âPlay with me. Itâll be fun.â
Taking Josieâs hands, he placed them around his neck. His hands low on her hips, he swayed her in time to the music.
âDallasâ¦â
âYou look awfully cute in that robe.â He especially liked her messy pile of crazy-corkscrew hair. How the deep V at her throat guided his eyes to naughty places.
âIâm thirty-three. Hardly in the right age bracket for cute.â
âSays who?â Cinching her close enough that even air couldnât squeeze between them, he nuzzled her neck.
She made a halfhearted effort to push him away, but then he slipped his hand beneath her chin, drawing her lips to his. Their kiss was awkward and tender and the most exciting thing to happen to him in years.
Dear Reader,
Last we âtalkedâ my kiddos were graduating from high school. Now, theyâre setting off for college. Where did the time go? Aside from my achy ârainâ knee, I donât feel any older. Lord knows, most days our kids donât act older! LOL! So why are we now packing up their bedrooms to launch them into the world?
In Dallas and Josieâs story, Dallas is a single father to naughty twins, which gave me plenty of time to reflect over our own twin mischief. Our daughter refused to cook in her play kitchen with fake food, so I was constantly finding the milk, eggs and cheese in her room! Our son could take his room from neat-as-a-pin to ransacked in under thirty minutes. Finally, I gave up on sorting Legos, Lincoln Logs, army guys and dinosaurs into their own neat bins. Giant tubs were much easier to shovel the mess into!
At each stage of raising our children, Hubby and I were convinced that that was the toughest weâd have it. Just as Dallas feels kindergarten is hard, fourth grade science fair projects kicked our behinds. Now that our kids will soon be leaving the nest, weâre thinking the hardest parenting task of all is saying goodbye.
Lucky for Dallas, heâs got a few more years before that happens. What he doesnât have is the willpower to steer clear of Josie, the girlsâ pretty teacher!
Happy reading!
Laura Marie
The Rancherâs Twin Troubles
Laura Marie Altom
After college (Go Hogs!), bestselling, award-winning author Laura Marie Altom did a brief stint as an interior designer before becoming a stay-at-home mom to boy/girl twins and a bonus son. Always an avid romance reader, she knew it was time to try her hand at writing when she found herself replotting the afternoon soaps.
When not immersed in her next story, Laura teaches art at a local middle school. In her free time, she beats her kids at video games, tackles Mount Laundry and of course reads romance!
Laura loves hearing from readers at either P.O. Box 2074, Tulsa, OK 74101, or email [email protected].
Love winning fun stuff? Check out
www.lauramariealtom.com!
This story is dedicated to all of the friends
whoâve helped raise our kids. We couldnât have done it without you!
Special thanks to Tom and Karen Gilbert, Lynne and
Tony Beeson, Susie Thornbrugh, Kim Blackketter, Jennifer Crutchfield, Jackie and John Butts, Karen and Jack Lairmore, and Melinda and Scott Taylor.
This list is woefully incomplete, but to fill it,
Iâd need a dedication book, rather than page!
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
âAre we talking about the same kids?â Dallas Buckhorn shifted on the pint-size chair in his twin daughtersâ kindergarten classroom. Across a sea of tiny tables, his angels made dinner in a play kitchen. âBecause my Betsy and Bonnie wouldnât pull a stunt like that.â
Uptight Miss Griffin folded her hands atop her desk, full lips pressed into a frown. Her mess of red curls had escaped the clip at the back of her neck, making her look more like a pretty teen ditching school than a full-grown woman teaching it. âWhile the girls are lucky to have such wonderful support in their corner, the fact remains that our classroom fish tank had an entire package of Kool-Aid spilled in.â
âYes, wellââ the tankâs purple-tinged water forced Dallas to hide a chuckle ââthe goldfish donât seem to mind.â
âSince you seem to find this amusing, Mr. Buckhorn, you should know that at the time of the incident, your girls were the only children near the tank.â
âYeah, but did you see them do it?â
After a momentâs hesitation, she said, âNo, butââ
Dallas stood. âEver heard the phrase âinnocent until proven guiltyâ?â
âSir, with all due respect, this isnât the first time Iâve had trouble with the girls. Theyâve put popcorn in the plants to see if it would grow. Sneaked cafeteria food into our play kitchen and served it to other students. The last time it rained, theyââ
âWhoa.â Slapping on his Stetson, Dallas said, âI donât know what youâre trying to prove, but if Bonnie and Betsy did all of that, sounds to me like my babies arenât getting adequate supervision. Maybe youâre the one who needs looking after?â