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

When she’d heard that Mitch was dropping by, she’d had a few seconds of excitement before she’d reminded herself that he wasn’t coming to see her. He probably didn’t even remember who she was. So when the doorbell had rung, she’d gone to let him in, not expecting much but pleased to be seeing someone from home. Opening the door, she’d found him standing there and her world had fallen out of the sky.

He’d been completely wild, totally exotic, like a fictional hero. His hair was a long, thick tangle framing his outrageously handsome face. His body had been spectacularly displayed in a tight, clinging shirt and torn jeans that molded to his muscular legs like something that had grown to cover him. He was reeking with attitude and looked like a young freedom fighter, a rebel, a revolutionary, ducking in out of the street to evade a pursuer. Even now, the memory of how provocatively fine he’d looked took her breath away.

She’d fallen for him like a ton of bricks, right there in the doorway to Jimmy’s tiny flat. Not that it should have been surprising. After all, even though she hadn’t seen him for years, she’d had a crush on him since she’d been a child. Of course, he’d never noticed her in those days.

Only, this time he did.

“Hey,” he’d said, looking deep into her eyes. “Hey yourself,” she’d said back, looking dreamily into his.

“What’s your name?” he’d asked, proving her theory.

“Darcy,” she’d responded, just as glad he didn’t remember the awkward girl who’d mooned after him in the old days.

“I’m Mitch.”

“I know.”

He’d smiled and she’d swooned toward him.

“Want to run away with me?” he asked her softly, leaning even closer.

She’d nodded without hesitation, knowing it was just banter, but answering in all sincerity. “Yes,” she whispered.

His gaze had seemed to devour her hungrily and for one long moment, she’d lost herself in his blue eyes.

“Hey, Mitch,” Jimmy had called out from the kitchen. “You finally got here.”

And she’d pulled back, thinking the moment was over, that the relationship between the two men would be the focus of the rest of the day. But she’d been wrong. The magic that had sparked between them didn’t fade. As soon as they got the chance, they’d gone out into the city together, and things had gone from pure delight to rapture.

At first she’d looked on that exciting weekend as a mistake, but one that was just too delicious to really regret—a romantic episode she would treasure forever. It seemed the kind of thing you read about in books or saw in movies. He’d come into her life at just the moment she had felt most lost and lonely and reminded her of what joy in living could be like—and then he’d gone.

And then she’d realized she was pregnant.

She watched as he approached her now, looking so clean-cut and handsome—not a rebel at all. But she knew that exciting body still lay under the suit coat and hints of that crazy untamed spirit still lurked in his eyes if you looked hard enough. The packaging had changed, but he was still the same guy.

Was she still the same girl? Not on your life.

CHAPTER TWO

“WHAT are you doing on this floor?” Darcy asked for lack of anything better to say.

Mitch shrugged. “I got a message from Bill Monroe.” He noted the startled look on her face in reaction to that news. “You, too?”

She nodded. A feeling of dread was beginning to build inside her. If this was what she thought it might be …

He inclined his head. “Lead on, McDuff,” he muttered.

She bit her lip and led the way into her boss’s office. Bill rose and shook hands with Mitch, murmuring a greeting. Still standing, he got to the point.

“Darcy, I hate to lose you. But you’ve been assigned to the new department Mitch will be heading.”

She blanched, though by now she’d been expecting this very thing. “What?” She shook her head.

Surely this wasn’t written in stone yet. “No.” She turned to Mitch appealingly. “No!” Surely he would do something to stop this.

And he looked as though he wanted to. “Interesting,” he said. “But there’s been some mistake. You see, I won’t need an assistant. I’ve already got a secretary picked out and—”

“Darcy isn’t a secretary. She’s a property analyst. And her area of expertise resides smack dab in the center of your new project.” Bill dropped an armful of folders on the desk as though that settled the matter. “You can take these with you.”

Darcy’s heart sank. That meant Mitch was taking over the Bermuda Woods development. She’d been working on that one for months. There was no way she was going to get out of this, was there? She stared into Mitch’s eyes and he stared right back into hers. She’d forgotten how gorgeous those eyes were, deep blue and dangerous as the sky on a stormy day. Those eyes were the first thing that had intrigued her when she’d met him in Paris. She winced.

Don’t think about Paris, she told herself sharply. Not now.

“You know, I really can’t do this,” she said, looking at her boss brightly, giving it one last try. “I’ve got a desk full of work. Mr. Grayson is waiting for my report on the Clemson release.”

The older man glowered at her. “Sorry, Darcy,” he said stiffly. “You’ve been assigned to Mr. Carver. You can take it up with the board, but as far as HR is concerned, you’re working up there now.”

She swallowed hard and tried to smile. The man was droning on, giving Mitch some last-minute instructions on paperwork, but she wasn’t listening. This was disastrous. She couldn’t work for Mitch. She could barely look at him. Once he’d found out about the twins …

“They want these forms to be filled out before you leave this evening,” Bill was saying to Mitch. He sent a regretful look Darcy’s way. “I hate to see you go,” he told her, “but my loss is Mitch Carver’s gain.” He smiled at the younger man. “Her expertise is going to be invaluable to you. You’ll see that soon enough.”

Nice words, but she hardly heard them. She took up the folders and carried them back to her own desk, the one she was going to spend the day clearing out. Mitch came behind her.

“Want me to carry some of those on up for you?” he asked.

When she flashed him a look, he added, “Look, Darcy, I’m not any crazier about this than you are.”

She turned on him, thinking if that was really the case, he could have tried a little harder. “You ought to have some pull, being the boss’s son and all. Can’t you do something about this?”

He grimaced, raking fingers through his thick hair distractedly. “I’m pretty much in the position of the returning prodigal right now. I don’t have too many favors owed me. But I’ll see what I can do.”

“Good.” That seemed to be all she wrote as far as rays of hope were concerned. She didn’t think holding her breath until she turned blue would be effective at this point. “You’ve got to do something.”

“Do I?” Turning back toward her, he cocked an eyebrow.

“Yes. Of course. You know we can’t work together.” “Can’t we?”

He looked genuinely puzzled and she realized he had no clue why she might feel that way. Not yet, anyway. Once he knew about the twins, he would understand. She was going to tell him … just as soon as she figured out how.

But that was just the problem. She had no idea what his reaction would be. She knew he didn’t want a family. He’d been very clear on the point that night when it had seemed they were opening their hearts to each other. So he wasn’t likely to take this as good news. She’d assumed he would resent her dropping this bombshell in his lap—maybe even try to wriggle out of facing it. But he didn’t know about them yet, so why was he acting as though he wanted to keep distance between them as much as she did? She could think of only one possible reason—he was afraid she might want to resume their affair and he didn’t want any part of that.

Just the thought of that sparked a flash of anger, but she pushed it back. After all, wasn’t that exactly what she was feeling as well?

“I’ll do what I can,” he was saying, turning to go. “I’ll let you know.”

She nodded and watched as he strode toward the elevator.

“Who’s the hottie?” asked a voice at her elbow.