder room she’d used when she first arrived. She couldn’t even look at her own reflection in the mirror. She was too embarrassed and furious with herself. She’d probably spit right into the glass. She sat down on the toilet to pee and stepped into her panties. So much for telling Cole to stay away—she’d swung in the opposite direction, let him take off her clothes and climbed right onto his lap. How dumb could she possibly be?

A knock came at the door. “Dani. Come on. Stop being so dramatic.”

Speaking of dumb, what was Cole thinking, accusing her of being dramatic? “Go away. Go upstairs to your room or something. I don’t want to see you again.” She flushed the toilet to drown out anything he might say in response. Unfortunately it didn’t work.

“I want to make love to you, Dani.” His voice was louder now, like his forehead was pressed against the door.

“No. You want sex. It was supposed to be a meaningless hookup. Remember? You promised me this would mean nothing.” Now that her bra was hooked, she made quick work of wrapping herself up in that stupid, stupid dress. She was going to have to throw it away or drop it at the dry cleaner’s and never pick it up.

“Come on. Are you just going to leave me like this?”

Dani grumbled and made a cursory glance in the mirror, just to remove the smudges of mascara from beneath her eyes. She didn’t want him to see her looking like a raccoon. “I’m coming out.”

“Good.”

She stormed right past him, down the hall and back into the living room to locate her shoes. “This was wrong...coming here was a huge mistake. I don’t ever want to see you again. I don’t want to talk to you. Nothing.” She worked her feet into her pumps and made the mistake of looking at him. He was standing there in nothing more than his boxers, still sporting the erection that she was not going to make go away.

He flinched at her words, but they were the only thing that made sense to her right now. “That’s a tall order. You just moved back to town. We’re bound to run into each other.”

Of course that had been exactly Dani’s thinking when she’d come over here. Now it didn’t seem like such a convenient argument. “You do your Cole Sullivan things, running around catching bad guys and raising cattle with your big perfect family, and I’ll do my thing. Hopefully we won’t see each other at all.”

She marched to the front door and breezed right through. She would’ve closed it right behind her if Cole hadn’t stuck his leg in there and muscled it open. Down the driveway she raced, but she could sense Cole behind her. Get to the car. Just get to the car.

She opened the door and climbed into the driver’s seat, but this was one hell of a time to have long legs and be driving a convertible. She had to contort her body to get into it.

“Dani, stop.”

“Cole, have you lost your mind? You’re out here in your underwear.”

“Do you honestly think I care about that right now? You come to my house all hellfire and brimstone, and I kiss you and you melt right into my arms. What is going on? I thought this could just be two friends having fun. Getting reacquainted. Apparently not.”

“You act like you did nothing wrong, Cole. You broke up with me, remember?”

“You don’t know everything.”

She turned the key and revved her engine. “I know enough. Good night, Cole.” The car jerked ahead a few feet when she let go of the clutch, but then it stalled out. “Dammit,” she mumbled under her breath. So much for her dramatic exit.

“Guess I’ll see you around town.”

“I hope not.” She turned the key and the engine purred back to life.

“It’s a small town, Dani. You can’t hide from me forever.”

His voice faded into the black night as Dani sped away, cursing herself for coming out here. Kissing Cole Sullivan and letting him take off her clothes had been a mistake. Granted, loving him had been a bigger one. With two little boys at home relying on her to have her act together and give them a stable life, it was a mistake she couldn’t afford to repeat.

Three (#u6d5bc439-e6e0-5e93-8a7b-5f4236e6f4dd)

Cole loved downtown Royal, but especially when there was a party. The Labor Day celebration, with its food vendors, hay rides and carnival games, was a favorite. It heralded the end of the brutal Texas summer and the start of what he hoped would be a beautiful fall. But first, he and the team had to track down Rich. They had to make him pay for his litany of crimes—Jason’s murder, stealing Will’s identity, and siphoning off millions of dollars from Will’s company and the Texas Cattleman’s Club. If he was sent away for all of that, everything would be right with Cole’s world. Well, almost everything. Dani coming back into town had turned a few things upside down, namely his ability to think about anything else.

He strolled through the main block, which had been closed off to traffic. He was willing to admit to himself that he was hoping to run into Dani; he just wasn’t prepared to say it out loud. She’d consumed his thoughts since the other night, and not just because clothes had come off and she’d left him as sexually frustrated as he’d ever been. Six years had numbed him to the memory of what Dani did to him. She made him feel alive. She might have a terrible attitude 50 percent of the time, but he knew that wasn’t what was in her heart. Her exterior was nut-hard, but on the inside, Dani Moore was as soft and tender as could be.

He’d seen that caring side after his accident six years ago, when he was still a Texas Ranger. He’d narrowly survived colliding with a guardrail during a high-speed pursuit. Cole had been carried off in a stretcher with broken bones, lacerations and contusions. After his more urgent injuries had been tended to and he was finally stable, the doctors ordered an MRI. That was when they’d discovered the tumor, an inoperable glioma, square in the middle of his brain.

Luckily, Cole had sent Dani home to get some sleep, so only his brother Sam had been there when he got the news. She wasn’t there to hear the words no one ever wanted to hear, especially not from an oncologist. They couldn’t remove it. Radiation was unlikely to make a difference. It was likely going to be the thing that killed him, but there was no way to know how long he had. Could be days, weeks, months, years or decades. Plenty of people walked around not even knowing they had one, the doctor had said, which had been of zero comfort to Cole.

Cole swore Sam to secrecy, although Sam had begged him to talk to Dani about it. He knew that Cole had been getting ready to ask Dani to marry him. He’d bought a ring. He’d been about to ask her to build a future with him.

Cole wouldn’t hear any of it. That doctor had signed his death warrant. He’d already seen what worry did to Dani. Hell, every time he went out on a call or worked on an investigation, she was a ball of stress. She always hugged him and kissed him fiercely when he made it home safe. Cole understood why. Dani’s dad had been in law enforcement and he’d died in the line of duty. She’d had to watch the way her mother fell apart afterward, drinking and aiming all kinds of verbal abuse at Dani. Emancipated at seventeen, Dani eventually ended up with her aunt Dot in Royal. Dani’s toughness came from loss. Cole would not let that happen again.

So he’d done the only thing he could think to do. As soon as he was back at home, he’d broken it off. Oh, the anger and fury unleashed that day was brutal. But Cole had taken it. Yes, she’d spent countless hours with him in the hospital, and yes, they’d been together for three years. He’d had to lie and tell her that none of that mattered anymore. He didn’t love her. Those were the words that had been the hardest to say.

Of course, Dani had refused to believe him. She’d flat out called him a liar. She’d thrown things at the wall—pillows and books and magazines. So he’d had to double down on his fabrication and tell her there was another woman. That was the beginning of the end. She’d become impossibly quiet. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she’d called him a cheating bastard. He hated to hurt her that way, but it was the only way to cut things off for good.

Three days later, Dani left for New York. By all accounts from the other night, she’d done well for herself. His plan had worked perfectly. Except he was still waiting for the day this stupid tumor might take his life. And he’d never bargained on Dani ever returning to Royal.

The late-morning sun beat down on Cole’s back as he continued his survey of town for Dani. When he rounded the corner near Miss Mac’s Pie Shack, he nearly ran square into Vaughn McCoy and Abigail Stewart. They both were grinning ear to ear, Vaughn’s service dog, Ruby, between them.

“How are you two doing today?” Cole asked.

Abigail smiled even wider, a feat Cole did not think was possible. She pulled Vaughn closer and gazed up into his face. “We’re perfect. Absolutely perfect.”

Vaughn took Abigail’s left hand and presented it to Cole. “Newlyweds, to be exact.” The ring sparkled in the sun as she wagged her fingers.

“Oh, wow. Congratulations! When did this happen?”

“Just now,” Abigail said. “We got Judge Miller to perform the ceremony in our backyard.” She smoothed her hand over her protruding belly. “We wanted to get it done before this little one decides to make his or her presence known.”

Cole wasn’t the envious type, but he could feel the jealousy rising up inside him. Vaughn and Abigail had the life he’d always wanted, the one he’d once thought was a done deal for Dani and him. Why did some people get their happy ending while others didn’t? He didn’t know the answer.

He shook Vaughn’s hand. “Well done. I’m very happy for you both.”

“When are you going to get around to settling down? Or are the Sullivan boys all committed to being bachelors for life?” Abigail asked.

It would’ve taken Cole an hour to give the real answer. Instead, he laughed. “If you ask my mother, we’re all running on borrowed time. She wants grandchildren yesterday.”

“Good to see you, Cole. I’d better get my bride down to the diner. She’s already reminded me a dozen times how hungry she is,” Vaughn said.

Abigail shrugged adorably. “I’m dying for pancakes and bacon.”

Cole clapped Vaughn on the shoulder. “You heard her. Get to it.”

Just as the happy couple walked away, Cole spotted Dani across the street. Unless his eyes were playing tricks on him, she was with two small boys. The street was packed now, and he had to wind his way through the crowd, past folks saying hello or wanting to talk to him.

I’m so sorry. I’m supposed to be meeting someone.