The Rancher's Twin Troubles by Laura Marie Altom Read Free Book Online Page A

booth with the man with no distractions other than an occasional waitress refilling their drinks. It was tough enough keeping her cool around him in front of her class. On her own? Whew. “Um, I suppose I could fit you into my schedule.”
    â€œOh, hell. I forgot it’s the weekend. Do you already have plans?” He actually sounded as nervous as she felt.
    â€œNo,” she said, reminding herself that, like the man had told her, this was hardly a date. More like an off campus parent/teacher conference. As such, there was no logical explanation for why she’d taken the cordless phone into her walk-in closet, already searching for the right thing to wear. “Give me a few minutes to change out of my school clothes and I’ll be right over.”
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    D ALLAS STOOD WHEN J OSIE approached.
    She’d ditched her simple work dress in favor of jeans,a tight black T-shirt and those red boots of hers he’d already decided he liked. Her hair hung long and loose and wild. He liked that, too. He tried not to notice how her curls framed her full breasts.
    â€œSorry,” she said, hustling between tables to get to his booth. “I’d have been here sooner, but got held up by a train.”
    â€œHazard of small-town living.”
    Sliding onto her black vinyl seat, she laughed. “True.”
    â€œHungry? The coconut cream pie is great.”
    She wrinkled her nose. “Thanks, but I’m not a big fan of coconut. Had an incident as a child. Long story.”
    â€œFair enough.” Had her smile always been so contagious? “Blueberry á la mode?”
    â€œNow, that, I can do. With a hot tea, please.”
    He signaled to the waitress and gave her their order.
    With pleasantries out of the way, Dallas was unsure of his next move. Issues with his girls that’d seemed pressing back at the ranch now felt embarrassing.
    â€œIt’s okay, you know.”
    â€œWhat?” He looked up to find her staring. Smiling. Unwittingly making his chest tight with the kind of attraction he hadn’t felt for a woman in God only knew how many years.
    â€œFor you to ask for help with Bonnie and Betsy. They’ll turn out fine. You just need to set boundaries now as opposed to when they’re sixteen and drag racing their matching Lamborghinis.”
    With a grimace, he said, “Guess I deserve that.”
    Reaching across the table, she covered his hands with hers. Not only was her gesture comforting, but joltingly erotic. As if her fingertips were supercharged with emotion and heat. “Promise, I was only teasing. And please, don’t take this the wrong way, but in my professional opinion, you’ve equated loving your girls with letting them have or do whatever they want.”
    Nodding, he admitted, “My mom says the same thing. But for the life of me, I can’t see why making my girls happy is wrong.” More important, he’d promised Bobbie Jo that no matter what, their children would always be his top priority.
    â€œIt’s not wrong. It’s wonderful. But part of making them well-rounded people is teaching them self discipline and to follow rules and routines. Right now, Bonnie and Betsy seem to struggle in those areas. All I’m suggesting is that you start with baby steps to establish a sort of baseline order.”
    â€œOkay, whoa…” Dallas whooshed his hand over his head. “You lost me back at routines.”
    â€œTake, for instance, their school routines. In order to get my students used to their new classroom setting as opposed to hanging out at home, where their days are less structured, we do the same things over and over until they become second nature. We make lines for hand washing and recess and lunch. We say the pledge and then first thing every morning review our previous days’ letters and learn a new one. Because our schedule rarely varies—unless some parent shows up with cup cakes and