Colton Cowboy Hideout

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“Kiss, Dada-love,” Lily replied and raised her face to Josie’s ministrations.

Leigh watched her sister then smiled up at Tanner. Tanner’s heart exploded with love. He would do anything for his children. Since the day Helen had walked out on him—on them—Tanner had vowed his daughters would be his number one priority and he would fill their worlds with as much love and happiness as humanly possible.

He certainly had no desire to marry again; his life was full enough with his two girls. Besides, he’d failed miserably at marriage once, so he wasn’t willing to try it again.

A half an hour later he and Josie sat on the living-room floor helping the girls build block towers. To be more precise, he and Josie built the tall towers and Leigh and Lily took great pleasure in knocking them down.

“Which one is older?” Josie set a blue block on top of his red one.

“Leigh. She’s three minutes older than Lily,” Tanner replied.

“Leigh,” Lily said and threw her arms around her twin’s neck. The two girls toppled over on their backs.

“No, Lee-lee,” Leigh protested and struggled to get back to a sitting position.

“However, Lily is usually the ringleader if there’s any trouble,” Tanner said with an affectionate glance at the little girl in purple.

“Trouble,” Lily echoed with a delightful grin.

Josie laughed, a musical sound Tanner found intensely attractive. “She’s a bundle of trouble and she’s proud of it. It’s sweet how they call you ‘Dada-love’ each time they see you.”

“I didn’t realize how often I said it to them until one day they started saying it to me.” He smiled at the girls. “At some point in time I’m going to have to break it to them that our last name isn’t ‘love.’ But for now they’re my Lily-love and my Leigh-love.” The girls laughed and swatted yet another block tower down to the floor.

They remained on the living-room floor until just after seven, when Tanner got to his feet. “I’m going to get these two into the bathtub and ready for bed. Feel free to make yourself at home in here or relax in your room.”

He needed a little distance from Josie. The last hour had been far too pleasant with her company. It almost felt as if they were a normal family and he knew better than to get caught up in that particular silly fantasy.

He’d learned from Helen that he wasn’t man enough to make a woman happy. He didn’t have what it took to be a life partner. However, even if he were in the market for a woman in his life, he knew with certainty it wouldn’t be the very young, very beautiful Josie Colton.

By eight o’clock the twins were asleep and he went back into the living room, where Josie was curled up in the chair and staring out the window. Twilight was quickly turning into deepening night.