The Matchmaking Twins Read online

  But, really, what was she supposed to do? Stand there and make small talk with the rest of Sugar Falls, including their father? With the exception of that day in the school cafeteria, she’d been pretty successful at avoiding any conversation with Luke these past couple of weeks and, even though she knew it couldn’t last forever, she was hoping to buy herself a little more time.

  “I promise,” she said, finally caving in. Was it even physically possible to tell these two boys no?

  “We’ll be right back,” they shouted together before running to rejoin their team.

  She smiled and said hello to a few of the parents trickling down the bleachers and toward the parking lot. After all, it was a small town and she was the only female officer in Sugar Falls, so many of them knew her, or at least knew of her.

  Carmen wondered how many people really knew her at all.

  But before she could ponder that lonely thought, Kylie Gregson, Luke’s sister-in-law, made her way over, pushing the extrawide double stroller in front of her.

  “Hey, Officer Carmen.” Kylie, wearing a green team jersey, smiled at her. Even in a man’s baseball shirt, the woman looked like a cover model. Some women gave off the feminine vibe without even trying. “The twins are so excited you made the game today.”

  Carmen’s own smile was tentative, hoping the Gregson family didn’t think it was strange that some Marine turned cop from Las Vegas was forming quite the bond with the two blond boys. “Are they always so reckless when they play?”

  “When aren’t they reckless? If it weren’t for the strong family resemblance, I’d question whether any of the Gregson males were even related to my calm, good-natured husband. Especially this one.”

  Carmen hadn’t seen Luke approaching behind her. His ability to show up unexpectedly and throw her off course was something she wasn’t proud of, considering her career. She preferred to remain in control and unflustered at all times. Which was another reason she hadn’t stayed after last week’s game.

  “Beautiful day for a ball game.” Luke shot his dimpled grin at her before lifting up the sunshade on the stroller to peek in at his nieces. “Did they sleep through the whole game?”

  “Yep.” Kylie smiled proudly. “The Chatterson gene must’ve skipped a generation, because they’ve shown absolutely zero interest in baseball.”

  Luke laughed. “Don’t let Kane or your father hear you say that.”

  Carmen had only found out recently that Kylie’s dad was a famous major league coach. And everyone in town knew her brother, Kane, was on hiatus from his pitching career. In fact, he was hiding out from the mainstream sports media for reasons Carmen couldn’t figure out, but she knew Kane’s secrecy had something to do with the ball cap he sported at all times and the beard he’d recently shaved off. But Kylie and Luke both smiled at her as if she was in on the joke.

  “We’re back, Officer Carmen,” Aiden said as the twins approached them. The strap of his bat bag was looped over his wrist, allowing him to drag his gear behind him while his hands were busy trying to open the plastic bottle of fruit-punch-flavored Gatorade. “Me and Caden decided you’re our good luck charm.”

  “Yeah,” Caden said around a slice of orange from his after-game snack bag. “Every time you show up at our game, we play better.”

  Her? She was nobody’s lucky charm. And being from Vegas, she was well versed in what constituted good luck. “I don’t know about that.”

  “No, it’s true. Remember two weeks ago when I was pitching and the other team got three walks in one inning?”

  “Yes.” Carmen nodded. “I was here for that, which means maybe I was bad luck.”

  “Nah. You had to run over to the playground area to help get Choogie’s little sister unstuck from the monkey bars. So you weren’t really watching. But after you came back, I threw five strikeouts that game.”

  She raised an eyebrow at Kylie, as if to say help me out here. Carmen didn’t want the boys thinking she had anything to do with how they played the game. But the redhead shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t ask me. The girls both had colds so I wasn’t here.”

  “Well, what about when Aiden hit that foul ball in the sixth inning last week?” Carmen asked. “The one that hit Marcia Duncan’s new Smart car and cracked her windshield? That wasn’t very lucky.” Pointing out an innocent kid’s mistake left a bitter taste in her mouth. But she couldn’t very well have the twins thinking she had supernatural powers. They needed to realize that they played well all on their own.

  “You saw that?” Luke winced. “But you were off getting some nachos when that happened.”

  “How’d you know where I was?” she asked, then tried to erase the surprised look from her face. “Besides, I was watching them from the snack bar area. Anyway, even if I hadn’t seen it, I had to take the accident report on it so Mrs. Duncan could file a claim with her insurance company.”

  “But we couldn’t see you ’cause you weren’t near the bleachers,” Aiden said. “So it doesn’t count.”

  “Did you tell Mrs. Duncan that she looks funny driving around such a teeny tiny car?” Caden added. “Remember those clowns we saw one time at that rodeo in Grangeville, Dad? We probably did her a favor by wrecking that thing for her. So maybe you’re good luck for us and for big ol’ Mrs. Duncan.”

  “Boys,” Luke finally interrupted his sons. “I think you’re making Officer Delgado uncomfortable with all this good-luck talk.”

  So they were back to Officer Delgado again. Almost four weeks and she was still trying to forget the way her first name sounded on his lips. She should’ve been relieved. Instead, she felt her own lips turn down and her blood heat up in annoyance.

  “Oh, look,” Kylie said, and pointed out a white van in the parking lot. Recorded organ music was coming out the speaker mounted to its roof. “There’s an ice-cream truck. C’mon, boys. I’ll buy you guys a Popsicle to celebrate your win.”

  The woman winked at Carmen before pushing the stroller away, her nephews trailing behind her. Which left Carmen in the exact position she’d successfully avoided for the past twenty-three days and twenty-two hours.

  Alone with Luke Gregson.

  * * *

  Luke had seen her the moment her patrol car pulled into the parking lot. Hell, if he was being honest with himself, he’d been trying to catch glimpses of her in town all week. Or at least since he’d seen her sneaking away from the stands at the bottom of the ninth inning last Saturday.

  In the school cafeteria, she’d been all business. And even though his sons saw her every Tuesday afternoon and they’d shared a rafter and a pudding spoon, he hadn’t made any attempt to talk to Officer Delgado alone since that heated moment in her bedroom.

  Had he been inappropriate in any way? After Samantha died, Luke had lost all interest in the rules of attraction. Still, he’d gone over the bedroom conversation and the sequence of events in his mind several times since then. But the only thing that remained the same was the way she looked, standing there by her bed in her tight athletic pants and body-skimming pink hoodie. Or the way she’d stared at his bare torso, her full lower lip caught between her straight white teeth.

  Of course, it didn’t help that he couldn’t forget the smell of her, probably because the scent from her shampoo had lingered in his own hair for several days—despite the fact that he’d washed it repeatedly.

  “It’s funny what they get into their heads,” she finally said, drawing his eyes away from her tight no-nonsense bun.

  “What who gets in their heads?”

  “The boys. Thinking that I’m some sort of good luck.”

  “Oh, that,” he said, then used the toe of his sneaker to push on the dirt beneath his feet. Get back on solid ground, Gregson. “The twins mentioned it last week, too. Not that I believe in any of that, but they’d both struck out before you got he
re today and Caden missed an easy catch at first base earlier in the game. I don’t know if it’s self-fulfilling prophecy or what, but they’re more convinced than ever that unless you’re at their games, they won’t play well.”

  “But that’s silly,” she said.

  “Try explaining that to a couple of eight-year-olds. Actually, nine-year-olds as of this Friday.”

  “Oh, that’s right. The boys mentioned you were throwing them a big birthday party since it’s a half-day at school.”

  “Did they invite you?”

  “I’m pretty sure they invited half the town, Luke.”

  He smiled when she said his name, even if she had ducked her head as soon as she’d said it. Was Officer Always-in-Control embarrassed?

  “Well, they didn’t invite Marcia Duncan,” he said, trying to make a joke to keep her talking.

  “I’m pretty sure that after the windshield incident and what happened last week in the meat department, Mrs. Duncan is all too happy to not be attending their party.”

  Luke felt the familiar sensation in his gut. “Oh, no. What happened?”

  Carmen sighed. “I took them to Duncan’s Market to get some fruit after school since things are still a little tense over at the Gas N’ Mart after, well...you know. We started out in the produce section, but then I turned to talk to Mayor Johnston and next thing I knew, I found them by the beef display case pretending that the ground round on sale was actually some sort of brain science experiment and... Well, my freezer at home now contains quite a few packages of hamburger with finger indentations poked through them.”

  Luke would’ve groaned at his children’s antics if she hadn’t just reminded him of her home, and her freezer, which was in her kitchen. Where she had stood in that skimpy little top that outlined the shape of her—

  “Hey, Dad.” Caden’s voice interrupted his train of thought just in time. “We got you a choco-freeze bar.”

  “And we got a strawberry shortcake one for Officer Carmen,” Aiden added.

  “Where’s your aunt Kylie?” Luke asked.

  “One of the babies started cryin’ so she said she had to leave. But not before she agreed with us about Officer Carmen being our good luck charm.” Here they went again.

  “Yeah, she even paid for yours, Officer Carmen, and said there’s more where that came from if you keep showing up for our games. Maybe she’ll even buy you some nachos at the snack bar next time so that you don’t miss a thing.”

  “That’s awfully nice of your aunt.” Carmen unwrapped the melting treat. How long had they been hanging out by the ice-cream truck? “But nobody needs to buy me food to keep me around.”

  “Oh, good, then you’ll be at our next game. And we don’t need to buy that dulkie de—what’s that flavor called again?” Caden looked at Carmen.

  “Dulce de leche,” she said, her accented pronunciation making Luke think of other things her tongue might be capable of.

  “Yeah. Dulce de leche cake for our birthday party. That’s Carmen’s favorite kind,” Caden told his dad. “We can just have regular chocolate with chocolate frosting and you’ll still come.”

  Was she really coming to the birthday party? The one he planned to throw at his cabin? The one he’d had to promise five nights of niece babysitting if Drew and Kylie would help him organize the thing? In the back of his mind, he knew that it would just be a simple event for kids—a little cake, maybe a piñata—but he still was dreading his first foray into hosting anything more than a family cookout. Surely, she had better things to do on Friday night then hang out with some kids, their clueless dad and a store-bought chocolate sheet cake.

  He wanted to ask her all those things, while not giving away any indication that a small part of him was hoping she’d be there. But the boys were too busy describing all the toys they’d written on their gift wish lists.

  While she nodded along with them, indicating she was listening to their rambling chatter, Luke had the feeling she was staring right at him, those damn sunglasses preventing him from reading her full expression. Did she not want to come to the party? Was she looking to him for an out?

  It was bad enough that his children had already guilted her into showing up for their next baseball game. She wouldn’t be the first woman who needed a break from the twins. And if he wanted her to stick around—strictly as a mentor to the boys, nothing else—he needed to tell her she was off the hook, but she spoke before he could.

  “I’m sure you guys don’t want some boring girl like me at your party. You’ll be so busy with all of your friends, it won’t matter that I’m not there.”

  “But, Officer Carmen, you’re one of our bestest friends. Of course you have to be there.” The sad, Popsicle-stained faces stared up at her from beneath the brims of their green caps.

  If he wasn’t used to the twins making that same expression every time they wanted to stay up past their bedtime or eat pancakes for dinner, he almost would’ve felt sorry for the little rascals. Almost. But he’d invented that helpless look when he’d been their age and needed to get out of trouble—which was almost every day.

  He told himself that the only reason he didn’t tell the boys to knock it off was because she was such a good influence on his children and he wanted them happy. Then, when he heard her exhale a deep breath and saw her shoulders relax, he knew she was close to giving in.

  Which meant he was getting closer to doing something about this growing attraction to her. Something that they would both surely regret.

  Chapter Six

  “I know I said I’d help you with the party, Luke.” His sister-in-law raised her voice to be heard over the two fussing babies on her end of the line. “But the twins are teething and I’m in the middle of tax season.”

  Luke looked down at his cell phone, wishing he’d sent the call to voice mail and kept on making dinner. But then he remembered that he was no longer hiding behind his former job title. He was now a full-time a dad. An impulsive one who didn’t always make the best decisions, but a dad nonetheless. If he could parachute into enemy territory on covert operations, he could tackle the simplest of domestic duties without fear.

  In his defense, though, he wasn’t dealing with the simplest of domestic duties. He didn’t know how to throw a birthday party for nine-year-olds. He’d missed their last two birthdays and wanted to make sure that this year was beyond memorable for Aiden and Caden.

  “But don’t worry,” Kylie continued. “I’ll email you the lists and Drew and I will be there on Friday to help set up. And I already recruited...to go get...with you.”

  “Kylie, I can’t hear you.” His nieces were getting louder on the other end of the line and the timer on his stove was going off. “What lists?”

  “Oh, you know. The guest list and the food lists and the games and prizes list.”

  “Games and prizes? We need a list for that?”

  “Only if you don’t want the kids to get bored and stage a piñata mutiny. Carmen said that happened at one of her cousin’s birthdays and it’s not pretty when you get that much sugar into forty children half an hour after their parents drop them off.”

  “Carmen? Did you say Carmen?” He pushed a button above the stove and finally got the timer to stop beeping. “And what was that last part about forty kids? That’s not what’s on the guest list, is it?”

  “Luke, focus. I ran in to Officer Carmen today when I was downtown, and she said she was off work and could help you shop for supplies on Thursday after her kickboxing class. She has a huge family back in Vegas and said they average three birthday parties a month. I’m leaving you in good hands.”

  In good hands? As in Carmen Delgado’s good hands? While Luke had to admit that the cop certainly had nice, capable hands—probably scented with some sort of fragrant specialty lotion—Luke didn’t know if that would be ask
ing too much. After all, she already helped him out with the boys through that mentor program, and if they worked on the party together, their sudden closeness might give the wrong impression.

  Not that he wouldn’t welcome the help, but did he really want the rest of the townspeople getting the idea that she was some sort of surrogate mother?

  And was she? He was pretty sure that even if she wanted to play mom or big sister or whatever to a couple of boys, she wasn’t particularly eager to step into the wife role.

  Whoa. Where had that idea come from?

  “Why would Carmen agree to help me?” Luke asked instead.

  “Because she loves the twins and wants them to have a fantastic party. And because I bribed her with an all-expenses-paid trip to the Cove Spa in McCall.” Another burst of crying interrupted them and he barely heard Kylie’s voice say that Carmen would be by tomorrow morning with the lists before the call was disconnected.

  There was no way he could spend the whole day with Carmen Delgado. She would be all uptight and he’d be on edge trying to get her to loosen up, and then she’d probably throw those so-called good hands up in the air in frustration and never want anything to do with him or the twins again.

  Maybe his mom would drive up from Boise and help... But she’d already been responsible for the birthdays he’d missed and had hosted her share of kid-themed parties in the past. Nope, he didn’t want to trouble her with something he should be able to handle.

  After all, he was a captain in the Navy, the head of recruiting for the entire West Idaho region. He was handling everything else in his life just fine. For the most part.

  Luke looked down at the pan of ground beef he’d been browning for dinner. Why was it smoking? Damn. He’d forgotten to turn off the flame after the timer went off. He slammed the skillet on the back burner and opened the window over the sink.

  Just when he thought he’d been doing pretty well in the dad department, another setback came his way. He stared at the bits of charred meat, hesitating to call the twins over to the table.